...sorry...another build thread...

Been playing with the pattern. Got backlash to .005 and a good looking pinion depth.
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Final pattern so far opened up to 8 thousandths up from 5. I am not really wanting to play with it some more to try to get it back down to 5 ish. Ive read a few different specs from 4-10, 6-10, so I think I am fine. A lot of guys say one negative to using setup bearings is that your Backlash can change up to 4 thousandths when you press on the final bearings. .
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Set the pinion preload today. Cleaned diff and popped seals out and painted it.
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Front gears are done and I have been DDing it to break in the gears.

Lately I have been have some steering wheel "shimmy", hardly noticeable, but it is getting more prominent. I know its DW trying to kill the stabilizer to go full blown DW.

I set toe from like 1/2" toed out to about 1/16" toed in.

I set caster to 10* on both sides(positive 10*)
previously one side was at 10 and one was at like 5*)

going to test drive it and see whats up.

What are you guys thinking? I am leaning towards bringing caster back to 5* and seeing what happens after this test drive.
 
Ya remember a while ago I went through all of this and ended up going through the motions. got them balanced within the last 200 miles of driving.

anyway, had the poor GF crank the wheel back and forth for like 20-30 minutes earlier while I raped every joint and frame with my eyes. Everything joint and steering wise is tight as hell and pretty much brand new.

thats what I brought toe back in to 1/16 or so.

next I noticed the pass side was at like 5* and the driver side read between 7 and 10. got them both to like 9*. Test drove it, and it drove like a dream.
fingers are crossed for now that it stays that way on my way to work tomorrow, if so, I am calling it done. I mean there was absolutely no steering wheel feedback , at all.

weird .

I dont trust the magnetic angle finders 100% either since they "stick" sometimes and I will take like 15 measurements until and then take the average .

My plan WAS to test it at 9-10* and then bring it into 5* if that sucked.

also, the pass side lower mount was shorter from the front tcase X member bolt to the center of the axle side LCA bolt, so adjusting that caster also dialed that side in. It also pushed the axle on that side forward and the track bar on that side was angled in, so there is less of an angle in now.


So the new plan is drive it until the steering wheel feedback(shimmy ) comes back. if it doesn't come back its staying as is.
 
Swing by my place some time and use the digital angle finder.

at this point if the shimmy/DW babies go away I'm calling it done. until it happens again...


also, as soon as I got home the driver turn signal stopped working, just cleaning the contacts fixed that . stoked.

I have a new rear main seal coming, oil pan gasket, oil filter housing gaskets, dizzy gasket, front crankshaft seal, harmonic balancer, and more coming to clean up some leaking oil. although oddly enough its only a few drops or so a day, it looks like it leaks like crazy.
 
Im not gonna lie, I don't have the slightest clue on what Im doing.
 
Have you considered going to ram assist? Not only is it awesome in the rocks for effortless steering, but it virtually eliminates the chance of DW. On this old wagoneer with 8" of lift and 42's
I had DW issues all the time because I had sacrificed caster for pinion angle(lp chevy 44). It seemed like every trip would wear out my band aid steering stabilizer. I went to ram assist for the steering benefit, but quickly realized that the ram also acted as a stabilizer on steroids. Didn't matter how out of alignment it was, no DW and it still drove pretty good at 70.
 
Front gears are done and I have been DDing it to break in the gears.

Lately I have been have some steering wheel "shimmy", hardly noticeable, but it is getting more prominent. I know its DW trying to kill the stabilizer to go full blown DW.

I set toe from like 1/2" toed out to about 1/16" toed in.

I set caster to 10* on both sides(positive 10*)
previously one side was at 10 and one was at like 5*)

going to test drive it and see whats up.

What are you guys thinking? I am leaning towards bringing caster back to 5* and seeing what happens after this test drive.

You know if it was me Jon I'd take it to Les Schwab. :repair:
 
Jon- My 44 is set at 5 and I have zero DW. I don't think the caster should do that alone. Though the different settings might.
 
Drove it to work. Still a bit of steering wheel feedback , but it is night and day better, but not 100%. I am probably going to try 5* tonight and see where that gets me.

Zachandy I am pretty much leaning towards Hydro assist now.
 
ON the way:

 
Jon
Mine is set at 5.5* and no death wobble.
 
Thanks Jeff.

I will try 5.5 tonight or sunday, but I cant complain about Hyrdo Assist regardless.
 
So something awesome happened...I drove to vallejo and back and got around 17.9 MPG which is amazing . Well, actually, I topped off at Red top road which is 10 miles on the way there from my parents new place and their place is 58 miles from sac. Then topped off at home and used 3.8 gallons to fill it up. So 68/3.8 ~ 17.9 which is stupid awesome.


Also, the brakes are amazing these days. those 3/4 ton chevy brakes in the rear are sweet. I have been cutoff twice in the last week where I had to stop pretty much instantly(something the jeep couldn't do before) and now it stops like no ones business. the t bird calipers up front and the k20 fronts in the rear kick butt. With the WJ booster it travels a little further and seems sort of soft so I might swap a different master in eventually, but for now its awesome to be able to stop at will on 36s seemingly better than my 99 honda accord.

thing has been driving straight with pretty much no steering wheel feedback, but ill be doing hydro assist when the parts get here for more than just on road handling, mostly for reducing stress on the frame and more control in the rocks.



Current Plan for the bigger projects

2014:
Hydro assist(very soon)
PSC pump
Anti rock kit for the front from that local place in lincoln
Considering shackle relocation boxes now
more frame plating

2015:
rebuilt motor if it needs it
throw in some jana 54 gears and RCVS

2016:
atlas 4 speed and 39.5 bias iroks or 40" MTRs or something else I don't even know about
 
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that's some awesome gas mileage. I hope to be getting that one day
I think I'm gonna try the 2500 master so I'll let you know how that goes. paired with a 97xj booster
why the PSC pump? I figured the WJ pump would be totally fine. I just picked up that YJ gear box and am about to send it off to westtexas. I think the WJ pump will work great
really? 40s? you just love pushing the limits of small axles don't you :shocked:


the 40s wouldnt be for another 3 years and by then ill have either the jana 54 gears and RCVS or just build a 60.
 
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I think he's trying to make is heep like Tim's red heep. Haha.
What ever happened to running 35's Jon?
It will fold like a taco.
 
The next rig will be built for 33s. Mild rig. Gears lockers sliders belly and 4" lift with bumpers .
 
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