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Today was another light-duty day. I got the spindle bearings pressed in, being careful not to overdo it. I've been referencing this post: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/w...-axles-hubs-ect-675585/#/topics/675585?page=4 which has been super helpful. I did the mod to the spindle that is in that post. Hopefully, with the contents of that post, I can reduce the frequency with which I will need to replace bearings!
The seal looks like it doesn't fit quite right, but it matches the old ones, so I guess it doesn't need to be a close fit to... Anything but the axle...
Alright! Some more updates. Today, I drilled my hubs in accordance with the post I linked in my previous post. I drilled a #31 hole followed by a #3 partial hole for the zerk. The zerk hole gets tapped to 1/4-28 with patience and lots of oil. Since I have a 5 bolt hub, I'm going to try out these "flush mount" grease fittings, Moog 621. The should allow me to use a grease needle to add grease to the hubs. This is because there isn't a place on my hubs to put the fitting that would clear both the wheel and the lug stud. We'll see how it goes! The fittings should be in at the end of next week.
Next, I put some paint on my axle shafts. After about 30 minutes on the wire wheel, the shafts were cleaned up and ready for a couple coats of rust encapsulator, followed by Extreme Chassis Black. I was careful to mask off all seal/bearing surfaces before painting. Once that paint has cured, I'll press in my new U-joints.
Finally, I removed the carrier. Two pry bars and some patience was all it took. This gave me access to the blob of mud sitting in the bottom (see picture of diff cover). Thankfully, it was never driven with this mud inside, so the gears/bearings are in pretty good shape. The backlash measured at 0.012", which IIRC is in spec. I'll double check it. Then I pulled the pinion. I expected a crush sleeve, but found only shims, so I suppose it's one of those axles where the pinion preload is set with shims. There's a useful post on this forum that talks about that (https://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f2/dana-44-30-rebuild-question-12377/ among others). It's unfortunately difficult sometimes to sort out the new jeep info from the old jeep info. I guess that's why this forum exists!!! I damaged a shim while pulling the pinion, so I'll need to replace that, but it doesn't look like any of the bearings need replacing, so that's good news. It's remarkable, really, since the thing was underwater for a day or two a few years back...
Next up, I get to clean, strip, and paint the housing. Then the reassembly begins. It's starting to take shape!
Little more progress today. I reassembled the brake calipers, but I'm waiting on bleeder screws.
I also tried to reassemble the axle shafts. For some reason, every time I touch a u-joint it's a saga... I could not for the life of me get the u-joint to fit, so I decided it must have been the wrong one. I measured it next to the old one and it was close but different, so I filled out the return form, put it in a box, and got ready to ship it tomorrow. Then I started to research which one I needed, and found that the ones I got are in fact correct. I opened up the box and played around with it a little more, and when I wasn't even paying attention it slipped right in. I went back to the shop and fiddled with the shafts some more and got one side in, then couldn't get the stub shaft on. The ears bent a bit when I pressed the old joints out, so I had to bend/file a bit. It also looked like the PO staked the bearing caps, so I filed that away, and now I have one shaft. Then I discovered that u joint #2 has a different number stamped on it, so I think I need to return it, only to learn that it has an alternate number on it. So tomorrow that one will get installed.
In other news, the differential backlash is 0.002 over, so I'm thinking it might be prudent to adjust the backlash. I've got the tools for it, so I imagine I'll be able to figure it out. The hard part will be removing the bearings without damage, though if I've gone this far... I may as well replace them. I don't really want to do that if I don't have to.
And a side note: don't use a paint pen to label the date you opened your brake fluid...
I took apart the front Diff today. I found the factory service manual for a Power Lok and followed the directions. All in all, it's in fabulous condition, especially considering that it was full of water and mud...
Unfortunately, I broke EVERY SINGLE bolt that holds the carrier together. They are all sticking up a little bit, so I'm optimistic about being able to remove them, but it's gonna be difficult.
No pictures yet. I had a photographer tonight, and she's a bit of a perfectionist. I'll post them as soon as she gets the photos to me.
Figured out why the bolts broke... They're left hand bolts, and they're $14 each to replace...
You would think they would include that little bit of info in the manual...
Took some time off from the Jeep to focus on enjoying the summer and catching up with some finances. Now it's back to it!
I knocked the seals out of the front axle housing, soaked it all down with degreaser and hosed everything out. Now that it's clean, I can start stripping/painting the housing. Soon, it'll be time to put the axle back together and move onto the rear!
Hopefully this fall will be productive enough to get me back on track to finish next year!
So September turned out to be crazier than I had hoped. I had company 4 times and spent a few evenings at the church until 11pm setting up a sound system for the youth group. That craziness seems to be over now, so I finally got around to putting the front Diff back together! The new shims are in place and the bearings are pressed back on. Work has begun on stripping the housing in preparation for paint. Hopefully I'll have the front end back together in a week or two if the weather is good for paint!
Also, happy fall y'all, it's beautiful up here in Colorado! (picture at Vail overlooking the white river national forest)
The weather hasn't been cooperating for painting, so today I took the liberty of addressing some driveline vibration in my daily driver. 6 hours and a lot of swearing later, 2 of three u joints have been replaced in my truck. Pulling the driveshaft is a funny thing. It's one of the more committing maintenance tasks you can perform, since you can't go anywhere without it. I guess at least now I know how to do it in the future!
