Gubachoo

I bought my first car, 86 CJ7 in 2001. pulled the motor for a trade in 08. It has sat ever since. Been slowly building an AMC 360 for it since 2007 (like I said, slowly), a few hundred dollars at a time. Put the valve covers and oil pan on the other day Now just waiting for a new dizzy gear to arrive (if it does, the company took my money but isn't responding to emails...) then exhaust manifolds (hard to find an expensive when you do) and motor mounts and it will be a complete motor. Not quite ready to go in, but close. I'm so excited about this finally happening that I can hardly contain myself! I have a T18 to rebuild to replace the T5 it came with that will not handle that power, but the T5 will work for break-in and some time before I can afford the $700 for the rebuild kit and novak adapter. It is lifted 6" and up on durango 35's that I am hoping are going to not explode during the first drive after 12 years of sitting in new england. Looking forward to getting it on the road again, lots of memories tied up in that thing.

Turned 350,000 on the dial recently, but after replacing the transfer case a few years ago I ran it for 3-4 years without a speedo gear because I refused to pay $40 for one. That included multiple cross countries and daily driving so I think its more accurately 380 or 390 with maybe 100hp left in her.

x2. It popped out just enough to miss the receptacle when reassembling. Twice

Haha, Thought about that, would take some serious food ninja skills to squeeze an entire dif in there... have to do it when no one is looking.

I understand the sentiment behind what you are saying, in theory one should be used, and I would subscribe to that had I not done around a dozen or so in the past without one. I don't have the budget to buy that tool right now either. My next attempt will include heating the housing before install. Nothing crazy, a small space heater under it to reach 120 or so and see how it goes from there. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

So I bought the axle and brought it back to CT to rebuild and regear. Have done many axle rebuilds in the past so am feeling a little dumb at the moment. As soon as I took the dif out and got the bearings off I measured and recorded the thickness of the shims beneath the carrier bearings and replaced them exactly with new shims from the kit. The dif carrier does not want to fit during reassembly however. I double checked my shims and that the bearings were pressed flush and it all seems good. As I am writing this I am thinking I should double check the bearing and race numbers and compare them to the old ones, but baring that, any ideas? It is an original LSD that went back in with new gears. Like I said, have done a few axles before and know they should resist a little going in, but this is at the point where it will require serious force and I know that is wrong. I have done gears and lockers before without case spreaders so don't see why this should need one. I am willing to reduce to shim load to make it correct, but as far as I have learned, it should go back together as it is albeit with a little extra resistane due to the new bearings... Thanks for any help.

Well. I grabbed it, and hauled it 2200 miles back to new england to rebuild it and throw it in. Figure 3.73 makes the most sense with my setup. Will order front and rear and do them one at a time (front driveshaft is out for ujoints at the moment and the snow is gone so I should fine) Will open it up tomorrow and see what it looks like. If the LSD is still good I will just use that. It's my DD and only occasionally wheeled so don't see a detroit or anything similar as being needed. Will do all new bearings and seals while I'm at it and give it a clean and a coating. hoping everything looks good when I pull the cover tomorrow, felt and sounded fine in the yard. Excited to eliminate this "weak link" in my truck and make a sensible gear change with my 31's

Hmm. Thanks for all the input. I've regeared many axles before so that wasn't my worry, it more that I would love to just plug and play and be done with it.

True, problem is the junkyard guy doesn't want to move the truck unless I commit to buying the axles, and as much as I would love a 44, I'm trying to get away from the 307 after the lift and 31's. it'll do 75 at 2000rpm, but the take off from a light is pretty sad, and who needs to go 75 in an MJ? Maybe have to get cold and wet and dirty and crawl under there.

Thanks again, very helpful

Thanks, anyway to tell the ratio from the VIN? I can see it but it's hard to get to and I can't spin it or pop the cover off as it sits.

90 Base 4.0 5spd d30 d44 Build date unknown, sticker missing Northern NM Junkyard Truck (many unknowns, buried in the snow at the moment, attempting to find axle ratios for possible swap)

Damn fat fingers, just corrected

Found a 90 big ton in a local junkyard and since I need to change my axle ratio after my lift and bigger tires figured I would see if this 44 would be any good. Problem is I can't get all the way under the truck and jacking it up where it is won't be easy. Wrote the VIN down but can't find anywhere that will give me any clue of what the ratio would be. No VIN decoders or any of the searches here came up with anything. 1J7GJ26L1LL195597. 4.0 5spd 4wd. Anybody know of a way to figure it out without jacking it up in the muddy junkyard and crawling under it? Tried to read the tag on the axle but could barely reach it and it's pretty well illegible as far as I can see. Thanks.

I see... I love the vents on my CJ7, but if the leaking is a tough problem to solve I'd rather skip it. I'll have to find the info on the full window swap.

Are they cleaned units from programbo or used ones from somewhere? I might be interested.

That would be a great mod, I'll have to look into it. I wonder if you can still buy the seals for the vent windows? I've got some research to do now, thanks.

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll just have to comb the yards.

I'm repairing my rusty bits and looking to get some junkyard doors. Mine is an 88 with the stupid useless fixed vent windows. Did any years come with either full windows or movable vent windows or were they all these useless fixed panes? Would like to keep the old style door panel if possible. Also, any ideas on what years the tow mirrors were available? In a perfect world, I would retain the old style door panels, get either a full window, or usable vent, and tow mirrors. Thanks for any help.

second on the torque converter bolts, seen loose ones make that noise before. Another thing i've done before is not only chock the wheel in drive with the ebrake on, but if you have a wall (i use the edge of the garage with an old tire between) you can put the bumper up against it and have extra insurance against it killing you. Just a thought, but definitely check those TC bolts

Yeah, I had seen a few diagrams of it. I figure even if I just get mirrors I can make a simple brace in the door to support it. They need to be repaired and maybe even replaced, then painted so I figure I could fab a bracket and just weld it to the door skin for support. I imagine those brackets would be pretty messy on most of these.

Damn, thats what I was hoping wasn't the case. Oh well. Not many comanches in yards in CT or new england in general...

I've been checking junkyards for a bit now, and never come across a pair. Anyone know if they were available on cherokees as thats what they have in the yards and I don't even know if they came on them. Anyone know if they were a common option or am looking for a needle in a haystack?

Oh man, that is nice... I wish I could get down there right now, but I can't leave my area until april or so. I will just be patient and willing to travel, and hopefully one will be around. How did you find that one?

Yes, I do. I plan on doing the floorpan in the spring, sourcing some doors and fenders from a junkyard cherokee, and then figuring out the bed situation. I travel to the south once or twice a year so am planning on scouring junkyards down there in the hopes of locating one with a bed without, or with much less, rust. I don't mind repairing dinged panels, but this level of rot is just too far to sensibly do anything with. But yes, its has over 320,000 on it now, and I just put 2500 into it, so I plan on it being with me for a long time