A peak at what a certain traitor has been up to

Ballance? Whats to balance? All the Yota guys I've talked to that run them say they aren't too bad for vibes until you hit about 30+ mph, you just need to keep the packed full of grease as best you can. I added 4 grease fittings to the outer tube, one on each side. I put about a full tube of grease into the thing and it has zero freeplay by hand.
 
Yeah, luckily for me there is nothing DD about my Jeep.

Coolest thing I've seen hanging out with yota guys is when they actually drive on their square driveshafts. I've seen those things get higcentered but the square drive shaft actually moves hem sideways off of the rock. Pretty cool shit.
 
So today has been an absolutely awesome day so far, but first a few more shots of the front driveshaft.

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Then last night I decided to tackle the rear shocks finally. I'd been sweating how I was going to make it work but then the Jeep gods shined their light for me and all was well. I was able to retain the stock upper shock mounts.

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I also quickly modified my now useless windshield frame hinges to become holders for my not so useless (once wired that is) Hella's.

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Now for the best part and a majjor reason on why I'm so Jolly today. I borrowed by neighbor's TBSS and a co-worker's trailer to load the Jeep up onto for a little trip to my buddy Sean down at Exhaust Pros on 112th ish and Huron.

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And I had this done, not bad for 200$

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They did an awesome job with the new downpipe and the entire exhaust routing. Its up high, doesn't get close to anything important, and is super solidly mounted. My Jeep is no longer at risk of burning valves and splitting ear drums.

The end result was that I was able to comfortably drive my Jeep around the neighborhood and to the parts stores for some last minute items in preperation to my first ever trip to Moab that'll also be my first ever trip in this Jeep. I'm am so stoked its retarded, not even a healthy dose of weed could calm me down (not that I would know about such things). I'm going to bring the Jeep back into the garage to start finishing off some loose ends and then its off to El Paso for a family trip, and then straight from the car and into the neighbor's truck for Moab. I can't wait.

The to do list:
- weld the damn cage already
- actually bolt down the driver's seat
- install harness
- tighten brake t-fitting above rear axle
- adjust rear drums
- install rock lights
- wire up line lock
- wire up front lights
- install body mounts
- check all fluids
- tie up some loose wires here and there
- secure brake and fuel lines along frame rail
- run breather hoses for D300 and both axles

And if I'm feel spry I might actually throw some paint on all the bare metal. :D

Once I get back I'll be saving up for some nice suspension seats and adding in a floor to my cage for the seats to mount too. I'm also going to find a fuel cell and swap a back seat into and figure out a bikini top of some sorts to keep the sun off my head.
 
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Why didn't the Durango get tow-rig duty today????

And, call me crazy....... but....... only one rear shock?
 
The Durango doesn't have a trailer plug yet and I haven't had time to crawl underneath and look to see if the harness for itis there or not. Also, with the Audi still on jackstands my wife needed the Durango to get to work. Besides, I'll drive that TBSS any day.

Yeah, Rusty's failed to provide me with both bushings for the other shock so I wasn't able to install it. I picked up some from vaughto-zone today and will be adding the other shock tonight.
 
Actually I'm a retard and found the other bushing, I guess now the 2-pack I bought will become the spares. They were only 4$ anyways. Stupid thing must've falllen out of the box when I opened it because I found it under my tool cart.
 
1/4" wall square tube huh?

That's gotta be one heavy mo-fo of a shaft. Worried about the stress on the pinion bearings or end yokes from all that rotating and potentially vibrating weight?

Seems to me 3/16" would be plenty if not overkill considering the amount of surface area that is getting the force distributed over it....

Gotta make shafts for the blazer buggy and am considering doing square shafts too.... just trying to make an educated decision about strength and weight considerations.
 
im likely to run square shafts too after this summer. i think ill run em thinner too, they are too easy to swap in and out.
 
Well, I'd never consider running square shafts on anything being used on the street.... Unbalanced, crude-built shafts are no-bueno for street cruising...... pretty significant grenade potential at those RPMs.......

Unless you're commiting the rig to trailer queen status....... say :nono: to square shafts.
 
Well I found a fairly good thread on Pirate 4x4 dealing with square driveshafts, it was in the toyota forum of all places. There were guys there with measley little 22RE's twisting shafts using 1.5" .25wall and 2" .25 wall square tube. Thats why i went with the 2.5" receiver tube and 2". Also, the receiver tubing is smooth on the inside and allows the 2" to slide in and out easily w/o the need to grind a grooves into into.

Considering the weight of that pig Troy I would definitely go the same route as mine and use the 2.5" receiver tube and 2" .25 wall. Another option I looked into and might try later just for fun is the tractor PTO spline and regular round tubing.

Oh yeah, one more thing to keep in mind with the square tube driveshafts. Unllike a traditional driveshaft that can get away with a thinner wall as it only has to with stand torsional loading in the tubing a square driveshaft has to with stand the compression and extension forces as well because the walls of the tube and more specifically the corners are also the splines. You're basically talking about a 4 spline driveshaft here, thats a lot of stress and all the more reason for the thicker wall.
 
Update time:

Removed the cage for finish welding and paint
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Of course after all that and then reinstalling it I wound up adding a few things to it. Another cross bar above the tailgate for my harness and then a "floor" to miunt my seats to. I wound up switching to the XJ Pioneer seats I had because of their larger bolsters and the adjustable headrest.

Now its basically ready for Moab minus the wiring of my rock lights and the rear line lock. I might also add in a cup holder or two. Oh yeah, and tomorrow I'll be snagging a free harness for the passenger side too.

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Well I brought it into work so I could wash it off and do a final check for leaks, but I couldn't resist flexing it on the ramps. :D

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Also, line lock got finished up last night so only the rock lights are left. I played with it a little bit and I'm not 100% on its ability to hold while doing a dig, but should be plenty for "parking" on the trail. I think that once I swap out to disc brakes in the rear that'll help a lot too.
 
Hmmmmm...... A line lock sound like a really good idea for the blazer buggy too...... How hard/easy are those to install/set up?

Your idea of leaving a snatch block attached to the winch line is growing on me too........ spool the cable by pulling the snatch block to your anchor location and you're always set to double the pulling power...... just don't wanna have to lug that HUGE of a snatch block around...... :D
 
yella's snatch block would have to be twice that size...


































on the Compensator. :D
 
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