Try and get INSIDE The frame near the rear wheels. See what kind of rust /scaling is inside the frame. Hard to tell from outside
New to the Jeep world, what do I have?
- Thread starter Oscar1
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Appears to have ADCO threaded coil spacers. Rear is Dana 44, front is low pinion 30. Rear driveshaft should look like that when using a cv shaft. Front axle shafts appear stock as they still have the plastic rock shields, no telling what the rear shafts are. Front upper and rear lower control arms are stock, lower fronts and upper rears appear to be typical solid poly bushing arms, not ideal. Steering is all stock. Any idea what the axle gear ratios are?
Good point. Get rid of the extensions. Best way to trim is to take the wheels off, put it up on jack stands, and let the axle hang and trim. With my short arm 4" lift my shocks come within a couple mm of the coil itself, let alone the bucket. I am tummy tucked, to be fair.
Or I have some brand new Currie extensions sitting on my shelf you can have. I never used them for a good reason.
here are the trac bar mounts and pitman arm. Everything steering related is actually quite tight, however the steering wheel has a fair amount of play. Are these gearboxes tightenable like the old fords?
Stock track bar, redrilled to center the Jeep. That's why there are two holes at the axle side mount.
Also, is that RTV in the exhaust joint? lol
Trying to keep up lol! As far as the shock mounts, you say "never used for a good reason" is using relocation brackets a bad thing, or just lazy? If i remove the extensions, i dont think i would clear the spring even if i shave the bucket. The rear axle has quite a bit of tilt.
No, i do not know what the gearing is but i imagine it is very low, it seems to handle similar to my 4.9 ford with 4.88 gearing. Where would i find that? Usually I'd look for an axle tag but there are aftermarket covers on the diffs and no tags.
Yes, i believe that IS RTV, the exhaust from that joint back is relatively new.
Do you see a problem with the way that front trac bar is set up? It is still tight so should i be concerned with replacing it since the cheapo-shortcut-damage has already been done?
No, i do not know what the gearing is but i imagine it is very low, it seems to handle similar to my 4.9 ford with 4.88 gearing. Where would i find that? Usually I'd look for an axle tag but there are aftermarket covers on the diffs and no tags.
Yes, i believe that IS RTV, the exhaust from that joint back is relatively new.
Do you see a problem with the way that front trac bar is set up? It is still tight so should i be concerned with replacing it since the cheapo-shortcut-damage has already been done?
Both lazy and bad. Lazy, because the correct way would be to trim the spring perch so it clears the shock body. Or you can cut the spring perch off and make it level now that the axle is rotated. Bad because ultimately it takes away your available shock travel as well as put more stress on already weak axle mounts. Most people will run them temporarily until they can do one of the things I just mentioned. You can jack up the rear and rotate the wheel one full turn, while doing so count the number of revolutions the driveshaft turns. 3 rotations on the driveshaft for one full turn on the wheel would be 3.07. More than three, not quite 4 would be 3.73, just over 4 would be 4.10s, and so on (4.88, 5.13). Lower quality lifts move the track bar like you see. It does weaken the mount now that there are two holes. You can weld one of the holes after getting an adjustable track bar to center the axle.
Maybe a bit lazy, but most people would probably just think a good solution. It's a lot of torque being applied to that area and in a vulnerable spot to rock damage. I think you have more room than you think. My axle is pushed back as far as it can go without hitting the gas tank, and tipped back far enough for a flat belly skid, and I still have enough room with the buckets trimmed. Barely.
You can spin the tire and count rotations but I think it'd be wise for you to change the diff fluid anyway. Pop the cover off and count the teeth.
People will argue about the track bar mount, how it's weakened. I'd leave it if it works. I've never seen one fail. I've done it on my first couple Jeeps.
I'll take a better look at what i can do with the shock mounts tomorrow when i can get it in the shop. I'm not too concerned with bottoming it out or rock damage as it's going to primarily be used as a backup-offroad-recovery vehicle for the company. I doubt if ill be out beating on it too hard, but regardless, i dont want to destroy my shocks so SOMETHING has to be done. I think I'll probably leave the trac bar as is for now since nobody seems to think it is a catastrophic failure waiting to happen. Ball joints will definitely get replaced. I'll likely replace the front bearings and axle shaft u-joints while it's apart and i guess i'll go from there.
I still have not gotten the title rebuilt (12-26 at 9:00 is my appointment) so it isn't plated yet. That being said, I haven't driven it on the road much so I'm not sure how it handles under normal road conditions aside from riding like a 20 year old Jeep with 35s and a 4"-8" lift lol
I still have not gotten the title rebuilt (12-26 at 9:00 is my appointment) so it isn't plated yet. That being said, I haven't driven it on the road much so I'm not sure how it handles under normal road conditions aside from riding like a 20 year old Jeep with 35s and a 4"-8" lift lol
It also appears you have a dropped pitman arm. There really is no reason to run one with the stock track bar. They will typically induce bump steer as the TB and drag link are no longer parallel to each other. I'd get a stock pitman arm back on there. I'm not a fan of the re-drilling/relocating of the TB axle mount, but peeps do it to get by. It's not ideal.
This is how I cut my rear buckets for the rear shocks to clear.
This is how I cut my rear buckets for the rear shocks to clear.
papasjeep
Member
Thanks for all of the advice guys, also, how does the spring come out? Like what holds it in place once you Jack it up and let the axle drop?
The spring holds the spring in place. You need a spring compressor to safely remove and replace it. You have to compress it a bit to get it out. I have seen videos of people using 2x4s and pry bars but you don't want to get whacked by a spring popping out unexpectedly.
Disconnect the trackbar, the axle will droop enough that you should be able to push down on the axle and the spring will fall out. No need for compressors
Disconnect the shocks, loosen any bushings and let the axle droop. The springs should come out without too much of a fight. Compressors are not needed.
Okay so I'm going to get it in the shop this morning to put a new steering stabilizer on it and see what i can do with the rear shock mounts. Anything else you suggest i look at or for since it will be inside instead of outside in the 8 degrees!
spray the undercarriage with drain oil after you wash it several times a year and you will not have as much rust. A bug sprayer works good
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