Hillbilly Deluxe (Rye Guy's ol' black n tan)

[MancheKid86]

went down to the local bike shop with my shifter in hand lookin for some sort of cable crimp.

this is what they gave me, it ended up fitting the lever and wire perfect.
it was off of a dropper post, which is actually where my cable came from.

and now its fully functional.

 

 

[MancheKid86]

more into the tcase

 

way back in 2014, the ring gear in the doubler spit out in a very sketchy spot
both of my winches, plus two more and 8 people helped spin the truck around and safely down to a flat where I was able to swap tcases the next day




ended up having  to split a case in half to get a new ring gear donor.
the way the doubler is built didnt allow for a retainer, or so it was lead to believe. 
put the new ring in, stake in in place good to go.

fast forward to now.
the ring started walking again! so in went the proper retainer and I started grinding

 

 

 

 

hear me out, before anyone says it. 

Literally no idea why i didnt line the tangs up to one of the studs, thought about it the entire process... especially on the last hole lmao

but here it is, it even retained its springtivity

was cleaned afterwards to install the new bearing

 

 

ran an idea past a buddy and he said come on down.

3 planet carriers are out of style

but 6 planets on the other hand....
thats more like it!

 

 

3 vs 6

 

 

 

 

starting to assemble

 

 

 

lets stand all of those bearing back up

 

 

the graveyard, 3 carriers due to one being roasted, the other was already parts from when the ring gear ejected in '14 but made for good bearing slugs. and the third had good junk

 

 

 

final planet

 

and all together again

 

[A-man930]

You've taken a three planet carrier and machined it to accept six? You're my hero. Totally doing this.

[MancheKid86]

On 6/10/2025 at 5:14 PM, A-man930 said:

You've taken a three planet carrier and machined it to accept six? You're my hero. Totally doing this.

 

for the cost of a new 6 pinion carrier it would have been just as easy to buy one, but I have alot of free time and it was a fun challenge. most tedious part was putting all the needle bearings in, which after the first two I had a pretty good rhythm. the easiest way would have been to keep the slug in the entire time and not let them fall out in the first place. 

took about three weeks for the grade BD threaded rod to show up, thanks to my homie who machined the carrier. his work had an account with mc master carr which actually had stock of this. no where in canada that I called had it or even knew it existed. 


Such a big tube for a single threaded rod!

 

all trimmed down and installed

I have a collection of gaskets from various rebuild kits so I decided to use them  since the mating surface on the doubler have seen some abuse ( it may have been dropped once or twice over the years)





since the studs go straight through the doubler it tends to seep fluid through them so my fix involves using copper crush washers under the nuts



finally it is all together, yes it gets messy in my garage very fast lmao





waiting on the undercoat my neighbor promised he was ordering (which was over a month by the way, and I ended up finding someone else in the end who was actually had a wurth account to order it, which took another two weeks) I decided to tear the into the winches. one I 100% over greased, and used an aviation grease which didn't last long, it dried right up and caused alot of drag during free spool

the Warn 9000XDI

 

it took a long time to scoop all of the dry grease out, before using solvents to clean the rest


found this piled behind the pinion gear which was pushing the planets up

 

 

breaking open the warn vr 8000, which has lived its entire life upside down under the box of the truck.

you can tell it has been underwater once or twice




it did clean up though! wire wheel and solvents and it turn out decent, not new but still useable, looks night and day better than when i cracked it open.


will be getting the casings media blasted and powder coated to deal with the aluminum corrosion prior to reassembly

ordered a new horn button/cap retainer assembly. the spring loaded  pin did not fit so I am wondering if I put the non tilt turn signal cam in. so I will have to dig a little deeper into that or figure out something else to get it to work

the previous one had a wire soldered onto the cap itself and for the life of me I can't find any of the spring loaded bits from the three steering columns I took apart



my brake proportioning valve (left) vs stock (right)

no load sensing valve required in the rear


and finally! the day has come, the undercoat arrived


 

 

so time to strip the truck down and rip the axles out to start prepping the paint for undercoat

 

 

 

 

more to come, will scrub everything down, undercoat and then work on brake/fuel lines.



also, A-Man thank you for taking interest in my build. there's only one other person out the twelve years of having this thread who has beat you in posts and that is Pete himself. You Pete and and Neohic have proven that there is actual interest in the stuff i post. so thank you again!   






here is a pic of a cj-3a my friend is finishing for a customer, which i had the pleasure of seeing while  gearing some axles for his own rig

[neohic]

2 hours ago, MancheKid86 said:

… A-Man thank you for taking interest in my build. there's only one other person out the twelve years of having this thread who has beat you in posts and that is Pete himself. You Pete and and Neohic have proven that there is actual interest in the stuff i post. so thank you again!   

In it for the long haul!!  Thanks for the updates!

[watchamakalit]

I have heard that rubberized undercoating is not a good route, as it can trap moisture underneath and cause worse rust. Any thoughts on that?  I'm by no means an expert. That's why I ask. 

 

Ps. I don't post a lot but also don't miss ANY content on CC. 

[A-man930]

Gotta keep the forums alive! 

[MancheKid86]

On 8/7/2025 at 1:55 PM, watchamakalit said:

I have heard that rubberized undercoating is not a good route, as it can trap moisture underneath and cause worse rust. Any thoughts on that?  I'm by no means an expert. That's why I ask. 

 

Ps. I don't post a lot but also don't miss ANY content on CC. 

now some people may not agree with what I am about to say. every ones experience is different. it depends on your location (rust belt, living next to bodies of salt water like oceans) road conditions (if they are heavily salted)

 undercoat is a very controversial topic. depending on where you read online its either a yay or nay. I believe there are a few factors that ultimately dictate the overall outcome.
condition of the vehicle,  if its brand new. Or if it is already seen road use/rusted/dirt salt trapped in it.
the composition of the undercoat itself ie. oil based, bitumen (asphalt) or rubberized
the prep work (removing all grease, salts, debris ect) or lack of prep

oil seems to be the go to nowadays because it extremely easy to apply with very little to zero prep and as you know oil repels water and blocks out any oxygen (aka oxidation) but it too has its drawbacks. if not properly maintained ie. washing your vehicle regularly, and not just the exterior paint, underneath as well. it can build up dust and salt just as easily since it creates a sticky surface. when the dust builds up that in turn wicks in moisture. as long as you are diligent and do thorough job of cleaning it there shouldn't be an issue. granted you need to annually re apply the oil. if you use detergents while washing it will overtime wash away the coating

rubberized is 100% a no go, as it generally bubbles and creates air pockets during the application, and overtime it shrinks and cracks causes it to debond from the surface. Allowing moisture, salts, dirt ect in causing this state of rapid decay seen on the internet.

 Bitumen depending on the manufacturer and additives that compose it (the type I went with) isn't perfect either but doesn't shrink/crack and if applied in the correct thickness does a great job. every comanche I have owned/parted out (10 of them) has had the bitumen underseal from factory. now I am not saying that It cannot cause rot but if applied correctly then it does its intended job. granted if I lived in an area that uses salt has high humidity  and bodies of salt water. it probably would be a completely different scenario

Wurth underbody sealant (german made product) AFAIK is used on all the Porsches on the road

#1 issue I see causing adverse affects is application thickness. A coating of ~1-2 mm MAX is adequate and does its intended purpose. any more than that and it is too thick. the misconception is thinking you want to drown the metal in it, in this circumstance less is more protection and more is less protection

another misconception is that you can annually add another layer of bitumen underseal, this is a big no. you are effectively sealing in a years worth of road grime, dirt and hidden moisture. if there is any debonding chips ect it will be sealed in. causing the rot to start. the proper way which you will not find suggested online is to remove ALL old underseal, address any areas with the converter of your choice. and start fresh with that 1-2 mm coating. adding layer after layer is just negligent and promotes instead of inhibits. shops don't care and will gladly do it because they are getting paid and its not their vehicle.  

most important thing you can do is clean your vehicle regularly especially in the rustbelt/high salt areas. as stated earlier not just the visible body panels but ensure you wash underneath in all the nooks and crannies that can house dirt and salt. if you are diligent and take the time to clean your vehicle, it will last a very long time. its just like someone who brushes and flosses daily versus someone with poor oral hygiene who doesn't take the time to brush and floss. ones going to have cavities/missing teeth and the other one generally won't unless they have some underlying health/genetic issues. or another good example if your a hunter/marksman and shoot corrosive ammo you best bet you are meticulously cleaning everything after an outing/day at the range otherwise your barrel ect is going to start to rot

going out to my base model 2wd comanche (which I 4wd ax-15 swapped) that still has its factory undercoat. it is mint underneath. as stated previously its undercoat thickness is 1-2 mm at most. the only rust on it is from moisture trapped in the factory carpets padding in the drivers footwell from leaking window seals/lack of floor mats allowing snowy muddy boots to drain directly into the floor. also stone chips on the exterior paint that I never dealt with and allowed dirt and salt to fester without washing/reapplying paint to the bare steel for extended periods of time.


sorry for the long winded explanation. but that is my take on the matter.






here are some pictures of my unibody after thoroughly cleaning it with Por-15 degrease in prep of applying a 1-2 mm coating of underbody sealant.
it has been professionally media blasted twice, etched and coated with Endura industrial grade epoxy

 

[MancheKid86]

after drilling a 1.5" hole for the fuel sender wiring in the drivers floorpan I masked it all off, and went to town. it went on like paint. after reading the spreadsheet it called 500 microns/0.5mm. so that's what it ended up getting.

some ripples from being too close or not properly fanning the spray but overall pleased with the results. did not do the top of the rear "frame". still contemplating it. but I don't see the need as the box covers it and there shouldn't be any high velocity stones making contact with its surface. did the sliders and rear bumper as well because why not, it is non-paintable so I can always hit it with some gun wash and it will come right off if I ever want to touch up the sliders/bumper with some rattle can after rubbing on rocks and trees.








and all unmasked, did the inside of the fenders as well since I am not running any inner wheel well liners. (they tend to just get torn off when a big stick/log works its way though the wheel well anyways)







wish I could figure out how to get the site to not resize the pictures to the size of a large tumbnail since I'm no where near the max upload limit per post

[MancheKid86]

ordered some new bumpstops for the ol' elliptical setup





went down to the local fastener store and picked up majority of the hardware I need to start the reassembly




alot of the mods in the rear are almost as old as I am, including the elliptical suspension.
looking at the quality of welds and that they have lasted for 30 years makes me think they can't be that bad lmao
so with that being said, I started adding the new hardware.



 

 

 I even spaced out either side of the rear shackles with washers this go around instead of just giving them the ugga duggas until they conformed.





speaking of rubberized undercoat, I ended up going over to help my neighbor switch his rotisserie around on the new car they have in the shop to restore. @watchamakalit this is exactly why the internet says not to use rubberized. especially if its sprayed overtop of rust. pictures don't do it justice, the thing is rotten and plagued with halfassed repairs. who ever "restored" it previously scabbed some patch panels on and just put lipstick on the pig. they are bringing it down to the local sandblasting outfit, I think there will just be the outer skins remaining afterwards 

[A-man930]

That rear suspension setup is a new one on me.  

*starts researching 

[89eliminator]

that pin has to be a nightmare to remove/install each time.

[MancheKid86]

On 8/18/2025 at 9:52 AM, 89eliminator said:

that pin has to be a nightmare to remove/install each time.

They aren't that bad, just pull the retaining clips and the pins slide out


Well it seems like its been a long time since posting

 

Spoiler

life happened and my parents ended up being diagnosed with the same cancer as one another.
so I've been busy taking care of everything in that regard, lots of days spent at the hospital
step dad didn't make it while my mom powered through and is in remission.
didn't realize how much paperwork was involved with that sort of thing, it felt like it was endless.

but what can you do? its part of life as many of you know

picked up a roll of brake line and started bending





 

 

full length line from master to rear axle


went with Stainless braided lines from Russel's for the flex lines

Russel banjo bolt on left vs what came with my calipers


flex lines installed and rear lines ran ontop of my truss



used adel clamps to secure it all 


may have to relocate the hard lines from the master/distribution block because i plan on brining the shocks into the engine bay for a bit more up travel, may be able to get away with putting the shock mounts lower on the axle

 


I ended up having a cracked leaf so I stripped  all the packs apart and swapped them around till i had two "good" sets
then cleaned them up, painted and put bunch of neverseize between the plastic liners
-removed the AAL's so they are alot softer and flex alot easier







afterwards I resealed the rear diff and cleaned up the disc brake brackets
more new hardware









grinding flats so they fit the axle flange



DIY caliper winder

[MancheKid86]

I pondered the idea of AN style braided fuel lines since the 4 link cross member was in the way of the original
Found what I thought was a good deal and ordered the hose and all the fittings to go from the tank to engine, but after reading some reviews the hose that was supplied did not work with ethanol based fuel so I ended up returning it all

my solution ended up being simpler and hundreds of dollars cheaper

I cut the bends out of the lines that used to go around the mj specific x member brace and used a flaring tool to flare the ends, the larger diameter tubes i needed to heat with a torch before they would accept being flared







don't mind the cardboard shim on the filter lmao
used the fancy high pressure hose clamps on either end to not mar the fuel line and just like that there was fuel to the rails




one of the quick disconnect fittings by the engine mount started leaking and spraying fuel onto the exhaust manifold, I have never had it apart, so sometime before I purchased the truck a PO had the lines apart and only put one of two O-rings on the line. I consider myself lucky it never leaked prior over the years I beat on it, would have set the truck on fire

Needless to say all the lines O-rings had then been replaced



it was time to install the the rest of the drivetrain, I used a bunch of ratchet straps and slowly raised my trans/doubler/tcase assy high enough that i  could get the screw jacks underneath of it





Never test fit with the front output yolk, so i was stressing  a bit but it did clear



and with a bit of a shove it slid right in



preferred fluids of choice, black jug for tcases and white for transmission
been running my jeeps like this for years and it makes it shift like butter

 

 

 

installed the clutch master/slave assy with an advanced adapters SS braided line

all the fluid lines clamped up out of the way



going to have to get creative and make a driveshaft with a steady bearing for the front the 4 link conflicts with the driveshaft since the output is so far back

[MancheKid86]

Speaking of driveshaft It was time to clean up the rear and install new ujoints
went with the Spicer 7xxx SPL series again
nothing wrong with the old ones, so i cleaned them up, greased them and have them as spares







Visited my buddy at his work to get some more machining done
big bolt upgrade on the long arms and drilling tapers for pitman arm and tireods

the clamping was sketchy lmao



upgraded the upper control arm bushings on the axle side to rebuildable Johnny joints



clearance is clearance. full lock/down travel


trimming for theoretical max bump




shocks were too short, so went with some 15" travel
still need to figure out where I'm going to mount them for either more up travel or down






picked up some dual rate coils, and guess ive never ran coil spring isolators so I installed some of those as well
ditched the thought of installed the ACOS I purchased, will probably use them on my other truck

 

they look much better than the old ones



theoretical max down



paint stripped and and repainted all the front steering/braces
had to reweld the entire sector shaft brace, when we put a patch on my steering box years ago it no longer fit and would just snap the sector shaft support bearings









sourced new plugs for the back of the cab, was actually tough to get, only one town in all of lordco (auto parts store in my area) had some





butchered my carpet to fit the shifters





modified the renix steering box brace (or what ever this is) to clear the stiffener behind the box




and then drove it for the first time in far too long

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parked on the lawn, and in the hedges for the street to see lmao

 

 

[MancheKid86]

Now that were all caught up I am currently waiting for a spot in the paintbooth.
the owners body guy got in a car accident a few weeks ago and crushed alot of ribs so he is by himself and swamped so  cars are backed up.
should be about two weeks and then I can sneak in over the weekend and get it finally painted, and then glass installed

A little disappointed in my paint, i had it mixed to via paint code for cyber grey, who ever mixed it put way too much green tint it. so its more green than silver
that being said, generally you can return a miss tint, but its been a few years since I purchased the paint so I am stuck with it

body all blocked

 

doors tailgate and box ended up getting reprimed




door jambs and door inners paited




as well as inbetween the cab and truck box and the bottom of the box quarters where I cut and folded when I fit the box to the sliders




truck box is officially bolted on! as seen previously in my thread the box has been bobbed 10" and the rear arches raised roughly 2" using front fenders from a donor cherokee
will be sanding everything down again the day before it goes in the booth and will get the glass and all the seals installed shortly afterwards. 





going to be playing around with some taillight refinishing, see what gives the best result
I may have one or two laying around 

 

[neohic]

Dang!  Those hard lines look great!! As always, thanks for the update. The truck looks amazing.