coolwind57

Ok, so thanks to Pete I have better, more appropriate pins in there now. I learn something from guys like you nearly every time I log in to comancheclub. It is tricky to find a bolt shaft that'll fit the existing spring holes, and a head that'll fit the larger spring perch hole. So since ACE Hardware had only two types of grade 8 bolt heads, I found this flanged bolt with the flange that was slightly over 5/8" diameter. So what I did was buy two flanged nuts to fit it, drilled out the threads and slid it inverted over the shaft up against the head of the bolt. I then tack welded to hold it in place and slightly ground to fit the spring perch holes. Chech out the original pins that were in there. Pretty ate up with corrosion. The reason I double-headed the bolts was to give them a bit more surface area and thus perhaps strength. I shot some paint, and got them installed with grade 8 nylon lock nuts. Thank you Pete. I feel a lot better about this now. So here's another issue I discovered with that shock stud kit I used. See anything odd here? Yea. No room to socket-tighten my U-bolt nuts. Actually, there no room to even rotate either bolt. So to make this happen, I had to remove the shock stud kit that I had proudly installed a couple of weeks ago then install my U-bolts and torque them. I then had to install the shock stud again. What kind of sucks about this is that I was planning on retorquing all U-bolts after a day or two of driving. To do this now, I'll have to pull the shock from the shock stud again then reinstall after the torque. I'm less happy with that extra labor. My Dana 44 U-bolts are larger and beefier than what was on my D35, but still I can't see these kits clearing U-bolts of either size. Be aware of that fellas if you decide to buy that stud replacement kit. So today I am at a standstill. Axle is mounted. Fluids pumped in. Copper-Nickel brake line ran. Brakes bled and wheels on. But my driveshaft will not fit. I was kind of hoping that I would not need to shorten it. I measured and I need exactly one-inch removed. So I know of two shops nearby that can do the job. I'll have to wait till Monday to make some calls. Anyone have any idea of what driveshops charge for this?

Oh hell. Really. I just assumed there wasn't too much stress on those pins after the springs assembly is all cinched up by the U-bolts and in place. I know those pins I had removed were severely corroded and looked pretty bad. Thanks for catching that, Pete.

Some pics for you. Over the past 2-3 weeks, I've been slowly prepping my newly acquired Dana 44 to install in my 89 MJ. All new seals, a good scrubbing and freshly coated with Chassis Saver. Yesterday, I got her mounted under the truck but not completely installed. I still have to secure the leaf plates/brackets, run brake line, etc. It was an exercise in patience and persistance doing this alone with no help. So a few Months ago I knew I had an issue. I was getting some noticable whine from the diff. A short time later, I happened to had been under the truck and looked at the inside surface of the driver's side rear tire and noticed oil had been seeping and shooting out along the tire's sidewall. Putting two and two together, I check the diff fluid level and confirmed that it was significantly low. I refilled it to limp along till I found a new axle, but the axle noise did not go away. I knew I was on borrowed time and I had no intention of putting time and money into the D35. Now that I got a chance to remove the D35, here's confirmation that it was in fact a bad axle seal: I did get the leaf spring plates along with my MJ Dana 44 purchase. There were some questions from the forum on whether the plates from this early design were the same on D44s as D35s. At least from my 1989 D35 and my new D44 axle from a 1990 MJ, they appear to be the same, with same diameter holes. I had coated the ones from the D44 with Chassis Saver and replaced the shock stud with a kit I bought at Quatratec. Since the brackets were ambidextrous, I just cut off my old mounting studs and used the existing hole on the opposite sides to install the new stud kit. I did have to drill the hole out a bit, however. I bought my axle U-bolts from Barnes 4X4--and why not spread a little remaining Chassis Saver onto the new U-bolts. The pic doesn't show it very well, but these 5/8" x 2-3/4" bolts are significantly beefier than the ones that were installed on my D35. Of course, once installed I will cut to length. This brings up another item discussed in the forum. Are D35s and D44s the same axle tube diameter? Mine were not: D44= 2-3/4" D35= 2-1/2" I didn't get any pics, but another difference between the two axles were the leaf spring pin holes in the axle perches. I think I recall the D35 holes were 1/2" diameter and the D44 holes were 5/8" and were a bit deeper too. Installing the old pin into the larger hole of the D44 would likely create too much opportunity for movement, I solved this by heading to ACE Hardware and buying two Galvinized carriage bolts (I think they were 1/4" shaft), two nuts, and 2 nylon locking nuts. I ran the galvanized nuts up to the head of the bolt. I then ground a bit of the head to fit into the 5/8" axle perch hole. It didn't take much. I then clamped the leafs together, removed the old pins and installed my new ones, securing with the nylon locking nuts. Seemed to have worked great. I am still running Spring Under Axle (SUA) with the D44. It was interesting to figure out a way to lift it all up to reinstall the rear leaf bolt but I finally nailed it. I got a bit creative. ...but finally got her lifted in position and rebolted in the springs. I do have to drill out my final brackets of the 2-piece leaf plates/bracket assembly. Those 5/8" U-bolts are too snug of a fit. Plus, these final brakets (on both the D35 and D44) are very slightly warped from the previous torquing. The U-bolts did fit fine through the Upper brackets however. So that's how she's sitting this morning. I'm hoping to have her up and running today. I hope this helps answer some questions concerns for those contemplating doing this swap. I'll update as I progress.

Thanks for sharing this Minuit. Makes me better appreciate my blessings, but I am glad you're ok. Prayers for you.

Build sheet shows its AW4 auto 3:55, shifter on the floor.

Very cool. If you weren't aware, yours was one of the 287 1975 models bought by Bill Byers when the company went under. It was load #18 on the trip to Columbus, OH from the factory along with 6 other Bricklins. http://bricklin-sv-1-build-history.com/custom4_1.html if you have converted to air doors, then I suppose your battery no longer has to work so hard. Those hydraulic doors really pushed the limits of 1975-era batteries.

Location, location, location.... Years ago, my brother had an 84 Vette. If I recall correctly, he was telling me that the Vette was easily stolen because all you had to do to disable the alarm system was stab through the driver's side fender, just forward of the door. Jab a knife through the fiberglass skin and thus through the battery which sat right next to it on the other side. Then, just wait for the battery to bleed out. Not sure how feasible that would be in reality, but kinda sounds legit.

I'm a big fan of the Bricklin. Once I bought #360 via on-line...drove out and promptly pulled out of the deal. It was beyond unsalvagable. Which one you have?

Here's a pic of my D44 leaf plates coated with Chassis Saver and with the new stud kit from Quadratec (thanks for the info, Dzimm)--I had one stud that broke and the other was pretty bent up. I am curious to see if the D35 leaf plates are exactly the same. when I pull my axle from the truck. Hopefully next weekend. I'll get my D44 U-bolt in on Monday. Notice that these plates are ambidextrous--if that's the correct word. I sliced the old studs off of one side and used the existing holes on the opposite side, once I opened them up a bit, to fit the new stud kit. Quadratec's kit is pretty hardy looking. https://www.quadratec.com/products/16311_5256.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsYb0BRCOARIsAHbLPhGRqu5gRLiuEHE_SaNIPnpjRoZJVPn8AoSvijD1sH1J8ZS1SkxiiaoaAsfvEALw_wcB

Yours doesn't happen to be a 7-3/8 and you'd like to sell it, Pete?

I'm a hat guy. Collector of vintage hats, primarily fedoras. I'd love one of these, despite the Western style that I am not so fond of. I've only seen maybe 2-3 pop up for sale and they've not been my size. I'd be interested to find out if they made only one size or something.

What's that UP arrow for, Cruiser?

I've got a extra set. One of the pair is bent, the other broken at the threading. I'm curious what you ordered.

Thanks for putting up with all the questions schardein and Pete. Here's the U-bolts that I just ordered: https://www.barnes4wd.com/U-Bolt-58-x-2-34-x-10_p_104.html

Gotcha, Pete. I can envision it now. But a C-clamp, as mentioned earlier should be used to HELP keep the leafs together during axle removal, right? The pin won't do it on its own?

So in other words, the pin is double-headed (basically and bolt with a nut) and goes in kind of like this: Does it secure the axle, leafs and lower bracket together? With the nut on the bottom, I assume. By the way, that's the springs that were on my truck when I bought it. I think maybe that lower one is a helper-spring that maybe someone put on at some time.

Does the pin go through all leafs? The shock mount/spring bracket has 5 holes in them--4 each for the two U-bolts, plus one in the middle. Then the axle pin go through this hole too, correct? I'm not sure what to expect when I go to remove my D35. There was mention of using C-clamps to hold the spring together upon pulling the axle. Does this mean that the pin fits through all of the individual leafs loosely then? In other words, the pin doesn't secure the leaf spring assembly and won't keep them all together once I pull the axle off? I've got another weekend or two before I dive into this project. But I'd like to be ready. Sure appreciate it.

Love the versitility of a bench, but Pete is right....those stock MJ benches were simply poorly made and do not hold up well. When I switched to Dakota buckets, the love for my Comanche deepened. The bench was adequate for short trips. I can now cruise for hours in my Dakota. It is single-handedly the best modification I have ever done on my truck. I chose the taller Dakota buckets. These are super quality, superbly-made seats.

Wow. Thanks for taking the time to post this. Pretty cool of you to do that.

I couple years ago, I used this Crown o-ring kit and had no issues. Kinda surprises me about Fel-Pro. They seem to always have the good stuff.

Dropped my axle shafts off at a local, reputable big-truck shop. They do axles all the time. I asked the machine shop dude if he'd be willing to reused the bearings, as I thought they were just fine. He took one look at my bearings and said, "I wouldn't put these back in." He showed me some tiny grooves/lines that I didn't see. Said they'd be noisy. I trust him and I'm cool with using new ones. . He also recommended that I use a dial indicator to check pinion backlash. Slopiness and out-of-spec will have me pulling the pinion and carrier. I brought up the LSD and how it seemed to be working by hand (spinning the yoke) and my general truck use (rare off of pavement, daily driver, etc). So when I was a teenager, I helped build the original owner's house. About all the guys there are relatives of him and his son is the new owner. We were chatting about the old owner for several minutes. So the machine shop manager told me to just bring my axle assembly in and he'd take a look at it and check to see if the backlash was within spec. He's going to give it the once-over to make any further recommendations. My biggest curiosity is the condition of the LSD. I'm blessed with a budget that at this time would support more significant work on this axle but I'm not wanting to do anything close to unnecessary. I loaded my axle assembly this morning and will swing by at lunchtime to see what they say.

I'm not sure I'll take the time and effort to weld those tubes as I rarely go off-road, but looks like it might not be a bad idea to shoot some silicone around them, as we have at least one of us reporting leaking there.

Very very cool!

Yea, I just watched a good youtube video on welding these tubes. The dude heated to above 350F and kept it there during the welding process. He used a certain welding tactic to help prevent too much thermal movement. He also wrapped his finished job in a fiberglass blanket to retain the heat for like 8-hours.

I did remove my shafts today. My wheel cylinders were pretty new, as they only have some surface rust along the top. The bottom end, as installed were still unrusted. This leads me to believe that perhaps the PO had removed and replaced the wheel cylinder to fix his now obvious leaking. The seals looked pretty bad. I had to use some persuasion to remove one axle, sure because that seal was so rusty and seized up. The other came out quite easily. I was expecting the worst for the bearings, but they look great. Races look great too. My plan is to take my axles to a local shop and have them pull and replace. If they are concerned with the bearings, then I'll consider replacing them at that time. Sure appreciate your help. Good idea! I've heard of tube welding. But what do you mean by plug welds reinforcement? The only plug I can think of that you mean is the diff cover.