First Time Road Driving My FSJ!

[Harry Dawg]

Alright y'all.

Today marked a significant milestone in this build. I got to drive it to and from work for the first time.

I've driven it around the neighborhood, but never long or fast enough to get a real feel for it's manners.

I have been working on this truck for over 5 years now, so this was a pretty awesome day for me.

Inital notes are it performed better than expected, but still have some kinks to work out. For those interested I made some notes, mainly for my reference as I go to work on some of this stuff.

-Temps stayed right at 190 the whole way to and from work.
-Idle was pretty good. I could get it a bit smoother though. I need to raise the float and back the curb idle screw off.
- I think one of these Facebook marketplace mud tires has some severe runout. It bounces you around until about 30 MPH.
-Didn't want to catch 3rd every time, it would just grind, but it would if I shifted firmly but not forcefully. I think I just need to lengthen the shifter linkage an inch or so. ( I was monkeying around with them as I was getting stuck in reverse and 1st. Fixed that, but now 3rd is out of alignment)
- Brakes work great. They will put you through the windshield they are so touchy lol.
- I also added power steering so I could get a drop pitman arm and hopefully correct my turning radius after lift. That works good. I can turn it with one finger and it's a factory Eaton Pump with Saginaw box.
-Closed knuckle Dana 44 combined with the mud tires doesn't turn worth a rip. I had to do a 3 point turn on road because I couldn't cut hard enough, and take a different way in to avoid the tight turns in the down town area. My buddy has an open knuckle passenger side drop out of a Cherokee or something that he said I could have. I think that needs to get done if this thing is going to be a road driver.
-Actually tracks fairly straight for what it is. Didn't have any issues with it wandering all over the road.
- Need to clean clean oil and grime off the back of the block and manifold. Whatever is all over it smells like burning chewing tobacco.






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[Yeller]

Woohoo! Huge day. Has to be satisfying


I’m going to have to make time to stop in and say hi on my next run to ATL

[will e]

Congratulations. Always an exciting moment to get it on the road again and, after 5 years, it must be really exciting.

[sierrablue]

Love that feeling! Now to get to the point where you're spending more time driving it than working on it...

I'd say or filling it with gas but it's a Jeep...unless you make it electric that ain't gonna happen

[Harry Dawg]

Thanks y'all.

Yes, very exciting but also a bit nerve racking driving a rig you put together on a public road lol. I went through last night and retorqued anything I had worked on just to be thorough.

Heck yeah. Come on by next time you're in ATL. Visitors get me out from behind the computer, and you can check out the rig! It's a win-win lol.

It does guzzle some gas, but I have never dreamed of EV swapping it. The 327 is a great motor, and I plan on keeping this motor if possible (dependant on parts availability at time of rebuild).



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[Stuka]

Thats awesome!!

[baileynb]

Awesome.

[Yeller]

Thanks y'all.

Yes, very exciting but also a bit nerve racking driving a rig you put together on a public road lol. I went through last night and retorqued anything I had worked on just to be thorough.

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You just need to do more of them

Now you need to build one in 12 weeks from scratch, drive it out of the shop, onto a trailer, haul it across the country and drive it to some extremely remote locations that also includes public roads, talk about ready to throw up for about 5 days, then it settles in that it will be ok about 1 day before you head back across the country

I will make time to make the visit happen, hopefully it doesn’t take me forever

[Harry Dawg]

I can't even imagine!

I never understood how people get rigs built in such short time frames. Even if I spend 10 hours a day in the garage, I always get hung up on a hard to find part or something that sets me back a week.

Probably going to take a break from building rigs after this one is finished. I have been grinding it out on my Cheyenne as well as the CJ7... too many pans on the burner right now lol.

[will e]

I can't even imagine!

I never understood how people get rigs built in such short time frames. Even if I spend 10 hours a day in the garage, I always get hung up on a hard to find part or something that sets me back a week.

Probably going to take a break from building rigs after this one is finished. I have been grinding it out on my Cheyenne as well as the CJ7... too many pans on the burner right now lol.

I tossed together my Cherokee (initial build) in a couple of months. Bought it. Stripped it for painting. Swapped engine/transmission/transfer case (all from other FSJ's). Did SOA/SF. Then drove it 600 to Ouray and back.
But I had most of June to do the work after it came back from paint. It was 2009 and my employer had mandatory non-paid time off. I was also lucky that almost the entire month it never got over 100 degrees. But, whew, a lot of time spent on the rig for sure, it was a marathon but I had a plan and a doner FSJ.

To be fair, that wasn't 'the end of the build'. The next 14 years continued to be a work in progress although I am running out of things to do to it.

[Yeller]

I’ve been told I don’t sleep lol. If I’m really into a build it’s not uncommon for me to get 60 hours a week into it and that’s still working 60ish hours at the day job lol. But I also tend to tear into stuff with enough confidence to fill a colosseum, it usually pays off and things come together quickly lol. But I also do customer projects by the hour and I get those by being efficient. However with my work schedule I’m doing fewer and fewer of those.

[candymancan]

I can't even imagine!

I never understood how people get rigs built in such short time frames. Even if I spend 10 hours a day in the garage, I always get hung up on a hard to find part or something that sets me back a week.

Probably going to take a break from building rigs after this one is finished. I have been grinding it out on my Cheyenne as well as the CJ7... too many pans on the burner right now lol.

My issue is money... but once i had the funds.. and the parts.. i rebuilt my cabin floors. Entire bed and bed supports.. frame.. etc in just a month. But ive had it for 5 months.