What's new

Project: I have no idea what I'm doing (Moved from p4x4)

So got this done-ish. Straps don't do much other than stop a slight chatter front to back that the peg clamps don't catch- the clamps are doing most of the work and it doesn't move at all. Added some plating on the sides when the lower 45 was, and had a piece of bonus scrap lying around so I figured what the heck, I'll throw a tiny gusset on there too. I haven't welded with flux in a while and it turns out I'm shitty at it(I kept getting lost in the smoke)., but the whole thing passed me jumping up and down on the tray, so it should be fine for an 80 lb bike.

1675357558762.png


AHednd5ApY8rPdBCBCTw2qjTQ=w1157-h870-no?authuser=0.jpg


NGbP8f4p-ukAN9L3maVsaVH5Q=w1157-h870-no?authuser=0.jpg
 
Off topic: Damn, even little 50's are full blown racers these days. I had to pull start my first bike and it only had a rear brake.
The little KTMs are pretty damn cool. I had to hunt to find this older one for a decent price. The new ones are $$$$$$$$
Gotta feed that dad fantasy of starting their kid on a program now so they can finish well at Loretta Lynn's by 10 years old or their career is over!@! OMG!
_RE_SX-50-Mini-MY23-90-right_%23SALL_%23AEPI_%23V1.png
 
The 10 year olds that win championships at Loretta Lynn's can go to any local race and and flat out smoke the 250 pro class on their big wheel 80cc bike. It's a truly beautiful thing to watch.

Teach your kid to stand trough the corners. His butt should only hit the seat as he's getting on the gas at corner exit. I've noticed this trend with all the top guys over the past couple years.
 
So got this done-ish. Straps don't do much other than stop a slight chatter front to back that the peg clamps don't catch- the clamps are doing most of the work and it doesn't move at all. Added some plating on the sides when the lower 45 was, and had a piece of bonus scrap lying around so I figured what the heck, I'll throw a tiny gusset on there too. I haven't welded with flux in a while and it turns out I'm shitty at it(I kept getting lost in the smoke)., but the whole thing passed me jumping up and down on the tray, so it should be fine for an 80 lb bike.



AHednd5ApY8rPdBCBCTw2qjTQ=w1157-h870-no?authuser=0.jpg
Looks sick. Could you have run the clamps the other way - with the bolt outside the peg where the little down hook is, that way you didn't need to fully unbolt and rebolt every time you could just loosen enough to swing the detent out of the peg?
 
Looks sick. Could you have run the clamps the other way - with the bolt outside the peg where the little down hook is, that way you didn't need to fully unbolt and rebolt every time you could just loosen enough to swing the detent out of the peg?
Definitely could have, but running the bolt through the peg made me feel a little less nervous about the whole setup. Like even if the hook somehow cracked at the weld the bolts would stop the whole thing from immediately sliding off
 
Yeah nice safety built in. I was just thinking of ways to make it easier or less likely to lose the bolt, like I'm sure I would :shaking:
 
Lagging with updates on this one. Took it to KOH, but before I did I also added a couple more soft top channels to the tub to help keep the top on in all the high winds out there.

mR4Onbwh.jpg


Rack held up great. Broke the double cardan joint on the rear driveline and spit the whole thing out in the whoops, got parts, fixed it, ran some trails, ran some desert, ran some more trails and home.
4iTKm9vh.jpg


BYVCLiih.jpg



Throughout all that I was reminded that I still need to:

Highline the fenders. It's annoying when they rub
Fix my leaky pinion seal.
Re-gear the axles to the 5.13s I've got sitting in my garage.
 
Took a trip waaay down south the the Anza-Borrego state park/ocotillo wells this thanksgiving. Driving around on paved desert roads and trying to maintain speed through sandy washes renewed my hatred of my 700r4 and how fast it heats up. The current band-aid I have is leaving my tranny cooler fans on constantly(rather than having them auto turn on at 180*), driving like a grandma, and locking up the torque converter in 3rd and 4th gears any chance I can get.

At this point the stupid thing crawls fantastically, but sucks for normal driving around. In sand, I get about 30 seconds to use real horsepower, and then I have to shut it down. BOOO.

Someone talk me down from the "I want to swap in an NV4500" cliff that I'm standing on the edge of. I just want to get spicy in the dunes without my tranny overheating in 30 seconds.

Pics to stop this from being totally boring:

Kiddo's moto hitch rack still works and made the 10 hr drive to Borrego Springs and back with zero issues. Figured out I don't have to lift the bike as high if I load it like this
1701108054763.png


Stop to let my damn transmission cool off
1701107489837.png


Near the pumpkin patch in ocotillo wells
1701108121396.png


Wife got to drive
1701107996942.png
 
Remind us of your current arrangement/ gearing?
40s, 4.88 in axles (but I still have a set of 5.13s I've been lagging on installing), Atlas 4.3:1 tcase(no temp issues in low range though), 700r4 with whatever standard gearing it's supposed to have in it. Previous owner has polished the turd with shift kit, TC lockup switches, and two tranny coolers with electric fans on them. Not sure what sort of TC is in it.

Jeep weighs in at about 5,300 lbs. with fuel and tools/spares
 
Also I think what really bugs me is I know there are people putting down more power with no heat issues. I guess I'm wondering if there's something fawked up with my current trans that I could fix, or if 700r4s are just dogs as some people have told me, or if there's some kind of magic formula that will help me get this thing where it needs to be.

Shit, my wife's tundra puts down more horsepower, still has stock gearing with 35s, and never has an issue. I've got to be doing something wrong.
 
Random tangent, how does the Expedition tow, and handle mom duties? It's on our short list of new cars for my wife.
Fantastic. We had that thing loaded down with as much chit and people as we could fit (5 seats filled, two folded down for more luggage/wine), and a full trailer (jeep + my little 125 and my son's 50). It handled it like a champ. I did a test run where I noticed the rear springs were sagging pretty hard, so I did throw on a load distribution hitch and that got us sitting only ~1/2" lower in the rear.

The 10 spd I think is the magic sauce there- it's always in the perfect gear, and it will downshift pretty aggressively under braking when set to tow/haul mode.
 
Intriguing idea. Are there any tricks other than just adding bigger tranny coolers?
Either add more cooler or move more air. At the end of the day you need more air to contact (sort of, there's metal in between) your trans fluid.

How's the engine? Engine ever get warm? If the engine is pretty damn cold most of the time you could use a fluid-fluid heat exchanger to move some heat around.

Also I think what really bugs me is I know there are people putting down more power with no heat issues. I guess I'm wondering if there's something fawked up with my current trans that I could fix, or if 700r4s are just dogs as some people have told me, or if there's some kind of magic formula that will help me get this thing where it needs to be.

They're tiny. The converter volume is huge compared to the trans volume. You hit the skinny pedal and it doesn't take long before all the fluid in the trans has been through the converter and is good and hot.

I bet there's something less than ideal about your cooling setup but that's for someone who isn't too lazy to reads the last 10 pages to find. :flipoff2:
 
ass is spot on. add a couple more coolers. give that a try before going full send with nv4500. if you are truly happy with the set up other than normal driving.

i have one buddy who has 4 coolers to keep his trans cool.
 
Either add more cooler or move more air. At the end of the day you need more air to contact (sort of, there's metal in between) your trans fluid.

How's the engine? Engine ever get warm? If the engine is pretty damn cold most of the time you could use a fluid-fluid heat exchanger to move some heat around.



They're tiny. The converter volume is huge compared to the trans volume. You hit the skinny pedal and it doesn't take long before all the fluid in the trans has been through the converter and is good and hot.

I bet there's something less than ideal about your cooling setup but that's for someone who isn't too lazy to reads the last 10 pages to find. :flipoff2:
Motor is right on the edge of getting too hot as well. Tried running water wetter this trip and that seems to keep it under control. I think part of the issue is that there's not much room for a decent radiator and coolers and all that.

I'll have to measure the size of my tranny coolers, but I want to say they're both around 12"x12" with a the biggest electric fan that will fit blowing on them. I'll have to get some shots of their locations too, because the previous owner got very uh... creative with that. If I lived anywhere muddy, they wouldn't work at all.
 
ass is spot on. add a couple more coolers. give that a try before going full send with nv4500. if you are truly happy with the set up other than normal driving.
Deep down I like wheeling with a manual more than automatic, but I also like the idea of an auto being more user friendly as my kids get bigger and want to take a shot at driving.
 
Other dumb question- I can manually lockup the TC in 3rd and 4th with switches, but should it at some point be automatically locking up the TC in 2nd or 1st? Seems like 1st -3rd I'll be hitting something WOT wound waaay out and it doesnt feel like it's locking up. Not sure if that's by design because stuff would break, or if tranny needs some love.
 
i like the idea of the auto. maybe not 700r auto but your spot on on having other people drive the jeep, wife, kids, neighbor or whom ever. but the easy cooling would be manual. but if engine is getting warm you need to solve that first.

how big of rad. simple math they claim is 1 square inch = 1 HP not including the tanks. if that makes since.
 
i like the idea of the auto. maybe not 700r auto but your spot on on having other people drive the jeep, wife, kids, neighbor or whom ever. but the easy cooling would be manual. but if engine is getting warm you need to solve that first.

how big of rad. simple math they claim is 1 square inch = 1 HP not including the tanks. if that makes since.

Its got a fancy Be Cool radiator. OEM fit for a YJ and supposedly made for jeep V8 swaps. It's 23" wide by 19" tall, so 437 square inches. Previous owner told me the motor was built for 320 hp.

Link for rad:
87-04 Jeep Wrangler Radiator for Jeep w/Std Trans Factory-Fit Natural Finish Be Cool Radiator | Be Cool Radiators

edit also has tons of hood louvers to try and avoid heat soak.

double edit I think the rad and fan are working well- it never overheats while crawling. Only when I get super throttle happy.
 
i cant find it now but i was under the impression you measure the area of the fin and tubes. not the tanks on the side. but i think you still fine though.
 
Top Back Refresh