You bought what?? 88 Eagle Wagon - Overlander Build

[amcfool1]

hi, on the brake lines, sometimes a very small pipe wrench works, good luck, gz

[amarshall]

I haven't tried the pipe wrench or heat, hmmm.  Either way, one of the nuts are pretty well rounded as I was trying a vise grip.  Probably should have stopped and taken a few breaths.

I 100% agree that it needs to be done right, for safety.  I think it will require cutting the steel line, adding a new nut, and re-flaring the line.  All things that are possible in my shop, but lack of time may mean it's better to ask a pro.  I really want this thing to keep moving along, and it's still driveable right now.

[mudkicker715]

Holy crap you mean those 8" pipe wrenches a=e useful. I probably seen smaller. Awesome tip

[amarshall]

Success!  I had soaked everything with PB Blaster last night, and it's had a day to stew.  Not sure that made any difference, but what the heck.  I took a file to my vise grips and sharpened up the teeth, they were pretty beat up before.  I managed to get a good solid set with the vise grips, and whacked it a couple times with a hammer to get a sharp blow.  It busted loose finally.  All this with a 5 year old breathing down my neck asking "whatcha doing dad?"  Only one side left, but I feel good about it.

[mudkicker715]

That sounds like a picture of the quarter. Glad to here you got it. A sharp locking pliers is awesome.

[AMC1]

In one of those rear wheel pics I see that it is missing the automatic brake adjuster. You probably corrected that by now but I thought I'd just mention it.

[eaglefreek]

That might be the only eagle in south Florida.    What part of south Florida, if I may ask? I spent my first 37 years in the Pompano Beach area. I don't miss it one bit. 

[amarshall]

In one of those rear wheel pics I see that it is missing the automatic brake adjuster. You probably corrected that by now but I thought I'd just mention it.

I feel like the brakes are the project that will never end! The adjuster levers are both in place, must have been a bad angle in that photo.  Thanks for raising the concern though, it made me double check everything and find that one of the adjuster wheels was frozen.

At this point I've replaced the front hoses, swapped the shoes in the rear so the primary shoes are forward, and rebuilt the parking brake system completely. All that's left is the rear rubber hose, and I'm eyeballing that connection on top of the axle.  It's pretty tight up in there, so I may wait on that hose until I raise the rear with an add-a leaf.  We'll see, but it's on my checklist so won't get forgotten.

In the meantime, I dropped the trans pan and replaced the filter.  Wow, I had forgotten what a mess that job is.  I'll be cleaning trans fluid out of my ears for weeks.  But the trans was leaking pretty heavily from the pan, so I'm hoping that is taken care of.

Thanks to everybody for your interest and encouragement.  Hopefully it gets a little more interesting for you guys soon.  I'm gearing up for the lift and some other fun stuff.

[amarshall]

That might be the only eagle in south Florida.    What part of south Florida, if I may ask? I spent my first 37 years in the Pompano Beach area. I don't miss it one bit. 

I'm in Coral Springs, a stone's throw from Pompano Beach.  Yeah, not much call for these vehicles down here.  I'm used to wheeling in Georgia & North Carolina (mud), and down here is pretty flat and swampy.  I'm planning a cross country trip with a buddy, and the Eagle project is specifically for that "expedition".  SHould be a blast, if I ever get finished with the build!

[Prafeston]

I know we are going off topic, but I had my honeymoon in Pompano Beach.

Marshall, the cross country trip sounds epic. Pics and videos when it happens!

[eaglefreek]

That might be the only eagle in south Florida.    What part of south Florida, if I may ask? I spent my first 37 years in the Pompano Beach area. I don't miss it one bit. 

I'm in Coral Springs, a stone's throw from Pompano Beach.  Yeah, not much call for these vehicles down here.  I'm used to wheeling in Georgia & North Carolina (mud), and down here is pretty flat and swampy.  I'm planning a cross country trip with a buddy, and the Eagle project is specifically for that "expedition".  SHould be a blast, if I ever get finished with the build!

I used to work in Coral Springs and have a few friends that still live there. Do you already have the trip planned? Just curious of your destination(s).

[amarshall]

We've been down here for almost 2 years, work brought us to Florida. It took some adjustment to get used to the heat but we're mostly ok now. Working in the garage is really nice this time of year, but tough in the summer.

The trip I'm hoping to do is called the Trans America Trail, and it's an off-road route from East Tennessee to the Pacific in Oregon. It's mostly farm roads and forest service trials. There is a very well produced Land Rover video on YouTube that shows their expedition in a bunch of LR4's. After a little liquid encouragement one day, my buddy convinced me that we should do the trail. I started looking for cheap Cherokees, but the Eagle caught my eye online and next thing you know I owned it! I think the Eagle will be capable of 99% of the trail, and the 1% should make for good stories.  Timing is still not set, but hopefully I'll be ready by the spring. We will probably need to tackle it in multiple sections for vacation purposes. It takes several weeks top do it all at once.

On a happy note I replaced that last brake hose in the rear. Had to take the u-bolts off the right side spring pack to get access. I was nervous they'd snap but they broke free fairly well. I need to find a cheap Cherokee add-a-leaf kit for the rear lift, looks like that job is getting closer.

[Prafeston]

From what I understand you can take the main leaf from an XJ spring pack and replace it with the main leaf from the Eagle and keep the rest of the Eagle springs to get a lift in the back. Cheaper option if you can find someone parting out an XJ.

[eaglefreek]

Keep us posted on the trip. I no longer have an Eagle, but if you don't mind a tag along in an Isuzu Trooper and if the timing works out, I may be interested with the first leg.  I'm not inviting myself and my feelings won't be hurt if you just want to do the trip with your friend.  I hope to have a winch bumper installed by Spring, but my "new" property is taking all my time and money.

[amarshall]

From what I understand you can take the main leaf from an XJ spring pack and replace it with the main leaf from the Eagle and keep the rest of the Eagle springs to get a lift in the back. Cheaper option if you can find someone parting out an XJ.

Good tip!  I'm looking locally for a yard with XJ's anyway.  I have a set of 4 XJ wheels, but would like one more for a spare.  On the springs, I'm reading online that new U-Bolts are really needed.  News to me, but I don't want things to come apart!  I've read your thread about mild lifts about 100 times (Thanks for that!), trying to let it all soak in.  Still trying to figure out some good/cheap/longer shocks for front and rear.

Keep us posted on the trip. I no longer have an Eagle, but if you don't mind a tag along in an Isuzu Trooper and if the timing works out, I may be interested with the first leg.

The more the merrier!  I've also got a couple buddies from Nashville who are talking about tagging along on their dual-sport motorcycles.  The trail was really designed for and by bikers anyway.  Not sure when we'll start, but watch this space! I may get crazy and try to put in a NP242 transfer case, would be happy of any advice - I see from your signature that you had an Eagle with one.