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2wd to 4wd woes


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so i started swapping the front axle into my truck last night and i got all of the control arm bolts in except the lower one on the passenger side i can't get the holes to line up at all. any suggestions??

 

YUP... A stilson/ Monkey wrench and a small jack on its handle. This will allow you to easily rotate the axle in either direction.

 

CW

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YUP... A stilson/ Monkey wrench and a small jack on its handle. This will allow you to easily rotate the axle in either direction.

 

CW

 

Don't use a cheap pot-metal one from Harbor Freight.......it will snap clean in half. Ask me how I know :oops:

 

Jeff

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I've had good luck using a bottle jack wedged between the frame rail and the coil spring plates. Extending the jack will push the axle forward so you can get the arm in.

 

If the axle is too far out, the jack won't help.

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well thanks for all of the help guys i finally got it to move forward enough with a BFB so I'm just hooking up brake lines. i do have one question though. on the new front axle there is something right next to the LCA mount there is a cylinder thing with something that lookis like a vacuum line and two lines hoses that stick out towdards the back. i can't post a pic of it but i really would like to know what it is.

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that is exactly what it is. now what does it do??

 

It is a central axle disconnect (aka CAD). Basically it was another step in disengaging 4wd with certain models of x-cases, can't remember which off the top of my head atm. If it is not hooked up, or if it fails like most do, my fix will make it so it is "engaged" at all times. Rather then being a three piece axle, it locks it into place so it is the equivalent of a two piece axle. Most the time when a swap like this is done, or even just to get rid of the problem of the CAD axle, these axles are avoided. Hate to be the bearer of bad-ish news.

 

If the fix is done there is no worries, your 4wd is not truly engaged until you pull the lever. Your front wheels will spin freely so long as the x-case is not engaged.

 

~Alex

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Yep, just lock-er in permanently, and forget it. :thumbsup:

 

Rob L.

 

Do this and like I have written in the writeup, make sure you cap off the vacuum stalks that are coming off the CAD cover. Just get it nice and cleaned up and get some vacuum line caps from your auto parts store and you're good-to-go. The reason ya want to do this is so that no water gets in there.

 

~Alex

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You could also just replace the passenger side axle shaft with one from a non-disco model. If you do this, careful when putting the new axle shaft in not to push out the seal in the pumpkin.

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I literally spent five minutes tonight to take your guys advice and shim over my CAD. I un-bolted the motor, slid the collar over both sets of splines, pulled the c-clip, moved the collar over, re-placed c-clip, installed motor ..... yes, its that easy. You don't need any extra parts at all.

 

I drove it around and don't feel any difference. 4WD works perfectly.

 

One problem though - apparently capping the vacuum lines is a good idea .... I didn't and now my heat will only blow through the deforster and not anywhere else. Gonna have to fix that.

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