Aetna tidbits

Wuss, I stayed up till 2 last night posting pics.

Also I updated the previous post to include stevens hill climb.

I just saw the hill climb video. That was a good one. If at first you don't succeed just hit it harder. I think the whole back end came off the ground, and actually if you look at the link to the pics where he is climbing the hill, I think Dan got a shot of him mid air. In the first pic his truck looks level(mid bounce) and the second pic right after the accent is much steeper. I think that hill cost the box the most wheel speed its ever had so far.:wierd:
 
You know what... Im REALLY thinking the HP option. I don't like the idea of paying him $100 to do a repair that in the back of my mind I know is the wrong way to fix it. We will see. I don't like half assing anything. It leaves you stranded on the trail. IF I do fix this one, I'll most likely weld it myself and try to get the HP lined up. I believe that if I set up my gears they will be fine (the pattern I use is a little better). I'll have a warrnty on the gears too by the way. Not that a warranty is any good if you break it every other trip. I'll probably send them to Bobby long for a kryo treatment if I do go HP. I don't know... Im not even sure I can get the crack to close up completely. If not, i'll have to replace this axle. But we'll see for sure once I get it tore apart and check the crack on the inside of the housing.
 
i wouldnt run an hp in the rear.... especially a 44, the way the pinion loads against the ring it is much weaker in the rear it is drawing the ring towards it, putting the load on the coast side of the gear, the same reason a rev. rotation is stronger in the front is why when its flipped around its weaker in the rear. if your doing this to housings right now you might as well buy two ring gears now with an hp.... ive seen hp 60's stripped out in a rear app. on smaller tires and less power. My opinion is stick with a 44 and truss it from housing to tubes and eliminate the weak point of the plug weld area. even though its sleeved thick its still a stock tube going into a stock housing, take that weakness away and i think itll hold together. honestly im surprised mine has held since the newer tubes and smaller and lighter, it will get a truss and fully welded tubes, its why i wont put a traction bar on it now, itll spin the punkin like a yo yo.


these are my thoughts.... call me if you want to discuss it further
 
i think the HP would be cool... something different to try.
you know i'll be there when you need a hand on the swap and repairs...

dangit, Team Willys (tyler and me) have a lot of stuff to do before the FLOG!!!
 
i think the HP would be cool... something different to try.

ya.... until it blows rings from here till sunday, i cant say if bobbys cryi treatment will stop it, but watching a dynatrac 60 spit a ring gear on 37's looked expensive :D give it a shot, who knows it may last forever, but i wont run an hp in the rear, just personal preference and what ive seen other guys blow up
 
ya.... until it blows rings from here till sunday, i cant say if bobbys cryi treatment will stop it, but watching a dynatrac 60 spit a ring gear on 37's looked expensive :D give it a shot, who knows it may last forever, but i wont run an hp in the rear, just personal preference and what ive seen other guys blow up
x2!!!

money/time spent... after you grenade enough ring gears you could have put a better axle under there...
 
Glenn, this is the 3rd housing. The first two bent on me. The second one bent so bad that the long side shaft broke. The reason they bend is because the springs are not out boarded on the frame, so the weight is more centered. Also, the waggy rears are only 3/16-1/4" wall tube stock, so they are really weak. I got this housing to get another fresh start. It was 100% straight and true when I started the transformation. I am kinda skiddish about fixing this one though simply b/c i will always be worried about it. In all honesty, at this very moment, I am really leaning to the Hybrid HP 44. I HATE to throw all that work away, but I would be getting the thicker tubes, a stronger casting with the spring perch already cast in where I need it, and a better driveshaft angle. I doubt I'll have any problems with the R&P. Gotta find a bare housing though and do a little more research...

If you have bent 3 then its time for something else. Beefing the tudes did not work. Seems ot me like the solution is to relocate some springs. ;) If it were me I would do the HP44 if its posiable to be done. However, I don't think the HP gearset, even cryo'd, will hold up to the abuse the regular gearset has been holding up to. Mainly bc you will be running on the weak side of the gear. In all honesty why are you running the D18 tcase?
 
Come on Tyler, just fix it. You got the tools and the talent.
 
Alright alright... got it figured out today and it is a decision that will make everyone on here happy including myself.

But first... to answer some questions and explain some of my previous decisions. First of all: Glenn. I ran the springs in the stock mounting location because the stock frame isn't strong enough to have the extra leverage and side loading caused by the side mounted spring mounts. I saw a guy at Tellico who did this on a willys, and his frame was always cracking and breaking around the mounts, and they were well gusseted too... This made me glad I left the spring location alone. You see, a Willys frame is striaght all the way back... it never kicks out like the AMC era CJ frames do. Even the later CJs have the springs directly under the frame to prevent the side loading, but since the frame is wider at the back, the springs are too. As far as the transer case goes; I kept it b/c I was 14 when I started on this thing, and I had very little money. It was cheaper to keep the T90 and the 18 and run that behind the 4.3 than it was to swap the trans and t case out. Actually, I have been very satisfied with the T-case. If it weren't for an out of adjustment shift fork, it would've never broken. But I didn't catch it when I re-built it a few months ago. Until that point, I had been wheeling it hard with it badly worn out (as in outputs were able to move around 1/4" in any direction... seriously) and never had any problems out of it. I also like the gear driven design, twin sticks, 2 low option, and having both pumkins offset b/c it can help while navigating through the rocks. I know you can do twin sticks and 2 low on other cases, but it costs money. With an 18, its free if you know what you are doing.

Also... Rick Pewe (yes, the same guy as in your sig Glenn) clearly justtified it to be the "Best Transfer Case Ever" lol. (Only kidding here, that has nothing to do with it).

Now Doug: I Cannot truss the axle on top due to the pass spring being mounted literally on the cast. The is no where to put a tube, unless you ran over the springs, which I won't do b/c it will limit up-travel quite a bit. And while I could put a truss on the bottom, I won't do that either b/c then I have no ground clearance.


So the solution is as follows:

I found out that the pre 77 F-250 housings also had the beefy castings and 1/2" tubes, but they were low pinion. So I made a phone call and found one. A bare housing for $75. Im gonna grab it next week. I'll get the tough as nails factory housing that I need with the already cast in spring perch on the correct side, and I will be able to use all of my internals. So... basically for $75 plus gear oil and some time designing more brackets and putting it together, I will have another axle in and ready to roll.

Hows that sound bitches? :D

Seriously guys... thanks for the input. It definitely helped to sway me away from the HP. While I do think it'd be cool and different, I don't think that it would hold up to my abuse very long, even with the cryo treatment. While they would be under warranty, I don't want to have to swap them out after every other trip, so I'll just keep the low pinion since I have had really good luck with them. And its cheaper this way too!
 
sounds like a winner to me!!!

now if only i could get my "complete" flattop D44 back from the guy you're getting your housing from... :anon:
 
sounds like a plan... good job staying away from the hp, i just ahve a feeling it may have turned into r&p eater.... look forward to seein the new setup
 
It's been so long since I even was under a Willy's I have fogoten how it all is mounted. the T18 is an awsome case that I know, but you have the offset diff. problem. Problem BC axles are not easy to source. It is nice not to have to weave your diffs through the rocks though. I think that is the right decision. I had forgotten that some of the fords had the think walled tubes and the LP center section.
 
It's been so long since I even was under a Willy's I have fogoten how it all is mounted. the T18 is an awsome case that I know, but you have the offset diff. problem. Problem BC axles are not easy to source. It is nice not to have to weave your diffs through the rocks though. I think that is the right decision. I had forgotten that some of the fords had the think walled tubes and the LP center section.

its them and samurai guys who are the only ones who want the quadratrac waggy junk ;)
 
its them and samurai guys who are the only ones who want the quadratrac waggy junk ;)

Yea then he could have used some yotta junk I guess!!!! :eeks1: :D
 
Yea then he could have used some yotta junk I guess!!!! :eeks1: :D

actually..... a full float fj80 rear would probably hold up to 38's and that motor.... i forgot about that... that would be a sweet swap it would have a matching lug pattern too ;)
 
Eh, just gonna do the 44. Once I found out about the low pinion option, I was all over that idea like white on rice. ;-p
 
Was playing with some photos and thought I would post this one up. Dan provided the initial image.

web.jpg
 
Wow, that looks cool!

By the way, I didn't actually swap over to the F-250 housing. The more I looked at mine, the more I thought I could fix it. I pressed it back together, beveled and welded the crack after pre-heating, and then built some gussets and boxed it all in around the cracked area. I have been on several trips with it, and so far so good. I think its gonna be just fine now. Probably better than before.
 
Back
Top