Well shoot, guess who's back

[DutchVDub]

Spent yesterday getting axles back under the hover jeep. Then we went to start it for the first time in 2 years. I put a couple of gallons of fresh fuel in the tank plus a new battery. And proceeded to turn the key. In response the Jeep did..... nothing. Not so much as a click from the starter. We looked things over and saw nothing wrong so I hit the starter with a hammer and it started to turn over. You could tell it was drawing too many amps so we swapped it out with one of Steve's spares. "New" starter in and she damn near starter right up. Not bad for a hibernating Renix.

We got her loaded onto the trailer along with all the extra parts Steve had been hoarding. Once I got home I helped my buddy swap an Explorer 8.8 into his 1992 Ranger. We used a RuffStuff simple swap kit and it went fairly smooth. We did have to drill out the center pin holes a bit bigger and he'll need longer U-bolts for piece of mind. The rangers come with a 3.5" block that calls for a really long u-joint.

Jeep loaded up

Welding axle tubes. I pre-heated to 270ish degrees and the post heated for a bit. No cracks in the welds appeared.

 

[DutchVDub]

So this happened

Matched set out of a 1972 F100 4x4. HP D44 front with welded wedges and 65" WMS, and the typical 9" rear axle.

 

[1-tonxj]

I've welded link bridges and stuff fairly close to the pumpkin but never as close as to where the tube presses into the pumpkin , So my question is can you weld the tubes with the carrier in and if so should I remove the weight of the vehicle from the axle housing when welding ? I plan to tie my link bridge to my diff cover and to my pinion guard but would like to weld the tubes as well , but do not feel like pulling the carrier ...I'm lazy .

 

[DutchVDub]

If you take it slow and careful you should be fine, although on a front axle you might wind up pulling it anyway to replace the inner axle seals.

I've got the special tool/press for those seals if that happens.

I only pre-heat to 250deg and even measuring after welding it's about at that point. Bearings probably don't even see half of that heat. I wouldn't have the weight on the tires though. If it's going to warp from putting a truss on it's going to want to go c'S up as it is, even more so with the weight on the tires. Hate to say it but you're best off pulling the axle.

 

[DutchVDub]

Sorry if that is incoherent, I'm 5 beers in on my home from the Eagles game.

 

[1-tonxj]

I may try it on the 14 ...The front axle needs no special tools to replace the inner seal it does require you to rip apart most of the axle to remove the carrier to access the $7 dollar seal . I blew up the stock 79 passenger side neckdown shaft splintering it into 6 pieces Detroit was fine the seal got chewed up and it took me 5 hours with a magnet and the axle tilted to free the 12 inch section sitting in the Detroit ...lol...that last few inches in the detroit is the only 1.5 beef on those early 79 60's ...to be fair to the shaft my brother did slam into a ledge at 15 mph as tall as the tire compmetely stopping the Jeep and bouncing it backwards a good many feet...lol...I was outside watching him do this and the impact folded the tire in almost to the rim before the jeep rebounded back , soit does take a bit to kill even the most wimpy 60 shafts .

 

[DutchVDub]

The tool I was referring to is this:

It allows you to easily press the seals in straight.

If you're just doing a link bridge and welding the tubes on the 14 bolt you can probably just put a bottle jack under the pumpkin and take some of the weight off of the tires. Have them just barely on the ground, that should put enough preload on the housing to keep it from warping.

 

[1-tonxj]

The tool I was referring to is this:

It allows you to easily press the seals in straight.

If you're just doing a link bridge and welding the tubes on the 14 bolt you can probably just put a bottle jack under the pumpkin and take some of the weight off of the tires. Have them just barely on the ground, that should put enough preload on the housing to keep it from warping.

Thanks for the tips ...lol...I did my 60 seals caveman style...hence the reason I bought a spare incase i bent it .

 

[DutchVDub]

Well the little Pioneer is going to go away as I just scored a really good deal on a good running 98 Sport. I'll pull it into the garage here in the next few weeks hopefully and start prepping it for sale.

New XJ safe at home

[/

Interior

It's a 98 Sport with 231, 8.25, AW4, and 260k on the clock. Runs and drives really good with a 3" BDS lift, nearly new 31" BFG A/T's, and otherwise stock. Oh, kenwood blue tooth radio with Kenwood speakers and amp installed by car toys.

Sorry little fella, but daddy has a major soft spot for 98's

 

[DutchVDub]

The 98 passed emissions with flying colors, now the joys of waiting at the DMV may commence.

 

[DutchVDub]

Productive day today. After passing the e-test and getting plates I replaced to broken exhaust mount clamp that goes at the end of the tailpipe by the leaf spring shackle, no more rattling exhaust. I then scored a complete header panel with all lights and H4 housings. It's black, not Emerald Pearl blah blah, but at 60$ I wasn't complaining. I also picked up a complete set (front, back, and cargo sections) of Huskyliner molded floor liners for another $20. I also found time to pull the warped and faded door guard moldings, and then pressure wash most of the remaining adhesive off. Oh yeah, and I replaced the driver side bumper end cap too. All in all, a pretty good day with the new Jeep. I do need to take the driver side front flare off and set it into the bracket correctly again. It's partially off, probably a result of whatever clipped that front corner.

 

[DutchVDub]

And in the glove box, along with all the original owner's manuals, was this bad boy.

 

[xj-grin]

Cripes. 23 GRAND!!

 

[Kittrell]

Lookin' good! Always neat when you find the original window sticker.

 

[puttzer]

Looks good, hard to tell in pictures the header panel is black.

 

[time2getdirty]

Tnt is going to be selling a redesign of our original bumper that would look sweet on there....

 

[DutchVDub]

Unless you're able to arrange a super sweet deal for me I'll just build my own. I might be hitting you guys up for a D44 swap truss in a few months though. I liked how easy it made my Waggy swap on the 92 XJ.

 

[Kittrell]

Is the clearcoat peel limited to the hood?

 

[DutchVDub]

Yeah, mostly the hood. The doors have some bird claws or whatever you want to call it under the windows too. My guess is this thing spent a lot of time parked under those trees with small leaves.

If it was forest green with a tan interior it would match my truck perfectly, peeling hood and all.

 

[DutchVDub]

I love Amazon. I ordered a new driver side tail light and got it installed today. Then I ordered a pair of lift gate struts for 30$ free prime shipping. Pretty sure I paid like 50$ each the last time I went to the parts store.