Sonuvva...

[Anak]

Well, I found the cause of that noise I needed to track down:

D.S.

P.S.

Grumble grumble grumble...

:soapbox:

On the bright side, it got us home without real trouble.

 

[JohnX]

That's not a noise, it's a leak.

 

[scottmcneal]

That's not a noise, it's a leak.

:eyes:
Only on the bottom.

 

[JohnX]

:eyes:
Only on the bottom.

Good point, turn the jeep over and gravity will stop the leak.

 

[Anak]

How about I just turn the axle over? Make it a high pinion rear.

:rof:

 

[Bent]

How about I just turn the axle over? Make it a high pinion rear.

:rof:

And rear engined.

 

[David_Bricker]

And rear engined.

Nah, flip it the other 180 degrees.

David Bricker / SYR

 

[Anak]

Well, it is looking like the leaking axle seals may be courtesy of a mostly plugged vent line. Why the previous axle didn't leak remains a mystery. Perhaps the seals on a Chrysler 8.25 are better than the seals on a Dana 44.

I still haven't found the source of my noise.

But I did find this today:

Ground it clean:

Tried to weld it with a 120V MIG:

I added some beads on either side of that. No real improvement. Can't get enough heat to really weld to the axle side of the picture. Probably going to have to set up the stick welder, grind it all down and do it all over again. But it was too bloody hot today to keep at it.

 

[JohnX]

If you want to come by and run a bead with my mig, you're more than welcome. It might not be worth the drive though?

 

[Anak]

Thank you.

I have a stick welder. It is just a pain to set it up (getting it out, finding the extension cord that weighs 50 lbs, running that out the garage, uncoiling another 50 lbs of leads, etc, etc), and it is the welding technique I am least comfortable with. It also poses some clearance challenges in an area that is only partially open for manipulation. Might have to cut the first third off a couple of sticks just to have room to move.

But all that hassle is still probably simpler than driving up to your house. Thank you though.

And I am still more focused on trying to pin down this noise that is driving me batty. Once I get this noise licked I will then re-prioritize the bracket.

 

[Bent]

...is the welding technique I am least comfortable with.

I'm just the opposite. I do wish mine wasn't an AC unit, though.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Time for disc brakes!

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[Anak]

Time for disc brakes!

Oh hail no.

I need my parking brake.

AX-15.

And I am a long way from convinced that rear disc really makes enough of a difference to compensate for the constant wear.

 

[rockclimber]

rear discs are a huge improvement. and you can easily retain your parking brake.

IF your rear drums actually stayed adjusted and were properly bedded, they probably stop as well, but the drum brakes found in jeeps rarely if ever stay adjusted.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Oh hail no.

I need my parking brake.

AX-15.

And I am a long way from convinced that rear disc really makes enough of a difference to compensate for the constant wear.

rear discs are a huge improvement. and you can easily retain your parking brake.

IF your rear drums actually stayed adjusted and were properly bedded, they probably stop as well, but the drum brakes found in jeeps rarely if ever stay adjusted.

Rear disc has park brake as well.
I have an Exploder 8.8 in my MJ with a manual trans and it works just fine.
Most likely swapping to rear disc in my XJ 8.2 when it is time to service the rear brakes. Or go to a 60/14b with discs.

 

[Anak]

I know that there are rear discs with parking brakes. I know that they are also underwhelming in their performance.

I am happy with rear drums.

 

[JohnX]

I was never real impressed with rear discs over drums, seemed like minimal difference if anything. I will agree that not having to adjust the rears all the time is reason enough. And going to black magic pads on all four was a huge upgrade over the stock pads.

 

[Anak]

Beautiful day for getting some work done. Nice and overcast.

Took another run at the UCA with the right tools. I think this will do the job:

But then I decided to open up the pumpkin. I found all this in my gear oil:

There were a couple of pieces of yellow metal too. Many of those pieces are so thin they look like flakes of chrome plating, but others are on the order of 0.040" to 0.060" thick, like pieces of thread off the end of a bolt. There is no evidence of missing pieces off the gears themselves. I suspect these are pieces out of the ARB locker, somewhere deep inside.

Yippee.

The rear axle seals are still leaking after the clearing out of the vent. I will be taking the Jeep back to the shop that built the rear end and asking them to tear into the front axle too.

Dadgummit.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

For your UCA mount, I would recommend welding a plate across the open area to box it in. Or get an aftermarket mount.

 

[Anak]

I toyed with that idea, but I think it would become a trap for dirt, water, mud and then rust from the inside out.

When I do my WJ conversion I will give serious thought to an aftermarket upgrade. I have a couple of pieces on hand for that purpose for my original axle which suffers from a loose UCA bushing.

It looks like I should build myself a fixture and take care of both axles at once.