ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[aka Larry]

That being said, I am absolutely dumbfounded by the ridiculous content I see where people post a video about every thought that goes through their head and they have a **** ton of subscribers.

It's called being an 'influencer' Mike. Problem is their version of 'influence' is not the type of influence that is worth a sh*t.

 

[casmurbax]

Mike,

You answered the torque question perfectly and yes at first I combined the two wrenches but you clarified it.

Having the tools in the Jeep, I don't think it is overkill and it makes sense to have them in there, I just thought maybe one was inch pounds and the other was ft pounds.

Thank you for answering my questions all the time.

 

[zmotorsports]

It's called being an 'influencer' Mike. Problem is their version of 'influence' is not the type of influence that is worth a sh*t.

Agreed Vincent. Idiocy breeds idiocy or idiocy spreads, however you choose to think of it.

Mike,

You answered the torque question perfectly and yes at first I combined the two wrenches but you clarified it.

Having the tools in the Jeep, I don't think it is overkill and it makes sense to have them in there, I just thought maybe one was inch pounds and the other was ft pounds.

Thank you for answering my questions all the time.

Happy to answer them and thanks for continuing to follow along.

All of the tools in the Jeep definitely add weight and that weight works against me off-road but I would still rather have the tools and not have to use them than be without them and need them.

 

[Monza Harry]

One of my mechanics turned to me and said "I didn't know you had a YouTube channel". I told him by the small amount of subscribers it appears not many do.

Oh that is SO my kind of answer Mike! That cracks me up Thanx for the laugh! Harry

 

[zmotorsports]

I took the day off from working in the shop to go play Saturday. It was our local Jeep club’s monthly run and the weather was supposed to be nice. I haven done much with the local club this year so I decided to go and meet some of the new members that I haven’t had the opportunity to meet yet as we had a lot of new members join kver the past 6-months.

Lined up at the meeting location. I volunteered to tail gun.


Airing down at the trail head. We had a total of 17 vehicles on the run.








I didn’t get any pictures throughout the day as I was mostly recording using the video camera. Of course no one got me doing any of the obstacles.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Do I see a new Gladiator in the background? If so, did you have a chance to watch it in action? If Jeep really starts offering a V8 in them that would be on my short list.

 

[zmotorsports]

Do I see a new Gladiator in the background? If so, did you have a chance to watch it in action? If Jeep really starts offering a V8 in them that would be on my short list.

Good eye Ryan. Yes we had a new Gladiator with us on the run and I've wheeled with about a dozen over the past year now.

I'm not impressed for a few reasons. The length is not conducive for tight maneuvering on trails. Hell even my four-door bus is a bit tight at 116" wheelbase and 185" OAL but those Gladiators are 21" longer wheelbase and 33" longer OAL than mine. They have a large expanse behind the rear axle which has a nasty departure angle and the breakover angle allows them to hung up very easily.

If using it for an overlanding type vehicle I think they may be "ok" but for anything more than that on tight trails or especially rock crawling I think it needs to be up about 4-6 inches and on 40's to really be very competitive with the 4-doors in terms of trail manners.

I do like the 8 speed auto's that are coming in the new JL's and JT's and they help the V6 Pentastar use its power more efficiently. I think the Hemi powered Jeeps that will be coming are way overpriced for what they are. With the all-wheel drive and computer traction control I'm not sure how they will perform for anything serious without a lot of mods. But I guess that's one thing us Jeepers do is mod ****, so there is that.

In my opinion if you were to build an expedition vehicle that won't see ******** trails I would rather go with a full-size truck vs. the mid-size Gladiator as the trail manners would be quite similar.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

Good eye Ryan. Yes we had a new Gladiator with us on the run and I've wheeled with about a dozen over the past year now.

I'm not impressed for a few reasons. The length is not conducive for tight maneuvering on trails. Hell even my four-door bus is a bit tight at 116" wheelbase and 185" OAL but those Gladiators are 21" longer wheelbase and 33" longer OAL than mine. They have a large expanse behind the rear axle which has a nasty departure angle and the breakover angle allows them to hung up very easily.

If using it for an overlanding type vehicle I think they may be "ok" but for anything more than that on tight trails or especially rock crawling I think it needs to be up about 4-6 inches and on 40's to really be very competitive with the 4-doors in terms of trail manners.

I do like the 8 speed auto's that are coming in the new JL's and JT's and they help the V6 Pentastar use its power more efficiently. I think the Hemi powered Jeeps that will be coming are way overpriced for what they are. With the all-wheel drive and computer traction control I'm not sure how they will perform for anything serious without a lot of mods. But I guess that's one thing us Jeepers do is mod ****, so there is that.

In my opinion if you were to build an expedition vehicle that won't see ******** trails I would rather go with a full-size truck vs. the mid-size Gladiator as the trail manners would be quite similar.

I never realized their wheelbase was that long. I think they're deceiving with how narrow the body is that they appear smaller than they are. I was comparing my Bronco wheelbase (106" stretched a little from stock) last night with the JK's and I'm right in the middle of a 2dr (95.4") and 4dr (116"). I'd like a little bit more, but it will be fine for cruising with the family. I always appreciated the 4dr JK wheelbase compared to the old YJ we had back in the day (among other things).

You're right on the price. I remember I drove by an Audi dealership and they had one parked on a rack on the corner. $58k for a used Gladiator......my god. The factory V8 would be awesome, but I won't spend that much money on a truck that's essentially a toy. Jeep knows their market though as they sell Wranglers like hot cakes. I'm hoping they'll have a good display at King of Hammers this year.

 

[zmotorsports]

I never realized their wheelbase was that long. I think they're deceiving with how narrow the body is that they appear smaller than they are. I was comparing my Bronco wheelbase (106" stretched a little from stock) last night with the JK's and I'm right in the middle of a 2dr (95.4") and 4dr (116"). I'd like a little bit more, but it will be fine for cruising with the family. I always appreciated the 4dr JK wheelbase compared to the old YJ we had back in the day (among other things).

You're right on the price. I remember I drove by an Audi dealership and they had one parked on a rack on the corner. $58k for a used Gladiator......my god. The factory V8 would be awesome, but I won't spend that much money on a truck that's essentially a toy. Jeep knows their market though as they sell Wranglers like hot cakes. I'm hoping they'll have a good display at King of Hammers this year.

Ryan, @ 106" I think that is about the sweet spot for nearly any trail rig. My son's LJ was stock at 103" and we pushed it to about 104.5" when we built the long-arm suspension and were still able to keep it in the OE wheelwells. When we built his 2004 WJ a couple of years ago we pushed it to about 107.5" but most of that we moving the rear axle rearward about an inch knowing we were going to build a new rear bumper and could "tweak" the wheel opening. The main goal with pushing his rear axle rearward to reduce the huge departure angle that the WJ inherently packs around.

 

[csp]

I have a friend that has a 2020 Gladiator that is used almost exclusively for overlanding. His previous rig was a JKU and he prefers the JT by a long shot. I was very doubtful of the 3.6s ability to move something bigger than the JKU, but he tells me that the 8 speed makes all the difference in the world and he regularly is traveling I70 through Colorado's mountains. His is currently in the shop at TNT Customs as a test mule for some new suspension designs/parts and going from 37" tires to 40s.

 

[zmotorsports]

A few days ago we had some hellacious winds here along the Wasatch front and my son’s gate took a beating. He said it’s been kind of questionable and flimsy since he bought the house in early 2019 but the wind did it in.

He brought it by the shop tonight so we could disassemble it and come up with a plan. The steel framework is beyond repair so I’ll order some new square tubing and we’ll start over. The frame appears to have been broken in several areas for quite some time by the looks of the rust on the failed welds.




I also had a friend from my duning and sledding days hit me up and ask if I’d do some work on his old Dodge truck so he brought it by the shop and dropped it off tonight.


It’s got quite a list of things I spotted that need attention besides the brakes he brought it over for so I’ll have to see exactly what he wants me to fix and what he doesn’t.

 

[rattle_snake]

... I think it needs to be up about 4-6 inches and on 40's...

I like how you think Mike!

Didn't realize Gladiators were 137 WB. That is more than my long bed pickup even after moving both axles outward.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

I have a special tax to bring MOPARS in my garage Mike....Jeeps excluded of course.

Looks like a 97 or earlier based on the chrome mirrors. That odd sounding V10 never really did it for me!

 

[zmotorsports]

I like how you think Mike!

Didn't realize Gladiators were 137 WB. That is more than my long bed pickup even after moving both axles outward.

Yeah, they're a loooonnngggg vehicle for sure Justin. Not for me but to each their own. They sure have a huge following right now.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Sure looks like all the "goody" was gotten out of that square tubing........looks a bit thin as well, but I don't design fences, probably for a good reason as well.

 

[zmotorsports]

Sure looks like all the "goody" was gotten out of that square tubing........looks a bit thin as well, but I don't design fences, probably for a good reason as well.

I think the 14-gauge was adequate, that's what I ordered today to replace it, but the lack of welds and poor welds I think contributed more to the frame's demise. They also didn't coat it with anything, no primer or paint, so it was just bare tubing left to rust away inside of the vinyl casing. I think we'll spray the frame with some self-etching primer and then some paint prior to putting the vinyl casing back on. We may also look at a way of bolting two opposite corners together vs. welding but won't know for sure about that plan until we get to it.

 

[zmotorsports]

Since we had to start over on the gate we opted to incorporate some "kustom" touches for improving the design and definitely to extend the life. Saturday I got to hang out with my son in the shop so it was a good day.

We opted to machine some items to allow us to bolt the last section together on the gate vs. the entire thing being fully welded. It should be easier to assemble after paint and hold up much longer.

Machined and threaded a block to receive the end piece.


Added a little extra thickness to the end of the tubing to prevent breaking out like the last one.


Drilled a hole through the leg to allow the use of a socket head cap screw to secure everything together.




The ID of the wheel was 1/2" but very sloppy. We also wanted to use something larger than .5" rod as the axle so I drilled out the wheel to .625" and then used an appropriate rod.




Single point threading 1/2"-13 threads so allow the rod to thread into the other leg.




Machined another block but this one threaded to 1/2"-13 to receive the axle.


Opposite side beefed up like the previous one but a .625" recess machined to a depth of .125" which will allow the .625" axle to sit in for extra rigidity.


Axle completed with one end threaded and the other drilled & tapped to receive a 3/8"-16 socket head cap screw.


Axle test fitting.


Wheel test fit.


Bolted together and just enough clearance to allow the wheel to turn freely but with much less "wobble".


Clamped to the welding table to true up and weld.


Fabrication completed.


All that’s left is to prime & paint it then assemble the vinyl before reinstalling it.

 

[zmotorsports]

I made a little headway on the 1996 Dodge 2500 V10 tonight.

Removed the battery cables.


They’re in pretty bad shape. Lots of green crusties on both.


Then moved on to brakes. Started by pulling all the tires & wheels.


Leaking axle seal.


Disassembling.


Hub removed.


Hub bearings & seal disassembled and cleaned.


List of parts needed compiled, then more cleaning.

 

[rattle_snake]

Yummy. bet that brake wasn't doing much.

 

[zmotorsports]

Yummy. bet that brake wasn't doing much.

I doubt it was as well. He said it had a pull to the left on hard braking. I cannot see anything wrong with the front axle other than the brake pads being worn so I am suspecting this leaking rear axle seal and the lack of braking on the right rear possibly causing a pull to the left upon a hard braking event. He said it wasn't a hard pull to the left like yanking the steering wheel out of his hand just a slight pull to the left when he braked aggressively. This could be the culprit.

Battery cables are what I'm finding harder to find. I think I may have to build them as I am having a tough time finding the appropriate ones.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

I doubt it was as well. He said it had a pull to the left on hard braking. I cannot see anything wrong with the front axle other than the brake pads being worn so I am suspecting this leaking rear axle seal and the lack of braking on the right rear possibly causing a pull to the left upon a hard braking event. He said it wasn't a hard pull to the left like yanking the steering wheel out of his hand just a slight pull to the left when he braked aggressively. This could be the culprit.

Battery cables are what I'm finding harder to find. I think I may have to build them as I am having a tough time finding the appropriate ones.

Mike, not sure on the friend/customer's appetite for pricing, but you might check CE Auto Electric for the cables, I know Tony does a lot of custom stuff, and may even have a premade set for that pickup.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, not sure on the friend/customer's appetite for pricing, but you might check CE Auto Electric for the cables, I know Tony does a lot of custom stuff, and may even have a premade set for that pickup.

I appreciate the information Marc. I will stick that in my cap for a later date if/when I need it. However, this is the guys "beater" truck and he just wants it safe. He keeps his newer Dodge truck as his fair weather driver. I completely get that but sometimes trying to keep prices down on an old beater is more difficult due to availability of parts. I found a positive cable today at my local NAPA and then purchased some bulk cable and lugs and I will build the negative for it.

This truck also has the valve covers that are leaking terribly. That is the one job that I actually wanted to do on this because it's the 8.0 liter V10 and the upper intake plenum has to come off along with some other stuff. I have never had the top of one of these V10's apart but he doesn't want to spend the money fixing the engine leaks.

 

[zmotorsports]

I only had a couple of hours in the shop tonight so I tackled the passenger rear brakes on the Dodge as they would require some serious attention to clean.

Started with this nasty oily mess.




Cleaned the drum in the solvent tank.


Then the hardware went to the solvent tank.


Hub, bearings and axle shaft cleaned and ready for reassembly.


Backing plate cleaned.


Brakes reassembled.


It’s been a while since I changed drum brakes. I had to dig out my 35+ year old brake tools that don’t see too much action these days.

Thanks for looking.

 

[gotham]

I can't remember the last time I replaced drum brakes. I think it was before I had a cell phone camera so I always did one side at a time to make sure I knew where all the springs went!

 

[larry4406]

I can't remember the last time I replaced drum brakes. I think it was before I had a cell phone camera so I always did one side at a time to make sure I knew where all the springs went!

This is my method as well!

 

[jbmatth]

I do the same thing but also take a few photos in case the other side is wrong as well. I'm pretty sure I did drum brakes last year but can't remember on what. Looks great Mike, keep up the good work.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for the comments guys and for following along on my various projects.

I can't remember the last time I did drum brakes on anything light duty either with most everything disc these days. I forgot what a dusty mess they can be as well. The right side was an oily mess and the left side was a dusty mess.

My son was over to the shop painting his gate framework last night and I had my drum brake tools on the tool cart. He picked a couple of them up and said "wow, I haven't seen these in a while". YEP!

 

[ttpete]

The last time I did drum brakes was in 2000 when I worked on my Willys M38A1 Jeep. I replaced everything but the backing plates.

 

[aka Larry]

It’s been a while since I changed drum brakes. I had to dig out my 35+ year old brake tools that don’t see too much action these days.

First (and hopefully last) time I did drum brakes was on my '98 Cavalier Z-24. Dusty mess just like you said. I did one side at a time so I could use the opposite side as a reference during reassembly.

A couple of years later I started doing track events with the car and quickly exceeded the capability of the stock brakes. I ended up with a 4-wheel disc setup building my own custom BBK using the calipers and rotors from a C4.

 

[zmotorsports]

Made some pretty good progress on the Dodge tonight while helping my son reassemble his gate.

Seal, bearings, gear oil and driver ready to assemble the rear hub.


On this vintage of Dana 70 they use a nylok style nut with a tapered wedge that gets tapped into place once the preload is set.

The procedure calls for a torque of between 120-140 ft/lbs., then back off 1/3 revolution or 120-degrees.


I like to go one step further and adjust the preload to the actual spec which is .001”-.004”. I shoot for only .001”-.002”. Here is a fat .001”.


Wedge driven into the nylok nut.


New axle flange gasket and torquing to spec.


With rear reassembled and drums adjusted it was time to move on to the front. After removing the caliper I checked the runout which was right at .001” on the passenger front and less than .0005” on the left.




The owner definitely got his monies worth out of these brakes.




A little Fluid Film to aide in installation of the rubber bushings into the caliper for the guide pins.


This is why it pays to think through even the simplest of jobs to ensure long service life. I did these brakes in late 2013, just over 73k miles ago. The brakes have worn extremely even and the caliper bolts/glide pins came out easily and the calipers still floated freely in the mounting brackets.

Here you can see the purple Permatex brake assembly lube that I have been using for the past 25+ years now.




Thanks for looking.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Mike, great work as usual! I'll have to look into that purple Permatex lubricant, looks like good stuff.

 

[E12-535iTurbo]

Damn Mike,

Can I be your apprentice? I love how well prepared and thorough your work is. The bar is set high where it should be. Thanks for all the pictures.

Can you explain the measurement of pre-load with the micrometer? I'm having some trouble understanding what's going on there.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, great work as usual! I'll have to look into that purple Permatex lubricant, looks like good stuff.

I have had great results over the years with it Marc, but this job really confirmed it for me. This guy doesn't baby his stuff and drives the wheels off of it so I was a bit anxious when he brought it to me after all of these years. When he dropped it off I asked if he had any other work done to it over the past couple of years and he said I was the last person to touch the truck in Nov. 2013 when it had about 104k miles on it. The truck now has 177k on the clock. I'm not gonna lie, when I saw that purple lube still on the glide pins I was somewhat shocked but it just confirmed how much I like the stuff.

One note however, when applying this (or any lube) to the glide pins, be cautious and don't over-apply. This is especially important if the glide pins go into blind cavities as the lube will be forced to the bottom of the blind hole and then when things get hot the lube can expand causing a hydraulic affect and actually push on one side of the caliper creating a drag and uneven wear of the brake friction material. Just thought that was worth mentioning as I've seen vehicles come in with uneven wear and then discover the cavity is packed with lube. A light coating is generally all that is required to avoid corrosion and keep the caliper floating properly.

 

[zmotorsports]

Damn Mike,

Can I be your apprentice? I love how well prepared and thorough your work is. The bar is set high where it should be. Thanks for all the pictures.

Can you explain the measurement of pre-load with the micrometer? I'm having some trouble understanding what's going on there.

Thank you but trust me, nothing I am showing here or practicing in my home shop is rocket science nor top secret. This information can be found in most service manuals. Unfortunately, what I have discovered over the years is that even though the information is available to all, not everyone uses it and many seem to ignore it and just "wing it". I was fortunate to have a couple of mentors who pushed me to make sure I do every repair to the highest level and not just "wing it" or "good enough". I thank them for instilling that in me.

As for the end play. Think of it in terms of bearing preload and on most axle bearings you don't want a tight bearing, you actually want a very small amount of end play. Many service manuals suggest tightening to a specific torque and then backing off a certain amount because they have calculated the threads per inch of the spindle and can get quite accurate by stating a certain amount will equate to a certain amount of clearance. I just choose to go one step further and actually throw a dial indicator on it and verify the clearance. Most Dana/Spicer axles specify .001"-.004" of clearance and anything .005" and over should be reduced and anything less than .001" should be loosened.

By simply placing a magnetic based dial indicator on the spindle which is stationary and then the dial on the hub you can very accurately and quickly measure the clearance in the hub. I've added a marked picture to help show what you are actually measuring with the dial indicator.

I hope that explains it. Thanks for following along and for the kind words.

 

[quadrcr87]

Unfortunately, what I have discovered over the years is that even though the information is available to all, not everyone uses it and many seem to ignore it and just "wing it". I was fortunate to have a couple of mentors who pushed me to make sure I do every repair to the highest level and not just "wing it" or "good enough". I thank them for instilling that in me.

It always irritates me when I am trying to follow the spec on something or finish that last final detail and the person working with me insists that its "good enough". My response is usually to tell them that everyone's definition of "good enough" is different, and that mine appears to be higher than theirs.

 

[zmotorsports]

It always irritates me when I am trying to follow the spec on something of finish that last final detail and the person working with me insists that its "good enough". My response is usually to tell them that everyone's definition of "good enough" is different, and that mine appears to be higher than theirs.

Agreed. Aim small miss small is what I liken it to. '

I'd rather shoot for perfection and miss by a little than shoot for "good enough" and hit. You don't know where that margin is.

 

[mmsheb]

"I'd rather shoot for perfection and miss by a little than shoot for "good enough" and hit."
That statement is one to follow! Thanks.

 

[TTMotorsports]

Yeah shoot for 1/8 from square and if you get close it's pretty damn good. Shooting for 1/4 could become 3/8 or more pretty easy. Aim small mis small here as well. No good enuff when setting up and laying stuff out.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[signcrafter]

Thanks for the comments guys and for following along on my various projects.

I can't remember the last time I did drum brakes on anything light duty either with most everything disc these days. I forgot what a dusty mess they can be as well. The right side was an oily mess and the left side was a dusty mess.

My son was over to the shop painting his gate framework last night and I had my drum brake tools on the tool cart. He picked a couple of them up and said "wow, I haven't seen these in a while". YEP!

I've done 4 sets of drums in the last year. When I started fixing cars almost everything was disc so drums aren't my forte. I did a 2005 cobalt with the W spring, 2005 silverado 1500 along with brake lines and a 2016 Colorado parking brake shoes and hardware which is basically a drum brake job, and one more I can't remember the make but I remember I had to get an etorx wrench to replace the rear wheel cylinder. Pretty sure it was a GM product of some sort.

I have some random drum brake tools that I've collected over the years. It gets the job done but every time I do drum brakes I say I'm going to order a new complete set of tools for doing them. But then after I'm done I figure I won't need them again for a long time so they get pushed to the bottom of the tools wanted list. Then another drum job comes along and the debate of ordering tools comes up again. I probably should just pick up a full kit and that should ensure I never will see another drum back job in my life.

 

[lilscorpion]

As for the end play. Think of it in terms of bearing preload and on most axle bearings you don't want a tight bearing, you actually want a very small amount of end play. Many service manuals suggest tightening to a specific torque and then backing off a certain amount because they have calculated the threads per inch of the spindle and can get quite accurate by stating a certain amount will equate to a certain amount of clearance. I just choose to go one step further and actually throw a dial indicator on it and verify the clearance. Most Dana/Spicer axles specify .001"-.004" of clearance and anything .005" and over should be reduced and anything less than .001" should be loosened.



By simply placing a magnetic based dial indicator on the spindle which is stationary and then the dial on the hub you can very accurately and quickly measure the clearance in the hub. I've added a marked picture to help show what you are actually measuring with the dial indicator.

You have no idea how timely this post is. I’m in the process of freshening up the dynatrac axles in the JK and I wanted to have the rotors turned as part of the process. Resetting the spindle nuts has always been that one thing I’ve never been comfortable doing. On the net I’ve only been able to find the “50 ft/lbs, back it off no more than 1/4 turn” advice for the Dana 60 front which actually did exist in the original service manuals. When I look, the most common post saying so is the one in the Dana 60 bible on pirate. That said, the advise as I understand it applies to brand new packed bearings with the intent if setting initial preload and not for follow-on reassembly. Friends I knew at the dealership (back in my 20’s) said the toque recommendation was too tight and you “just had to have a feel for it”. Knew that was ********. They’d more or less back it off until the bearings felt tight but the resistance/drag was only a little. As you can imagine, I’ve always hated doing it because it’s subjective guessing so I tend to put the step off (drag my feet)...

With a dial indicator, this now becomes a very, very, very easy task. .001 - .004 is a mile so the task becomes a breeze. Huge thanks Mike. Seriously, HUGE.

Matt