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Yea it's an ETCHED I bought the axles as a set a couple years ago and was told it was an E-locker.  After it started slipping I realized I may have been misinformed.... after pulling the cover Monday I confirmed it ..... I've always planned to go HP44 / 9 just figured I'd break what I had first...... mission accomplished.

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Really nice Rig...... and thanks for the info..... I'd like to keep my 8.8 but I wasn't sure if I could get it wide enough to match up with a cut down HP Ford D44.

 

Thanks!

 

If you are narrowing a D44 you can pretty much make it any width that you want.  I ended up narrowing mine to use TJ D44 inners and GM/FSJ outers.  This got me close to the same width as a stock TJ/XJ/YJ D30.

 

Yea it's an ETCHED I bought the axles as a set a couple years ago and was told it was an E-locker.  After it started slipping I realized I may have been misinformed.... after pulling the cover Monday I confirmed it ..... I've always planned to go HP44 / 9 just figured I'd break what I had first...... mission accomplished.

 

Good call on the D44.  I did the same thing.  If you are stripping teeth off the ring gear there really is no reason to spend any more money building a D30.

 

I don't really see the need to go to the trouble of swapping the 8.8 for a 9".  If you've already built the 8.8 I would think it would hold up fairly well to 36" tires.

 

Willy

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yea the strength is fine I was concerned about getting the width close (always hated how the 80's chevy's were so much different in width)  which is why I asked about your spacers.... kinda sucks I gotta buy new beadlocks though..... thanks again for the info.......

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On Thursday Ron and I were interested in doing an overnight trip, so that eliminated half our group.  We got off to an interesting start in the O'Reilly parking lot.  Ron's starter decided to not work at the campground.  A hammer tap got it started again, but we were about to embark on a 90+ mile trail so replacement seemed like a good idea.

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We then made our way over Hurrah Pass on the way to Chicken Corners.

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While Chicken Corners isn't much more than a rough dirt road, the views are incredible.

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After lunch at Chicken Corners we made our way back to Lockhart Basin.

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We had great weather until late afternoon.  Then a definitive cold breeze blew threw and dropped the temperature at least 20 degrees.  Not long afterwards we came across this just as it was starting to sprinkle.

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A couple of guys on BMWs.  The first with a large puddle of oil beneath it.  He had just come down a ledge and one of the spacers on his oil pan skid plate poked a hole in his oil pan.

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These guys got lucky in so many ways.  First, this had just happened not five minutes before we pulled up.  They were 40 miles into an 80+ mile trail and they were the only other traffic we had seen since leaving Chicken Corners.  If either of us had been five minutes earlier we would have passed each other on the trail and been long gone.  They were also on a motorcycle that actually had a removable oil pan instead of a vertical clam shell.  Plus we actually had the tools to repair them and enough oil to hopefully get them off the trail.

 

Once we removed the oil pan we found the broken pieces.  Using some JB Weld that Ron had we were able to sandwich the pieces in between several layers of JB Weld.

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Between Ron and I we had about 1 1/2 quarts of 10W-30 and 3/4 of a quart of 80W-90 gear oil.  I'm sure BMWs prefer something a little more fancy than that.  I tried to convince them to follow us out going the direction they had come from so that we'd be able to at least get them off the trail if they had any more trouble and they were heading into the difficult section, but they were intent on finishing the trail.  

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Willy

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Shortly after assisting the motorcycle riders the wind started to pick up even more and darker clouds moved in.  We set up camp just as it started pouring rain.  Friday morning we woke up to a clear and beautiful morning with this view.

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We packed up and went in search of airplane wreckage.  Just off the trail are the remains of a plane crash from the early '50s.

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We took a side trip to Lockhart Canyon and found what was once an interesting creation.

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We even made a visit to Canyonlands National Park when is was supposedly closed.

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We also found some interesting mining remnants.  This was large enough the drive a vehicle into but only about 40 feet deep.

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Dark clouds started moving in again.  Luckily for Ron, since he left his top and doors in Moab, we were able to dodge most of the showers on the way back.

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Willy

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Saturday morning we loaded the Jeep on the trailer for our second week of vacation.  We were planning on going to Grand Teton and Yellowstone, but the the government shutdown changed those plans.  Instead we spent a couple extra days exploring Utah before making our way to Idaho and Montana.

 

In the middle of the San Rafael Swell on I-70.

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Nephi, UT

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Coalville, UT

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Hell's Half Acre, ID

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We found a cool army surplus store in Idaho that had a few interesting military vehicles.

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Teton dam site, ID

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More pics of the trip can be found here.

 

Willy

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The weekend after we got back was our club run to the Naches area.  We had a good turnout and another weekend of good weather.

 

We spent Saturday on Raven's Roost.

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Apparently the east end of this trail has been closed since 2007, but the signs were missing.  There were some very large mud holes.

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The views towards to top of Raven's Roost are pretty nice.

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Just before the top we ran into some snow that prevented us from making it all the way by trail.

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We back tracked and took the forest service road to the top.

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We stopped off at Horsetail Falls to air up.

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Willy

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Sunday we ran Manastash and played around on Funny Rocks and Moon Rocks.

 

We got a look at some of the fire damage.  It wasn't anywhere near as bad as we thought.

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Deb at Funny Rocks.

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Moon Rocks

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More pics here.

 

Willy

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Apsolutely love the pics...... that pics from Moon Rocks down look very steep..... and if they look steep in pics they are usually scary as hell in real life.... also props on the Toterhome..... really well done.

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Not gonna lie, I got pretty excited when I saw that this thread got updated. This is one of the MJ's that got me interested a few years back. Really glad to see it wasn't a "for sale" update! Looks like y'all had a great time in Moab, keep it goin!

 

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Thanks guys!

 

Not gonna lie, I got pretty excited when I saw that this thread got updated. This is one of the MJ's that got me interested a few years back. Really glad to see it wasn't a "for sale" update! Looks like y'all had a great time in Moab, keep it goin!

 

I don't think I will ever sell it.  I've never sold a Jeep in my life, except to the scrap yard.  Jeeps come to me to die.

 

Willy

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  • 1 month later...

The ankle has been feeling better and I've been able to return to the garage.  The hockey puck bump stops have served me well for several years and multiple vehicles.  But, it looks like my driving style may be exceeding their capabilities.  After several failed hockey pucks it was time to come up with a more permanent solution.

 

The old bump stops.

 

I ordered some Daystar bump stops.  Along with some tubing, nuts, and a couple of bolts for studs I had my new bump stops.

 

 

Installed.  I think these should hold up better.

 

 

 

Willy

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I plan to drop my lift 2 inches this winter which will include having to install a better bump system..... How much uptravel did you end up with? 

 

I've got a couple of inches.  I set them up to have the same up travel as I had with the hockey pucks.  I'm going to run it like this for a while to see how much the bump stops compress under extreme articulation.  I think the condition of the old bump stops and hockey pucks allowed a lot of compression and even deflection at times.  If these hold up better, which I expect them to, I may be able to shorten them for some more up travel.

 

Willy

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do you think the added leverage to the upper coil bucket will cause it to bend?

 

No, I don't think so.  If I'm going fast enough to hit them with much speed it will most likely be on a forest service road and the forces will almost all be vertical.  When the axle is articulated to one side or the other there will be some side loading, but that will also be at slower speeds with less force.

 

Willy

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