As much as I love working the the old ’61 J2000, sometimes you have to fix your broken junk.
Bob needed love. It sounds like a soap opera lead-in. What’s a “Bob”?
- It’s been years since I checked the diff fluid. I know it still has some because it keeps leaking slowly out the ends of the axle…
- The radiator has been losing a cup of coolant every time it heats up. No steam but it’s 30 yrs old and it’s the old plastic/brass mix. They are notorious about leaking at the seams.
- Last time I looked at the oil I think Guiness is a pale ale in comparison.
- My steering has gotten whiny and … stiffer. Do people actually change power steering fluid? What about actually putting grease in some of the zerks in the tie rod ends? I think I put some in there after the millennia flipped…maybe.
- I’ve changed brakes in the last decade and the brakes seem to work. Mostly on the right side… but they do work.
- The last time I had someone work on it … they sent me home with a list of “did you know that xxx is going wrong on your Jeep?” I did know. I wasn’t driving it much and I just needed to “make it through this winter because I’d work on it next year!”
- “What’s that noise”… when I started moving after unlocking my manual hubs the last time out on the trail (yes, I know… there is that one that’s cracked but it still works… and yeah, it looks like water got in there last winter… or 2). Yep, last time out I had to get most of the parts (shrapnel really) of the manual hub out of the data 44 hub and put a cap over it to get home….
Fine. It’s time.
Put down the fun toy and prep Bob for Winter. It’s best to do maintenance when the weather is good.
Many months ago I ordered the upgraded Griffin Radiator for Bob. It took a while to come in. By then I was engaged in life for a bit. Let’s do this. Here’s what needs sweeping:
- Oil change
- PS fluid change
- Diff fluid change
- Radiator change
- Radiator hoses change
- Thermostat change (at that point why not?!)
- Grease for zerks
- Bearings need grease packing
- Replacement bearing for the one the manual hub maybe might have possibly dumped some shrapnel into (there didn’t seem to be much shrapnel in the grease… but that’s not ideal)
- New manual hubs
So I enlist the help of a friend and we do the thing.
I noticed when I put it together that the radiator was a bit close to the fan. Like 1/8″ apart. Maybe it’s ok? I mean, Griffin does good things! I’ll give it a go and see where we land.
It warmed up fine, ran fine. all seems ok. Whoa this thing really steers!
Drove it to wor….”shing!” … 5 miles down the road on the way to work… fan hits brand new radiator.
I’m thinking “oh man, I got this from Summit Racing like 10 months ago.. crap… crap crap crap”…
So I installed it on Sunday, I rek’d it on Monday. On Thursday I figured I had calmed down enough to call… because it’s not going to be a great call.
On my side of the ledger, I had just ordered $400+ of LED lights and $800+ radiator/fan combo for the truck project…so maybe maybe. On their side there have been many many Griffin of these upgraded radiators that didn’t get rek’d.
I spoke to … let’s call him “Brother”… because brother, I was happy it worked out!
Brother tells me after 1/2 hour he has been on the phone with Griffin and “they’ve never had an issue with this radiator ever before”. That’s hard to believe but I believe it. This is the 3rd one I’ve installed. This is the upgraded YJ one, it’s thicker than stock.
They stand behind it. They warrant the radiator. I get the stock replacement instead of a direct 1:1 replacement and they agree to refund the difference…and send me a shipping label for shipping the old core back.
Boy howdy. I did NOT expect that level of service. Thank you Summit. Thank you Brother. Thank you Griffin.
The following Thursday the replacement shows up on my porch. Wow.
All better.
Bob is ready for the winter. All I’m really out is a bit of coolant… most of it on the road while driving home. Derp.
Don’t forget to recycle fluids.
Maybe I should check the other side’s manual hub. Pssshhht … it’s fine.
wrenchingseason 