I was saying recently that I'm reluctant to call myself hardcore. Maybe my perspective is off.
Judging by yesterday’s adventure, I’m not sure I’d be much more hardcore than you without a trailer...
Daily Driver, Go Where I Want To Build
- Thread starter jjvw
- Start date
Judging by yesterday’s adventure, I’m not sure I’d be much more hardcore than you without a trailer...
OP
Speaking of hardcore, there is one less Superior cromoly axle shaft in this world.
I got the Jeep pinned between a short wall of rock on the front tires and another rock behind the rear diff. I guess I tried too hard up get out. Fortunately I heard the crack and stopped immediately.
The overlapping ears were locked together and starting to push the lower ball joint out. We needed to keep the ball joints from separating. We ended up jacking the rear up and sliding it back just enough to pull the wheel and work on the separating the shaft. I had a half round file with me and spent about an hour filing through the folded ear while @tworley and @hosejockey61 scouted out the last section of trail to the exit.
Once I got 2/3rds through each leg, we used the power steering to break the ear off. This allowed the outer shaft to pass through the knuckle, the inner shaft removed, and the tube plugged with a bag full of trash.
Once everything was put back together, Tworley was kind enough to help drag me up the hill and through several more boulder fields. I lost a tire bead during one of these.
For those concerned about losing a bead while aired down, don't be. Get the tire off the ground, clean it as best you can, and fill the tire up. Chances are very good that it will pop back into place.
The ball joint settled back into place along the way. I have the stock axle shafts. I'll put the driver's side back in just to get things functional again. But I need some new axle shafts before I tackle anything interesting again.
I got the Jeep pinned between a short wall of rock on the front tires and another rock behind the rear diff. I guess I tried too hard up get out. Fortunately I heard the crack and stopped immediately.
The overlapping ears were locked together and starting to push the lower ball joint out. We needed to keep the ball joints from separating. We ended up jacking the rear up and sliding it back just enough to pull the wheel and work on the separating the shaft. I had a half round file with me and spent about an hour filing through the folded ear while @tworley and @hosejockey61 scouted out the last section of trail to the exit.
Once I got 2/3rds through each leg, we used the power steering to break the ear off. This allowed the outer shaft to pass through the knuckle, the inner shaft removed, and the tube plugged with a bag full of trash.
Once everything was put back together, Tworley was kind enough to help drag me up the hill and through several more boulder fields. I lost a tire bead during one of these.
For those concerned about losing a bead while aired down, don't be. Get the tire off the ground, clean it as best you can, and fill the tire up. Chances are very good that it will pop back into place.
The ball joint settled back into place along the way. I have the stock axle shafts. I'll put the driver's side back in just to get things functional again. But I need some new axle shafts before I tackle anything interesting again.
OP
I also managed to bend the steering again. This took out the brand new steering damper.
In case your old axle shaft is worn at all, I have one I just refreshed from chinaman you’re welcome to use. What ujoint did your superior have? I’m surprised to see that you didn’t have to clearance the heads on your hub bolts.
OP
The old Superior shafts use the standard 5-760 u joint. No need to clearance like Revolution.
For my own edification, do you think a larger size would have helped substantially or were you just in a bad spot overall?
OP
It was a bad spot. But a larger joint would have survived longer. Really, I should have stopped and assessed the situation sooner.
Super cool! I wish I could have driven my Jeep out here from NC while I train. I would have been in the mountains every weekend. I'm looking for a job here on the base in the next coming year, just have to get my wife and kids on board! Seems like a great place to be!
OP
Superior no longer exists. RGA was honoring the old warranties for a while, but I think they ended that a few years ago.
Definitely the downside of warranties. I wondered this for my replacement shafts this summer (and the PCM replacement, etc.). You can bring my old shaft as a trail spare too (I’ll bring it when I’m back up if you’re not out before then).
OP
The trail before the broken u-joint. https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/sidewinder-2020.38873/
Those raised body mounts are definitely paying off!
OP
Based on what I saw, I was happy to have them.
Watching the video really gave a fantastic demonstration of two things:
1. The raised body mounts made clearing large rocks look ridiculously easy. Without them, there would have been significant damage to the mounts directly under the doors.
2. How fantastic the wheelbase of the TJ is in this type of terrain. Having an LJ, I can see where I would have gotten hung up or had to take different lines.
Nicely done!
I’m up for a “raise our body mount” party if you are. Just waiting on any further parts procurement until the PCM...
You can have my old pucks for the rear instead of those squishy ones!
OP
I've got a savvy body lift waiting to go on. Just working out new sliders