Nice work, Travis!
Whatchu Workin' On?
- Thread starter Fitzgerald
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Finally got the rod ends off of my drag link. Time for paint, reassembly, and an alignment. Anyone have any luck aligning their front end at home?
I did mine late last summer, but was slightly off alignment resulting in uneven tire wear; I took it to Just Brakes (south of 24 on 8th St.) and they got me zero'd-in.
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- #664
It's been a good week for the 100. Installed my beefed up LCA's, new windshield, new hood struts, and took advantage of my lifetime alignment deal from Firestone. Since I had torn up or torn off a lot of the wheel weights, I also had Firestone unmount the tires, flip them around (White Letters Out!!!) and then rebalanc them with the sticky wheel weights indie the rim. Haven't run whites out since my early twenties, but I like it! Almost feels like I got new rubber.
New TRE's are in and DIY alignment done. Truck is much tighter now...I'm worried the wife will start driving it now 
now its time to wheel it. Might have to head to the mountains Sunday. Probably going to camp the weekend after next. Ill post something up when I get plans nailed Dow , but I'm thinking of some night wheeling.
now its time to wheel it. Might have to head to the mountains Sunday. Probably going to camp the weekend after next. Ill post something up when I get plans nailed Dow , but I'm thinking of some night wheeling.
Pulled the bumper off this morning - literally! After I got the bolts out, I couldn't pull it off by hand, so I put a strap around a tree and gave a little tug. Don't know how I'll get it back on - will probably need help.
Plan is to clean up the rust, do a little welding on it, paint it.
Also found that the winch mounting plate got tweaked pretty good on one of the pulls. That may be contributing to the difficulty getting it off - the center is pulled up, which pulled in the sides. Will take a BFH to it and see if that helps. Will probably weld a piece of angle along the bottom to stiffen it a bit.
Plan is to clean up the rust, do a little welding on it, paint it.
Also found that the winch mounting plate got tweaked pretty good on one of the pulls. That may be contributing to the difficulty getting it off - the center is pulled up, which pulled in the sides. Will take a BFH to it and see if that helps. Will probably weld a piece of angle along the bottom to stiffen it a bit.
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Got the parts to rebuild the carb!
As I was taking it apart doing this little guy sandwiched between the upper and lower section.
I bet I know which winch pull that was....
Yep, I'm thinking that one also. But a couple op taps with the big hammer straightened it out pretty well. I welded a piece of angle onto the back edge to stiffen it up a bit.
So it's primed & painted now.
That T shaped slot is an idea I'm trying out - jacking point for a high-lift. Though now that I'm looking at it again, I'm not sure the horizontal slot is high enough given the slope of that section. May have to grind it out some more.
I also welded some tabs on to mount the LED light bar I got for my birthday a couple of weeks ago
Last issue - I broke one of the mounting bolts getting it off
tried drilling it and using an extractor tonight with no luck. Gonna try some heat and more penetrating oil, but thinking I may have to drill it all the way out and maybe grind off & replace the captive nut. Bleh
Just got it in running great did some more vacuum lines while I was at it
Genius points for rattle can shaker. I have some paint work to do and I'm trying this!
Well I know this does not count as project cuz I contracted it out. However, I thought it might be helpful for the community if I posted my vinyl repair. This was a mobile service and the gentleman that came out was friendly and professional. This repair and coat of paint to cover a mystery stain cost me $170. Here are some pics with his card.
After my fiasco on Blanca with no rear locker, I cut the grass in the morning and took to getting those o rings replaced. Took about 5 hours with lots of breaks since its hot and humid today. LOTS of gear oil in the line. It's back together and working.
Rear diff cover isn't lookin so hot though. Even with a new gasket, it leaks quite a lot, so I'll have to pull it again and see if I can get a grinder on it to deburr and straighten it out.
Rear diff cover isn't lookin so hot though. Even with a new gasket, it leaks quite a lot, so I'll have to pull it again and see if I can get a grinder on it to deburr and straighten it out.
Finally got a few spare minutes to work on my Cherokee.
My suspicions were confirmed about my rear axle; I had a cyclical rumble I couldn't pinpoint, thought it might be a ring gear-then when the wheel seal failed catastrophically, I figured the axle bearings had to be roached. Sure enough, both sides were smoked. Not real sure what happened. Thinking I must have lost some fluid during the times I was laying on my side in moab. Probably ran that axle out of oil. Oops....
Passenger side:
Drivers side:
My suspicions were confirmed about my rear axle; I had a cyclical rumble I couldn't pinpoint, thought it might be a ring gear-then when the wheel seal failed catastrophically, I figured the axle bearings had to be roached. Sure enough, both sides were smoked. Not real sure what happened. Thinking I must have lost some fluid during the times I was laying on my side in moab. Probably ran that axle out of oil. Oops....
Passenger side:
Drivers side:
I don't think so. The roller bearings were contacting the top inside of the axle tube, roughed it up a bit. Cleaned that up with a cartridge roll on a die grinder. Spent a lot of time cleaning shavings out of the axle. Luckily, the carrier bearings, locker, and ring & pinion gears looked great.
Once upon a time when initially setting up this axle, I didn't account for how much the new carrier bearings would wear, the carrier bearing shims got loose and walked halfway out of their place on the axle, the ring gear lash was all messed up, and the axle shafts ate through the shims that were hanging on them. This was my first axle I've set up that the shims were outside of the bearings. Now I know to jam an extra .006 per side with new bearings, no matter how tight it feels. That could also be what happened to these bearings. Might have left some trash in there when I fixed that.
Once upon a time when initially setting up this axle, I didn't account for how much the new carrier bearings would wear, the carrier bearing shims got loose and walked halfway out of their place on the axle, the ring gear lash was all messed up, and the axle shafts ate through the shims that were hanging on them. This was my first axle I've set up that the shims were outside of the bearings. Now I know to jam an extra .006 per side with new bearings, no matter how tight it feels. That could also be what happened to these bearings. Might have left some trash in there when I fixed that.
Forgot to post up - got the bumper put back on after cutting off & replacing the captive nut. Got the LED bar mounted as well, though the wiring needs to be tucked up a bit and aim adjusted.
Pic is at Kite Lake near Stony pass.
Pic is at Kite Lake near Stony pass.