Won’t look very pretty when that front end is crushed by a rollover those jeeps can get pretty tippy if you don’t attack anything straight-on , that guard will protect against deer/elk crashes too
Every spicer drive shaft I built or repaired has 2alignment arrows stamped on them One on the the slip stub One on the slip yoke Line the 2 arrows up if the yokes in front and rear dont line up it wasnt built correctly or is twisted ( unless its a steering shaft which the arrows still go together but the front and rear or top and bottom yokes might not necessarily line up )
I recently sold an '89 YJ with a 258 I6 4.2. That Carter 2bbl was absolute garbage. I initially upgraded to a FoMoCo 2bbl, and it worked better, but was still weaksauce. I ended up installing a Howell 4.3 TBI, and ecu. That really woke the AMC up.
16:13 - when I did my apprenticeship we were taught NOT to drive the U-joint caps in with a vice against the other side of the tail shaft connection, as this may crush that connection slightly. Instead, drive it in against the yoke on that side of tail shaft connection. Crushing tail shaft connection ends leads to imbalance.
Pretty much what is ubiquitously left out on any video or chat having to do with customizing the 258 is the fact that hydraulic valve lash is set by push rod length. It doesn't work like old v-8s were you get the play out of the pushrod and then tighten the rocker down 1/2 turn to pre-load the lifter. In fact, the pedestal mounting of the rockers on the 258 just bottoms out on the rocker bolt boss and you torque the bolt to me meeger 28 lbs. (5/16th bolt) But if you change any part of the valve train or change block to head dimensions, you have to check that your pushrod length is correct. I've noticed that comp cams 258 camshafts have a slightly smaller diameter base circle than stock spec cams. That's a major problem if you don't catch it. And if you deck the block or surface the head, that changes pre-load length. AMC was smart enough in their engineering to allow a wide enough spec to allow for a couple of full overhauls requiring decking and surfacing. Or changing the valve seat has to be taken into account. Of the valve is shallower or more proud in the new seat, pre-load lash is effected. But even back in the day, AMC had 3-4 different pushrod lengths at the hands of the assemblers as they put the engine together - as they found the optimum pre-load length. Having varying lengths allowed for any manufacturing inconsistency to be worked through. I read the various lengths were color coded. You could potentially have an engine with 3-4 different length pushrods over the spread of 12 pushrods, depending on the assembler and tolerances. Which is why it is super critical when tearing down a 258 valve train to keep everything in order. #1 valve, #1 rocker, #1 pushrod, and #1 lifter all need to stay together upon reassembly. Some allege that 258s are a little noisy in the valve train. Not if the pre-load is done right. If a 258 is noisy, someone put it together wrong. And I believe Manly makes various lengths for near stock applications. But the roller rockers they used on this featured build preclude all of that. Just like on a Chevy small block, you can take out the slop and wrench in the pre-load. It's just that roller rockers are pricey and usually require a taller valve cover. I say all this just to keep it all in mind if you want to hot rod a 258. If all you do is change the cam; check the pre-load!!!!!!
