1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

[Dr. Marneaus]

So after getting the axle shafts all u jointed up as necessary, i've made a little more progress.



Moving forward!!!!

FINALLLLYYYYY got these suckers in, surprising how easy it is when you use the right tool for the job (D44 adapter kit).

All pressed in and they move nice and easily and smoothly.


and look what I got!


Planning to pick up the rotors and wheel studs this weekend, as well as new grease seals for the hubs, and get everything assembled on saturday. Then the axle will be ready to be put up under the truck, just need to get some loose ends sorted out first (new tie rod ends, both sides, new TRE on the drag link, have to ream out the pitman arm on my steering box to accept the larger TRE, then once that crap is done, it can get bolted under the truck, get new calipers and pads, and be ready to run.

Oh, also working on getting a set of u bolts and u bolt plates lined up.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

front end is done.

Just waiting on new tie rods, somebody is shipping me spring plates, and i need to order u bolts.

 

[jeepdreamer]

That's Purdy!!!!!!!!!! :O

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Done, everything i need is either in my possession, or on its way to las vegas (4 tie rod ends, brake hoses).

I cannot believe how much money i spent on this stupid thing. I'm seriously over it. I'm losing interest in the whole damn rig.

 

[jeepdreamer]

Gotta pay to play brotha!
Besides... its much cheaper to build this than a new one. Honest!

 

[reece146]

Don't get discouraged about the time and money taken to build the axle.

Get out there and use it and all that will be forgotten.

 

[Jim K in PA]

I cannot believe how much money i spent on this stupid thing. I'm seriously over it. I'm losing interest in the whole damn rig.

LOL - if I had a $ for every time I reached that point with my LJ Rubicon, I could have bought a Wagoneer! Seriously, don't get discouraged. I just finished rebuilding and reinstalling the rear Dana 44 in my LJ . . . for THE SECOND M-F-ING TIME!!! Original axle shredded the pinion preload shims, so we replaced all the bearings and shims, setup the preload, but reused the original gears (which were fine). Less than 6k miles later it starts to make noise. Pulled it apart again and found the rear pinion bearing race (Koyo) had shredded itself on about 30% of the surface. No discernible cause other than likely bad metallurgy in that section of the race. Rebuilt it all again with NEW Spicer gears and Timken bearings. But . . . Timken is now sourcing some of their bearings from . . . INDIA! Wish me luck.

Just keep plugging. Better to do it ALL now and not have to revisit the process again later like I did.

 

[Harmgrissom]

This is a thing of beauty man. Seriously great work. I'll be honestly you've got far more skills than I do, which makes me nervous about undertaking the same project. But man - its inspiring. Love seeing those old Jeeps on the trail.

 

[onemanarmy]

Fantastic rig man....now I'm on CL looking for a FSJ

Thanks

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. I can see the light at the end of the money tunnel.

Got this big sumbitch 100% ready to go under the truck.

Well, i lied, i still need to seal up the diff cover and fillerup.


Okay, i think it's ready to go under the truck. I have everything i need, i think.

before:



After:




New:

u joints
oil seals (on knuckles)
ball joints/hardware
spindle bearings
spindle seals
wheel studs
rotors
calipers
pads
locking hubs
brake hoses
tie rod
drag link
tie rod ends
adjusting sleeves
u bolts/hardware

The only thing i didnt replace were the wheel bearings because they were in great shape. And also I wimped out and didnt put in the locker. Maybe in the back?

 

[Metcalf]

Where you able to check the pinion preload and the backlash on the ring and pinion?

Both those are a pretty good indicator of bearing condition in the axle.

Pinion seal?

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Pinion seal is good. nice and dry back there.

no idea how to check preload or backlash. So that would be a "no." I know nothing of gears, hence wimping out on the locker install.

 

[reece146]

Drive the piss out of it and worry about a rear locker later. You'll know when you need it and won't be questioning it.

It's a cool Jeep, now get out there and use it and enjoy it.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

i guess thats the plan.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

whats this?


open wide, say 'ahhhhhh'


there ya go!


need to redo a bunch of the brake system, new master cylinder and need to add a proportioning valve because of the new disc/drum setup.

the "hard part" is done, but now i need to drop maybe 150 more and learn how the heck to make brake lines.