DirtyComanche

My dad has been bitching about his Intrepid (an 01, IIRC) that he's had since new. I think he's only put 90 000kms on it in that time... But, it's starting to be a bit of a piece of junk (it had a few reliability issues, ate a MAF or MAP sensor recently, and had EGR issues or something like that). Anyways, he wants something nicer this time around. The intrepid was a pretty good family car, but the family has moved on now. He wants AWD if he can get it, as the car will be driven both summer and winter. He wants reasonable comfort, reasonable power, and higher end safety features. What he's been considering: -09 subaru impreza (I forget which package, drove one with a turbo 4cyl/AWD) -07 Audi A4 w/ Quattro and the 2.0 turbo, or perhaps an 08. There isn't an audi dealer that's immediately near here (might be an issue), so he hasn't test drove an Audi yet. Does anybody have any experience with either of the mentioned vehicles? Or any other suggestions? A bunch of jeep guys are probably the worst people to be asking...

They'll feed you in jail, and it won't cost you a dime. Sounds like you're in a real bind... I imagine you don't have any credit, and could just grab a quick personal loan to fix the things for a bit. Jail in the states has got to suck. Here it's more like swimming pools and tennis courts...

The original plan was too, because the pumpkin is about 20.5" wide. I'd already drawn my suspension with the idea of having it fit a D60, where the pumpkin is a little narrower to begin with. Then I realized that a sterling has a long and short side, and was offset anyways. So I played around with my link placement and compromised to only have to take that bit off for the one lower link. I only cut off what was needed for the bracket to go in, not the entire circumference. I figured it probably does some good for the strength of the housing, and I already whacked off all of that lower rib area (blue pen). I actually removed it so it was more or less flush with the cuffs (I'll get pics when I get back around to hacking the sterling). As it sits... I am slightly concerned (only slightly) that I should perhaps have the lower links outboarded on the frame so that they are wider on the axle. It might help keep stress off the links/brackets. But, I'm not too concerned since everything is fairly beefy and I'm not shooting to have huge tires or stupid amounts of power. Edit... Oh yeah, sterling 10.25s are like 8.8s (sterling makes the 8.8) in that the tubes aren't welded to the pumpkin, but they drive pegs in to hold them. Gotta weld the tubes up...

So, I decided I'd try the sterling rear thing out... Of course, while it doesn't have quite as bad of ground clearance as it is often made out to, it could use some hacktastication. So, I drew some lines on it with a paint pen to act like I actually plan things. Image Not Found Then I figured MAYBE I should actually stick the rear end in place before I waste a whole bunch of time on it. Of course, that is easier said than done. I started by cutting out some simple tabs for my UCA towers: Image Not Found Then I modified some old poly brackets that I had lying around to make the frame side UCA mount. Image Not Found Not my best welding... It'll be fine. Image Not Found Then I made some lower link brackets from some more random poly stuff: (shown tacked in place because I didn't take a pic otherwise) Image Not Found Also, they're 'adjustable' but I have no intention of running anything but the upper position. This piece will also be added to those brackets: (shown upside down) Image Not Found Upper tabs, lower brackets (random poly Sh$t again) in place: Image Not Found I had to clearance the pumpkin to get the lower bracket to fit. Was kinda a pain in the @$$. The other side wasn't an issue, the pinion/pumpkin is quite offset on a sterling. Which is a bit unfortunate. If a guy wanted to narrow it by a couple inches, it would be easy as they have unequal length axleshafts and one could run two short ones. Then the whole mess: Image Not Found I also cut out the piece that holds the hatch latch and lower hatch seal; it had to come out to allow it to be mated to a floor, so it will go back in. The axle is at full bump. My links only have half the tube inserts in them, I didn't think to order them ahead of time (building out of stuff lying around). Also, one of the JJ's actually has a 1" shank. I haven't checked what happens when the axle travels because I'm missing parts. Lowers are heat treated chromo stuff (4130, apparently about 170KSI yield, assuming only 140KSI I'm fine for about 3000lbs on the mid-point of one lower link). Uppers are just plain old DOM. All JJ's are right hand thread - I do not believe in left threads unless there is a real good reason for it. And since I bought my JJs over a long period of time I have two different sizes of jam nuts, which is unfortunate. Also, the plan is still to shave the sterling by whacking a big chunk off it and plating the bottom. I just wanted to make sure it fit decent first. I imagine I should remove the pinion before I do that.

Just 'cause I don't 'need' it dun' mean I don't 'want' it. Maybe I should have rephrased that as "I don't need it right now". I might specifically need it, or the maturation of it, at some point in the future, but not now.

Well, I do get two different cheques. My expenses and per diems are not taxable, so they do get payed out separate (and within a week of being submitted, or heads roll). However all the other extra incentives go on the same cheque as my salary. I look back through my bank statements but it's totally useless since I basically get payed a random amount each month depending on where I worked, what on, and etc etc. Also, they're between 2 weeks and a month behind on the extra incentives, and a month behind on scheduled overtime payouts, so it makes things incredibly confusing. But... On my pay stub/payroll advice it has it all broken down in plain english and one column is 'Base Pay'. That's my salary. And that's why I know it's different. Anyways, I've got a week more time off, and I'm not too interested in phoning anybody at work at this point. So I'll just ask about it when I get back there. I should be able to get a reprint of all of my pay stubs for the last couple months and check them.

They work really well in snow and muskeg. Some of the oil-field trucks in the north have. I'd like to do up a set and go on a winter expo... You can go far more places with much less environmental impact around here in the winter. Freezing to death is a slight concern though.

I used to have this happen often with our electronic /swipe card time clock . Most of the guys (me too) now back up with The old "punch clock" for a personal record of hours,O/T , double time ,Missed breaks etc. Our payroll is now done in Kansas , so as you can imagine they're not to swift on Canadian tax / deductions etc.,but once they know your tracking them suddenly they become VERY accurate :hmm: ..... :thumbsup: I actually wish I had an electronic backup of what I did. I should probably make up an excel spreadsheet and put everything in it. I have the carbon copy of my time book, but they become fairly illegible. All my expenses get copied in my notebook, but again that becomes a mess (and I don't always have my notebook). Because of the nature of our work we could never have anything as simple as a punch clock. As it is we follow an unwritten code for the amount of hours worked in a day, since there is so many variables. And often I'm filling in my time sheets at 2am (or worse) and a lot of the details get obscured with the '@#$% it, just write something down' attitude. :rotf:

Got my payroll advice today (direct deposit, I don't see a cheque)... The bastards under payed me by $200. WTH? I'm salary, it's not hard to pay me the same base amount every freaking month. I don't need the money, I just wonder WTH is wrong with the people I work for. Of course, now I have to figure out who I am supposed to talk to about this 'issue' :roll: Maybe I should phone my immediate supervisor tomorrow and ask him, he'd appreciate that.

At that price, they're a pretty good deal... But this is more my style: http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/sho ... php?t=1349 I wouldn't build them exactly like that, but you get the point. Tracks have been around for ages; they aren't a complicated concept.

It's fairly common for cracking to develop from those 3 bolt holes, on either side, or for the bolts to actually pull through the frame. I'd weld plates over each side... 1/8" would be minimum. 3/16" would be a nice thickness. Stop drill the crack (I'd drill about 1/8"), weld it up, grind it smooth. Put a bunch of 3/8" holes in the plates to rosette it all over the place. End the plates in fishtails and weld the snot out of 'em. Should be good. I guess the C-ROK (sp?) steering box brace would be a good starting place if you want to take the easy way out.

I live in PG, but I keep my jeeps at my parents place in Vernon (they're still okay with it, for now...). I only have an apartment in PG, I've been meaning to change that for the last year (just hasn't happened). So, I only work on anything when I get time off from work.

So, I needed to remove the carrier from my sterling 10.25 as part of my 'feasibility study' on the axle for use in my XJ. It was rather stuck, and I guess you aren't supposed to use a housing spreader on them (or can't effectively). Normally I'd use a pry bar and a bunch of swearing. That's a PITA. Besides, I didn't want to smack anything up as I might be reusing some of the parts. I came up with this solution. And I decided that I'd better take pics, in case I got killed in the process, that way nobody could say 'pics or it didn't happen'. Image Not Found Ratchet strapped to my trailer... Two straps holding the housing, one around the carrier to a chain that was strung from the rear tie-downs. Image Not Found And then with a surprisingly gentle pop, out came the carrier: Image Not Found I'm probably going to do them all this way now... It only took about 5 minutes to rig.

Looking good there CW, you've made a lot of progress on it in short time. Should look good in a dark grey. Are you planning to stain the decking too? Most don't, but it can look good...

Eat the extras. Mmmm.

It should work, but the risk is that you will kill your battery...

So, uh, where are those pics at? :fool:

I was reading this thread and saying 'When the hell did I post that?' My only comment is that if the ol' magnetic poles get all whacky... I'm gonna have to recalibrate a lot of stand-by compasses.

What type of hammer? If it weighs under three pounds, I'll be disappointed.

What all is in that...? I see (obvious) full hydro steering, a drop out third so I'm assuming a 9" or a True Hi9, kingpin D60 knuckles, what looks like either Sunray inner Cs or plated Cs, and a Diamond or Spidertrax housing?

CW, what's BUKU engineering? :nuts: On the topic of a 4-link rear... I'd call it a good idea if you want the best performance that you can get and are willing to SACRIFICE a few other things. For most people it makes very little sense and they are much better off working with the factory leaf springs (either spring over or otherwise) as they're actually a pretty good setup (jeep did their homework). For a 4-link rear, you'd probably want to do a dual-triangulated setup... Yes, you could do single triangulated, or parallel (with a panhard/track bar), but neither offer as good of performance. With a dual triangulated setup I don't see any hope of keeping the gas tank in the stock location. I was running propane anyways, so I had the tank where 'inside the bed' would have been. This leaves a lot of space, and it is easy to get the geometry to be fairly near perfect. Also, the 4-link will allow you to run coil-overs (more performance) and hack off the last couple feet of the frame/bed for a better departure. If neither moving the gas tank to the bed, hacking the frame off a couple feet shorter, or running coil-overs sounds like a great idea to you; then I would not recommend 4-linking the rear.

As I see it now... The D44 occupies a very fine space between the D30 and the D60. I hate the D30 in a lot of ways, but I don't see the D44 as offering enough of an improvement to bother in a lot of applications. I'd probably rock a D30 for 33s and mild wheeling. I'd probably not rock 33s for anything but mild wheeling anyways... 35s, no, a D30 won't handle that (IMHO and experience) with some decent wheeling. A D44 could... But once you hit 37s the D44 is at its limit, basically. A D44 MIGHT have a little more hope with 30 spline outers. Bore the spindles, get the shafts made, run drive flanges... Maybe there is 30 spline hubs for a D44 now, there wasn't when I was looking into it. Otherwise, your outer shafts are just too weak. Beyond that, you're still stuck with a 760X style u-joint, which won't be a problem if you buy CTMs (the yokes on the shafts or something else will go before they do). I probably have nothing else to add to the topic. Edit. I do. A point of economics. The Isuzu D44 rears make sense if you can find one and have a 6-lug front for some reason. They are not overly available since not many were sold here, AND they're actually half decent vehicles so a lot of them are still on the road. I think that if a guy knows exactly what he wants out of his build, the isuzu 12 bolt might be a better axle anyways. More strength than a D44 from the factory, almost all have 4.56 gears, disk brakes, some have a factory L/S and now you can buy a lunchbox locker for them (or an ARB). For the price of a 'zu 12B, you couldn't possibly build a comparable waggy D44.

Probably sag, the rears on XJs are bad for that. They'll need replacing or professional re-arching (replacing would be better, IMHO). Otherwise they'll just pop back...

Good to see you're making progress. Do you think you'll have any width issues with a ford 8.8 in the rear? I ran spacers on mine way baaaack when I had one because the tires contacted the sides of the box quite badly. I think 1.25" per side...