Dzimm

Exhaust clamp brake line brackets on. Brake lines are on the axle. Started tearing the old axle out of the truck. Got the sway bar and shocks out. Had to cut the passenger side lower shock stud off because the threads were gone.. currently looking for a new bracket.

I am in need of a passenger side leaf spring plate with the lower shock mount. I'll need the nut with it as well. If it comes from outside the rust belt, I'll consider taking both sides. Shipped to 50054. The threads on mine shredded and the nut spun, had to cut it to get the shock off.

The stock metal parts may be capable of 20lbs but the stock head gasket sure isnt. I also wouldn't want to push that much pressure through a 200k+ mile motor. Nice people are doing this but the "kits" are still too far in their infancy for me. I'd think of them more like "developer kits"

Good info above. Just wanted to throw it out there, differences in tires and tire wear would also have a similar affect on "effective" gear ratios. Have you ever seen two different brand tires on a 4x4 vehicle? Those aren't the exact same size even though the numbers are the same. It's basically splitting hairs when it's that close.

Went to Napa in town, no luck for the fittings but I got some exhaust clamps. Got some paint thrown on them so they don't rust and they match the axle. The wife went to AutoZone after work for me to pick up the fittings and another set of jackstands. I've needed more jackstands a couple times and I finally broke down so I can have a set to work on the axle, and a set to start taking the D35 out of the truck. I'm getting closer to install but there is still a ton to do to the truck itself before the axle goes in, like rebuilding the leaf springs and replacing the brake distribution block.

There should be a tag behind the front bumper, rivited to the frame crossmember thing. See if that is there. This is very curious. Could possibly be a military vehicle. It looks to me more like a serial number than a vin. J for Jeep and 003073 for the number. Edit: My buddy who dealt with the vehicles in the military said it looks like a serial number or an asset number. They do use normal production vehicles for bases here in the US but those would have a normal VIN now, not sure about back then.

Worked on the axle for a little bit before coming to a standstill again. Found a way to use the original brake hose brackets, I'm going to get some exhaust clamps to hold them to the axle so I can take them off if needed. The hose clamp is just proof of concept. Just a snug hose clamp I can't even budge the bracket so I have no worries an exhaust clamp will hold it fine. Turns out the main brakeline block requires metric fittings so I need to go pick some up before getting the hardlines on.

You can set the exact web address as a favorite in your web browser but again those will add up over time. Another option is to keep a word document with the useful web addresses in it. This way allows you to give a description as well.

What did you tell the customer??? That's rediculous.

Ah yes. That's probably who I'll end up going through for mine as well. Was really hoping you found a magic can at Menards or something.

Wait, isn't leaking a requirement for a Jeep?

Luckily we operate 100% online so working from home was an immediate option and with construction still going on we will still have stuff to revise and design. Even if they shut everything down I think we would still have stuff we can do so no "vacation" for me. If the damn cold and rain would go away I could get the axle in the truck and get the garden gates built. Need to do some work on the fence as well. Doubt I'll be able to get it all done tho.

Did you buy color match and spray with a gun or find cans? I'm still on the search for a cheaper way to paint mine.

Agree with jdog, the match is great. What paint is it??

Things have been pretty busy and cold/rainy so I couldn't get much progress done as I needed to paint some stuff. Last weekend I finally got the carrier in and setup properly as far as I can tell. First time I've ever setup anything with the gears themselves so hopefully all works out well. I got tired of waiting and it was in the 40s today so I painted what I needed and did some assembly. Axle seals Backing plates, caliper brackets, parking brakes, and axle shafts painted and installed. Had a little trouble with the carrier side axle shaft not sliding in quite far enough to get the C-clip in. It was so incredibly close but the clip just wouldn't drop in. From what I could find was that the shaft bottomed out against the brake hardware. I finally decided to just tap the C-clip in. After some in and out and working at it, I got things freed up enough I can get it in and out easy. I think my issue was a combination of the brakes not being perfectly centered and the carrier side of the limited slip diff being slightly deeper than the other side. Everything moved freely and seems to be functional so we'll see if I have any issues. Put the calipers on to start roughing in the brake lines. I realized that the brackets for the softlines bolted to the old coil pads so I'll have to find a way to mount those. Don't really want to weld them to the axle so I'm thinking about using a stainless band clamp. Also painted the diff cover. I kept it black but am contemplating doing a color. I'm liking the gray calipers but I think that would be too much for the whole cover. I may paint the cover bolts gray to do something a little different with it.

First thing I noticed as well. Super confused until zooming in. I'm also wondering about the front bumper end cap being silver under the blue. Was this truck or bumpers silver at one point?

If there is no structural rust you could take everything off and do electrolysis on the metal parts. Just need water, baking soda, and a battery charger.

The problem I see is that people will see this as a "spring break" for adults and get together with friends and such. With people not working, there is a lot more free time for fun stuff and that will continue to spread it even with everything shutdown.

I would agree with the above that a winter driver in the salt is sacrificial, no matter how well you care for it. On the vehicles I care about I put away for the winter. They get cleaned up and painted asap after I get them. Then I just keep an eye out for any sign of rust and get it cleaned up asap.

The bolt is pressed into the tab thing so it won't spin. You have to take the nut off by itself. Mine was rusted so bad on my 98 XJ we cut the nut off and hammered the bolt out. Used a grade 8 but and bolt as a replacement. As for the torque, I think it's like 60 or 70ft/lbs for the bottom. You'll want to double check that though.

The suspense is real..

This

I can't imagine this will actually be used in any way but it is Illinois so who knows. But this kind of thing is why I was stocking up on food and Ammunition instead of freakin toilet paper.

I'm generally not a fan of body colored bumpers but the gray on the front bumper looks pretty nice.