Hey everyone. I know it has been a while and I will be updating my original Chicago FZJ thread soon, but I thought this issue called for a separate one.
The situation: Put a brand new front locker and DC driveshaft into Landy. It ended up needing new CVs and a ton of other stuff but the tube was fine. For whatever reason, I was able to drive it w/ 4wd but still unable to get the diffs locked. It appeared that the 4wd computer was removed. Ordered one from cruiser parts and waited to ship. In the meantime, I took Landy on a little trip to STL and, although the gas mileage left something to be desired, she got us there safe and sound. We even made it most of the way home... until about 150 miles away we heard a bump under the cruiser (pothole?). And then started seeing some white smoke coming out the back. Pulled over, and when she got down to about 5mph the drivetrain started bucking everywhere. Slammed on the brakes, got out to look, and the front diff (brand new) sh*t a brick and there was fluid everywhere. I tried to roll another foot or two off the highway, but it wouldn't give. Good thing I upgraded my AAA last year, because I towed her to the shop.
At the shop: because the diff was still under warranty, we ordered another and waited. A couple weeks later we redid all the same work again and got her working. The 4wd CPU came in and we hooked it up with no luck still. Finally, trying to get to the root of the problem, we checked the rear diff (never an issue) and found two things... It was swapped for a NON-LOCKING diff by the PO, AND the harness was gone.
Case in point: I either need to swap my rear diff and get a harness, buy an ARB rear diff (can I still use a factory front like this?), or just throw away all the time and money spent and just drive it in 2wd until it dies.
Any thoughts would be a huge help!
UPDATE: I found a used rear locking axle in its entirety but the shipping and excessive install costs (swapping the good for the bad parts) are almost 4k not including headache/down time. So we can use this as a baseline.
The situation: Put a brand new front locker and DC driveshaft into Landy. It ended up needing new CVs and a ton of other stuff but the tube was fine. For whatever reason, I was able to drive it w/ 4wd but still unable to get the diffs locked. It appeared that the 4wd computer was removed. Ordered one from cruiser parts and waited to ship. In the meantime, I took Landy on a little trip to STL and, although the gas mileage left something to be desired, she got us there safe and sound. We even made it most of the way home... until about 150 miles away we heard a bump under the cruiser (pothole?). And then started seeing some white smoke coming out the back. Pulled over, and when she got down to about 5mph the drivetrain started bucking everywhere. Slammed on the brakes, got out to look, and the front diff (brand new) sh*t a brick and there was fluid everywhere. I tried to roll another foot or two off the highway, but it wouldn't give. Good thing I upgraded my AAA last year, because I towed her to the shop.
At the shop: because the diff was still under warranty, we ordered another and waited. A couple weeks later we redid all the same work again and got her working. The 4wd CPU came in and we hooked it up with no luck still. Finally, trying to get to the root of the problem, we checked the rear diff (never an issue) and found two things... It was swapped for a NON-LOCKING diff by the PO, AND the harness was gone.
Case in point: I either need to swap my rear diff and get a harness, buy an ARB rear diff (can I still use a factory front like this?), or just throw away all the time and money spent and just drive it in 2wd until it dies.
Any thoughts would be a huge help!
UPDATE: I found a used rear locking axle in its entirety but the shipping and excessive install costs (swapping the good for the bad parts) are almost 4k not including headache/down time. So we can use this as a baseline.
