1963 Us Navy Dj-3a

[Fireball]

There’s literally over 450 available working hours between now and the “we are either going or not” decision point.
We don’t need this kind of negativity on our trip.
There is plenty of time for continued improvement.

Sorry Kyle. It wasn't mean to be negative. It seems like everybody is on a good path to make it.

I was just expressing what's in my head. I'm in a good place, but finding the U-joint to skid plate interference this late in the game shook me a little. That could have been really bad on the trail. I thought I had tested better than that.

I've still got a couple of weeks to finalize the packing list and do a bunch more Jeep testing so I'm factually fine, but I have to be honest that I have some anxiety taking a Jeep I built on a trail this tough while also camping out of it. Both are firsts for me.

 

[Fireball]

Here's Another thing I'm trowing in the tool kit.

Les Schwab put really long valve stems in the wheels when I had them mount the tires. It makes me a little nervous that they'll get ripped off. As a result, I packed four of these exppensive externally replaceable stems I had in the TJ: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NARX3H8?th=1

But... the other day I saw a video on how to change standard stems without de-beading the tire using one of these tool kits: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GL6G4QT9

So I ordered one and a bag of stubby stems. They showed up today and I had to test them on one of my trailer spares.

The starting point:

Remove the valve to release the air and then pull out the old stem by jamming the hook tool in, rotating it to hook the stem, and yanking:

Then thread the new stem on the insertion tool and lubricate it so it slides through the compression cone (I used engine oil for the test since it's something that's easily accessible on the trail by pulling your dipstick):

Line up the cone, and shove the stem through. It was really easy. I'm kind of impressed:

Finish by unscrewing the tool from the stem.

The tool kit and about 12 extra stems are now packed in the Jeep.

It wasn't all smooth sailing though. I started my test run with the spare for the bantam trailer. The old stem pulled right out:

But then I realized this wheel has a much larger hole and none of the new stems nor the compression cone were going to work. I had to break the bead with a bottle jack and install the old stem from the back side the normal way.

That was a waste of time, but it did make me verify the tool kit and stems will work with the wheels on the Jeep. They will.

 

[GeoffreyL]

There’s literally over 450 available working hours between now and the “we are either going or not” decision point.
We don’t need this kind of negativity on our trip.
There is plenty of time for continued improvement.

I’m not even touching mine until the Thursday or Friday before the trip

 

[Norcal69]

Sorry Kyle. It wasn't mean to be negative. It seems like everybody is on a good path to make it.

I was just expressing what's in my head. I'm in a good place, but finding the U-joint to skid plate interference this late in the game shook me a little. That could have been really bad on the trail. I thought I had tested better than that.

I've still got a couple of weeks to finalize the packing list and do a bunch more Jeep testing so I'm factually fine, but I have to be honest that I have some anxiety taking a Jeep I built on a trail this tough while also camping out of it. Both are firsts for me.

My comment was 100% in jest.
I totally understand the first trip anxiety.

 

[Rozcoking23]

Roy, your in good shape, haven't even taken mine farther then around block in a year. Last year at this time I was still putting in a motor before the trip.

 

[cj2atruck]

… but I have to be honest that I have some anxiety taking a Jeep I built on a trail this tough while also camping out of it.

I agree with your sentiment on taking my 47 on this trip. My Moab trip a few weeks ago was a great test for my rig, but I found a few items that still needed to be addressed, and I still need to figure out the packing puzzle. I know my rig is ready, but it’s still stressful taking an old jeep on such an epic journey…

 

[Fireball]

My comment was 100% in jest.
I totally understand the first trip anxiety.

Reading it in that context it's pretty funny.

 

[Fireball]

Finally got around to swapping the valve stems on all the wheels including the spare. The valve stem replacement toolkit makes it a snap.

Old long stem that stuck out past the wheel:

Oh no!

New stubby. Less likely to be removed by a rock:

Having the toolkit and bunch of spare stems make me less worried about breaking one off on the trail, but it's easier to do this in the shop and hopefully avoid having to do it on the trail with; a flat tire, up against a rock, in the rain, on a teetering Jeep....etc.

 

[Fireball]

Another nostalgia thing. My Dad has a inclinometer in his GPW and I loved to watch it as a kid.

I found this on ebay:

It's the exact one he has in his Jeep and has a flatfender as the vehicle. It's perfect:

I think I'm going to mount it up in the middle of the cage, but need to move the dome light further back to make room.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

Old school cool!

 

[cj2atruck]

Another nostalgia thing. My Dad has a inclinometer in his GPW and I loved to watch it as a kid.

I found this on ebay:

It's the exact one he has in his Jeep and has a flatfender as the vehicle. It's perfect:

I think I'm going to mount it up in the middle of the cage, but need to move the dome light further back to make room.

I started using a digital inclinometer about 10 years ago, and it made me a lot more comfortable with side angles…and was a game changer for my wife. She watches the inclinometer when we are wheeling side obstacles, and doesn’t get concerned until we get over 27 degrees, which is rare.

 

[Jw60]

I get concerned when the oil light comes on.

 

[Fireball]

Dome light moved and inclinometer mounted:

Then I had to go test it. I've got some pretty steep stuff in my test area:

Sketchy side hill:

Other than that, yesterday was trip prep checking wheel bearings, lights, and tire pressure on the trailer:

And checking all the fluids on the tow rig:

Today is some repacking and starting to check things off the big check list.

 

[Lilbuff63]

but I have to be honest that I have some anxiety taking a Jeep I built on a trail this tough while also camping out of it. Both are firsts for me

I had the same feeling in 2021, still do get nervous. I think that’s part of the excitement! What calms me down is knowing who I’m going with, a group of people that all built similar Jeeps and have the parts, tools and knowledge to fix them!

 

[Fireball]

I had the same feeling in 2021, still do get nervous. I think that’s part of the excitement! What calms me down is knowing who I’m going with, a group of people that all built similar Jeeps and have the parts, tools and knowledge to fix them!

X2. That's the only reason I would even consider it in one of these old Jeeps. This group makes it possible.

 

[Fireball]

Wrapping up some last things for the Rubicon trip.

Old wimpy tie-rod and drag link zip tied and hose clamped to the roll cage. Good enough for trail spares:

Deciding if I want to strap some extra front axle shafts here or not. I've got U-joints and an outer already packed in the Jeep:

I'll throw them in the tow rig at the very least. That way they will only be a "few miles" away if I really need them.

One thing I'm not packing (but I do have spares for) are main leafs for the springs. The spares are holding up the parts Jeep so they aren't easy to access.

 

[Norcal69]

Wrapping up some last things for the Rubicon trip.

Old wimpy tie-rod and drag link zip tied and hose clamped to the roll cage. Good enough for trail spares:

Deciding if I want to strap some extra front axle shafts here or not. I've got U-joints and an outer already packed in the Jeep:

I'll throw them in the tow rig at the very least. That way they will only be a "few miles" away if I really need them.

One thing I'm not packing (but I do have spares for) are main leafs for the springs. The spares are holding up the parts Jeep so they aren't easy to access.

I bet that we could weld a broken main leaf if we pre-heated in the campfire coals and then put it back near the fire to slowly cool.

 

[timsresort]

I bet that we could weld a broken main leaf if we pre-heated in the campfire coals and then put it back near the fire to slowly cool.

That would be an experiment for another day.

 

[Fireball]

That would be an experiment for another day.

Maybe next week!

 

[Fireball]

Post Rubicon summary and trail damage report.

Pictures will follow in additional posts, but here's the text summary first.

Fails:

• The vintage aluminum sliders were total junk. I thought they we would get some damage, but wow. Oh well, I've got a bunch of body repair to do now, but it was all rust and bondo anyway. Nothing of value was lost. I'm working on the plan to fix all this.
• The nuts holding the wires to the Maxi-fuse that came with the Painless harness worked loose and you would occasionally have no power whatsoever. We tightened them up that the first night and didn't have any more issues. They are double nutted now.
• The ignition switch started rotating in the dash making it hard to start the Jeep. I cranked the nut tight with a big Crescent Wrench the first night in camp and never had another issue.
• Even though I've driven around our property in low range during 100 degree weather with the temp staying at 180, it wanted to run more like 230 on the Rubicon. It never did boil over, but that was hotter than I was comfortable with. We ended up running a lot of the trail with the heater on full blast in 85 degree weather to help cool the engine. Putting the hood on the roof the second day (Roadkill style) dropped them temp a good 15 degrees and we didn't need to run the heater at all after that. The easy fix for this is replacing the flex fan with a factory 7-blade fan I have. I originally had it on the Jeep, but took it off because I didn't like the noise. I'm also going to vent the hood and have a couple ideas that should look OK.
• My skid plate for clutch/brake pedal shaft was a fail. With the whole weight of the Jeep repeatedly pounding on it, it folded like a cheap lawn chair. This is an easy fix. I need to cut the outer portion off an rebuild it much stronger with more gusseting.
• The battery twisted in the tray and contacted the alternator fan. Not enough to penetrate the case, but definitely not ideal. This is an easy fix by modifying the tray so the battery can't rotate.
• Fuel pump was a fail. The one that was on the Jeep finally had enough in the Big Sluice. At first I thought it was vapor lock, but it wasn't starting even with all the fuel lines cool to the touch after sitting for over an hour. I had a new Delphi unit in my spare parts and swapping it in solved the problem. However... it created a new problem. With the new pump, the Jeep wants to flood out on uphills. You could literally see the gas dripping out of the boosters into the engine when you pulled the air cleaner. The issue seems to be the new fuel pump having enough pressure to overpower the float when the Jeep is pointed uphill. I lowered the float level to help and really leaned out the idle. With the AFR gauge, I could watch it and keep the engine from dying by playing with the throttle. That got us out of the trail on the last day. Thank goodness for the AFR gauge. Dealing with this issue made me look better than my skill level on Cadillac hill because I had to be on the gas it to keep it from dying. I had one eye on the hill, one eye on the AFR gauge, and one foot on the throttle. I ended up dispatching the hill in no time. The long term plan is fuel injection, but in the short term, it's getting a regulator, a return line, and a permanently installed electric pump I can simply turn on if the mechanical pump dies.
• If the suspension sat just one inch higher things would have been much easier. The ride quality of the springs was fantastic, so I think I'm going to disassemble and re-arch the existing springs.

Successes:

• The bulk of my skid plates worked great. There were several times their gentle taper let the Jeep slither over things it didn't really clear.
• The rear bumper was fantastic. It was smacked more times than I can count, but it protected the exhaust and rear corners of the body perfectly.
• The recovery points on both ends got tested and worked great.
• The winch/winch bumper also got tested and worked.
• The packing of tools/spare/gear worked well enough even with the spare and gas cans in the back. We camped comfortably and had more food/water than we needed. The only downside was that it was a bit of a yard sale when you needed the primary tool bag, the secondary tool bag, and the spares bag to fix something. It took a while to pack it all back in.
• With the old fuel pump, the carburetor was working fantastic at all angles. Adding a regulator should have it back to that behavior with the new pump.
• I really like the Kenda tires. Lots of traction, good rim protectors, no chunking.
• The selectable front locker is great. I would generally run with it off for better steering and turn it on at the big obstacles. There were several times where the Jeep was struggling would but drive right through when you turned on the locker.

Annoyances:

• The engine leaks oil and makes a smoke cloud over 2300 rpm. It's not an issue on the trail, but is annoying climbing the mountain pass roads to get to the trailhead. I need to yank it and change the gaskets/seals.
• The engine seems like it's down on power, so I need to check the rings and cam when I have it out. Again, not an issue on the trail, just on the road.
• The SM420 input bearing is making noise.
• The gear splits are too big on the SM420 for this engine on mountain roads. It was either screaming or lugging. I wished I had gears in the middle. I didn't add an overdrive when I built this because the axles are already 3.54:1. High gear in overdrive would be too high, and it's another thing to break. If I changed to 4:56 gears along with overdrive, that would give me a 3.42:1 high gear and a 101:1 low gear. Great gearing, however changing axle gears to go with the overdrive means new lockers (because of the carrier splits), new gears, and the overdrive. That's something like $4000 of stuff on a junky old Jeep and doesn't really make sense. But, having been on the trail, the current 79:1 crawl gear seems fine, so I might add an overdrive and use it as a splitter for the lower gears. Even if I never use it for high gear, it will help everywhere else. Adding an overdrive does mean more floor mods, and moving the muffler rearward.
• As noted above, the packing worked, but it could be more modular and easier to re-pack.

Overall, I'm really proud of this Jeep. Other than the fuel pump failure, it had no major issues that stopped it.

NOTHING prepares you for the Rubicon until you run it and it's amazing that something I built has what it takes.

Pictures to follow.