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Ratricha the 88 Pioneer


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9 hours ago, JMO413 said:

Thank you. It's been a nice way to keep track of what I did and when. I always try to list part numbers, it's what I do for a living.

 

Thank you again. They took allot of work but definitely worth it.

 

I used white lithium grease. The thing that made the most improvement was getting any sharp bend out of it. Also a few week placed zip ties for stability.

Absolutely. I would forget what has been done if I did not document it on here.

 

You can tell. 
 

Thank you. I will do that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know never spend money on a Dana 35. I don't listen to well some times. The old girl just isn't too happy with 3.07 gears. So I started looking for axles thinking that would be the cheapest and my rear pinion bearings are in their way out. So I still across a truck with 74359 miles on it with 4.10 gears. I paid $300 for both axles. I figured for that kinda money I couldn't go wrong. Now I just need to stop them down and get them installed. It is a Dana 35 and a CAD Dana 30 but I now have spare axles for both. I can also rear all the new parts already on the trucks axles. 

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They came complete to say the least.

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This is the first real load I have hauled with her. Definitely a little squat!

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Had a buddy come over and help me lift the axles out of the bed if the truck. We then stripped all the extras off the front axle. Popped the cover off to make sure it was also a 4.10 and it was. 

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The front axle was also very clean inside and the fluid looked great.

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Put each one on a furniture mover so I could easily roll them around and work on.

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Hauled all the extra crap that came on the axles to work and threw it in the scrap dumpster. Also cleaned out the garage of the other scrap laying around.

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Moved them to their resting place until I get the time to clean, paint, and install them.

 

 

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Today was fix the little things that drive me crazy day. After I installed my list I felt like I had a small rake to the rear. It seemed to get a little more noticable as the springs settled. So I got out the take measure and level. Low and behold it wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me.

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This was on the bedside at the rear. The front was definitely a little higher. The front measured just shy of 37" ground to center of the flare. The rear measured 36.5 or just under. I had already ordered new rear shackles beacuse even if it was my eyes the rear was going up just a little.

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I bought Rubicon Express RE2700. They are listed as a lift shackle for an XJ. They list them as 5" center to center. From what I had read MJ shackles are 5" center to center. When I installed the lift I used Dakota shackles that were what I thought almost an exact match to the MJ shackles.

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Left to right is. Rubicon Express, Factory MJ, and Dakota. Apparently I was wrong on the Dakota shackles being the same length. Ops!

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The Rubicon Express are a closer match to the originals though. Just sightly longer and grease able. I did have to rethread one of the grease fitting holes. It has a spot of welding splatter in it.

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After I installed them I have just a tiny take to the front. The front is still just shy of 37" and the rear is just over 37". I love the almost perfectly level stance.

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Before. You can just see the rear is slightly down.

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After. Took it out for a shake down. All is good!

 

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Then it was in to my next little annoyance. If you were going over 40 there is a crazy whistle from both windows. Also if you power wash the truck you get water inside. The front window guide/seal was the problem.

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You can see the big chunks missing off my driver's side track/seal. The passenger side whole outside strip was gone. They are fairly simple to replace. There are just a few steps. Roll the window all the way down. Remove the window crank, door handle, and grab handle. Then remove the door panel. There are two screws on the door frame.

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Remove these two screws.

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Remove this 10MM bolt.

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The window then rocks back.

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Once you get it free and continue to work and pull it out.

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Cleaned off the rust. 

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A coat of paint since they were out.

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New seals available from Mopar.

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One for each side. They just push in.

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New one in place.

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Nice and new. No more wind or water leaks.

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The pile of old! It was definitely some work but very worth while!! I can finally wash my truck and not get wet inside! There is also no more whistle at highway speeds. Now I just have to clean the garage!

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Finally got around to building a harness to add trailer wiring.

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Plug and play trailer wiring harness.

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Harness installed.

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Harness to trailer wiring. The one not covered is the one I plan to install into the bumper.

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Wiring ran to the hitch. 

Every thing works yay!!

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Just now, Pete M said:

you're making a DIY post about that, yes?  :brows:  that's friggin' awesome!  :L:

Already done. I just needed to add what wires goes to where. I didn't map it out before I covered the new harness.

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Got tired of looking at my driver's chrome door handle bezel peeling.

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Bought a set on eBay.

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This one is in much better shape! 

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I was cleaning the new one and finally realized the driver and passenger side bezel are the same. They have the same part number stamped in them.

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Thought it was interesting one was made by EATON.

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The other was made by SINGER. Both have the same part number stamped in them.

 

I then moved in to the trailer wiring. I didn't like how the first harness fit. It was just too long and didn't fit great.

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The second one I made was much more compact. It definitely fits better.

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Drilled a hole in the bumper to mount the new trailer wiring plug.

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I got the harness cut down and a connector put on it. Then I pulled it though the hole.

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You almost can see it there when the flap is closed.

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It's now easy to access and the wiring is up out of the way. $4 well spent on the new trailer harness end.

Final tinkering project for the day was adjusting the rear brakes. That went quite well for a change. Next will be cleaning up the new to me axle assembly's. But out of time for today. 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Didn't really work on the truck but I finally cleaned the garage. It only took me two days to get it done. I also finally installed my new vise I bought a year ago.

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I finally have a clean bench.

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New vise next to the old stripped out vise. The poor little guy never stood a chance.

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I also opened my Christmas present. Cordless brushless Ryobi grinder.

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I wish every grinder handle held the tool to change the disc! This is just a great idea.

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  • 2 months later...

I finally collected all the pieces to replace my leaky fuel tank. It would only leak if you filled it over 3/4 tank. The truck had always had a bit of fuel she'll to it. So today the old tank came out.

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There was a nice little crack that when I pushed on it became a hole. That nice little hole sprayed gas everywhere while I was dropping the tank.

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Bought a tank from Rock Auto. Liland Global it was cheap $104 to my door.

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It is a little thin but not bad.

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It does have the baffle in it.

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Everything thing else I needed to put it in. The tank came with the lock ring and seal.

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I had a hard time find a listing for the strap bolts. I found these on Summit and Rock Auto. Goodmark GMK2111749581.

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They are all but an exact match.

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Quick couple of coats of paint on the tank straps. I was lucky enough to but a couple sets of them from Rock Auto on wholesale closeout for $4 a set.

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Painted the fuel neck while I had it out. It's in surprisingly good shape just a little rusty. Nothing a wire wheel and a couple coats of paint couldn't fix.

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I bought fuel filler hoses for a Cherokee and cut them down. They worked quite well actually.

 

 

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Then I had to fix my front tank strap mount. As you can see it wasn't holding much.

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Got it all cleaned up and welded a large thick washer to the good metal that was left. It is definitely good to go for a while.

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While I had the tank it I ran a new brake line to the rear. As you can see when it rusted it the PO just ran it out around the gas tank.

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All new and shiny, makes the rest of the truck look that much more rusty.

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For the third time since I've owned it I filled it until the pump stopped. First time was when I drive it home. Second time was the time after that when I realized I had a descent sized fuel leak. This time it is full and all staying in!

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Should have fixed this along time ago!

 

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Finally nice weather again in Iowa. Started yesterday plotting the lot and there was no snow left by 4 o'clock and it was mid 40's. Today it's almost 60.

Decided to reindex my distributor today. I indexed it a while ago but had not redone it since I changed the timing chain.

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Sorry the picture sucks. This is where it was at when I got it to TDC. It was just a little past where it should have been.

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Now it's just approaching. 

IMG_20200418_164159614.jpg.b0a2b81b1dd9f039acea81f63fa924d9.jpgChanged the spark plugs also.

Then it was time to hide this.

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I was finally tired of looking at this crack turning into a crater.

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I'm not usually a dash mat guy.

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But it sure does look better with minimal $ and minimal time.

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The company I believe calls it velour.

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It fits quite nicely. It also came with a piece for the glove box but I'm not a fan.

 

 

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You are correct my mistake. The tabs were already off the distributor. I replaced it a while back and cut them off before I installed it. It seems to be a little smoother at the lower end. It might just be me though.

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Myself, I'm not a big fan of cutting off one or both of those tabs. A long, long time ago, faulty distributors (rotor tip to distributor gear error) existed and that actually made it to production. Once that was discovered, all of them units were purged from the parts shelf and distributors were replaced on the dealership lot or on sold vehicles as they came in with certain complaints. Complaint being poor idle (weak spark) or crossfire at higher RPM's (max advance). You were either one tooth off one way or the other since rotor tip would never line up with #1 tower correctly.

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On 4/18/2020 at 7:02 PM, Ωhm said:

Myself, I'm not a big fan of cutting off one or both of those tabs. A long, long time ago, faulty distributors (rotor tip to distributor gear error) existed and that actually made it to production. Once that was discovered, all of them units were purged from the parts shelf and distributors were replaced on the dealership lot or on sold vehicles as they came in with certain complaints. Complaint being poor idle (weak spark) or crossfire at higher RPM's (max advance). You were either one tooth off one way or the other since rotor tip would never line up with #1 tower correctly.

I figure the clamp holds it good enough. It's hasn't been a problem yet. :laugh:

But it's a Jeep so who knows.

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So I am working on getting my new to me 4.10 rear axle to go in.

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It's really cleaner than it looks I promise. 

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First two coats of paint.

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Never tried this before but seemed like the perfect choice for this.

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I can truly say I've never painted a drill before. Two coats of 2000 degree primer. 

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Two coats of flat black 2000 degree paint. I think the flat black will look good behind my wheels.

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I know no one likes Rusty's but these seem very nice.

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My originals were more than a little deformed when I had them off last. This seems to be a some what normal issue. I hammered them flat and reused them. These seem nicely made and very heavy.

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Painted them black also. We'll see how long it lasts. Off to get axle seals so I can change them and finish getting it ready to go in. Hopefully next weekend it will be in it's new home.

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So car part came through for me again. Bought a set of 86 black trim taillights. $80 shipped from Pennsylvania.

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After hitting them with some red Scotch Brite they looked decent.

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After a bath and some more scrubbing they looked better. Their still wet in the picture.

 

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Black trim repainted and a couple coats of clear. These turned out even better than the ones in my truck currently. 

 

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Another beautiful day for some cleaning and painting.

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Diff cover cleaned, primed, & painted. Ready to go on.

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I love this color! It's goes on so nice.

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They call it graphite I would call it gun metal gray.

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Stripped down ready for some axle seals and a pinion seal.

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Able seals in. They both actually when in nice and straight.

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I was lucky and found this in our too room at work. We've been organizing tools for ever it seems like. It fit the seal perfectly.

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It's only a couple digits of from the actual right one. Now to the pinion seal. And the five year old walks into the garage "dad I need your help inside". Maybe later maybe tomorrow.

 

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