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The upper ball joint nut was almost loose. It took a breaker bar to loosen the lower nut. Then it took some persuasion to get the lower joint to let go. Fortunately I didn't need to break out the oxy-acetylene.

A Dana 35 break is between 3.31 and 3.55 so you would need a new carrier for it. Either that or thick cut 3.55 gears if they make those. The dana 44 break is between 3.73 and 3.92 so you're good there. The AMC 20 has a break between 2.73 and 3.08 so you would be good there. That's the 3 axles that came from the factory.

Not much work on the actual truck today. But I did rearrange a bunch of stuff to get ready for when the CJ is done in a week or three. The long bed I picked up at the junkyard got moved onto the truck that it's destined for. It's sitting on the axles that are for the truggy with lift springs in the front and an SOA on a Dana 80 in the rear right now. But the key is that it's not blocking my gate anymore. Then I moved the parts donor grey MJ over to the gate so I can pull it around and strip it. Then the chief is behind it. Ready to roll in to the garage when the parts donor is done.

It's hard to torque to spec. Besides, the tool will be here tomorrow.

So back brakes buttoned up. Starting in on the front. As long as I'm there I'm going to strip it all the way down and rebuild the outers. New ball joints, new shaft u-joints, new bearings, new calipers with pads and rotors, new brake hoses, all the seals, and I'm upgrading the hubs. With all of the tools I have, you'd think I could just knock this all out quickly. But I'm short one key tool. A 2-1/16" spindle nut socket. So I'm stuck for a little bit until I get one delivered. It'll be here Sunday.

If you get a Detroit for 3.92 and down (or is it 3.73 and down?) the thick gears will work for 4.09 and up. There's nothing specific to the Detroit that prevents you from using thick cut gears other than the carrier break that applies to all Dana 44 differentials.

Added a few T10 options, including the Richmond aftermarket versions.

Hopefully the student loans don't get in the way of that goal. Congrats on making it through.

I figured there would be some to add.

I know most people won't need this but I wanted people to know it's out there. I just added a field in my gear ratio calculator to put in portal axle gear reduction. I know few people have portals but I know at least a few do. https://grimmjeeper.com/gears.html Check it out if you like. And if you see anything broken, let me know. Oh, and I added the GM 2WD 4 speed Muncie and Saginaw transmissions to the list. Some of you may find them useful.

Doesn't hurt for it to stay sealed. Though a diff fluid change is likely a good idea. You could start by pulling the fill plug and checking the fluid level. Also look to see if it's too dark or milky. Or filled with what looks like glitter. A worn out limited slip just turns into an open differential. So it's not critical that you must fix it when it wears out. Unless you really want the limited slip to work. You can get a clutch rebuild kit if you want. It can take some effort to get it installed with the new clutch discs. And whatever you do, be careful with the shims when you pull out the differential case. Don't mix them up. They're on the outside of the bearings.

A lunchbox locker wouldn't do that unless it's broken. And there would be other problems that were obvious. A completely worn out limited slip (like the factory one in my CJ) acts like an open diff. It really depends on how marginal it is. I haven't tested mine to see if it actually limits slip at all but I doubt it. If it's like mine where I can turn the brake drums by hand, it's about 100% shot. If you need the tires on to get enough leverage and it still takes some effort, it may still be hanging on a little. Enough to still limit a little bit of slip.

What is your backlash?

For suspension bolts, I prefer shouldered bolts like that. So long as the shoulder (unthreaded part) ends just short of where the nut needs to be. The threads on a fully threaded bolt can dig into the steel sleeve of a bushing. My JL Wrangler had fully threaded bolts from the factory. I bought a kit of shouldered bolts to replace the factory hardware. I don't know about that particular website. I do like the idea of buying from a forum member like Boxy Jeep. For a lot of my specialty hardware needs, I order from https://boltdepot.com/ most of the time.

Need to see the other side of the teeth to know what to recommend.

That's way off. And you don't show the other side of the teeth so we can't see the other half of the pattern. And I know you don't want to take it apart multiple times but you will very likely have to. It's part of the process.

The wheel cylinder was definitely leaking. And the brake fluid was a dark brown. So it's a good thing I'm replacing almost everything front to back. I do want to go on record that whoever designed the parking brake setup in the rear drums needs to get a swift kick in the jimmy. It's definitely one of the more annoying setups to get back together.

So a previous owner went to the trouble of replacing the rear shafts. But they did aftermarket 2 piece shafts... This Jeep is definitely an example of pervasive half-assery for sure.

Well, I'm exhausted now... Time to get to the brakes.

Lots of goodies inside. Better than Christmas.

And as long as I'm remembering, here are the donor axles...

The tax return showed up today. All the parts to regear the axles going under this Chief.