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Tire Rack Review

Tire Rack Review

I buy almost all my tires online. The latest exception being my Maxxis Buckshots that I bought through a local wholesaler. I have my own tire mounting machine and a balancer so I just order them and install them myself.

Tire Rack has given me by far the best service. They have always delivered the tires on time and in good condition. They usually arrive via UPS and my driver knows to stack them by the door of the shop. He still gets confused when I get five tires instead of four.

The latest set of tires delivered to me from Tire Rack was Jenny’s Dick Cepek Crushers. She is an internet bargain hunter but also shops by reputation. She was able to get the Dick Cepeks for just a few dollars more than bargain tires and they were delivered in time for a very important off roading trip.

I have also purchased tire and wheel combos from Tire Rack. I bought a set of OZ wheels and Yokohama tires for my Eagle Talon. They arrived nicely packaged to protect the wheels from scratches. The lugs and centering rings were included. Since I purchased the set, they mounted and balanced the tires for free.

I have bought several sets of Michelin tires from Tire Rack as well as the Yokohama Geolanders that I just put on my Suburban. They always have very competitive pricing and excellent shipping rates. In fact, when comparing prices, I noticed that some places quoted a lower price for the tires but the shipping and handling charges were outrageous.

I ma not sure how they do it but Tire Rack ships faster and cheaper than any other tire store I have tried. The only way to get tires faster would be to drive to the distributor and pick them up myself. And that is only if there is a local distributor.

I have become a big fan of Kumho tires ever since I got a set of their Rally Racing tires. I have run these on my Cherokees and my son has a set now on his Cherokee. Tire Rack has much lower prices on the Kumho tires than the local tire stores and they carry a larger selection of sizes.

If you are in the market for tires for your Off Road Jeep, your street SUV, your sports car or autocross car, I highly recommend Tire Rack. Please share your experience in dealing with Tire Rack in the comments.

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Transfer case replacement – Jeep Cherokee

Replacing a Jeep Cherokee Transfer case

Yesterday a friend called saying her transfer case was leaking. I was expecting a seal leak but it turned out that there was a hole in the case itself.

I had also planned to drive it to the shop but with the fluid rapidly exiting the case, I decided to trailer it. When I got there with the trailer, the ramps were frozen to the trailer bed. It took some banging to get them loose.

With her Jeep in the shop, I picked it up and inspected further. There was indeed a hole in the transfer case. It looked like it was punched from the inside. Although, it made no strange noises when I drove it on the trailer.

I began by draining the rest of the fluid. Then I supported the transmission. Next I removed the front and rear drive shafts. An 8MM hex wrench was all that was needed.

I then unbolted the transmission mount using a 13MM socket. Then I dropped the cross member by removing the 15MM bolts and nuts that hold it up. That gave me access to the transmission mount that is held to the transmission by two 18MM bolts. These bolts have thread locking compound on them and are hard to turn all the way out. I inspected the mount which is often broken in high mileage vehicles like this one but it was fine. Next I slipped the exhaust mount off the tab.

Rather than mess with the shift linkage bushing in the cold, I unbolted the shift lever from the transfer case. I selected 2wd and used a 9/16 wrench to remove the nut and washer. I carefully lowered the linkage out of the way.

Next I removed the speedometer drive by unbolting the 13MM retaining bolt and removing the clip. I left the sender attached to the wiring harness. I pulled the harness away from the mounting tab on top of the case. I unplugged the mode light switch and moved the wiring out of the way.

Next I unbolted the six 9/16 nuts that hold the case to the transmission. Five are accessed using a box end wrench. The last one is behind the transfers case shift linkage bracket and has to be accessed using a 9/16 socket and a long extension. The two near the exhaust pipe take some patience to get off unless you remove the exhaust pipe. Since this one was in good shape and welded in place, I left it alone. Lowering the case down helps get access to these two nuts.

With the six nuts off, the transfer case slides easily off the transmission. I then prepared the replacement case to go back in by putting it in 4wd. This allowed me to rotate the front yoke and make the input splines turn to line them up. With the replacement case in place I started a nut to hold in there.

Next I tightened all six nuts. I then reinstalled the shift linkage, wiring harness and speedometer drive. I then reinstalled the front drive shaft as it is easier to access with the cross member out of the way. I filled the transfer case with fluid before putting up the rear drive shaft as it is easier to get the bottle in place with out the drive shaft in the way. The 231 holds a little more than a quart of ATF.

I then put up the exhaust bracket and transmission mount. Again, these bolts are hard to turn due to the thread locking compound on them. I then put up the cross member and bolted it to the body before lowering the weight of the transmission onto the cross member. I then reinstalled the four nuts that hold the transmission mount to the cross member.

Then, I reinstalled the rear drive shaft. I checked for leaks and loose bolts and then lowered the Jeep for a test drive. The replacement transfer case worked fine and shifted to all gears with out adjusting the linkage.

I plan to pull the broken transfer case apart to see what caused the hole. I will post an update when I do that.
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Ball Joint Replacement Jeep Cherokee XJ

This weekend I replaced the driver’s side ball joints in Jenny’s Jeep Cherokee. Ever since our last trip to Harlan, she has had a very loud and very annoying creak in her Jeep when she turned the wheel.

At first I thought it was the track bar because there was some slop at the frame end joint. Also the track bar bracket was loose where it mounts to the body. However with both of these problems corrected, she still had a creak.

It took so me time but we eventually tracked it tot eh ball joints. Most likely the lower joint because that one does not have a grease fitting. To find the squeak, I had her turn the wheel back and forth while I listened underneath. I could tell it was coming from the knuckle. I put my hand on the knuckle and could feel a vibration when it made the noise.

Using the procedure I wrote in the Ball Joint Replacement article, we replaced the drivers side ball joints. I used the hammer more this time and managed not to bend my Harbor Freight Ball Joint press.

With the wheel back on the Jeep is much quieter. There are still some noises but these are more in the normal range for a lifted Jeep XJ with well over 200,000 miles.
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Power Steering Pump – Jeep Cherokee

My power steering pump started growling at Harlan. When I backed my Cherokee out of the barn last week, there was a huge puddle of power steering fluid on the floor. At first I was not sure it was from my Jeep but after cleaning it up and parking the Jeep back inside again there was another puddle of fluid.

While testing the new trails Saturday, I lost all steering assist for a moment and tagged a tree. I decided to put Scuffy away for the day and let Princess play by her self.

I checked the lines and the reservoir for leaks and found none. It must have been leaking through the pump seal.

I have a 94 parts Jeep but the part number for the power steering pump is different for the 88. I looked at the pump and it appeared to have the same mounting bracket. The reservoir is visibly different but the pump itself looked the same. But they have different part numbers.

In the process of removing the pump from the parts donor XJ, I broke off the return nipple. It was very cold and the hose stuck. The brittle plastic snapped before the hose slipped off.

I removed the reservoir from the 94 pump and inspected the connection point. It mounts in a hole sealed with an O ring. The tank is held on by a couple of tapered clips that come off easily with a hammer and punch.

I removed the pump from my 88 Jeep and noticed that the mounting bracket was exactly the same. The pressure hose looked the same. Only the routing of the return hose was different.

Since the donor reservoir was broken anyway, I decided to see if the tanks would swap. I removed the tank from my old pump and saw that it had the same O ring connection. I simply installed my old tank on the donor pump. I even used the bracket from the donor since it was easier to leave it assembled to the pump.

With it all bolted back up, I filled the reservoir with fluid and started it up. There seem to be no leaks. There was a bit of fluid slung off the belt but I hope that was from the old leak. I will give it a full test run later.

I was very happy to have saved $170 that a new pump would have cost. I was also happy not to have to remove and replace the pulley.

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Axle U Joint

Lately I noticed the roar in Janice’s Cherokee was getting louder. The rear wheel bearings have need a change for a while but I keep putting it off.

On the lift I noticed that the right front axle U joint was loose. That was making more noise than the rear wheel bearings so I decided to tackle it first. Also I am very familiar with this job.

I began by removing the wheel and brake caliper. Then I removed the center nut and washer. I then pulled the three hub mounting bolts.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how easily the hub came out. Most of the time I have to hammer these out but this one can out in my hand.

I used a support to hold the axle up while I pulled the axle shaft out. This reduced the amount of gear oil lost from the differential.

I then move took the axle shaft to the vise to swap out the joint. This is a job I have also done many times as evidenced by all the roller bearings on the floor behind my vise.

This joint proved very stubborn to extract. I pressed and hammered and finally got one cap off. I then went to press the cross back through and the other cap must have gotten crooked because it jammed and the cap broke rather than come out.

I used a combination of hammering, pressing and using a punch on the anvil to finally extract the broken cap. The other two caps from the stub axle came out relatively easy after that.

I put the new caps on the anvil and tapped them in to the axle. Then I put in the other two caps. I used the press to move caps in enough to put the C clips on.

I slipped the axle back in and reinstalled the hub. Then I put the rotor back on and the brake caliper. With the wheel back on and the lugs torqued, Janice took it for a test drive and noticed that is was much quieter.

Now I still have to do the rear wheel bearings. I have everything on the shelf, I just have to schedule some time.
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