the displeasing pavement qualities of them almost..almost, disappear when they're behind an automatic.
December Wheeling
- Thread starter Pacer
- Start date
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Lake Christy, eh????? I've not been in there for years maybe because........................
One winter Saturday while I was still working I got a call at work from Steve Colavito. Seems he in his nice 40 and John Pulich (in the 40 that is now mine) were wheeling at Rausch and decided to drive over(????) what they thought was a solidly frozen Lake Christy. Well frozen wasn't exactly the case, John's 40 went through the ice and they had a hard time getting it out using winches on both trucks. When they finally did pull it out the steering arm had a huge bow in it, I believe they were unable even turn the steering wheel. They called me to see if I had a spare, which I did. I told them where it was in my garage and they drove out to my place in Steve's 40 to get the part, then all the way back to Rausch to install it. It was dark when they finally got to the staging area to check out and head home. Maybe I've been just a bit leery of Lake Christy since then!!!!! That had to have been in the 2006-2007 time frame.
One winter Saturday while I was still working I got a call at work from Steve Colavito. Seems he in his nice 40 and John Pulich (in the 40 that is now mine) were wheeling at Rausch and decided to drive over(????) what they thought was a solidly frozen Lake Christy. Well frozen wasn't exactly the case, John's 40 went through the ice and they had a hard time getting it out using winches on both trucks. When they finally did pull it out the steering arm had a huge bow in it, I believe they were unable even turn the steering wheel. They called me to see if I had a spare, which I did. I told them where it was in my garage and they drove out to my place in Steve's 40 to get the part, then all the way back to Rausch to install it. It was dark when they finally got to the staging area to check out and head home. Maybe I've been just a bit leery of Lake Christy since then!!!!! That had to have been in the 2006-2007 time frame.
Wow that is a long day! We didn't drive through the lake, I will firmly put that in the "nope never again" category. We drove down the shallow hill climbs towards the beach area of the lake. I can't remember which side you supposed to hug if you don't want to sink, but like you that was back in the 2006-08 years and I am sure all ways have been cut deeper since then. Its fun to be a spectator though and watch other attempt to go through the various portions you can.
Drove through there once before they went through! Had to stay to the right side after going down the one hill, there was another entry on the right after driving through the water if I recall it correctly.
I just don't recommend the frog hole.
I just don't recommend the frog hole.
Frog hole eh???? bet you still have nightmares about that day!!!!
Laying on the cold ground, removing the starter to get the clutch cover out of the way that the water in the clutch tore up and was making noise.
hands frozen trying to hold and insert the bolts back in. Easy fix any where else, but not fun that day!
There was only one other day that was as bad as that one was in my first 78 FJ40 in High School....too many snow drifts and super deep snow, driving through fields since there was less snow there than on the roads....froze all the brakes, starter, etc. snow packed in everywhere. Had to thaw in the garage after dragging it with the tractor.
GX DAVE
SILVER Star
Happy New Year everyone!
Figure I'd start it off right on here with a damage report update.
Below is an image of my blown rear diff in all it's glory!
This is what a blown rear diff looks like after driving a mile or two out of a trail on it, it sounded about as pretty as it looks!
Both my diffs were pulled and sent off to Marlin Crawler, they arrived safely and are in the process of being rebuilt with the parts listed below:
Re gear to 4.88 w/ Yukon gears AKA Ninja Gears w/ solid pinion spacers front and rear w/ rear Yukon Grizzly locker.
After speaking with @Rics4rnr about Ninja gears I did some research and decided to give Marlin Crawler a call to gain some clarity. As it turns out, Ninja gears are actually just Yukon gears sold under the MC in house brand name Ninja and they are used standard for all their diff rebuilds. Seems that in order to offer competitive pricing, they get a bulk discount from Yukon directly which allows them sell the gears for a lower MSRP than Yukon does, but because they are the exact same product just sold at a cheaper price, so they have to re brand them "Ninja Gears".
I have included a comment from MC below which I found on their forum.
For those of you who are curious, it cost $357 to ship both diffs from Stony Brook, NY to Marlin Crawler in Fresno, CA via UPS - 158 lbs combined shipping weight. They took about 5-8 days to get there and arrived on different dates. I received a 5% discount from UPS for being a AAA member, so AAA for the win, again!
They were shipped using a HDX storage totes - 12 gal (rear, 67 lbs) and a 14 gal (front, 91 lbs, tight squeeze but it fit!). I padded the bottom w/ a furniture blanket for cushion, then wrapped them in a towel and plastic painters tarp. I then filled in all the gaps with expandable spray foam, which seemed to do the trick nicely (thanks youtube). I should have bought 6 cans but 4 was just enough. I then zipped tied the covers on, applied a shipping label on top and sent them out just like that.
Image below of what they looked like before the lids were secured.
I'm looking forward to receiving them back and getting back out on the trail again! Hope to see you all there, wish me luck!🤞
Figure I'd start it off right on here with a damage report update.
Below is an image of my blown rear diff in all it's glory!
This is what a blown rear diff looks like after driving a mile or two out of a trail on it, it sounded about as pretty as it looks!
Both my diffs were pulled and sent off to Marlin Crawler, they arrived safely and are in the process of being rebuilt with the parts listed below:
Re gear to 4.88 w/ Yukon gears AKA Ninja Gears w/ solid pinion spacers front and rear w/ rear Yukon Grizzly locker.
After speaking with @Rics4rnr about Ninja gears I did some research and decided to give Marlin Crawler a call to gain some clarity. As it turns out, Ninja gears are actually just Yukon gears sold under the MC in house brand name Ninja and they are used standard for all their diff rebuilds. Seems that in order to offer competitive pricing, they get a bulk discount from Yukon directly which allows them sell the gears for a lower MSRP than Yukon does, but because they are the exact same product just sold at a cheaper price, so they have to re brand them "Ninja Gears".
I have included a comment from MC below which I found on their forum.
For those of you who are curious, it cost $357 to ship both diffs from Stony Brook, NY to Marlin Crawler in Fresno, CA via UPS - 158 lbs combined shipping weight. They took about 5-8 days to get there and arrived on different dates. I received a 5% discount from UPS for being a AAA member, so AAA for the win, again!
They were shipped using a HDX storage totes - 12 gal (rear, 67 lbs) and a 14 gal (front, 91 lbs, tight squeeze but it fit!). I padded the bottom w/ a furniture blanket for cushion, then wrapped them in a towel and plastic painters tarp. I then filled in all the gaps with expandable spray foam, which seemed to do the trick nicely (thanks youtube). I should have bought 6 cans but 4 was just enough. I then zipped tied the covers on, applied a shipping label on top and sent them out just like that.
Image below of what they looked like before the lids were secured.
I'm looking forward to receiving them back and getting back out on the trail again! Hope to see you all there, wish me luck!🤞
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Gnarly! But I feel you pain.
It was about 6 years ago, I had just after transferring all the good off road bits except for my rear lower trailing arms that I was waiting for a rebuild kit for the joints. Friends want to go wheeling and I said, what the heck let's go.
I believe it was trail 11 on the west side, I was getting hung up in a spot. I gave it my good ol 'send it', but I sent her to hard and the lower link landed on a rock and folded in half. While this wouldn't be an issue, I had the rear locker locked and spinning the tires at a good speed. when the link bent it pinned my right rear tire into the body of the truck and instantly locked up the rear. The weakest link for me ended up being a sheared off the pinion flange.
It gets better, every time. I pulled forward the pinion gear would drop into the diff and lock the rear end. I had to drive out from the bottom of the west side of the park to the staging area onto a trailer in reverse. Ooof, thankfully it was a nice day and I was able to roll down the back window to see a little better.
Hopefully your diffs will be back soon and you'll be able to be back on the trails soon!
How was it pulling off the trailer?
Fun.... Had the front tires roasting dragging the ass end of the truck off the trailer........
Thanks for the update Dave. I look forward to seeing you back up and running soon.
My rig is still driveway bound until the 26th of this month, then the new rear panhard bushings get installed and exploratory surgery on the front axle will happen. The last two trips of 2022 have generated a fair amount of repairs. Come to think of it, most of 2022 was spent chasing down small issues here and there, hoping 2023 is less of that.
My rig is still driveway bound until the 26th of this month, then the new rear panhard bushings get installed and exploratory surgery on the front axle will happen. The last two trips of 2022 have generated a fair amount of repairs. Come to think of it, most of 2022 was spent chasing down small issues here and there, hoping 2023 is less of that.
Yes, the knuckle studs are part of the repair and exploratory surgery. The rig went almost 2 years with no drama and now things are fatigued and need to be replaced.
GX DAVE
SILVER Star
Here's a little Wednesday afternoon update for you all, I got the diffs back from Marlin Crawler and they should be installed within the next week or so!
I am curious if anyone here has a specific process which they prefer to use for breaking in new gears?
This will be my first time so I want to make sure I get it right.
Any insight, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!
I am curious if anyone here has a specific process which they prefer to use for breaking in new gears?
This will be my first time so I want to make sure I get it right.
Any insight, tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!
I think the break in procedure is to drive 15 to 25 miles and let the gears cool down. No towing until you reach the initial 500 miles. Then after the first 500 miles they recommend to change the differential fluid.
Here’s a link for the break in period.
Differential Break-In and Care Information | Marlin Crawler, Inc.
New Gear Break-In Procedure All new gear sets require a break-in period to prevent damage from overheating. Any overloading or over-heating will cause the gear oil to break...
No sir, I believe I did that whole job by hand
GX DAVE
SILVER Star
Figured it was time for another update here since I'm officially back in the driver seat!
As of yesterday I've put 100 miles on the new gears and everything is feeling and sounding great...so far so good!
I've been very careful to make sure to follow proper break in protocol and I can barley feel the grizzly rear locker on the road which is a pleasant surprise.
I am really enjoying the enhanced torque and acceleration of the 4.88 gears, to be honest it picks up like stock again, maybe even better!
Glad this saga has finally come to an end. Thank you to everyone who has helped guide me through this and given their advise, I really appreciate it.
I'll be purchasing a Bud Built rear diff skid soon to protect my investment, the last thing I need is to crack the case or something stupid like that....I don't want to deal with any diff BS for a loooooong time!
Thinking I probably won't wheel again until about April or so, I'm in the middle of moving which will be absorbing most of my energy for a while but once I'm ready rock again I'll touch base and we can plan another trip, hope to see you all there!
As of yesterday I've put 100 miles on the new gears and everything is feeling and sounding great...so far so good!
I've been very careful to make sure to follow proper break in protocol and I can barley feel the grizzly rear locker on the road which is a pleasant surprise.
I am really enjoying the enhanced torque and acceleration of the 4.88 gears, to be honest it picks up like stock again, maybe even better!
Glad this saga has finally come to an end. Thank you to everyone who has helped guide me through this and given their advise, I really appreciate it.
I'll be purchasing a Bud Built rear diff skid soon to protect my investment, the last thing I need is to crack the case or something stupid like that....I don't want to deal with any diff BS for a loooooong time!
Thinking I probably won't wheel again until about April or so, I'm in the middle of moving which will be absorbing most of my energy for a while but once I'm ready rock again I'll touch base and we can plan another trip, hope to see you all there!
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