The lights before lockers build: double tough 97 Sport

Well, got most of my order in from Savvy in! I ordered my Vanco BBK through them, and it was not with my order. Shoulda just ordered it direct from @mrblaine but you live and you learn! I emailed Michael and asked about the status of my BBK because the email I got from Savvy stated that my order was complete. I'm hoping that it gets sorted
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quickly. After the BBK comes in, I will have gathered all the parts necessary to begin the teardown and rebuild.

Fingers crossed Savvy gets me the BBK quick!😎
 
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When I was putting in U-joints, I accidentally pinched a seal on one. Then in the process of trying to get the cap back out, I scattered needle bearings everywhere. I manage to find all the needle bearings but decided to just get a new joint so that I wasn't worried about the pinched seal. Today I reassembled it and re-greased it. While not perfect, it will make a good trail spare.View attachment 324683
Although while I appreciate trying to save a buck here, my suggestion would be to toss the damaged joint and buy a new joint to keep as a spare. If you do need to do a trail repair, installing this one will require changing it out at your first opportunity or it will quickly fail. For a few bucks, why do a repair twice?

Chalk it up to a lesson learned. My guess is you will likely never damage a seal like that again! :)
 
Although while I appreciate trying to save a buck here, my suggestion would be to toss the damaged joint and buy a new joint to keep as a spare. If you do need to do a trail repair, installing this one will require changing it out at your first opportunity or it will quickly fail. For a few bucks, why do a repair twice?

Chalk it up to a lesson learned. My guess is you will likely never damage a seal like that again! :)
You underestimate my ability to really fuck things up!🤣 I wouldn't put it past me to do it again!

But seriously, I'm keeping it as my trail spare for a couple reasons: it's a sunk cost. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have bought a trail spare, so this is better than none. Also, if I repaired a u-joint on the trail with the minimal tools I keep with me, and got myself back out, I would be happy to change it again with a proper tool set in a clean environment. Even with a perfect joint, I wouldn't trust myself not to get sand or what have you in the joint.

For those reasons, I'm happy to have a joint that has minor seal damage with me on the trail. Once it gets me back home, it's gonna be trashed and replaced anyway.

That said, I see your point, and there is validity there.👍
 
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You underestimate my ability to really fuck things up!🤣 I wouldn't put it past me to do it again!

But seriously, I'm keeping it as my trail spare for a couple reasons: it's a sunk cost. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have bought a trail spare, so this is better than none. Also, if I repaired a u-joint on the trail with the minimal tools I keep with me, and got myself back out, I would be happy to change it again with a proper tool set in a clean environment. Even with a perfect joint, I wouldn't trust myself not to get sand or what have you in the joint.

For those reasons, I'm happy to have a joint that has minor seal damage with me on the trail. Once it gets me back home, it's gonna be trashed and replaced anyway.

That said, I see your point, and there is validity there.👍

If you’re breaking a axle shaft joint on a stock shaft, you’ve likely ruined your shaft as well so a trail spare joint may or may not be of use.

I recommend finding a local scrapyard and getting a set of spare shafts(inner+outer+joint) and throw them in the back of your Jeep when you’re out wheeling. You can usually find them for about $50-75 a side, then you can swap a good joint in there, and your trail side shaft replacement is a 20 minute endeavor instead of a 2+ hour ordeal.

More often than not, the joint doesn’t break, it spins the cap and stretches the ear of the joint and then spits the cap out. (The cap spinning is why I recommend tacking the caps)
 
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You underestimate my ability to really fuck things up!🤣 I wouldn't put it past me to do it again!

But seriously, I'm keeping it as my trail spare for a couple reasons: it's a sunk cost. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have bought a trail spare, so this is better than none. Also, if I repaired a u-joint on the trail with the minimal tools I keep with me, and got myself back out, I would be happy to change it again with a proper tool set in a clean environment. Even with a perfect joint, I wouldn't trust myself not to get sand or what have you in the joint.

For those reasons, I'm happy to have a joint that has minor seal damage with me on the trail. Once it gets me back home, it's gonna be trashed and replaced anyway.

That said, I see your point, and there is validity there.👍
Also, a side note. I see you’re in Los Alamos. Do you happen to work at Oppenheimers Lab? I have a buddy about to move out there.
 
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If you’re breaking a axle shaft joint on a stock shaft, you’ve likely ruined your shaft as well so a trail spare joint may or may not be of use.

I recommend finding a local scrapyard and getting a set of spare shafts(inner+outer+joint) and throw them in the back of your Jeep when you’re out wheeling. You can usually find them for about $50-75 a side, then you can swap a good joint in there, and your trail side shaft replacement is a 20 minute endeavor instead of a 2+ hour ordeal.

More often than not, the joint doesn’t break, it spins the cap and stretches the ear of the joint and then spits the cap out. (The cap spinning is why I recommend tacking the caps)
Solid advice!

And no, I don't work at the lab, but in this town, even if you don't, you still do. 😆It's a "company town" in a lot of ways. If your buddy has everything squared away, awesome. But if he needs anything, DM me and I'll pass on my phone #.
 
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Well, I got the wheels off the TJ, and traded them to the XJ. The Cherokee had a halfway worn out set of 31x10.5R15 cheapo tires on it, and the TJ had a set of the same size BFG KM3'S that had less than 1000 miles. So the XJ has a nice set of rubber now. I took the old half worn out set of 5 tires and traded it to a guy for a set of 4 Trail Ready steel beadlocks with slap worn-out 33's mounted.

I'll use the 33's to decide if I want to go with 33s or 35's. This will let me run 33s for a week or two to decide before I purchase. I'll probably sell the beadlocks and use the returns to buy some more basic wheels. I figured I could probably only get 300-400 for the wheels that were on the Cherokee, and I can probably sell the beadlocks when it's time for a decent bit more, so I figure I'll come out ahead in the swap.

Got an reply from my email to Savvy, and they said Black Magic Brakes was going to be drop shipping my Vanco BBK, which is the last part I need to start my build. As such, looks like I'll be beginning the tear down in a couple days!
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Spent the day finishing up my Dana 44s for the swap. Went to the hardware store a couple times to get everything needed. (Drill bits, taps, locktite, etc.) Finally got the axles ready to install minus my big brake kit (arriving tomorrow!) And unit bearings.

Then I went to work on the rear axle. Got everything disconnected and every bolt loosened. Tomorrow the rear axle goes in!
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Do these jack stands look placed correctly? I just want to make sure the jeep doesn't get tippy when I drop the rear axle. I'll probably throw the front tires back on for a bit more insurance.
 
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From looking on my phone. Good for now I'd say. It will be easier when doing the lift, ca's, etc. if it is higher. You can always pull the tire on the drooping side when cycling but better not to have to right? You were probably planning on that just throwing it out there. Good progress!
 
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From looking on my phone. Good for now I'd say. It will be easier when doing the lift, ca's, etc. if it is higher. You can always pull the tire on the drooping side when cycling but better not to have to right? You were probably planning on that just throwing it out there. Good progress!
For sure, I'll get it higher when I go to cycle everything! My plan is to get the rear axle swapped in tomorrow and maybe begin on the front axle.

Once both are swapped in, I'll get it lifted as high as I can then put tires on and cycle the axles, then I'll get the springs in and do the ss sye install. Then I'll order some drive shafts from Tom Wood!
 
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Well, spent the day on my back under the jeep. Swapped in the dana 44 and installed currie 4 inch springs, bump stops and double adjustable control arms and rancho rs5000x shocks.

Passenger side shock kisses the exhaust on the plastic dust boot. I'm considering cutting the dust boot off to better clearance the exhaust. No other interference at this time, but the pinion angle is just eyeballs because the sye is not installed yet.

A 4 inch lift with 33s has an awesome amount of clearance. But the jeep has a reverse Carolina squat going on right now. It will be another week or so before I can get to the front and sye. Once those are done, I'll order drive shafts and drive it on 33s for a bit until I'm ready to order tires in a couple months. This will let me see if i like the 4.88s with 33s, or if i feel i can get away with 35s. Then I can add the body lift and cable shifter so I can clear 35s if I go that route when I buy tires.
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Also got my BBK in!
 
Installed and adjusted parking brake cables for the new rear axle. Also spent some time measuring to see if the axle was square to the frame. Driver's side is about 1/16 inch further in than the passenger side. I'd futz with it to try to get it perfect, but I'm going to have to adjust the pinion angle anyway once the SYE goes in. I don't think it's worth it to try to get it perfectly squared to the frame since I'm just going to be adjusting the arms again later anyway.

Progress is going to be slow over the next few weeks. There's a decent sized fire (29k acres last I checked) about 9 miles from my town so the county has the whole damn town on notice we may have to evacuate. Kinda pissed this started while my TJ is inoperable in the drive way. I think the chance of the fire getting into town is extremely small and truth be told I'm not really worried, but damn, it's inconvenient! 😆
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Going has been a little slow with the fire, but it's rate of spread has significantly slowed and the firefighters have it at 19% containment. Finally got a few hours to work on the Jeep!

I put on the Black Magic Brakes Big Brake Kit. Well, I halfway put it on. I haven't hooked up the brake lines or put in the pads. I'm waiting to do that until I get the axle under the jeep.
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It appears the top of the steering knuckle doesn't touch the bushing of the upper ball joint. Is this common with the BBK knuckles? Just want to make sure I don't screw anything up before putting this axle under the jeep.
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Spent about 8 hours working on the front end today. Got the old axle out.
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And got the new axle in! Control arms and Correctlync and track bar are all in and close, but I haven't tightened anything down yet. I want to get everything set properly and playing well together before I torque everything. Shocks, swaylock, setting control arms and steering and adjusting alignment are next. Then I'll flush the brakes, attach the BBK caliper and purge the system of air. Then install the SYE and put in an order with Tom Wood!
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After all of that is done, it will be running. Still have a bunch of stuff to do afterward, but I'm excited to be able to drive Double Tough again!
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Also, when removing the winch to pull the stock sway bar, I found my Buck 110! My wife borrowed it to open a box in the carport last fall. She set it on the front bumper and 10 minutes later, I ran an errand, not realizing that she set my knife there. I thought it was gone, and actually almost bought another one yesterday!😆 Really glad I didn't. It's great to have my Buck back!
 
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Also, 4 inches of lift is a crazy high!😆 I'm rethinking the body lift and 35s. I'll run it for a bit with 33s and if it doesn't get over 3k on the highway with the new 4.88 gears, I may just stop where it's at. But if I want to drop the RPMs a bit more, I can easily forge ahead with the 35 and body lift plan, as all the parts I've been installing were planned to support 35s.
 
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Braindead, but a quick pic after installing shocks and swayloc!
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Also, anyone know how to remove a stuck bolt after drilling it out and breaking off an extractor in it?
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