dick.breakey
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bellevue/Seattle
nice axle choice. glad to see its coming right along. plan on regearing and locking it before it goes in?
The Nail Salon
- Thread starter TORX
- Start date
The stipulation was I had to run for another term as President. Rory and I will be talking soon though. I need to see what all the hype is about.Hey dustin, I could have swore I heard at NWFest that if you got an auto trans, rory would send you one of his setups....??
Coax uses a ring terminal on the antenna side.
Yeah, I plan to build it before it goes under. It has 3.73's now so it wouldn't do me much good to toss it under. It'll get the Ruff Stuff treatment, gears, and a locker.
- Location
- Vancouver, WA
you know it was cool, smashing down the roads at TSF jumping from 2nd to 3rd, back to 2nd. All the corners! You know you loved it!
crazymoose1990
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Beavertown
Are you talking about Rory at Rad designs, the guy that makes the rail shifters. My freind with the Pathfinder got his first rail shifter, its installed on his Pathfinder.
I am looking at installing one on my Cherokee soon.
I am looking at installing one on my Cherokee soon.
Sideshow
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Lynnwood, Wa
Me too, thanks Dustin.
Bronzewyrm
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Independence,or
ehh, dustins short list, is like the short bus. :anon:
Bronze.
Bronze.
Today's project was battery cables.
Picked up some copper lugs at Parkrose Hardware. 10 pack for $10.
I then had Liberty Welding Supply in Vancouver make me up some cables. They sell #2 wire by the foot and crimp on the lugs free of charge.
I had some #2 heat shrink left over from an old project, so I heat shrunk the connections.
Saved the terminals from the old Jeep. Little wire brushing to clean them up. I'm anal about my battery connections being clean. (FYI: Vaseline is great at preventing corrosion on the terminals)
I think it was time for some new cables.
I still need to clean up the factory wiring, change the routing up a bit, and add the engine block to fire wall ground as well.
Starts much quicker now.
Picked up some copper lugs at Parkrose Hardware. 10 pack for $10.
I then had Liberty Welding Supply in Vancouver make me up some cables. They sell #2 wire by the foot and crimp on the lugs free of charge.
I had some #2 heat shrink left over from an old project, so I heat shrunk the connections.
Saved the terminals from the old Jeep. Little wire brushing to clean them up. I'm anal about my battery connections being clean. (FYI: Vaseline is great at preventing corrosion on the terminals)
I think it was time for some new cables.
I still need to clean up the factory wiring, change the routing up a bit, and add the engine block to fire wall ground as well.
Starts much quicker now.
crazymoose1990
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Beavertown
97 Had 3 revisions for wire routing, thats why they recommend buying a 98 on up.
What the hell did I know. It was sheer luck I ended up with a Cherokee in the first place.
What the hell did I know. It was sheer luck I ended up with a Cherokee in the first place.
Gold Cobra
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Woodland, WA
What did the wire run you?
A Jackson and some change.
FiveNdime
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Washington
You know I got my tuner too Dustin. This time though we should do it in a large field instead of in town 
Projects coming right along, good work.
Projects coming right along, good work.I can't stand regular radio, and the selection on my MP3 was getting old.
Solution: Sirius Satellite Radio
Ordered up a Starmate 5 receiver, and it came with everything needed for plug and play.
Hardest part of the install was running the antenna wire behind all the trim panels and weather stripping.
Install only took about an hour and a half. So far I'm impressed by the selection and sound quality. Now I just need to clean my windshield.
Solution: Sirius Satellite Radio
Ordered up a Starmate 5 receiver, and it came with everything needed for plug and play.
Hardest part of the install was running the antenna wire behind all the trim panels and weather stripping.
Install only took about an hour and a half. So far I'm impressed by the selection and sound quality. Now I just need to clean my windshield.
Gold Cobra
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Woodland, WA
You got Sirius?! Red Dragons!
Time for some updates. I've been plugging away at small projects, and ordering a bunch of junk for the build plan.
I saved my old Rubicon Express control arms and HD track bar from the old rig. I figure with the goal being 4.5" of lift, short arms should work alright for the time being. Ideally I'd like to do a mid arm 3-link on the front, but that's going to have to wait till Phase2. With a few trails under their belt, and 30K+ miles I thought a rebuild of the arms would be a good idea. The LCA's definitely have seen better days.
I found
vendor Serious Offroad to have the best prices on RE parts. I went ahead and ordered up the necessary rebuild supplies (super flex races, and lca bushings).
To disassemble the super flex joints, unscrew the allen set screw.
RE sells a tool to remove the outer piece, or a spanner wrench could be used. I'm cheap so a screw driver (a punch would have been better) and hammer work fine. Tap the ring lightly and it unscrews easily.
Tap the ball out, and the outer race comes with it.
The other side is held in with a snap ring. Remove the snap ring, and the other side pops out.
Basic well used super flex assembly.
I tossed the parts I would be reusing in some solvent, and cleaned them up. Polished my balls too.
Old races.
New races.
For the bushings, I just use some all thread to make a "press" for the bushings. Pretty simple and works like a champ.
RE bushing quality for you.
With the arms all disassembled, I did a quick wire wheel on them, and shot some paint. Satin black it is.
Tomorrow I'll probably assemble them with the new hardware.
I saved my old Rubicon Express control arms and HD track bar from the old rig. I figure with the goal being 4.5" of lift, short arms should work alright for the time being. Ideally I'd like to do a mid arm 3-link on the front, but that's going to have to wait till Phase2. With a few trails under their belt, and 30K+ miles I thought a rebuild of the arms would be a good idea. The LCA's definitely have seen better days.
I found
vendor Serious Offroad to have the best prices on RE parts. I went ahead and ordered up the necessary rebuild supplies (super flex races, and lca bushings).
To disassemble the super flex joints, unscrew the allen set screw.
RE sells a tool to remove the outer piece, or a spanner wrench could be used. I'm cheap so a screw driver (a punch would have been better) and hammer work fine. Tap the ring lightly and it unscrews easily.
Tap the ball out, and the outer race comes with it.
The other side is held in with a snap ring. Remove the snap ring, and the other side pops out.
Basic well used super flex assembly.
I tossed the parts I would be reusing in some solvent, and cleaned them up. Polished my balls too.
Old races.
New races.
For the bushings, I just use some all thread to make a "press" for the bushings. Pretty simple and works like a champ.
RE bushing quality for you.
With the arms all disassembled, I did a quick wire wheel on them, and shot some paint. Satin black it is.
Tomorrow I'll probably assemble them with the new hardware.
Ruff Stuff Specialties sets a standard for diff covers. I was extremely pleased with them on the last rig, so I ordered up a new set for the Nail Salon.
They come unfinished, so I like to wire wheel the welds to get any welding slag off. I'm sure my bearings will thank me later.
After. Something new I want to try this time, is attaching a magnet to the inside of the cover.
Prepped them for paint. It was cold outside.
Primer.
Satin Black.
They'll be installed after the gears go in.
They come unfinished, so I like to wire wheel the welds to get any welding slag off. I'm sure my bearings will thank me later.
After. Something new I want to try this time, is attaching a magnet to the inside of the cover.
Prepped them for paint. It was cold outside.
Primer.
Satin Black.
They'll be installed after the gears go in.
jonesinxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Granite Falls, WA
Glad you had some personal time to polish your balls.... Although its much more satifying to have someone else do it......
When it came to the 8.8 goodies, I chose to go with the Ruff Stuff Specialties 8.8 simple swap kit. It included new perches, shock mounts, and 5/8" u-bolts. I'm amazed at the quality and overkill of this kit.
Started on the 8.8 swap by tearing down the housing. I removed the e-brake cables, brake lines, sway bar, and other useless junk I would need or would be redoing. Cracked the cover to remove the shafts and carrier. The cross pin needs to be removed to take off the axle c-clips. Use a 5/16" six point socket.
After the center pin is out, push the axles inward to remove the c-clip.
Remove the shafts. The 8.8 has a passenger side offset of around three inches. It's pretty noticeable when you compare the shafts.
Remove the carrier bearing caps to remove the carrier and ring gear. Make sure you either mark or remember their orientation.
This axle had 190K on it, so the inside of the chunk was coated in this black tar. I flushed the inside and cleaned it all out.
Next step was removing all the stock brackets.
I used an angle grinder to rough cut the welds on the brackets first. Then went at them with a cut off wheel on the die grinder.
Cut until you can see a crack in the weld. At that point get out the BFH and hammer away. Usually a few hits will knock the mount off, but if not keep cutting.
Trophies at the end of the day.
I cut into the tubes a bit on some of the brackets. Luckily it's all metal which can be added or taken away pretty easily.
Hobart fixed that.
I wire wheeled the housing, and then flap disc'd the tubes. They're all ready for the new brackets to be burned on and tubes welded.
Beveled the bottom lip. I'm sure it would have self clearanced over time, but hopefully it will make bumping over rocks a little easier.
The 8.8 at this point is ready for the new gears and Detroit to be set up. Then I need to run new brake lines, install new brake hardware. Finally I'll need to mock it up under the Jeep in place and tack the new brackets on. Still a bit of work ahead.
Started on the 8.8 swap by tearing down the housing. I removed the e-brake cables, brake lines, sway bar, and other useless junk I would need or would be redoing. Cracked the cover to remove the shafts and carrier. The cross pin needs to be removed to take off the axle c-clips. Use a 5/16" six point socket.
After the center pin is out, push the axles inward to remove the c-clip.
Remove the shafts. The 8.8 has a passenger side offset of around three inches. It's pretty noticeable when you compare the shafts.
Remove the carrier bearing caps to remove the carrier and ring gear. Make sure you either mark or remember their orientation.
This axle had 190K on it, so the inside of the chunk was coated in this black tar. I flushed the inside and cleaned it all out.
Next step was removing all the stock brackets.
I used an angle grinder to rough cut the welds on the brackets first. Then went at them with a cut off wheel on the die grinder.
Cut until you can see a crack in the weld. At that point get out the BFH and hammer away. Usually a few hits will knock the mount off, but if not keep cutting.
Trophies at the end of the day.
I cut into the tubes a bit on some of the brackets. Luckily it's all metal which can be added or taken away pretty easily.
Hobart fixed that.
I wire wheeled the housing, and then flap disc'd the tubes. They're all ready for the new brackets to be burned on and tubes welded.
Beveled the bottom lip. I'm sure it would have self clearanced over time, but hopefully it will make bumping over rocks a little easier.
The 8.8 at this point is ready for the new gears and Detroit to be set up. Then I need to run new brake lines, install new brake hardware. Finally I'll need to mock it up under the Jeep in place and tack the new brackets on. Still a bit of work ahead.
jonesinxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Granite Falls, WA
Damn you Dustin... Seeing all this work is intriguing phase 2 on my rig
WaXJ_Skier
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Bellevue, Wa
are you going to do a c-clip eliminator?
uber xj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Tacoma, WA
Nice to see some progress!! Coming along nicely!
How long have you had your Deka battery? I got one over the summer and have been pretty happy with it. Although my electrical system still bogs down a lot when I'm running my winch...
How long have you had your Deka battery? I got one over the summer and have been pretty happy with it. Although my electrical system still bogs down a lot when I'm running my winch...
