DirtyComanche

Chrysler then went the other way with that. My JK has damn near zero feel to it. Drive it, get used to it, learn to love it. But yes, the early XJ/MJs have very light steering if everything is working correctly. That's a big if though.

The bearing supports for the sector shafts are a gimmick. Yes, they're popular, people say they work wonders, but hear me out. Once you're seeing the levels of force required for it to be doing anything, you will instead see a torsional failure of the sector shaft. The way the box is built from the factory it is very capable of taking the load applied to it, as well, that's what it was designed to do. You won't see a failure of the frame rail with it properly plated on each side; beyond that you need hydro assist or better.

I've seen XJ/MJ boxes blown apart and I don't see how they could be variable. I also have seen no reason to believe they are based on all the stupid things I have done trying to make steering work. I also don't feel they drive wrong. Anything you're noticing while driving them is the result of the pitman arm being a different length than the steering arms, but the effect is fairly minimal. The factory didn't always get it wrong.

Looks good. However, if you want it to be quite a bit stronger, I recommend you add pieces to it like this: Image Not Found I'd say the red ones for sure, the blue ones are a bit more optional. Unless it really is just for looks. Otherwise the pieces that are sticking out will get bent rather easily. As I said, it's more about design than materials.

Not butthurt, just have zero use for installing a downgrade. The front driveshaft is so nicely protected on a HP setup, and the angles are so much more happy. Going to a LP front axle throws the driveshaft right into the fodder zone, unless you have really low mounted control arms. Either way, the operating angle increases by a couple degrees and you get closer to maxing the double cardon out. All u-joints live longer if they are 'working' (misaligning) less. Economics will sway me though, but my wheeler has a HP D60 in it for a reason.

We put Amsoil synthetic in all the Honda/Subaru pumps, generators, etc at work because they start easier in the cold with it. I doubt you would go wrong using a good synthetic.

I think the Durango box is 3 turns, but the ratio is the same, it just has larger internal stops. Basically, you might not hit your axle stops anymore and instead bottom out the piston in the box. I did not consider it a viable candidate because of this.

It isn't worth rebuilding. Because it isn't worn out. I'm serious. The bearings in these tcases go an extremely long time. Unless you're getting play with the case halves bolted together and the yoke on the front output, those bearings are fine. Likewise, on the rear (with the slip yoke off), unless you're getting play (up/down/side/side) the bearings are fine.

See Hornbrod's picture... Anything other than the top example is not okay, even if the yokes are only misaligned by a few degrees (the 90* example in the lower part of the picture is the worst case scenario). Reason being is that the shaft speeds up and slows down as the u-joints misalign, but this affect is canceled by the u-joints being in phase (the output, or pinion in this case, will not see a rhythmic changing of velocity). The wikipedia entry explains what's going on better than I can, if you care to read it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_joint

Korea would be fine. QC should be well in line with any domestic facility.

The ECU is what does the magic with it. The HO ECU has no provisions for this. But somebody in this thread hates the Renix and thinks it's 'weird', his loss.

It's an accelerometer or velocimeter and it has been filtered for the specific frequency of detonation. Honestly, they're standard equipment on most FI setups. I have never been able to wrap my head around the HO not having one.

IMHO, you do not need a double sheer setup for a tire carrier spindle. The entire point of a spindle (with tapered roller bearings) is to be able to run with support only on one end. Look at a front (or rear) spindle off a full floating axle. There's potentially thousands of pounds of static load on them, and umpteen thousands of pounds of dynamic load on them. They work fine. I believe a lot of what people ran in the past was poorly designed, poorly machined, used poor quality components, and poorly assembled... And the results were predictably poor. Now, if you wanted to run the Ruffstuff one with a bracket on it to make it double sheer, it's probably pretty easy to mod it to do so. They've left a center point in the top end of the spindle from when they turned it on a lathe. I'd just throw it back in the lathe, then drill the center with a 9/16" bit, and tap it to 5/8NF. You're a little tight on the tolerances using a 9/16", but most people don't have a 37/64" bit lying around. Anyways, I'd assume you don't have a lathe, but it would be quite feasible to do this by hand or in a drill press. You only need to drill it 1" deep as long as you have a bottoming tap (or an old tap to cut the end off). Then you can just bolt your bracket to the top of it. Unfortunately that wouldn't be doing much for the included cap seal, but I think one could put a tie rod end boot on it instead, or mod the cap they gave you, with a washer added between the spindle and bracket to allow clearance for the boot or cap; minor creativity required. Safety the castle nut with a spring clip or screw instead of a cotter pin. Also, Ruffstuff would probably drill and tap it for you for an additional charge. Of course, me telling you this now doesn't help much. But for future reference.

They absolutely are. If you sign up for their newsletter they will give you a discount code on a regular basis. I've never had any real issues with their products. I think the worst I can say is they build their diff covers larger than they need to be (for fluid capacity), which doesn't help if you have clearance issues. I've probably bought $4000 worth of parts off them over the years, so I've handled a lot of their stuff. Also, they user a laser cutter and a C&C bender with P&O steel, so the surface finishes are always nice, the bends are the correct angle and location, and the holes are to a reasonable tolerance.

Regarding the alternator, personally I think you're better off relocating it to the top of the engine. I haven't done that yet, but it's on my list. If I'm to do it I will probably delete the mechanical fan and extra idler at the same time, so it will be involving and is not a huge priority.

Weird. The two I have are not built like that. Either way, if the u-joints aren't in phase then it will vibrate, and the shaft is effectively garbage.

I'd buy a whole floor panel, XJ ones are cheap, then cut out the piece you need. Where those holes are, that should be a large patch. You don't even want to leave deeply pitted metal, even if it isn't through. So as said, wire wheel back from there and see how far you have to go. Get a good quality weld through primer and use it religiously. Use good paint and seam sealer when you're done, then undercoat the bottom again. Do not half @$$ rust repairs, it's just a complete waste of time if you do.

I doubt it. Pull the shaft and lay it on a flat floor, or look down the length of it. Are the u-joints still in phase?

Yeah. Local parts store quoted me like $300 for a reman. I hit RockAuto that night and clicked really hard on the buy button. It was one of their distributor closeout sales, which are normally really good deals, but by the time it gets to me the return period will have passed. Not like I'm sending it back for that price anyways. :laughin:

Yes. Quoted $240, I will pay less. Comes in 10' lengths. It's a backup solution. Basically it's the same stuff used to do big truck and equipment exhaust. If all else fails I will buy it and use it to do from the header to the muffler and have a bunch left over for something else. Do I want to do that? Nope. Would it work? Yup. I threw a Vibrant SS flex coupling in my cart, by the time it gets to me it's still $80. The cheaper Summit ones are NOT actually stainless pipe, just the flex part is. I suppose a guy could cut the pipe off them and just use the flex part to save money? :dunno: 10' of stainless exhaust pipe from the local exhaust shop is quoted at $300. :rotf: Parts store was a lot cheaper, still ugly. It's honestly cheaper for me to just buy the flex hose than it is to buy bends, a flex piece, and pipe to build it the more conventional (and right) way.

Looks like I'm sitting at $1200 CAD to do this. Nothing stainless is cheap. Yeah, I dunno. Doesn't make a lot of sense for a street driven wheeler.

You could install an early GM one. There's actually already one there, at least on my 89, I don't know what it's doing though and didn't feel like going back in the house to get the real wiring manual to find out. Zero mention of it in the Haynes manual.

Renix O2 sensors are 18mmx1.5 thread?

Ah, that is different.

I'm thinking if you pulled it from a junkyard and stole the brake light switch and spacer it would make it a drop in. Might have to splice the wires for the connector if it is different.