Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN

[spankrjs]

Just for you bigwalton:

Took my Scrambler back to my ring and pinion guy (Stan's Powertrain) yesterday and had the rear pinion yoke replaced, so I am now ready for some 'wheeling next weekend

Pretty sure that yoke was damaged when I spun the axle tube in Moab, as it had no "impact with rock damage". But, I might still put one of those "yoke slider" skid plates on the rear to help protect the new yoke, since I am kind of low to the ground

 

[bigwalton]

Good man, now I can sleep at night again.

 

[spankrjs]

A few pictures from this past weekends trip to "Bogs and Boulders" ORV park, located in Alabama. It is a pretty fun park, mainly easy to medium trails, but lots of them. My red Scrambler is working great, made the ride there and back, plus all the trail riding, just fine

First picture shows that the "Bogs" in "Bog's and Boulders" isn't just a marketing gimmick!!!! There is lots of mud here, and this would be considered an easy hole. I don't too much mud riding, but some of the guys I was with could not resist. You can see the Scrambler in the back ground getting the winch ready

And a couple of various "in action" shots. Lot's of fun trails, and besides just the mud, there are some rocks.

If I find some more pictures I will post them up

That's it for now

 

[spankrjs]

A few quick pictures from last week/weekends trip to SMORR.

Leaving the house at 4:30AM.

After driving 9 hours through the rain, once in Missouri, the weather was nice.

Following a bunch of JK's/one TJ, they all had 35's-39's, but my little 33's did fine.

A little dirty after the first day.

A bit more dirty after the second day.

And back at home, ready to cleaned up.

That's all the pictures I took, if I find some more pictures/video, I will post it up.

Besides the broken windshield wiper pivot on the driver side, the Scrambler made it to Missouri, wheeled two days, and made it back home without any other issues.

That's it for now.

 

[Bad Karma]

I love your Scram... Looks like you had fun!


Sent from the future via Skynet computer

 

[spankrjs]

I love your Scram... Looks like you had fun!


Sent from the future via Skynet computer

Appreciate it I am pretty fond of it, too

We had a great time

There was one really steep, muddy climb, which had no room for a running start. I was wishing I had your engine on that one But, the "little 6 that could" made it to the top, I hope the video of that climb gets posted up, I will put it here if it does, it is pretty entertaining

Is yours going to be ready/improved for SandBlast

 

[spankrjs]

Got the wipers back together

I lost the little spacer, but some substituted washer did the trick. I put the pivot back together, go my buddy Chuck to put a little weld on it, should be good to go now.

Picture of the little "bugger weld", this should keep the flat piece from falling off the pivot shaft.

The passenger side pivot arm got bent when the driver side pivot fell apart, but I was able to straighten it, should be good to go.

One quick picture, showing the difference between a "factory" pivot on the right, and a "replacement" pivot on the left. Note that on the factory piece, after pressing the flat arm on, they "smushed" the end of the shaft, thus securely locking the two pieces together. On the made in China POS "replacement", they did not. If you are using "replacement" parts, might not be a bad idea to go ahead and put a tack weld on them before you install them, just to be safe

The wipers are working again, with no binding. But, the driver side pivot is a little noisy. The shaft turning inside the pivot makes some noise. I greased it before I put it back together, but you can hear it turning.

I am going to try to find a factory driver side pivot, and the factory arm that goes from the wiper motor to the driver side pivot, just in case. If my current system breaks again, I am going to re-drill the WS frame, put the motor in the "correct" spot, and install all factory wiper parts. The "replacement" parts suck

That's it for now

 

[MrBeep]

A few quick pictures from last week/weekends trip to SMORR.

Leaving the house at 4:30AM.

After driving 9 hours through the rain, once in Missouri, the weather was nice.

Following a bunch of JK's/one TJ, they all had 35's-39's, but my little 33's did fine.

A little dirty after the first day.

A bit more dirty after the second day.

And back at home, ready to cleaned up.

That's all the pictures I took, if I find some more pictures/video, I will post it up.

Besides the broken windshield wiper pivot on the driver side, the Scrambler made it to Missouri, wheeled two days, and made it back home without any other issues.

That's it for now.

I feel like a proud POPA!

 

[spankrjs]

I feel like a proud POPA!

LOL

It will be at the National this year for you to check up on

 

[Bad Karma]

Is yours going to be ready/improved for SandBlast

Right now I'm not worried about Sandblast. Plenty of tie to be ready for that... I AM worried about Nationals.... Too much to do and too little time... (and no room)
to top it off, I get excited when it rains to clean the salt off the roads. Well we had a HUGE thunder storm that pretty much got all the salt off. Then today we had snow and they covered the roads with salt again..

 

[spankrjs]

T5 update

Well, T5 #1 worked well. I put about 12,000 miles on it (including driving to Moab and back, Michigan and back, etc.) But, the lack of proper hardening on the front of the counter gear led to a slight wine. So, I pulled it out last September. Besides the counter gear issue, looks perfect.

T5 #2, built up with parts from three different transmissions, was also working well. It made some slight "gear whine" noise at first, due to using different/mismatched gears, with different wear patterns. After a couple hundred miles, the slight whines went away. I drove this T5 to Missouri and back, plus many other shorter trips, no problems, until last Friday.

After about 2 hours of driving 75mph, it catastrophically failed Sounded/felt like when you throw a rear driveshaft, plus lots of cool gear munching sounds. I coasted it off to the side of the highway, and even with the transmission in neutral with the clutch out it sounded like it had five pounds of marbles inside When I placed the transmission in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gears, and eased off the clutch, it would lock up. So, I put it in first gear, held engine at 3,000 RPM, and popped the clutch. This finsished it off, but it allowed me to regain 4th gear ONLY. So, I carefully came off the clutch in 4th gear, and got back on the highway. The first 20 miles of driving sounded really cool, but eventually I think the rest of the teeth sheared off, and it became quiet. I drove home approximately 160 miles, 4th gear only. It actually drove well, no noise or vibrations, once it "broke in"

When I dropped off "Yard Scrambler" to Tommy a few months back, I picked up another parts T5 in Hammond, LA. This one came with a great counter gear, with the correct tooth count

So, I am going to rebuild T5 #1 with my newly sourced counter gear. Hopefully, I can get T5 #1 rebuilt and swapped in this week before National's

Once I drop T5 #2 out, I will take lots of pictures of the carnage

That's it for now

 

[Bad Karma]

So, I put it in first gear, held engine at 3,000 RPM, and popped the clutch. This finsished it off

Raymond... when he breaks, he makes sure he finishes the job...

(I want to see the internals when you pull it apart!!)

 

[spankrjs]

Raymond... when he breaks, he makes sure he finishes the job...

(I want to see the internals when you pull it apart!!)

LOL, no problem

The sound it made when it first messed up pretty much confirmed that it was already terminal, so I figured why not

It worked out well, I was able to drive it home, vs. having to get a tow The way it stalled the engine, I pretty much knew it was FUBAR. I am still assuming, I haven't pulled it out/apart yet, but I imagine the cluster gear, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears have missing teeth. By not driving it, I would have spared the bearings from the "shrapnel bath" that resulted from the drive home, but it was worth it, just to get it back home fast/easy

I will at least drain the fluid tonight and take some pictures. I imagine the magnet in the bottom of the transmission looks like it has 5 pounds of anti-seize on it

 

[spankrjs]

I started rebuilding/inspecting/cleaning T5 #1 last night. Not too much progress, mainly just cleaning old sealant off of the case halves/shifter cover and all of the bolts.

Quick picture of all the parts.

The damaged counter shaft on the right, and the non damaged counter shaft on the left. I "think" a lack of proper hardening led to this issue. The transmission still functioned perfect, it just had a "whine" to it.

I got the case halves and most of the other parts cleaned up and ready to go. I also started reassembling the input/output shaft assembly.

I am going to try like hell to get this transmission reassembled tonight, remove the broken transmission tomorrow night, and finish the installation by Friday night

But, due to issues with my DD '05 Rubicon (new thread soon), I am not sure

I am going to try my best to get it ready for the National, that's it for now

 

[Scramblur]

Good thing you have a couple of spares to drive. Maybe, I don't know, drive slower or better yet stay off the highways for a few days!

 

[tower210]

Given the situation with the T5's, have you change you mind about it as a suitable transmission to "put in" (as an upgrade from a T4, as opposed to saving up for an a
AX15)?

 

[spankrjs]

Good thing you have a couple of spares to drive. Maybe, I don't know, drive slower or better yet stay off the highways for a few days!

I am currently down to just my Green Scrambler, CA Scrambler is still inoperative I am thinking of putting in a transmission temp gauge in the T5 to see how hot they get. They never feel really hot, though, just really warm to the touch

Given the situation with the T5's, have you change you mind about it as a suitable transmission to "put in" (as an upgrade from a T4, as opposed to saving up for an a
AX15)?

For now, T5 #3 will have to do. BUT, I am bringing my T176/bell housing/drive shafts/reverse light harness with me to the National in case this T5 blows up. It is fairly easy to swap out a transmission in a parking lot, maybe 6 hours tops

As for upgrading, unfortunately, I think I might have to. I do not feel like I am "abusing" this transmission (i.e. drag racing/power shifting/popping the clutch/bouncing it off rocks), but maybe with 33's, my HP level (160-170), 75-80 mph cruise speed, and long distance driving is just too much. Maybe I am "pushing the T5's limits"

But, T5 #1 (the one being put back together) made it to Moab, wheeled a week out there, and made the return trip without a whimper. Besides the "counter gear bearing face surface issue", it did great

I have been looking at either a NV3550, AX15, or NSG370 swap, in that order. The Nv3550 has a 4:1 first like the T5. The AX15 1st gear is a little too high for me. I like the NSG370, have one in my TJ. But, they are more expensive, and the 1st to 2nd shift is "balky". On my TJ (4.10s with 31's), I start in 2nd, so no problem, but 33's and 4.10 would necessitate the first to second shift. All of the above options would require new drive shafts, shifter mods, clutch changes, plus all the other joys that come with drivetrain swaps

 

[spankrjs]

I was able to get the replacement T5 back together last night, no real drama. A few quick pictures to keep it interesting.

The counter gear that I installed into this T5 has this "ARIEL" stamp on it. Not OEM, but hopefully not "made in China" crap, either.

The replacement counter shaft/gear installed, along with the reverse idler gear.

The main shaft (input/output shaft assembly) installed.

The overdrive gears/synchronizer assembly/shifter installed.

And the transmission reassembled.

I used this sealant to seal the transmission cases together. It sets up pretty quick, hopefully it works good.

I am going to "test fit" the shifter assembly on this transmission while it is on the ground, make sure it catches all the gears. It should be good to go.

I plan on dropping the blown up transmission tonight.

That's it for now.

 

[MN-Paul]

I have my T5 in the shop. I found out in mine, that it was rebuilt once. The shop used the wrong gears in mine. They used 4cylinder gears. Out of a car with less than 100 h.p. So when I got on it, it let go.

I'm having my gears Cyro'ed. Makes it 40% stronger. The place in MN will also dyno it once it is done.

I too looked into other transmissions. But all my stuff is new. Driveshafts, etc.

Just some ideas for you, about upgrading the gears.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD

 

[spankrjs]

I have my T5 in the shop. I found out in mine, that it was rebuilt once. The shop used the wrong gears in mine. They used 4cylinder gears. Out of a car with less than 100 h.p. So when I got on it, it let go.

I'm having my gears Cyro'ed. Makes it 40% stronger. The place in MN will also dyno it once it is done.

I too looked into other transmissions. But all my stuff is new. Driveshafts, etc.

Just some ideas for you, about upgrading the gears.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD

Interesting idea for the gears. Maybe if I had a factory, matching set of low miles gears. But, now I have a mismatched cluster gear, different wear patterns.

I "think" the gears are strong enough, the case is weak, though. Not too much can be done about the small amount of material between the cluster gear bearing/input-output shaft bearing bores

I really do not think I am "overtaxing" the T5, all I have is 33's, 4.10 gears, and Mopar MPI on a 258. But, maybe I am right at its "threshold"

I will know more once I take the old one a part