Evolution of the ElkTaxi

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Finally got time to tear into the rear diff at the end of July to do the S35 upgrade and install the Ected locker that I'd had in the shop for two months! Sure glad I did the work before hunting season.

Both axle bearings were totally shot, the axles were both scored beyond someone even using them for spares, and the pinion bearings and carrier bearings were pitted, and when I ran a quick pattern on the gears before tear-down, found horrid setup had been done, and chipped teeth on both the pinion and ring gear... so while not in the plan, ended up replacing the ring and pinion gears while I was in there.

 

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After finding the poor gear setup in the rear diff, and the bearing condition in the Dana 35, I went ahead and tore down the front Dana 30 in September to see what things looked like there. Bearings and races were somewhat pitted, but the gears had a decent setup pattern on them, so I reused the gear-set when I installed the OX-Locker that had sat in the shop since June. Installation was really straight forward on this one, and gear setup went without a hitch.

 

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So after a long afternoon and evening, then a couple hours the next morning, I went from a fully gutted Dana 30 to my trail ready little ElkTaxi.

 

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Yesterday I drove under the hood to solve a low/no heat defroster/heater. I hadn't been into the cooling system since buying this Jeep in February, and we've had significant snow already, and the defroster has

been lackluster, at best.

Thermostat was a 165°f made in China wonder, replaced with a 195°f made in Israel.

Did two flushed with Motor Medic 10 minute radiator flush, then three clear water flushes, after bringing to temperature for 15 minutes each time. Then did a separate flush/backflush several times of the heater core. Then after finally filling with antifreeze, I pulled the battery and computer box to get to the heater fan, pulled it, and found the surface of the heater core about 60% covered with caked dirt, fir and larch needles, and a bit of deciduous leaves. Vacuumed that out, blew it out with air compressor, and then vacuumed again and put it all back together.

VIOLA! We have a hot heater now!

 

[lowranger]

Yesterday I drove under the hood to solve a low/no heat defroster/heater. I hadn't been into the cooling system since buying this Jeep in February, and we've had significant snow already, and the defroster hasView attachment 118447been lackluster, at best.

View attachment 118445

Thermostat was a 165°f made in China wonder, replaced with a 195°f made in Israel.
View attachment 118454
Did two flushed with Motor Medic 10 minute radiator flush, then three clear water flushes, after bringing to temperature for 15 minutes each time. Then did a separate flush/backflush several times of the heater core. Then after finally filling with antifreeze, I pulled the battery and computer box to get to the heater fan, pulled it, and found the surface of the heater core about 60% covered with caked dirt, fir and larch needles, and a bit of deciduous leaves. Vacuumed that out, blew it out with air compressor, and then vacuumed again and put it all back together.

VIOLA! We have a hot heater now!

View attachment 118451

Great job! Nothing like a warm heater out in the cold mountains.

 

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After getting the mechanical issues of the ElkTaxi taken care of, I decided yesterday to install the CB unit and all the acruterments that entails. Been sitting on the parts since April, so the time had come.

Did a driver's side stainless steel taillight mount, and all FireStik antenna,fittings and FireRing coax in the setup.

Ran the coax down the side of the taillight, and ran it through the tub alongside the taillight wiring.

Doing it without an extra set of hands nearby, I came up with a way to both protect the raw end of the coax, and facilitate installation. Worked pretty slick.

A little duct tape to affix it together, and it worked as slick as a splicing fid.

Up through the grommet behind rear roll bar support on driver's side.

Pulled coax through the grommet, and sealed it up with a bit of black Shoe Goo when everything else was buttoned down and secure.

Followed wiring harness forward along the tub to get to the dash. Used a piece of weed whacker line as a fish-tape to pull the coax up through the back of the dash.

Soldered on the coax PL259 connector, and I was ready for installation of the CB itself.

 

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Installed the location bracket, (like the Rugged Ridge mount, but less than half the price as a no name off Amazon), ran the necessary wiring, with all soldered connections, then tuned the antenna with an old Radio Shack SWR Meter. After finally affixing the coax PL259 to the back of the CB unit a Uniden Pro 520XL, my installation was finished.

I did the SWR calibration up here to minimize interference while tuning the antenna.

Final tuning gave:
Ch. 1 SWR 1.15
Ch. 20 SWR 1.0
Ch. 40 SWR 1.1

It will help navigating North Idaho logging roads when log trucks are running. Usually channel 7 up here for logging operations.

 

[Jcraig]

Very Cool! It's an awesome place to live... if you bring your work with you, are retired, are financially independent or all three!

You can be a millionaire in North idaho in just five short years! Just bring three million with you to start with!

Lived in the Montana Bitterroot for 25 years. Amen to the millionaire premise.

 

[Whitetrash]

I like the CB radio mounting!

 

[Halfstock]

I like the CB radio mounting!

So far I'm pleased with the outcome...the proof of the pudding will be in three years when someone asks how I like it then! Time will tell. So far it is a secure mount, out of the way, yet easily accessible. Something I appreciate about this mounting option, is the CB's built in speaker is at a physical level in the vehicle to make hearing the unit easy.

 

[Whitetrash]

Lived in the Montana Bitterroot for 25 years. Amen to the millionaire premise.

Ive always thought it would be awesome to live in Wyoming or Montana. I have lived on the east and west coasts, as well as on the gulf coast, but always wondered what Montana would be like. Do you have that "millionaire" saying because of the lack of jobs or something?

 

[Jcraig]

Ive always thought it would be awesome to live in Wyoming or Montana. I have lived on the east and west coasts, as well as on the gulf coast, but always wondered what Montana would be like. Do you have that "millionaire" saying because of the lack of jobs or something?

In 1980 Montana was paradise on earth. I lived there for 25 years. It attracted accomplished well to do people from around the US that were used to earning a upper middle class living. They came because of their confidence in finding work and earnings. Some ended up resembling the millionaire types above and others went belly up eventually trying to leave with the shirt on their backs.

I had the best 25 years of my life there. It is where I fitted in and consider home. Loved all of MT and what it offered. There was a freedom there unlike anything else in the US except perhaps some of the other western states like ID and WY. Unfortunately population issues have diminished the quality of life and many of the immigrants brought the same customs and problems they were fleeing. Montana was discovered and it changed. But if you lose 2 of 3 million dollars it might still be a great place to live.

 

[RMETeeJay]

Did two flushed with Motor Medic 10 minute radiator flush, then three clear water flushes, after bringing to temperature for 15 minutes each time. Then did a separate flush/backflush several times of the heater core. Then after finally filling with antifreeze, I pulled the battery and computer box to get to the heater fan, pulled it, and found the surface of the heater core about 60% covered with caked dirt, fir and larch needles, and a bit of deciduous leaves. Vacuumed that out, blew it out with air compressor, and then vacuumed again and put it all back together.

Thanks for sharing the evolution, I'm enjoying the thread. Could you please tell me more about the highlighted sentences above? Can you access the core from the engine compartment? I was considering pulling the cowl that the wiper arms go through to clean things out in there.

 

[Halfstock]

Thanks for sharing the evolution, I'm enjoying the thread. Could you please tell me more about the highlighted sentences above? Can you access the core from the engine compartment? I was considering pulling the cowl that the wiper arms go through to clean things out in there.

Yep, pulling the cowl as you mention is a great first step, then once you've cleaned that out, you'll find the heater/defroster fan motor assembly mounted to the firewall underneath the battery tray. Pull the necessary obstacles to remove the fan assembly, and you will see the heater core exposed. Typically, over time, debris finds it's way down there, and will lodge against the heater core, thus diminishing airflow through the heater. Use compressed air, and a shop vacuume to clean it out. A quick 1/2 hour little evening project with warm rewards!

 

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Yesterday I had business to do down in Spokane, WA. When I was finished, I stopped by Pull-N-Save auto wrecking for a quick walk through, and surprise! I scored not one, but two Gentex 177 mirrors and temperature sensors! One is a dual display, the other a single line display for compass and temperature.

Something I've had on the wish/to-do list for a while. Now I have one to install in the ElkTaxi, and one for my wife's XJ as well.

Price was right too! $6 each, with pigtails, mounts and sensors.

 

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Found some time last week and put in the Gentex 177 mirror and sensor I picked up at Pull-N-Save into the ElkTaxi.

Pretty nifty little upgrade, works like a charm, and was pretty easy to install.

Biggest pain was changing out the mirror mounting button on the windshield. Heated the old button up a bit using a
Bic Lighter, then a pair of slip-joint pliers to twist the mounting button free from the windshield.

Marked the mounting button with a Sharpie Marker on the outside of the windshield prior to removal for proper placement of new button.

Cleaned up the old glue with acetone, let it dry (open doors and hatch while doing that in the driveway), then finished up with denatured alcohol. I hit the window mounting side of the new GM style mounting button with 220 grit sandpaper, then glued it to the windshield as per instructions. Then did it again after it fell off 24 hours later! Then cleaned it all up once again after it fell off the second time.

After using a rear-view mirror specific mounting glue twice, and following the instructions to the letter, and even waiting 24 hours before mounting the mirror, instead of the suggested 15 minutes, I had to try something different.

I'm an archer, and fletch my own shafts... Goat Tuff is my favorite fletching adhesive. I tried that on the newly cleaned up site and button, and now, after a week all is still holding well!

 

[Halfstock]

I've been chasing vibrations on this heep since the day we drove it home this past February.

Did all the u-joints.

Found most all bearings shot in the rear Dana 35 and very worn ring and pinion gears, replaced all bearings, and R&P in it when installing the Auburn Ected and S35 upgrade.

Found a similar situation in the frond Dana 30 when installing the Ox Locker, so replaced all the bearings there.

Front bearing units were original equipment, changed those out.

Every time I changed out parts, the vibes became less, but still had the vibrations in the seat like the old magic fingers massage chairs.

Finally, after doing some extended reading regarding lifts, SYE kits, transfer case drops, and related issues, I decided to try dropping the transfer case.

So, I decided to use what I had on hand, and replaced the bolts on the skid-plate with 1/2"-13 x 3" grade 5 bolts, and added 10 washers between the frame and skid-plate on each of the six bolts, those washers measuring 0.100" each, gave a full 1" drop to the transfer case.

I went for a drive, and ALL vibrations were gone! Now I had a pesky, and annoying whining growl from the transmission/transfer case that wasn't there previously.

So, I went back into the shop, and pulled 2 washers from the stack on each of the six skid-plate bolts, buttoned it up, and went for another ride. No vibrations! Slightly less whine and growl from the gearboxes.

Once again back into the shop, pulled 2 more washers from each stack, buttoned things up again, and went for another ride. NO VIBRATIONS, NO WHINE AND GROWL!

That was about 350 miles ago, and still vibration free, and quiet as a mouse in the gearboxes. Seems that for my 2.5" OME lift, that 0.600" of transfer case drop was the magic number for vibration abatement!

A friend rode with me yesterday to do some elk hunting, and commented that the Jeep rode as smoothly, and quietly as a passenger car! It was a pretty cool endorsement, as he is pretty critical when it comes to his vehicles.