drcomanche

The axle vent tube is venting as it should. I was hoping to get the part before I dismantled it, that way, I could do it all in one go. Seems I'll be waiting on my axle rebuild for now anyways as it just keeps snowing here. I have to cut my old bracketry before I do any of that stuff.

Damn. Well, such is the life of a junkyard rig.

Any chance the tail light wiring harness is in tact? If so, I would gladly take it.

That is a really helpful file. That will come to great use later on. I would like to have a clean install, so is there any chance you may know where I can find a new harness?

I'm working on figuring out my reverse lights, but I keep running into snags. Now the first one comes from where I thought the harness from the transmission plugged in. When I tried to clip the wires, they arced, and I didn't think that reverse lights had power at all times, even when the vehicle is off. I didn't seem to blow any fuses, but when I did remove the turn signal back up fuse, it no longer arced, and I don't know if that's because of the fuse or not. Since I'm running a split harness(94/88) it's kind of hard for me to diagnose. The other problem is this. Some wired are connected. Some aren't. Some are lugged together and each light has a bunch of wires going in. Does anybody have a wiring diagram for the tail light harness. The one I have is too generic. Or can anyone give me some pics of their tail lights all hooked up, so I can see what is and isn't supposed to be. I can already tell that I don't have anything running to the reverse lights except the one black wire on the drivers side.

Small update. Just got my new truss today, although I had to call them back because it was missing a few parts. Now I just need to cut all my old brackets off and get this thing welded. If I can manage to get all the brackets off my axle and get it prepped, there's a shop here that will weld the truss for $75.

Very true, but he could have just put it in the description and gotten the same hits. He's doing something right if it made it here.

Somebody doesn't seem to realize what it is, but does seem to have spent some money modifying it. http://reading.craigslist.org/cto/4325332145.html

In Harford. It's had a bit of work done to it, but it's missing a transfer case. http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/4325992036.html

Today, I decided to go out and see what I could find and fix on Frankenstein. For a long time(and I'm sure my post is up in the tech section still) I haven't been able to get it to start on its own. I replaced battery cables (which I just realized, I didn't post any pics of), starter, battery, wires, etc. Pretty much anything I could find in the system that dealt with starting power. I went out today and got the last piece I could think of, being an ignition starter switch. I dropped my column and installed it(with much stretching and bending trying to get the bolts back in) and put it all back together to see if this had solved the problem. Spoiler alert... It didn't. It was still hesitant to turn over. I sat and thought for a while trying to figure out if I had missed something, but came up with nothing. Now, when I first got it, there was some custom wiring done to it, especially since it was a spliced harness. One of the weird details was this switch on my lower dash. Now, when that switch was pushed, it wouldn't turn over at all, but it had no effect when the vehicle was already started. When it was on, the vehicle would turn over. I though it a long shot, so I unhooked the wires and tagged them together. And of course, it starts with no problem... So to recap, I spent a lot of money completely upgrading and replacing my power system, and the 1$ switch was the problem... In any case, at least I won't have to mess with the power system any time soon. Since my dash was off, I decided to have a look at my ac/heater unit because my temperature slider wouldn't go all the way down. I found out that that was it's full range of motion, so I guess it's not really a problem. Putting it back together, I dealt with this terrible plug that is falling apart from what I can only imagine was some chemical electrical enhancer or something. I considered replacing that at some point if I could find the part somewhere, and I started to go through my glove box and console box, seeing what hardware I had to put the dash back together. While looking in my console, I found this. Extra parts that I just randomly find save the day again. I spliced it in and now, no more blower speed problems. I also switched out my glove box lid with one that wasn't chipped in the corner, just for minor appearance improvement. I tried again to find out where I could get my little reverse light harness from the trans to the engine bay and, by some stroke of luck, I found a topic on jeepforum talking about just that, and while nobody could find one, there was a link to the type of connector it is. I purchased some of those, and as soon as they arrive, I will have reverse lights. Because my engine harness is more modern, however, I will have to clip the newer style plug off and rewire it with the older one that I ordered.

Oh, I simply want the know how, I'm not expecting to hack up my front axle or new parts. I guess I misspoke a bit. I would NEVER do that to new parts. I was just hoping someone could weld it on with the proper knowledge, and I figure eventually I am going to have to weld something, so whatever pieces of information I can take away about how would be beneficial in the future. Plus, I would rather pay someone on here then a shop. I know the generics of welding and I know that my axle tubes can warp if not done correctly, and my fear is that a shop I take it to is just going to be adamant about simply getting it done and not take the proper procedures with it. Our Comanche Club patrons, I would like to believe, have much more respect for the work and the vehicle.

I just purchased a truss kit from TNT and will now need to weld it onto my front axle. It's a HP D44 from a 77 Ford Pickup that still has bracketry on it. I do have an angle grinder, so I can probably get the brackets removed, but no way of welding on new ones. I have zero experience welding and I definitely don't have the equipment, so I though someone on here may have the know-how to at least help me figure it out. I would rather not take it to a shop(since I don't really find many trustworthy ones around here and I also need to save a bit more money on this for my next project)

I have a few things that I'm having a real difficult time finding the right one or one in general. I really need new axle seals on my front D44 off a 1977 Ford. I'm doing a full overhaul and my tubes have been leaking since day 1. The other part is the wire connection between my ax15 and the engine wiring harness for my reverse lights. Anybody have any details or parts numbers that I could use for this?

Well, it sure has been a while since I've done any kind of updating on here, but with a bit more money now, and a new dd car, I can finally commit some real attention to this thing without worrying about transportation. Just today, I ordered a custom truss from tnt customs to fix the nightmare that is my front axles brackets, and give it some beef. Should be here within 10 business day, but now I need to get it welded on. I have no equipment to weld nor any experience, so I guess I'm just finding a friend or something. I'm also looking into grabbing some square steel channel and cutting my rockers out to weld them in giving me some rock rails and subsequently taking away the unknown amount of rust behind the soft rockers. I'm pretty sure I saw a build thread where someone did that, I'll just have to find it again. Yeah it is a small world. I figured somebody else had to be looking at this thing. It wasn't a bad start, although it did need some real work done. And I still see that paint creeping up at the seems and under the hood. At some point I want to get it fully painted, but that costs a bit too much. As it turns out, I was also looking for a dd and this was a bit of a time crunch for me. I had a few months after getting it to make sure it was driveable and that was about the time I started this build thread. I was just too hard headed to pick something easy to work with. :D

Oh, I wasn't going to buy it. Just saying that it's very near to me, so if somebody needs some help, I can assist.

That is literally 15 minutes away from me.

I've taken to calling mine Midori. Japanese for Green. I happen to be a fan of the culture and lived there for a brief time.

I was wondering what it was for. On my truck, it doesn't connect to anything, but still gets a decent amount of residue from electrical contact, I think. Is it supposed to connect to something?

I don't care what you drive, if you are stranded, that is enough of a hit on your vehicle's pride, I'll always help out a stranded enthusiast, whether it be Jeep, Offroad, or anything else.

That wasn't even a contest... I'm with 89eliminator, you didn't even need to hit the ramp for that contest to be decided. And even then, I think the MJ looks better, but I might be biased... :yes:

I had no idea those existed.... Now I need a set.

Ok, well, traded the starter again, and it didn't help. I have new higher gauge wires all hooked up, but still nothing. The only hint I have to go on right now is that I went to get a starter relay to try that out. The terminal numbers matched with the 87, 87, 86, and 30 on it. It was kind of a random guess at what year and model I should have gotten it for since my engine is an undocumented transplant and I don't know what they kept or what they modded. With the old relay, I got the same deal. Not enough amps reaching the starter. With the new relay, I got nothing. The starter didn't even try. Was there a difference between the relays from a 93 vs. an 88?

If all goes according to plan, I should be moved out to New Mexico by then, so I will definitely be joining this if nothing goes wrong.

So, in these past few days, in an effort to get the work done before the storm hits, I have completed a few things. I finally got around to doing my oil change, dropping the pan, and replacing all the seals, and cleaning. Compared to the top of my engine, the bottom was very well mannered. Not a lot of buildup at all asside from a thin film of old oil.The pump looked clean, and the pan was imaculate, with little to no buildup. I popped off the bearing cap and replaced my incredibly leaky rear main seal, and pretty much put everything back together. I did notice that my bearing race was a bit scratched up, but in otherwise decent condition. I also noticed some small drips from my rear axle again, so I'm going to replace the yoke this time, since it was pretty badly grooved when I did the pinion seal. Perhaps I will change out my u joints too. In other news, I went to work on the 25th (before the repair) and when I left I had the lucky chance of seeing this drive by. I ran over into the lot to meet the guy and told him that it was a great looking truck. His response? "oh, you just like the name on the back of it, that's all..." I laughed and said "No, it's more than the name" and pointed towards mine about 30 feet away. We talked for about 15 minutes. The guy himself was an older fellow, in his 70s, I would guess, and had owned that truck since it came off the assembly in 1987. 150000 miles on it, all original parts and paint. He DD'd it for about 10 years and then garage kept it the rest, driving it casually. No sign of rust anywhere. I had no idea that there was any more than the 2 I had always seen around here. Pretty interesting.

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