Jeep JL Power Adder

(Narrator)>> Today on XOR our Jeep JL gets a power adder that will blow your mind. Plus we polish off our drivetrain by adding strength and new gears to the rear axle, right now on XOR.

(Eliza)>> Hey guys, welcome to XOR. Today the JL is getting some much needed upgrades to push these larger tires, but we'll get to that later.

(Jeremy)>> That's right. We've got big plans for the power plant that's under the hood of our JL.

(Eliza)>> Yep, we've got Nick in from Edelbrock. Can you tell us what we've got in store for the Ruby?

(Nick)>> Sure Eliza. What we have here is the first production Jeep JL supercharger kit from Edelbrock. On the table I laid out all the key components we're gonna use to install this on your Jeep JL.

(Eliza)>> How does it work?

(Nick)>> Good question. So this is the heart of the system. It's a 13-20 t-v-s head unit that pulls air from the factory air box and forces it down into the engine to boost power.

(Eliza)>> How much power are we talking about?

(Nick)>> It's gonna take that Jeep JL from 285 horsepower up to 375. That's a gain of 90 horsepower.

(Eliza)>> Wow, so what does that mean for off roaders?

(Nick)>> Funny you mention that. We recently had our prototype Jeep JL out at Moab, and we were testing, and tuning, and tweaking the calibration to make sure that our Jeep, your Jeep, and other enthusiasts' Jeeps are going to work perfectly in the environment where they drive them.

(Eliza)>> So cool! Alright so I sent you the e-c-u. What's the installation process?

(Nick)>> Well I brought it back for you. Here it is right here, and the first thing we're gonna do is re-install it underneath the hood.

(Eliza)>> Let's get going. The e-c-u is overnighted out to Edelbrock to get modified to enable programming when the supercharger is installed.

(Jeremy)>> Well what do you say we make this easier on all of us and get this thing lower to the ground?

(Eliza)>> That would help me out most.

[ drill spinning ]

(Jeremy)>> Now that we can get into the engine bay easier we'll start by removing all of this plastic. There goes that screw. So you ever got to pull apart a brand new truck?

(Eliza)>> Yep a couple of times.

(Jeremy)>> This is a first for me.

(Eliza)>> The next thing we take off is the air intake.

(Jeremy)>> Tubing pieces down. You took off the e-g-r valve. Now for more, more, and more bolts. [ ratchet clicking ]

(Jeremy)>> So Eliza do you want to grab the intake and I'll make sure all they hoses stay this way.

(Eliza)>> Okay.

(Jeremy)>> Hopefully it comes off once.

(Eliza)>> Hopefully I can stay on my crate too.

Okay, not terrible.

(Jeremy)>> Got it?

(Eliza)>> Yeah.

(Jeremy)>> Look at all that fancy stuff down there. That's what makes it go vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom.

(Eliza)>> As we made headway the next big player to be removed is the alternator. Freedom!

(Jeremy)>> Then we'll get to work on the lower intake manifold. Lower intake.

(Eliza)>> Here she is.

(Jeremy)>> With all the plastic removed up front we'll move on to the heat exchanger. Well Nick disassembly went pretty smooth. You've got a whole bunch of pre-made parts to make assembly go even smoother right?

(Nick)>> Right, so we include all pre-formed hoses, plug and play wiring harnesses, and pre-cut brackets for an o-e fit and finish.

(Jeremy)>> Fantastic, now this is a heat exchanger. What are the advantages of having a heat exchanger on a supercharger?

(Nick)>> Well a supercharger compresses air, and when you compress air you heat it up. So we use this water pump to circulate coolant between this air to water intercooler system and the heat exchanger to cool down that air charge so we can make more power.

(Jeremy)>> Fantastic, that'll definitely help us when we're out on the trails. Well I guess the first step is to put the heat exchanger on.

(Nick)>> Let's go.

(Jeremy)>> Let's do it. The heat exchanger gets mounted to the core support. Then goes on with just a couple of bolts. Next Nick will install the heat exchanger pump. It mounts to the pump for the steering. Once installed we can run our tubing, making sure to use the provided clamps to snug it up. To finish off the loop Nick runs the final hoses to where the intercooler will sit. He'll add the reservoir. Then connect the return line, and run it down to the pump for the heat exchanger. If you guys drive a truck, haul gear, or pull a trailer then the Bolt series of locks are for you. Bolt lets you set your locks to your truck, your trailer, and your equipment to just one key. The best part of all of that is it's your ignition key. Simply insert your vehicle's ignition key into the lock cylinder, turn it once, and the lock mechanically and permanently learns your key code. Bolt Lock says that their locks are nearly impossible to pick, and with a wide variety of locks they're gonna make sure that your stuff stays secure.

(Eliza)>> Murphy's law says that at the end of a good day trailing you'll probably end up with a gash on your side wall, or the trail is so uneven and ground so loose you can't get a jack underneath your rig to swap it out. One more scenario. You're already on your spare. So what should you do if you find yourself in this kind of situation? Well having a tire repair kit can help you get off the trail and limp your way to the nearest repair shop.

Now rule of thumb is to only patch or repair your tire within the treaded area, and that's a good rule that any reputable tire repair shop would follow, but if you're in a bind and you need the tire to get off the trail I'm gonna show you how you can temporarily repair sidewall so that you can make it off the trail. Now I have to reiterate that this is a last resort kind of repair and should only be used to get you over to the trail head. Alright now that the disclaimer is out of the way let's talk about what we'll need. Today I'll be using this tire repair kit as it has everything that I need to repair the tire. It's got a reamer, it's got a tire plug insertion tool. It has valve stems, valve stem cores, lubricant, and some pliers so I can take out whatever it is that's in our sidewall. First you'll need to find the hole, or the object that's still lodged in the tire. Be sure to wear your safety glasses because there's still pressure built up in that tire. I'll grab a wax marker to mark the location of the hole. Then with some pliers I'll remove the debris. [ air hissing ]

(Eliza)>> Alright first tool up is our tire reamer so that we can clean out the hole. Apply lubricant to the tire reamer and ream the puncture while rotating to clean the hole. Probing the hole will allow the steel belts to separate temporarily without damage. Re-inflating the tire will help with the seating and inserting of the cord. The next step is to thread the cord through the eyelet of the insertion tool, making sure that the cord has the same length of overhang on both sides. Then adds some lubricant to the tip of the insertion tool. Take the reamer out of the tire. Then firmly push the insertion tool with the plug into the tire until snugged up against the sleeve. Then remove the insertion tool by sliding the sleeve down. This will leave a small amount of the plug showing. Finally trim the excess off the plug. Now again this is a last resort kind of repair, but since we're all plugged up let's roll out to the trail head.

(Narrator)>> Up next we put the cherry on top as we transform the engine bay of our JL.

(Eliza)>> Hey guys welcome back to XOR. We're about half way through our supercharger install. We've already got our heat exchanger and our intercooler pump installed, and now it's time to get the blower installed in this bad boy. To re-install the alternator we'll need to install the bracket that Edelbrock has provided.

(Jeremy)>> Now we can move on to the fun stuff. Lower intake manifold, are you ready?

There we go. Oh this is gonna be awesome. We can use this guy to just snug them up quick.

Alright now we'll torque these down to nine foot pounds and we'll criss cross. After the lower intake manifold is torqued down we can move on to the fuel rails. So now we're gonna put the intercooler on top of the lower intake. We'll have to hook up a couple of hoses and we'll put bolts in it. We'll hook the hoses up first. Then we'll put the gasket in place, line up the bolts, and torque them down to eight foot pounds, and the reason why we torqued these down we want the right amount of clamping force on the flanges where the gasket sits. While I'm buttoning up the intake manifold Nick is working on getting power to the heat exchanger pump. Edelbrock provides a custom cable that plugs right into the fuse box.

(Eliza)>> With the heat exchanger loop closed up we can now fill up the reservoir and look for leaks.

(Jeremy)>> No leaks, everything went together really smoothly.

(Nick)>> Engineered to perfection.

(Eliza)>> That it definitely is.

(Jeremy)>> Alright guys, well since the JL is white and looks like ice cream it's time to put the cherry on top, very carefully. There it goes.

(Eliza)>> Lined up. With the supercharger in place we can finally make this bad boy permanent with that well known torque pattern.

Wow Nick, this is really well designed and the installation process went really smooth. What's next?

(Nick)>> We have to re-install the air intake system, the belt, a few hoses, and then load the tune.

(Eliza)>> Cool, let's get to it.

(Nick)>> Alright.

(Jeremy)>> That's like one of the last things to do.

(Nick)>> That's a milestone.

(Jeremy)>> There you go, that's a milestone. It's perfect! With a fresh air filter installed we can finally pop in the air intake and snug it down.

(Eliza)>> All there's left to do is plug into the Jeep and start loading the tune. The anticipation is killing me.

(Jeremy)>> Nick what's next?

(Nick)>> We can fire this thing.

(Eliza)>> Woo, fire in the hole. [ engine starts ]

(Jeremy)>> No way, No way! Wow!

(Nick)>> It's alive!

(Jeremy)>> Dude unbelievable.

(Nick)>> Perfect.

(Jeremy)>> That's right, perfect.

(Nick)>> She's purring like a kitten.

(Eliza)>> She is! Are we at temp, can we rev it?

(Nick)>> Yeah we can. [ engine revving ]

(Eliza)>> There's that little tell-tale that we've got power under the hood.

(Jeremy)>> That's impressive right out of the gate. Edelbrock has been around for a long time but they're right on the leading edge of the aftermarket industry, and you guys can install a supercharger on your JL in as little as a day.

(Eliza)>> I cannot wait to throw this thing together so that we can drive it.

(Jeremy)>> I know. Installation was an absolutely breeze. You guys knocked this thing out of the park.

(Nick)>> We've been having a ton of fun with our Jeep JL and I know you're gonna have even more fun with yours.

(Jeremy)>> Awesome, well you know it went really smoothly but there's one more member of the team that you guys haven't seen yet. Everybody this is Brad. Brad's just kind of another member of the Edelbrock team.

(Eliza)>> Yep he's the brains behind the supercharger.

(Brad)>> Yeah it's been a great time hanging out with you guys here and it's been a pleasure.

(Jeremy)>> Fantastic, well thank you so very much for coming in.

(Eliza)>> Thank you.

(Nick)>> You're welcome.

(Eliza)>> I cannot wait for this Ruby to hit the trails.

(Jeremy)>> Yeah this is gonna be killer when we're out.

(Narrator)>> Coming up the honeymoon is over. Now it's time for a little axle therapy. How to strengthen this marriage on XOR.

(Jeremy)>> Since we switched out our front axle with a Dana Ultimate 44 Adventec axle we need to match the rear gears to the front gears, and there's no better time to do that than well, right now. I'll get rid of the brakes so I can get down to the axle shafts. So now I have to get the four nuts off the back of the retainer ring that holds the axle, so I can get that out, so I can get the diff out.

[ mechanical humming ] [ drill spinning ]

(Jeremy)>> Then I'll make the diff cover disappear and we'll make sure we catch and recycle the gear oil. [ drill spinning ]

(Jeremy)>> I'll remove the bearing caps. Then yank out the carrier. There we go. Dana sent us a matching ring and pinion for the rear to match the front. These are 4.56 gears and will allow us to crawl when we want to crawl but still allow us to drive our JL on the street. They also sent us chro-moly shafts, and when we shove those in the rear of our Dana 44 that'll be all set to hit the trails. Now we've got one more piece we've got to take out, and that's the original pinion. Alright bang and clang on this. [ drill spinning ]

(Jeremy)>> With the brass hammer and my safety glasses on I'll knock out the pinion. Then get it out of the case. Now with the pinion out it's time to move on to the gear set that we got from Dana. Now I can't just simply take the old ring gear off because I have the locker in the way. Well they already got rid of the old bearing, and now it's time to get down to the locker. What I'm gonna do is just slowly pick this up and I'm gonna make sure that I mark it so that I know the exact same way that it goes back on. Gently remove the locker mechanism, and mark the carrier and then the ring. Very carefully! Now we can get to the bolts. [ drill spinning ]

(Jeremy)>> Working your way around the ring gear slowly just tap it off. Alright now we'll just reverse the process.

With the new ring gear wiped down I'll hand start the bolts and tighten them down in a criss cross pattern. [ drill spinning ]

(Jeremy)>> I'll re-install the locking ring...

...and the mechanism...

...and then go press on the new bearing.

(Eliza)>> Are you looking for a welder that's compact, versatile, and that'll get the job done? Lincoln Electric has their multi-process 140. This multi-process welder has the ability to run mig, flux core, stick, and D/C tig. No 220 volt is needed as this will plug in to your household 20 amp 120 volts. It's lightweight, compact, weighs in at 34 pounds, and will be an excellent addition to your garage.

(Jeremy)>> If you guys want instant brake improvement with just a brake pad change then take a look at EBC Brakes. Their truck yellow stuff sport brake pads provide zero brake fade, which makes them perfect for heavy loads such as towing. Their suitable for all light trucks, Jeeps, and s-u-v's. They feature a red break in surface coating for instant safe braking after you install them, and those combined with their GD Sport rotors you guys will be all set to tow your rigs anywhere in the country.

(Narrator)>> Now that we're married to this project we'll have to sign a pre-nup before it gets the shafts, next on XOR.

(Jeremy)>> Hey guys welcome back. We're just wrapping up the gear install on our Jeep JL. Dana has switched things up a little bit. You used to set the pinion depth with a shim between the pinion and the bearing. Well now they set it between the race and the case, which I've already installed. Alright the pinion, the pre-load set, let's put our carrier in here. I'll put our bearing caps back on and make sure that they go back on the same way that I took them off. Then I'll go grab our dial indicator. Backlash should be somewhere between five and eight thousandths. We're right at five, and now it's time for the chro-moly axle shafts.

[ ratchet clicking ]

(Jeremy)>> With the axle shafts installed we can button up the differential with a genuine Dana diff cover. We need to fill the front and rear diff with some gear oil on our JL. Well AMSOIL sent us one of their innovative products. This is their easy pack, and it's made so you can access those tough to reach fill plugs on your differentials and on your transmissions. Well they're 75-90 and 75-140 gear lube is excellent for towing, hauling, commercial, racing, and severe uses, and when it comes to us and our JL we sure are gonna put this thing through some severe use. AMSOIL Severe Gear reduces friction and provides the ultimate protection against wear, and their easy pack sure does make it pretty simple to get around the steering on our JL.

Now the last thing we need to do is install some driveshafts, and Dana had sent along a set of driveshafts to go along with their newly upgraded axles and our taller stance. Well it's a good idea when you lift a vehicle to use a double cardan or a c/v style shaft because what that's gonna do is help eliminate vibration, and with those vibrations all gone it's gonna help our driveshafts and our drivetrain last a whole lot longer. Dana's driveshafts install easily with the hardware that they provided. [ ratchet clicking ]

(Jeremy)>> Dana also provided us with different yokes for our transfer case to go along with our brand new driveshafts.

Our driveshafts are a little longer than stock, and that works pretty well because of the lift that we installed in the JL.

And that will take care of the bottom half and the drivetrain on our JL.

(Eliza)>> That's right, with all of the upgrades to our driveline, such as supercharger, axle gears, and driveshafts it's gonna be hard to slow this bad boy down.

(Jeremy)>> That's right, if you guys are interested in any of the parts we put on the JL or any of the parts we used in our show go to Powernation TV dot com and we'll see you guys next time.