Update time!
As I mentioned in the post above, I wanted a rear storage drawer. Matt was selling his Tuffy drawer (35" wide, 30" deep, ~9" tall), so I bought it (but forgot to take a pic). Nice to have all my tools and recovery gear organized and secure.
The other issue(s) that have come up recently: Front driveshaft has been hitting my crossmember, and my front springs have sagged an inch since installing the 4Plus front bumper.
For the driveshaft...here's what I was dealing with:
The older damage (dent) was from Windrock in Oct, and the shiny part was from Ocala last month. Not sure how it drooped out and started to rub, has been fine for multiple wheeling trips (?).
I had been running a stock front shaft with a 1.25" spacer on the transfer case side (necessary after the shackle reversal), and it *just* cleared the crossmember after a little massaging of the lip. So rather than retube the stock shaft, I went for a new Tom Woods shaft.
Longer splines, and custom length (26" fully compressed, with 4.5" of slip):
(spacer is resting on the wrong side of the stock one - Was just trying to compare lengths)
I was hoping the smaller diameter tube (2" DOM) of the new shaft would clear, but without the spacer pushing it forward (that really helps clearance!)...no go:
Here's how close it was...with the driveshaft resting on the crossmember as shown above, the pinion connection was just a little off:
So, the crossmember will need some cutting and welding to give me some clearance. No big deal, that is the "right" way to address this - I was hoping to sneak by.
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