Rudy - Bluegill & Tom-boy's 2001 Jeep TJ

[Bluegill]

Seeing that alot of ya'll have wheeled with our TJ and it had never been listed here as a project - figured I'd start a thread.

Purchased: July 2002 with 6,500 miles on odometer

Specs at time of purchase:
2001 Canadian model (built for export - does NOT have the word "Wrangler" anywhere on it, including the owner's manual) TJ Sport
4.0 I-6 EFI engine - 185hp/250ftlb
NV3550 manual 5spd transmission
NP231J transfer case, 2.72 low gear
Dana 30 front axle, 3.07 gear, open diff
Dana 35 rear axle, 3.07 gear, open diff
225/75/15 Goodyear Wrangler GS/A tires on 15x7 factory "grizzly" alloys
Dual tops (hard & soft), full steel doors, premium stereo w/ factory subwoofer
Curb weight (with soft top): 3642lbs
Wheelbase: 93.8"
Track width (WMS): 60.5"

Mods installed/added October 2002:
Cobra 25LTD CB & Firestick II antenna
Poweraid throttle body spacer
Bestop add-a-trunk rear storage compartment

Mods installed/added May 2003:
31x10.50 Mud King tires
Olympic rear rock bumper w/ 2" receiver hitch

Mods installed/added May 2005:
custom built (by me) front bumper & brush gaurd

Mods installed/added July 2005:
Teraflex super-short SYE (slip yoke eliminator)
custom double cardan rear driveshaft
2" Skyjacker spring pad lift
Rancho RSX shocks & steering stabilizer
33x12.50 TrXus MT tires on 15x10 ProComp black steel wheels

Mods installed/added August 2005:
Prothane 1" body lift
Skyjacker transfer case adjustable shift linkage
Currie 1" motor mount lift
Big Daddy tie rod bar

Mods installed/added April 2006:
JKS quicker disconnects (front sway bar)
K&N air filter

Mods installed/added January 2007:
LED rock lights (write up & pics here): http://www.4x4grace.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5433


All mods were built and/or installed by yours truly, except the rear driveshaft - which was originally built by Rubicon Express, but modified by Ferguson's in Morristown to my specs. That's where Rudy sits right now, with more to come. "Rudy" is short for Rudolph - as in the red nosed reindeer. Long story about Christmas of 2002. :wink:

For those who haven't seen it:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j108/thumpszilla/WHEELIN%20PICS/Bays%201-21-07/Picture030.jpg

[Derrickalda]

your 6 cyl 4.0L i think has more horsepower then my 8 cyl 4.0L....haha

great rig......i like the fact it doesn't say wrangler on it....thats cool

[Bluegill]

Thanks Derrick - I like the sound of your 4.0 better though; the rumble of any V8 thru a Flowmaster is a sweet sound 8) My 4.0 sounds like a 4 banger on steroids :lol:

I too love the fact that it doesn't have "Wrangler" on it - that's part of why I bought this particular one :wink: Gotta at least be a little different.

[LoOnaTik]

Thanks Derrick - I like the sound of your 4.0 better though; the rumble of any V8 thru a Flowmaster is a sweet sound 8) My 4.0 sounds like a 4 banger on steroids :lol:

You could just swap the motors in your Jeeps!lol

[Bluegill]

Just installed $200 of replacement parts in the front axle, both hub assemblies & both u-joints.

I wanted to post this up for anyone with a similar vehicle wondering if they should replace the front axle u-joints. The u-joints I removed were the factory ones. This Jeep has just under 60,000 miles on it, and an estimated 1,100 of those are trail miles. Always parked indoors until this past March (my FSJ doesn't currently have a back window, so Rudy sacrificed his garage bay). The driver side joint was in fairly good shape other than normal wear. The passenger side was another story, 2 of the caps did not have lubrication and probably would've seized & broke if they were wheeled hard one more time. Very glad I did this - one of the joints (couldn't tell which by ear until I took them apart) was making a very faint squeak, which told me they needed attention. The hub assemblies probably could've gone another year without replacing, but after seeing so many crashes resulting from these unitized hub bearings coming apart on the road (as in catastrophic - very blessed just to be alive) lately, I didn't want to take chances with the precious cargo our TJ hauls (my wife & kids). Btw, it's technically not MY Jeep anymore, Julie adamantly claims it is HERS! :lol:

Got alot of valuable info from this site:
http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle.asp
including a neat trick for removing stuck hub/bearing assemblies - at first I tried my 7 ton gear puller & 3lb brass hammer....to no avail :banghead: Then by reading on Stu's site & using a 1/2"dia x 2" long bolt, they popped out easily.

New hub assemblies for D30 axles normally run around $125/ea, but O'Reilly's has them for $85, usually in stock too. 8) Btw, I highly recommend the Harbor Freight u-joint press - once I got the rusty caps broke loose with a big hammer & 3/4" socket, the HF tool made short work of removing & installing new joints. HF calls it the "3 in 1 service kit" - it also does ball joints & brake anchor pins.

[Bluegill]

Woohoo! Rudy did it's first time on an RTI ramp at the M&G - and even I was impressed, never expected it to go that far - had to back off & come in at an angle so the rear tire wouldn't climb the ramp too :shock:

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/HPIM1110.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/HPIM1109.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/HPIM1108.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/HPIM1107.jpg

Not too shabby for a 2" pad lift & 1" body lift on stock springs, eh? 8)

[Gordon]

Rob, and Julie, since it's yours now :wink: I have seen Rudy in situations that I never would have guessed a rig built moderately could ever achieve. It has plenty of flex, does right well, for sure.

[Bluegill]

Rudy FINALLY got a winch lol :icon_lol: Removed the overly large bumper, slowly working on building a new one with better approach angle. Also installed steering frame brace from M.O.R.E.


http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/winch.jpg

[Bluegill]

New front bumper is relegated to the back burner for now. Current project - progressing slowly lol - is a Ford 8.8 axle & gear swap. The donor axle has been in my garage for about 2 years, bought it from Alex_Js_TJ (he got it from 1tonmudder). Back when I got laid off, I set aside some of the cash settlement for TJ mods and bought these goodies:

Brackets: http://www.mountainoffroad.com/_e/Ford_8_8_rear_axle_Install_Kit/product/98700/98700_Ford_8_8_Axle_Swap_Kit_for_1997_2006_TJ.htm
Cables: http://www.mountainoffroad.com/_e/Ford_8_8_rear_axle_Install_Kit/product/EB-4/Emergency_Brake_Cable_Kit_for_1997_2006_TJ_s_Disk_ Brakes_Only_.htm
Yoke: http://www.mountainoffroad.com/_e/Ford_8_8_rear_axle_Install_Kit/product/221379/Yoke_for_Ford_8_8_into_Jeep_XJ_YJ_TJ.htm
D30 gears: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SAG-D30410TJ/
Summit currently doesn't list Superior's D30 install kit, or the Ratech 8.8 master rebuild kit, but that's the brands & vendor I bought from.
8.8 gears: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FMS-M-4209-G410A/
8.8 locker: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ETN-19660-010/

Currently the 8.8 has all Ford brackets cut off & ground down, clearanced pumpkin for the TJ sway bar, shafts removed, brakes disassembled and removed, backing plates removed. When my tax return comes in, these items will be bought so I can completely finish the swap: 12ton shop press, bearing separator, pinion depth tool, argon tank (my Hobart is currently flux core, ideally needs to be full MIG to weld up the original vent hole, plus cleaner welds), rotors, calipers, pads, brake lines, and rear adjustable upper control arms.

Plans are to weld the brackets on with a 15 degree pinion angle. With it's current 2" suspension lift, the Jeep's ideal pinion angle is 12 degrees (stock is 10), but the ultimate goal is to replace the 2" budget boost with 4" springs, thus needing the 15 degree angle. The adjustable UCA's will be used to set the pinion down to 12 degrees for now.

[Bluegill]

Found some "blast from the past" pics - from Rudy's second ride on English Mountain. Stock on 31" mud king tires (el cheapo) lol. This was in '03 or '04. Last pic is a Sami friend, his rear driveshaft came apart while trying to climb that ledge.

[Bluegill]

Almost forgot the most important mod of all - the decal on top of the hood. ;) Skyjacker part # JRD6-W

[Want2Wheel]

Looking Good

[Bluegill]

Gotta have tunes! Upgraded the factory head unit with this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sony-Xplod-CDX-GT35UW-Car-CD-Receiver/14956451 The stock unit was shot - the volume knob rarely worked, touching the fader control sometimes cut ALL of the speakers out, and it wouldn't read ANY cd.

Replaced the dash speakers - passenger stock one had a broken wire in the voice coil so it didn't work at all. Got some adapter plates & installed 5.25" Kenwood 2-ways that I had stored in my shop for several yrs. They sound 10x better than the factory 4x6 ever did! I disassembled the OEM plastic speaker connectors, and crimped the OEM small metal clips to fit very snug on the Kenwood terminals. Pic attached, but the lighting is very poor.

Replaced the console subwoofer - factory one was COMPLETELY blown; all of the surround had come loose from the frame. Did some research, and found a good cheap replacement: http://www.jcwhitney.com/chrome-plated-woofers/p2009928.jcwx?skuId=321428&filterid=j1&_requestid=29544967 Even did some online shopping, and got JCWhitney to price match a place that was selling them for $10 each! Yes, it's not going to win any competitions or rattle windows, but it has a nice depth to the sound quality - and it sure beats a blown sub! Pics are attached; first one you can see inside the enclosure, where I had to chop off (dremel) about 3/4" depth of the plastic supports to clear the new sub magnet. I made a cork gasket to go under the sub, because the new sub frame was a lil too tight in the factory hole and I didn't want to make more of a mess grinding it. New sub is much more weather-resistant than the stock paper sub. Second pic shows the new sub installed.

Still got to replace the sound bar speakers, but so far it's a huge improvement over the factory system. Me likey! :icon_mrgreen:

[Bluegill]

Had to do something about the piss poor CB antenna situation. Years ago I fabbed a bracket that bolted to the top bolts holding my spare tire carrier to the tailgate. It worked decent for a couple years, but corrosion kept making it worse. Never could get a good ground plane, and I wasn't going to run an additional ground wire thru the whole tub just for this.

Figured I would be a guinea pig for this mount, made by Firestik: http://www.rightchannelradios.com/cb-antenna-mount-kits-87/jeep-hood-kit-firestik-cb-antenna-mounting-348.html
Its all stainless, which will help the corrosion issue. And I really like the Fire-Ring coax connection. I only have 1 complaint after installing it tho - and that is, the plate needs to be a bit longer OR change the installation instructions to 6" forward from the the cowl/firewall. At 8" (per instructions), the bolt heads are seen under the hood. Couldn't go any closer to the fender lip because of clearance needed for the coax Fire-Ring. Pics are attached. Because of this, I had to use a flap disc & grind down literally HALF the thickness of the bolt heads to keep the hood from hitting them. I ground them down a lil more after taking the 2nd pic. Otherwise, this is a very nice quality mount. Another drawback is that I had to solder the PL-259 connector onto the radio end of the coax cable, but this also made for a very small hole in the firewall to route the cable thru.

I also got this 3' antenna to mount on it: http://www.rightchannelradios.com/wilson-cb-antenna-109/wilson-flex-cb-antenna-363.html The antenna has an additional ground wire, which I routed to the firewall, right next to the factory ground strap going from the block to the firewall. I also ran another ground wire from the backing plate of the mount to the same spot. VERY well grounded, to say the least. LOL

Took it out to a nice open spot at Cherokee Lake and tuned it. Ended up having to remove the short tuning tip completely; initial SWR reading kept indicating the antenna was too long. Final adjusted readings: Channel 1 = 1.1 SWR .... Channel 40 = 1.6 SWR Best readings I've ever had on a vehicle CB.

I'll have to add a pic or 2 later of the finished setup. It clears my 7' garage door without hitting, which my old mount & 3' Firestik wouldn't do. I also need to add - that Right Channel Radios treated me better than ANY internet vendor I've ever dealt with! Two thumbs way up! As for Firestick's mount, one thumb up & one thumb down for bad design.

[Bluegill]

More cb antenna pics. Barely noticeable in the pics, is the small clear zip tie I used to secure the antenna's extra ground wire to the base stud.

[Bluegill]

Welded up the 8.8 axle & got the 1st coat of primer on it. Hats off to Nick for the excellent measurements on Stu Olsen's TJ website (http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/8.8axle/8.8axle-1.htm), I used them since many other folks have with great success.

Overall, the M.O.R.E. brackets fit well, except the front outer corner of each coil bucket had to be chopped to clear the LCA bracket (pic below) - AND, my biggest gripe about the brackets is, I found out the hard way, that the passenger side sway bar bracket wasn't stamped correctly. It didn't seem bad until I put the UCA bracket on it (the UCA brackets straddle the sway bar brackets) - then I had a 1/4" gap in 2 places where the UCA & tube met (pic below). Since this side isn't as critical as the driver side (track bar bracket hugs the driver side UCA), I ground some of the gap out & filled the remainder in with weld. Worst case it will make installing the sway bar & pass side UCA a lil tricky.

There is definitely a method to the madness, although you won't find installation instructions for these brackets ANYWHERE! Not even from MORE or other manufacturers. LOL For future reference, this is the sequence I used:

1 - Measure & mark all brackets & tubes. Brackets get marked in their centerline, tubes get marked where the centerline of each bracket matches up to. I also test fit the brackets & using the orientation directions below, marked them D for driver side and P for passenger side.
2. - Set your pinion angle. I used 12.5 degrees for mine, but my TJ currently has a 2" suspension lift and SYE. If you have a 4" lift, yours will be more like 16*. If your TJ is stock, then you'll want 9 or 10*
3 - LCA brackets. Once your pinion angle is set, these should be welded with the angle finder reading 0* sitting on top of them (flat side). Orientation is important; tube side aims toward the wheel and the bolt holes aims towards the pumpkin (center).
4 - Coil buckets. These also should read 0* with the angle finder. If you measured & located them properly, and depending on which brand of brackets you're using, you may need to chop 1 corner off each mount - because the LCA bracket may interfere with it (see pic below).
5 - Tubes to the diff case. I used four 1.5" long welds on each tube, spaced evenly around the tube & welded each pass in alternating fashion (similar to tightening lug nuts) to keep the tubes from warping. Pic is below.
6 - Explorer vent hole. If you plan on using 2 separate fittings for brake Tee and vent tube, then you can skip this step. If you want to reuse the TJ combo brake tee/vent tube, then you'll want to weld this hole up. I used brake cleaner sprayed on Q-tips to clean the hole out before welding, and it worked great.
7 - Sway Bar. These are critical, especially the driver side, as the UCA brackets will straddle these. Orientation is important: thicker end goes up, tube side aims toward the pumpkin & the flat side aims toward the tire. Remove the bolts & set the angle finder on the flat surface, it should read 90*. After tacking them on, reinstall the bolts just far enough that 1 or 2 threads stick out behind the nuts, to keep slag from getting in the threads. Now, be careful WHERE you weld on these; do not weld on the outside upper half of the bracket, because the UCA will need that area in order to sit flat on the tube. I started by tacking the inside upper corners, then tacked the lower corners, then welded the upper half on the inside. After installing the UCA's you can go back & finish welding these.
8 - UCA. Orientation also important here; if you installed the Sway Bar brackets properly, the UCA's will only fit one way on top of them - back side (flat) should be aimed towards the pumpkin and the bolt holes aimed towards the wheel. Back side should read 90* on the angle finder, and ideally these should also be checked for vertical squareness on the other side too; put the angle finder on the inner flat surface (closest to the pumpkin) and make sure it reads 90* also. Lots of welding to be done on these, they need to be welded as completely as possible to the Sway Bar brackets. BUT - on the driver side UCA, do NOT weld the outer rear edge or the inside rear corner yet. Take the Track Bar bracket & fit it up against the UCA and you'll see what I'm talking about. Weld on the inside of the driver side UCA until you're installing the Track Bar bracket, after that you can weld it all up.
9 - Track Bar. This tall bracket hugs the back of the driver side UCA, with the bolt holes facing the pumpkin. Pull it tight to the UCA, make sure it reads 90* on the angle finder, tack it, then weld it completely. Lots of welding on this one too. At the base, you may need multiple passes, as the weld needs to penetrate both the Track Bar and UCA bracket. I ran 1 hot pass and followed it with a stitch pass.
10 - Shocks. With the pinion set, these should read between 35* and 40* towards the rear, just be sure that both sides are the same. Orientation is key; bolt holes should aim towards the wheel, and tube end aims toward the pumpkin.

General Notes: If you don't have alot of experience with fabrication, you should tack all the brackets on, double & triple check measurements & angles, THEN weld it all up. I have lots of experience & US Navy training, so I'm not worried. Rotating the entire diff to gain a better welding angle on each bracket is normal, just be sure to reset the pinion angle & double check it before welding another bracket on.


Ok, enough of the "blah blah" - On to the pics! :icon_mrgreen:


First, got everything ready to weld. The box fan served as my exhaust, to keep fumes from building up & my carbon monoxide detector from going off. Raised the garage door 2' and turned the fan on high, blowing outside. With my 210amp Hobart, I used a heat setting of 5, wire speed at 42ipm, argon flow at 30cfh (75/25 mix), with .035" ER70S-6 wire for all welds except the tubes to pumpkin, which needed a lil more heat & wire speed.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-09124800.jpg



Here you can see the corner I had to chop off the coil bucket, in order to clear the LCA bracket. The bucket tab on the right, originally looked just like the tab on the left.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-09162023.jpg



Here is a shot showing my tube welds & the welded up Explorer vent hole. The old vent hole has been ground down flush with the tube, and a new one will be drilled & tapped where the TJ combo block goes. You can also see where I chopped off the ears around the ABS sensor, for sway bar clearance. Still gotta cut the sensor itself down tho.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-09182942.jpg



Here is a shot of the Currie brake line tab, and where I mounted them. These are where the caliper hoses meet the steel lines.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-09183522.jpg



This shot shows the passenger side UCA gap I was talking about. This was caused by the sway bar mount being stamped incorrectly; the flat mounting surface of the sway bar bracket is supposed to be parallel with the axle tube, but it's skewed by a few degrees. This shot is with the UCA at 90* angle on two axises. All other brackets fit nicely, with less than 1/8" gap - if any gap at all.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-09212047.jpg



The next 2 shots are just general. Had some porosity issues, but overall the welds turned out decent.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-10103938.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-10103710.jpg




My chosen primer. Experience has taught me that when your metal shows even the slightest sign of rust, THIS is the best primer to use.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-10091758.jpg




And lastly, the axle after its 1st coat of primer.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j226/shepherdskeep/Rudy/88%20axle/2011-03-10120929.jpg




Gotta finish up the paint, then roll it back to the workbench to start on the gears!

[RecycledTeen]

Looks good. So that what those "little" brackets were for in my kit.....a sway bar! :) I guess I just like my flex!

[Jeep07]

Looks good rob. I like that bracket kit it looks quality.

Wes

[Bluegill]

Thanks Wes, I liked them too. They are 3/16" plate that's been laser-cut then stamped. Other than the one bracket, everything fit great. In their defense, the sway bar brackets are tough to stamp - a small piece that thick, one side being formed to a 60* angle and the other side to a 120* ... ain't easy to do! They were one of the most expensive bracket kits, and highly recommended. I had previously purchased D44 spring perches for the FSJ and a TJ steering box frame brace from Mountain Offroad; was pleased with the quality & service. The perches were anti-wrap, 7" long by 1/4" thick, laser-cut then stamped.

[Want2Wheel]

Good looking stuff.

[Bluegill]

Got the 8.8 under two coats of Rustoleum hammered black, and started assembling the E-Locker for install. Unfortunately, found out that my bench vise is smaller than I thought it was :( SOOO ... can't torque down the new ring gear yet, but I'll take it to the machine shop at school & use their vise to git r done. :icon_mrgreen:

Realized that I also don't have the pinion depth tool that I wanted to get, but no funds are left for tools - SOOO ... I will have to do it the old-fashioned way; assemble, set backlash, test contact pattern, disassemble & adjust, then repeat until proper contact pattern is achieved. Thankfully I'm using Ford Motorsports gears, which are normally setup to start with a .030" pinion shim, and are already clearanced for the cross pin. Going from 3.55 to 4.10 shouldn't be much difference in shims.

Also realized that the 8.8 full rebuild kit I bought from Summit is for 28 spline Mustang shafts ... the wheel bearings & seals don't look like they'll fit my larger 31 spline Explorer shafts. :( Gotta spend a few extra bucks for parts that actually fit. On the positive side, the gear set came with beefy crush sleeve & pinion nut (genuine FoMoCo), which means I have 2 of each now. :icon_smile:

This is my first time setting gears, so naturally I'm a lil nervous. But I have the Richmond Gear "how to" DVD (been studying it), plus tons of great info from these 2 sites:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144780
http://www.corral.net/tech/drivetrain/gears.html
This will be a learning experience for me, and will help when I swap the matching Superior 4.10 gear set into the D30. I plan on using the old inner pinion bearing (after grinding the ID a tiny bit) as a setup bearing to determine the correct shim. Will get pics & post as I go!

[Bluegill]

Picked up another goodie today - dirt cheap! As if I needed more to do atm LOL :icon_lol: It's a used K&N model 57-1514-1, FIPK intake. It's missing the filter & 1 small piece of mounting hardware, but otherwise in excellent shape - and for $20! An extra 12hp & 15ftlb of torque sounds nice (per K&N's dyno testing on a 4.0), but I'm mainly hoping for a lil mileage increase. Pic attached

Also got the ring gear torqued on, and finished modifying the roll-around welding table so I can hang a 4' shop light directly over the axle. Got sidetracked with a few other projects, but this gear & axle swap is always on my mind - gotta get it done soon, so the 500 mile break-in period will be completed before the fall.

[Bluegill]

Knee deep into the gears. Taking notes on every possible measurement as it's disassembled. The pinion preload was at 15in-lbs ... a little high IMO. The original 3.55 pinion had a paint mark on it that said "R -3". Seems to be true to what I've heard about Ford gearsets too, because it's shim is .027". Word is with Ford Motorsports gears, the base pinion shim is .030". If the pinion has a paint mark like +2, -1, etc - you add or subtract that from the .030" shim. The new pinion's paint mark says "T -0", so I'll do the initial test assembly with .030"

Gotta clean out the pumpkin & tubes really well first - the old ABS ring had rusted badly, slung particles everywhere. Factory cast carrier shims are .259" on driver side and .275" on pass side, so I'll start testing with the same thickness of new shims.

[Bluegill]

Bought these a while back, but forgot to post them. One item that's highly recommended with an 8.8 axle swap - is adjustable upper control arms. I shopped around, and to me it seemed that Rusty's offered the most beef for the least dough. The quality is very nice, and each UCA weighs about 15lbs more than the flimsy stock ones. Measuring from eye to eye, these will adjust from 1/4" shorter than stock to 3.5" longer than stock.

[Bluegill]

Getting there ... slowly but surely. Wheel bearings & seals installed, pinion preload set at 26in-lbs (minus 5in-lbs for pinion seal drag) with FMS crush sleeve installed, backlash is at .009" using same thickness of shims that the original carrier had. Still need to check gear pattern & drill grommet hole for the E-Locker wires. I doubt the D30 gear change will go as smooth as the 8.8 has so far.

Found out the hard way, that even a mighty 500ft-lb impact wrench won't get a pinion nut as tight as it needs to go. Ended up locking the flange in place with 70mm bolts installed backwards, ratchet-strapped the axle to the welding table, and used a breaker bar with a pipe to finish it. :icon_lol: Boy when the crush sleeve gets close, it goes fast - glad I checked the preload every 1/8 turn!

[Jeep07]

Do the not make a solid spacer for the 8.8 or is that just a toyota thing?

[Bluegill]

The factory Ford carrier shims are 1pc cast steel for each side; for this axle the driver side (RG) is .259" thick and the pass side (NRG) is .275" thick. The driver side original shim is good enough to reuse, but the pass side has been scored/galled by the bearing cup turning - so it will not be reused. Judging by the marks on the original bearings & cup, this seems to have been caused by overheating ... maybe running it with too little oil, idk.

One odd surprise I found during disassembly was that someone had previously installed the driver side bearing cap backward (upside down). In the pic below, you can see the pass bearing cap has arrows that point outward (top center of the cap); all 8.8 caps are like this. Someone had put the driver side with the arrows facing inward, which opposes the way it was machined by Ford. This could've also contributed to the wear on the pass side shim. I installed the drivers cap the way it's supposed to go.

The shims that came with the Ratech "deluxe" kit included (4) .100", (4) .020", (2) .015", (4) .012", and (4) .010". For the pass side, I made a shim pack with (2) .100" on the outer sides, (3) .020" and (1) .015" in between the thick shims, with gear oil keeping them together during installation. I put the shims in the axle then slowly worked the carrier in.

Unlike a Dana axle, these shims go outboard of the carrier bearings - the bearing races are flush against the carrier. The plus to this is that the carrier is easy to remove and there's no need for carrier setup bearings, the minus is that it takes careful persuasion to reinstall the carrier.

[Bluegill]

Well, I had been dragging my feet upgrading Rudy, mainly due to being a broke student with a mortgage payment & mouths to feed lol. But, God has ways of motivating us :icon_lol:

Thank the Lord that Jules wasn't hurt, or that my kids weren't with her - but she slid into a truck on the way to work yesterday morning. Attached pic #1 is what it looked like when I limped it back home. Didn't look too bad; fender, hood, flare, hood latches, and wheel are trashed - but it still drove decent except for the alignment being off. TrXus MT didn't even get a scratch from the F150 hitting it head on. Then today I took the bent wheel off & took a closer look at the axle & brakes. That's pic #2 ... separated upper ball joint, apparently helped by the bent inner knuckle. :( So much for it being safely drivable as-is. I was planning on using small ratchet straps to secure the hood, swapping the bent rim for my matching spare, and driving it IF the road conditions got bad.

Like I said, God has unique ways of motivating us! I was planning on upgrading the front axle in the future; nothing too big, just a beefed up XJ axle. NOW, I need it ... and to hurry up & finish the 8.8 swap lol

[Want2Wheel]

Sam told me about this last night. Im glad she is alright. If I can help you in any way let me know.