| Author | Message | ||
     Etennuly |
Too much fun! Maybe not for a brand new vehicle, but fun for sure. Years ago on the way to a friend's farm, a buddy of mine and I, in his then new 1972 VW Beetle went through some snow drifts that were eight feet high on a paved road between some large open potato fields. The road was within view of their farm house, so they were watching thinking we'd never make it. My buddy said "watch this" as he ran the Beetle up to forty miles per hour thinking it was going to go over the drifts. Poof! Darkness! The engine bogged down, he grabbed first gear and walla! Sunshine! Then into the second one, drifted across the road the same way.....Poof, dark, grab a gear, sunshine! We made it through both of the deep drifts. We never thought that would happen. The guys in the farm house were laughing their asses off as we got to them. They said that road has been closed for a few days because of deep drifts. They said it was so cool how the car disappeared into the snow like a bullet, then popped out the other side when the top of the drifts collapsed into our tracks. We had to straighten the front bumper and replace the turn signal lenses, but it was worth it! | ||
| Etennuly |
I have become a distributing dealer for Rough Country 4x4 parts and accessories. I figure I may as well start building and selling something I am passionate about. My son and I are lifting his street Silverado with a 6" kit next week. I have always bent and welded roll bars, frames, bumpers and such for race cars to go-carts to off road trucks. I have made many lifted 4x4 suspension brackets where kits were not available. I can do any body modifications and painting as well, so why not? This should be more fun than waiting around for the truck repair business to come back to a consistent and profitable level.  | ||
| Ratbuell |
Shit. Guess if I ever get off my ass and start working on my YJ, I'll be sending money to Vern. Can you drop-ship to MD?  | ||
| Etennuly |
Drop ship - punt - pass - drive on up.....yeah.....why not?!  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Jeep is back and I am HAPPY!! The cage doesn't restrict my view and the grab handles are a wonderful add on. Can't wait to get home and put the CB back in and have some garage tinker time. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Had some vibs coming from the front end then the front pinion seal started leaking. Hmmm wonder what that could be....  Started to pull the front drive shaft and the slip yoke wouldn't move. I dropped it off at the local Driveline shop this morning. It was so messed up, they had to cut the slip yoke end off the drive shaft and re weld a new splined end onto the drive shaft. Now I can't get the pinion nut off the pinion shaft to replace the seal.  I did take the J$$P for a 75 MPH test drive without the front drive shaft installed.... it was smooth sailing | ||
| Etennuly |
Have you tried a 1/2" drive air impact gun? For reference on pinion yokes and nuts, I have a method of marking them to get them exactly back to where they were before I removed them. This is necessary to keep the ring - pinion lash relationship the same without having to disassemble, or replace the crush washer. My theory is if all else was in good condition before, and all that is needed is a seal, it will be good again if tightened to exactly the same place. I take an air powered 3" cutoff wheel and cut a single deep groove into the yoke/nut/washer/pinion shaft end in a way that it could only align all of the parts in exactly the original position. If your gears were getting sloppy or noisy, or the Yoke felt loose, this method will not work, it will need to come apart to reset the gear lash, or replace what ever parts that are worn. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Have you tried a 1/2" drive air impact gun? Yep. My Harry Homeowner compressor doesn't have the required ass to get the job done. I sprayed it down last night with some nut be free. I'm going to put a big cheater bar on it tonight. If that doesn't work.... I guess I'll drop it off at the local shop | ||
| Etennuly |
They usually are some sort of locking nut that is torqued to 100 ftlbs or more. Long bar, good leverage, good chance it could break a 1/2" drive ratchet. Wear gloves and watch your head! You can do it! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
 Had a idea! There wasn't enough room under the heep to use a long breaker bar. So I put the end of my 18" breaker bar on my 4 ton jack. The nut was gonna come off or something was gonna break! The nut gave it up. I was happy. Pulled the seal, drained the old gear lube and was in the process of getting ready to put it back together and...... badda bing badda boom... the ding dong at NAPA sold me the wrong seal... | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I must print a retraction. I went to Advanced Auto Parts to get the correct seal for my pinion. They looked it up and went to the back and returned with the same part the NAPA dude sold me. I was confused. The Advanced salesman got on line and did some looking around and we both decided that maybe a different type of seal was installed on my Jeep. With that all behind me... I returned home and installed the seal and the drive shaft. I used a little RTV on the new seal so the good smelling 90 weight will be put in this evening when I get home..... then a test run to make sure its not leaking.... | ||
| Ratbuell |
C'mon Mark...being a Buell owner, you know better than to install a seal using RTV. Use the green bearing adhesive/sealer.  | ||
| Etennuly |
Joe.....he is a FORMER Buell owner!  It no longer matters if he uses the right stuff for his projects.....but he is still fun to watch! Jeep! Jeep! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
 It says Differential Housing Covers.... close enough for me!  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
well the bumper is done....  ...but what is that drip drip underneath? The power steering gear box is going to need to be replaced.... again  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Looking good! I'm collecting D60s to convert a Ranger to 4wd and solid axles. I slipped on ice carrying a 90 pound toolbox today and effed up my back. | ||
| Etennuly |
This has been a pretty cool project we just finished. 6" suspension lift with 36" tires on 22" rims. Drives great right out of the box.   Next up a 2012 Jeep JK. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Looks good! I keep checking the RC web page to see if the round LED lights are back in stock... but no luck yet. | ||
| Etennuly |
We put the round KC lights on this truck, wholly crap do they zoom out there. 500 feet out is lit up like daylight. Gotta get me a set. | ||
| Ratbuell |
You late model (compared to my 92, anyway) Jeep guys oughta check this out... http://www.bankspower.com/products/show/430/97 | ||
| Ourdee |
Oh, thanks a lot Joe. Now you have me thinking about putting a pump on my 02 again. Except driven from the exhaust this time. It makes enough power already for the suspension that is on it. But no you have to poke and poke. At 130,000+ miles, I'm looking at a steering pump this summer. | ||
| Ratbuell |
RD - double up on headgaskets to drop the CR some, pop the turbo and upsized injectors on, and do wheelies. You won't need that steering pump with the fronts in the air. See how helpful I am? Saving you that repair without even trying! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Hey Vern, PM sent on the 4" LED's It looks like they are back in stock! | ||
| Etennuly |
How to spend twenty minutes making an eight hour job; Is this a good idea?  Made it through on the third attempt, the fourth try had the slurry so slippery he could not get out.  He said "yeah, it was a good idea, that was fun!"  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
5 minutes of mud = a life time of dirt in the eye every time ya get under it to fix anything | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Hey Vern, Big Brown van man dropped a couple of boxes off yesterday. Thanks Bubba!! | ||
| Fast1075 |
(A) Select spot in yard that needs some land fill. (B) Park muddy 4x4 in selected spot. (C) Place lawn sprinkler under 4x4. (D) Operate lawn sprinkler several hours while moving it from front to back of vehicle. (E) Eat less dirt at next repair interval. | ||
| Etennuly |
Cool thing Mark! That was quick! Harry, that method works on softening up the Tennessee orange clay, but it won't take it off! This stuff is nasty to remove. We are just getting into the no more freezing zone so that I can get my pressure washer back on the job. It'll take four to five rounds with the pressure washer to get it all off. This clay permanently stains, rather, dyes clothing. It has the texture of fresh dog poop, but it does not stink and it is much harder to get off. He left the truck sit through two hard rain storms, it was still brown and lumpy! So far he has been through two hand wand car washes. It is about 90% clean. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Well.... I installed the 3/4" leveling kit and it has the desired effect. The front no longer looks like it is diving into a pool... I have been noticing a slight vibe. The faster I got the worse it gets. I was thinking it was the front drive shaft I just had repaired. While I had the front end off the ground I spun the drivers side front tire so I could see the drive shaft spinning. It was moving up and down a little.... hmmmmm. I put a hand on it and gave it a jiggle. I now think a bearing is toasted inside the diff. Just Empty Every Pocket! | ||
| Fast1075 |
Most of what we get into here is muck. Didn't think much about clay. We had plenty of that in Mississippi. My cousin's old Toyota was never clean. Anyway, the trick works pretty good on muck and sand. |
