The Great Smaug

[campfire]

So only help I can really be is to say change the positive cable to 1/0 or 2/0 to get the absolute max amperage and voltage to the starter and don't use dinky ford solenoids get a nice big boat solenoid around a hundred amps for the wire going to the starter solenoid and use as big of wire as you can that's like 4 gage and fine strand wire. GM way under sized the wires.

Already swapped out positive and negative to 1/0 cables, both to the starter and the lines tying the batteries together. I also have the body power feeding off of the driver-side battery so that current isn't going through the starter wire anymore. Cranks way better now.

The starter solenoid wire is...umm...4 AWG? I think? I don't remember off the top of my head. But it's heavier than stock.

And the solenoid is rated for 1500amps, so we should be good on that front...

 

[campfire]

it doesn't sound like the starter has trouble turning the engine once it's actually connected.

It cranks faster than stock, but it's still hard to beat a gear-reduction 24V military starter. I'm sure Jeff knows what I mean...

 

[campfire]

After 3 trips and 3 hours spent at the parts store, I now own a radiator. And the pile of adapters required to make it mostly fit my plumbing system.

Tonight, after spending a couple hours modifying the truck to fit, I finally got it installed and tested,

It's definitely not a direct fit, but it's close enough that I think it will be fine. And the first successful test drive is always a great feeling, regardless of how big or small the project is!

 

[campfire]

Now it's time for me to finish up the sledgehammer project...

 

[campfire]

2 weeks and the truck is still going strong. Zero new issues, which is a pleasant surprise after a winter of sitting.

Incidentally, fuel prices have doubled since this truck got parked.

 

[82355]

Is it moving with you?

Martin

 

[campfire]

Is it moving with you?

Martin

Yes.

We periodically talk about selling it. We're tired of how clumsy it is on narrow, winding forest trails. Compared to Jeep guys, I hafta work a lot harder to keep my truck on the trail and away from obstacles. It could be replaced with a pair of smaller rigs. And I find more joy in building the truck than in actually driving it (the fun project work has been replaced with boring maintenance work).

So I wouldn't turn down a sufficiently generous offer. But, lacking such an offer, the truck is still here.

 

[campfire]

Plus, I'll need all that cargo capacity when I start packing...

 

[Blue85]

Yeah, hard to go backwards on cargo space. As the kids get bigger the added bedding, tents, etc will eclipse the reduced diapers and such.

 

[campfire]

Yeah, hard to go backwards on cargo space. As the kids get bigger the added bedding, tents, etc will eclipse the reduced diapers and such.

We never seem to need as much space as people expect. We just don't bring a 'normal' amount of stuff when we travel.

I mean...have you seen how small our daily driver is?

 

[campfire]

But seriously, a pair of small rigs could give us more cargo volume than a single burb, and in a more usable configuration.

The burb has 35 ft3 with all 3 seats up, 96 ft3 with 2 seats, and 144 ft3 with just the front seat.

A WJ, for comparison, has 39 ft3 with the back seat up, and 72 ft3 with the seat down.

So if I had one WJ with the seat up, and another WJ with the seat down, I'd have 7 seatbelts and 111 ft3 of cargo space. Whereas the burb would have 6 seatbelts and 96 ft3.

Both options feel massive compared to the 12 ft3 that we've been using in our daily driver.

 

[campfire]

The interior volume problem is really about sleeping arrangements, not a desire to carry more cargo. Splitting to two vehicles would also provide room for 2 dedicated platform beds rather than just the one we have now. Yes, we had all 5 of us camping inside the burb last summer, but it's only going to get more cramped as the family grows. So we're still tenting, even with the platform bed. I've thought about adding a fold-out bunk to the back. Open up the barn doors, fold out the bunk, and the truck magically becomes 4' longer. Like this:

That buys me a few feet, but it opens up a bunch of headaches regarding leaks. Can't have rain & mosquitoes getting inside my bedroom, eh?

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

I really liked our WJ, the v8 version was fun and ran well. We had a 4.5 inch long arm kit on it, it was a nice ride.

 

[Monty5150]

I always thought about building a small pop up. Build a real frame for it and set it on top. They can be had for a decent price used, and they have numerus sizes.

 

[folkenheath]

But seriously, a pair of small rigs could give us more cargo volume than a single burb, and in a more usable configuration.

The burb has 35 ft3 with all 3 seats up, 96 ft3 with 2 seats, and 144 ft3 with just the front seat.

A WJ, for comparison, has 39 ft3 with the back seat up, and 72 ft3 with the seat down.

So if I had one WJ with the seat up, and another WJ with the seat down, I'd have 7 seatbelts and 111 ft3 of cargo space. Whereas the burb would have 6 seatbelts and 96 ft3.

Both options feel massive compared to the 12 ft3 that we've been using in our daily driver.

Why stop there? A Zuki samurai has 28 cu ft of cargo room, 4 of those would give you 8 seats and 112 cu ft of cargo space and fit through smaller trails yet. And you could build four rigs instead of one or two!

Just kidding of course. Jeeps are pretty cool, the 4.0L I6 is a good engine, Jeep is an American icon, no doubt about it.

 

[campfire]

Why stop there? A Zuki samurai has 28 cu ft of cargo room, 4 of those would give you 8 seats and 112 cu ft of cargo space and fit through smaller trails yet. And you could build four rigs instead of one or two!

Just kidding of course. Jeeps are pretty cool, the 4.0L I6 is a good engine, Jeep is an American icon, no doubt about it.

Hahaha! The motivating factor here is that Wifey wants her own rig, and she wants it to not be always dragging its tail like the burb does. If I had 3 wives I could use your suggestion. But I don't. Thankfully.

 

[campfire]

I always thought about building a small pop up. Build a real frame for it and set it on top. They can be had for a decent price used, and they have numerus sizes.

We've done a few practice runs with the pickup trailer, just to try the combination.

It's fine at a standard campground, but I haven't yet thought it was worth the headache for an offroad trip. Most pop-ups are wider than my burb (which is already too wide), and we make a lot of tight U-turns while exploring. So a trailer would need to earn its keep. I see potential in a narrow, short offroad-oriented trailer like what @r3dd0g built.

 

[shady]

WJ's are like a coin flip from what I've found.
I've known about a dozen people that had one, and it seemed they either worked flawlessly, or were complete lemons.
None were just a regular fix something here and there.
They either never broke, or broke ALL the time.

None of these people went off roading.

But the XJ if you have a 97 or older, almost never breaks.

Just my findings through friends and coworkers.

 

[Monty5150]

We've done a few practice runs with the pickup trailer, just to try the combination.

It's fine at a standard campground, but I haven't yet thought it was worth the headache for an offroad trip. Most pop-ups are wider than my burb (which is already too wide), and we make a lot of tight U-turns while exploring. So a trailer would need to earn its keep. I see potential in a narrow, short offroad-oriented trailer like what @r3dd0g built.

They make narrow pop ups, my neighbor down the road has one. Maybe they build them skinny for midgets?? A slide in truck camper in the back could be interesting if you could get enough weight onto the tongue.

 

[Joel Wilson]

It cranks faster than stock, but it's still hard to beat a gear-reduction 24V military starter. I'm sure Jeff knows what I mean...

I can't remember if it was the Komatsus or the Cat engine in our transfer that had gear reduction, but sweet mother of all things holy did it crank that engine fast. It may have been both cause I know the original starter in the Jimmy weighed more than those gear reduction ones. Damn they were fast.