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James & The Sahara Build Thread
- Thread starter JamesAndTheSahara
- Start date
Rumor has it that they made it to the TJs simply because Jeep was trying to get rid of left over stock. Makes sense if you think about it.
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Got some serious work done on my wireloom for all my electronics. Also glad I took the time to fuse everything because I thought I was above my soldering ability and didn't research how to properly hardwire my sirius power adapter. Some serious smoke, but glad it wasn't too serious.
Also got my currie control arm skids in. They look great, don't show the currie logo like the old ones did though. I have someone ready to weld these on as soon as I get the front axle.
Also got my currie control arm skids in. They look great, don't show the currie logo like the old ones did though. I have someone ready to weld these on as soon as I get the front axle.
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So I did a thing today... for $40.00. Granted its only the housing all my tj stuff will swap but r&p.
Also my desk has been taken over by bmb
Now just trying to make sure I have enough money to throw at these things to get them on my sweet TJ.
(My axle hunt has now concluded with a 2002 Dana 44 rear complete with 30k miles on it, and a 1997 XJ High Pinion Dana 30 with unknown miles and stripped).
Never once did I ever think I'd be driving a TJ with 4 completely different axles loaded onto it lol.
Also my desk has been taken over by bmb
Now just trying to make sure I have enough money to throw at these things to get them on my sweet TJ.
(My axle hunt has now concluded with a 2002 Dana 44 rear complete with 30k miles on it, and a 1997 XJ High Pinion Dana 30 with unknown miles and stripped).
Never once did I ever think I'd be driving a TJ with 4 completely different axles loaded onto it lol.
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Also in case anyone is planning an hp30 swap, since you can't adjust caster on an HP30 like you can on a TJ I have bought some front lowers.
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About to put the down payment on the regear in a couple of days. Getting my lower control arm skids and brake line brackets welded on tomorrow. Sourced someone to blast both axles & paint them for $250.00 (Figured since they are off I should start fresh). I wanted to re-paint them myself but I needed then cleaned up and it was basically the same price to have them blasted down & painted instead of just blasting them.
Items waiting to receive:
Items waiting to receive:
- Savvy DA Lower Control arms
- Teraflex E-Brake Cables
- 1FactoryRadio Replacement Stereo
- Factory TJ Driver and Passenger Side Mirrors for Half doors
- Firestik 2' Antenna
- Dana 30HP Empty
- Dana 44 Loaded
- BMB Front Rotors & pads
- BMB Rear Disc Conversion Rotors/Pads/Calipers
- Metalcloak Rear Adjustable Track Bar
- Teraflex Hand Throttle
- CB Antenna Cable (Will not route and setup until the tub has been lined, the last project for 2017).
I actually didn't realize that until I just thought about it... Makes sense though. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Are you totally rebuilding that read 44 you got? If not...I strongly suggest NOT sandblasting it. That grit will go EVERYWHERE and ruin bearings, seals, etc. I also wouldn't trust a blast shop to disassemble and reassemble my axle. You can get the casting plenty clean enough with a wire wheel to get the paint to stick right, without sand or glass beads, or walnut shell, etc.
OP
Hmm... I am replacing all bearings and seals in the housing but not the tubes they just aren't even worn. I didn't think about the grit getting inside the housing... you think a wire wheel would do a good enough job?
Absolutely. What are you using for paint? Most of the frame and chassis paints (chassis saver, POR, Truck and Implement, etc) only require you to remove loose material. As long as you cut the oxygen off from the rust, it won't spread. If you really wanna get crazy, Wire wheel it, then hit it with a rust converter, which converts the active iron oxide to an inert compound (not a chemist, so I don't know the exact science), then prime and paint. This is the process I follow, if the part is too big or complicated for my media blast cabinet. It has worked for me so far on a few lawn and garden tractors from the 60's...
Honestly, looking at the photos, I don't know that I would even bother with the 44. Clean it up, and hit it with semi-gloss Rustoleum Professional Spray bomb if you want it to look all Brand-New. The HP30 looks dirty, but doesn't look rusty. Take it to the car wash, spray it down with the high pressure, the use the engine degreaser, rinse, then use the soap and a rag, High pressure rinse again. Judge it then...If there is loose material, knock it down with the wire wheel, clean it up again (I use acetone or Rubbing alcohol) and prime and paint.
Honestly, looking at the photos, I don't know that I would even bother with the 44. Clean it up, and hit it with semi-gloss Rustoleum Professional Spray bomb if you want it to look all Brand-New. The HP30 looks dirty, but doesn't look rusty. Take it to the car wash, spray it down with the high pressure, the use the engine degreaser, rinse, then use the soap and a rag, High pressure rinse again. Judge it then...If there is loose material, knock it down with the wire wheel, clean it up again (I use acetone or Rubbing alcohol) and prime and paint.
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I appreciate it bud. For paint I really don't know what I was going to use. The idea of taking the axle to a car wash is a pretty good idea. I may give that rustoleum a shot as it appears to look great on axles lol with the use of a rust inhibitor and primer.
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Today was definitely a productive day. Got the currie lower control arm skids welded up. Man I hate loading and unloading these axles from the back of my TJ. You can see on the hp30 where the control arm bracket took a gnarly hit on a rock by the PO. Definately glad I got them on the HP30, the dana 44 brackets were significantly beefier and didn't appear to need it as much. This weekend will be slow as I'll be spending my birthday with family and friends. Aiming to do the axles the following weekend with a full axle teardown and rebuild in early october. Replacement radio will be here tomorrow so I'll let you guys know how that turns out, as always more to come!
I'm living vicariously thru your build progress. Keep up the good work!
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Great stuff, Nice welds !!! Mine usually look like a seagull with kidney failure.......
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Haha thank my buddie who has a welder. I'd love to pick one up just can't weld inside my apartment complex lol. I'm sure if I did them they would look like that as well!Great stuff, Nice welds !!! Mine usually look like a seagull with kidney failure.......
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I wanted to continue off this to clarify my reasoning for my next actions lol. You can wire wheel the axle, but for the price of me buying a wire wheel, painting supplies, and getting rotary tool, its the same cost for my close peer to black glass the axle. For this reason only I have decided the best course of action for me is going to take the axles to him this week and let him completely sand down to bare metal, prime, and paint the axle. I will then be loading these axles up onto two pallets in my buddies truck and driving them down to Dothan for Motobilt to build the axles off the Jeep. There is too many unknowns driving on used axles for 4 hours, I can't afford to lose my DD for more than a week, and this will allow me to take my time putting them on and doing the brakes properly. In the end I think this will be a better solution for me, just gotta source some used Dana 30 shafts now as I only have one set and currently driving on them. I'll share a little bit on my wiring loom tonight when i get home and let you guys know how that project is fairing.
Also while driving the axles home yesterday I got rained on... the rain came out of no where and since the axles hang out of the jeep there wasn't much I could do lol. Here is a 55 minute timelapse:
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Yesterday i got the new radio in! Got a working cassette player so I have my Sirius XM again! Feels good to have tunes again, some quality went into refurbing this thing. The aux is wired into one of the buttons so the button no longer function. You can listen to aux by inserting a cassette and having an input plugged into the aux port. If nothing is in the aux port the cassette plays. Sound quality is surprisingly good, I do have intentions of amping the speakers again and doing a center console sub.
I also dropped off the axles to get black glass blasted and primed/painted. I should be taking em to Motobilt next week.
I finished the Gentex Mirror wiring and it works great. Love having a dimming mirror driving with no rear window at night.
My savvy front lower control arms come tomorrow and ECGS’ UCA Bushing came today (Which is really just a Moog). I ordered this because price was right and came with the outer sleeve which most of them didn’t.
I also dropped off the axles to get black glass blasted and primed/painted. I should be taking em to Motobilt next week.
I finished the Gentex Mirror wiring and it works great. Love having a dimming mirror driving with no rear window at night.
My savvy front lower control arms come tomorrow and ECGS’ UCA Bushing came today (Which is really just a Moog). I ordered this because price was right and came with the outer sleeve which most of them didn’t.
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