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

[spankrjs]

Removed the other axle shaft u-joint this afternoon, all four caps were dried out.







So, I reckon it was a good idea to take a look at all of this stuff. Much easier to address this in the garage as opposed to the trail. Still can't fathom why both of these u-joints were dried out? Both axle shafts yokes had grease on them, I presume from seaping out of the u-joint caps. So the seals went. Maybe I damaged the seals when I installed this set of u-joints. The shafts are old Warn chrome moly deals that take Dana 44 sized u-joints, 5-760's. I have never installed u-joints in an actual Dana 44 shaft, but have done plenty of Dana 30's. The 30's aren't terrible. These shafts are a PIA due to the fact that they are small enough to slip through the knuckle hole yet take a much bigger u-joint, so the tolerances are tight tight tight.

Went ahead and cleaned up the rest of the parts.



Will piddle around with reassembly at night after work this week, taking extra special care in regards to the u-joints!!!

That's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

A little bit of work tonight.

Packed the wheel bearings and spindle bearings, zip lock bags to keep dirt out.





Installed the new rotors on to the wheel hubs.



And the big accomplishment, well, at least for me



New Spicer u-joints installed, no problems. I think I always dread installing new front axle shaft u-joints because removing the old ones is usually such a b@#ch.

That's it for now.

 

[Bad Karma]

You really should learn to maintain your Jeep. You have clearly neglected it. There is a really good thread on here by @spankrjs, he maintains his stuff, you could learn from that guy.

 

[Belizeit]

That’s right !

 

[spankrjs]

Remembered to grease the ball joints. Only way to grease the upper ball joint is with the axle shaft removed.



I keep these plugs in the zerk holes when the Jeep is being driven. The OD of the front axle shaft/u-joint assembly is too large to keep the upper zerk fitting in place.



I only leaves the grease fittings in place while I'm servicing the ball joints.





I can't remember if the factory ball joints are greaseable? These are some type of NAPA replacement ball joints I installed over 104k miles ago. They are still good to go, and this is only the second time since the original installation that I have greased them. The grease that came out from 40k miles ago still looked fine.

The FSM recommends inspecting/repacking the front wheel bearings at 25k mile intervals. Judging by my front axle u-joints, 40k is too long. Maybe I'll pull this stuff back apart after 30k more miles? Besides u-joints and time this has only cost me grease and two hub seals, cheap insurance. Inspection and maintenance would need to be performed more frequently with more frequent deep water or mud usage.

 

[timo439]

So, inquiring minds want to know. What is your method to recall your maintenance items? Do you keep a log of when things were done, when they need to be done again? What is your method? I am terrible and tracking oil changes much less lubing ball joints.

 

[Bad Karma]

So, inquiring minds want to know. What is your method to recall your maintenance items? Do you keep a log of when things were done, when they need to be done again? What is your method? I am terrible and tracking oil changes much less lubing ball joints.

he uses this thread. Im almost positive he reads it from beginning to end every day.

 

[spankrjs]

So, inquiring minds want to know. What is your method to recall your maintenance items? Do you keep a log of when things were done, when they need to be done again? What is your method? I am terrible and tracking oil changes much less lubing ball joints.

Post #1,952 on this thread helps me remember the big stuff.

When I change the oil, I write date/mileage on the filter box lid and keep it in the console.

Every 3k miles, oil change and grease all the zerks (steering/suspension/driveshafts/clutch linkage)
Every 6k miles, same as above but add a tire rotation

Other stuff, if I am working on something related, will address it. For example, if I put a clutch in I will usually put new transmission and Dana 300 fluid in. Working on brakes, maybe a diff fluid change. Belts and hoses at least every 10 years.

Wheel bearings, I first did after 60k miles, maybe a bit too long. This time, 40k miles, better but u-joints were dried out. So, will address it next time with less miles.

So, with the wheel bearings, might as well hit the spindle bearings, u-joints, ball joints, and the Dana 30 oil since the axle shafts have to come out.

Certain things, just depends. For example, the AX15 in this Jeep holds 4 quarts of oil. I changed it out at 30k miles and still looked new. A T5, 2 quarts, i change more frequently.

But, the Post #1952 is mainly what I look at. I have a similar post on my Green Scrambler thread. A notebook would work, too.

 

[spankrjs]

And like all of my little projects, this one takes a detour, but not too far out of the way.

Last time I messed with the front end I noticed the driver side axle shaft oil seal must have been seaping a bit. It hasn't magically gotten better, has not really got worse, but I told myself I would change these seals the next time I was up here, so...

Passenger side dry:



Driver side damp:



It never puddles, never see liquid oil, but you can tell it leaks due to the stuck on dirt.

Removing the differential cover to expose the front Ox Locker.





That Lube Locker gasket has been on here for over 15 years and 104k miles. I have only removed the differential cover twice (drain plug in cover makes lube changes easy) and still no leaks. Pretty happy with that purchase.

Differential stored out of the way. I had to gently pry it out of the axle housing. All teeth and bearings still feel and look fine in the Dana 30.



Don't mix up the bearing journals!!



Leaking seal, don't really see damage, but you can see where crud has stuck to the oil leaking past the rubber seal.



Non leaking seal. Probably could have left it in place but that would probably be a false economy.



Top good, bottom bad.



Getting all the crud out of the axle tubes. Surprisingly, not a whole lot.



Should pick up the new seals tomorrow, I have a seal install tool coming in Friday. These seals are a PIA to change, at least for me, hoping the cheap Amazon tool I bought will make it easier on me. Still going to buy three seals!!!

That's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

Piddling, waiting on inner axle oil seal install tool, so some preliminary reassembly work.

Stub shaft large spindle seals installed:



Inner spindle seal then the plastic thrust washer.:





Installed the inner wheel bearings into the hubs, the bearing with the larger ID.



Hub seals:



Final clean up of the axle tubes where the inner seals ride. Minor scratching and pitting present, will apply a thin coat of Permatex Hardening sealant to the OD of the new seals. Looks like my ring and pinion guy used a little RTV, either sealant probably fine.





Just waiting on the install tool!!



Hopefully the tool will help me out. IIRC, I think I installed these same seals in @Belizeit Jeep last year, can't remember how I did it, maybe not??

Better safe than sorry LOL



That's it for now.

 

[Belizeit]

I’m thinking we didn’t. Think I helped with going back in so they wouldn’t get hose up. Think I offered to get the tool, hoping I wouldn’t have to do this again considering it hadn’t been done for 41 years.

 

[spankrjs]

This will be the longest Dana 30 inner axle oil seal install post in history, bare with me, might be useful.

I ordered a "WeHope" brand Dana 30/44/60 inner axle oil seal install tool off Amazon, $20 to my door. No issue with the tool, seems well made, straight, true, good threads. Would recommend it.



Long winded, bare with me. This first part is my fault, kind of.

Neither side of the tool would fit properly where I thought it should. Too big:



Too small:



I hate stacking pieces, had no choice. This press tool from my seal/race install kit would work perfect:



But, the hole in the center of this piece is too small for the threaded shaft of the "WeHope" tool to pass through.



So, off the cardboard box of old bearings and other stuff I use with the press, found an old inner bearing race that would work perfectly.








Ok, ready now. Not ideal, but let's give it a whirl.

Smeared some of this sealant around the outer portion of the seal. The outer sleeve of the steel is steel, going against a steel axle tube. Figured a bit of goop couldn't hurt.

 

[spankrjs]

So, should have been a bit more careful. I gently started one of the seals, got a bit cocked. This was just getting it started.





Repositioned everything, took a break, more careful, got it in true and square.



Note, this is flush to the outer end of the tube, more on this in a bit. It would probably be fine at this depth, more in a bit.



And the other side, second time was much easier.



So, got to thinking, compared old seal to new seal. Old on the left, new on right, slight differences.



And went back and looked at the old seal install picture, it was a bit deeper in the tube. My new seals I only pressed in flush to the end, due to the press piece I used. But, the new seal is not pressed to the inner "stop ridge" in the tube. Picture of old seal, it was pressed in past the chamfer.



So, back to the junk box, found a piece that would fit INSIDE the new seal and hit the press tool part. In this way, I can press the seal deeper then flush. With my other piece, flush to end of tube was all I could get because I was pressing on the OUTER shell of the seal. New set up:





And now the seal is pressed all the way into the tube, fully seated against the "stop step ridge". It is in approximately 3/16".



Hard to see, but the black part of seal is even with the outer edge of this seals metal shell.

 

[spankrjs]

And the other side.



So, this got me thinking. Happy with the tool, but why did I have to add pieces to make it work.

Dug an old seal out the trash can, it fits perfectly on the tool, tool goes inside the seal like what I did on my second stack. Perfect!



But why?

So, my ring and pinion guy installed the original seals when he installed the Spicer 4.10 ring and pinion and the Ox Locker differential. He is a Spicer dealer, so I am assuming these were Spicer seals.

Regardless, the old seals are made different. On the inside of the back side, no rubber, only steel shell.



The SKF/NAPA seal is coated in rubber on the backside. This shrinks up the ID on the backside just enough where the "WeHope" tool won't fit.




So happy with the tool, would have been more happy if I used Spicer or similarly built seals.

Ok, even more info.

So, my ring and pinion guy installed these seals just inboard, not all the way to the stop ridge. That's fine, they were installed straight. I installed brand new axle shafts at the same time. Also fine.

Luckily, my shafts are not damaged where the seals rode. The seals did remove the whatever black coating Warn put on thaes shafts, but no rough spots.





Ok, two silver stripes on each ahaft. The upper stripe, furthest from the spline end, is where the seals rode. Not sure what the inner stripe is from, I reckon something inside the differential carrier was rubbing this at some point. No harm, no foul, no metal found, not worried about this.

So, the interesting thing. IF your shaft was damaged from the seal, and IF you install the exact same brand seal as what was installed before, and IF you took careful measurements, you could theoretically vary the depth of your seal installation to ride on an undamaged portion of the axle shafts.

Or, install Speedi-Sleeves over the damaged portion of the shafts like what I did on my 2005 TJ Rubicon's front Dana 44 shafts.....

Anyway, food for thought.

So, since I installed my seals deeper, they are going to ride outboard of the old silver stripes. My shafts have a hair bit of rust minor rough spots here. I am going to polish this before installing the axle shafts. In hind sight, should have left the new seals installed flush to the end of the tube, not inboard all the way to the stop step. Hind sight.....

That's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

Some emery cloth and polish on the seal portion of the shafts, a little spray lube on the rest of the shafts to keep the flash rust away.







Since the differential was out, I took advantage and slid the axle shafts into position, figured it would be a bit easier on the rubber seals.



The differential bearing journals, little knob goes up top, recess goes toward inside.





That's how my ring and pinion guy had it, assume this is correct.

And the differential installed, always a PIA with tight bearings/preloaded correctly.



The FSM says 40 foot pounds, I thought this was a little light, and these bolts were tighter then this when I removed them, I torqued them to 55 foot pounds.



I used some 5/16 set screws as dowel pins to hold the Lube Locket gasket in place while I maneuvered/installed the Ox Locker differential cover, minor PIA. The set screws worked great.



Lube Locker says 35 foot pounds on the differential cover bolts. I probably did this originally and a few years ago when I changed the front shifter cable. This time, one of the bolts felt a little off when torquing to 25 foot pounds, more on this later.

 

[spankrjs]

Some grease here for the spindle bearings and big spindle seal.



A bit more grease on the spindle bearings, anti seize around the back side of the spindle to keep it from rust seizing in place. I did this last time, worked like a charm when I disassembled the spindles this go around.



Not going step by step, but I use the Warn instructions since I am using there wheel hubs. This procedure always works perfectly with these hubs.







I love the tits and holes wheel hub system compared to the OEM system.



Inner nut has a tit, the intermediate washer has holes, line up one of the holes in the washer over the tit, the tang 9n the washer in the spindle slot keeps the inner but from backing off. Around 7:30, towards the bottom of the picture, tit in a hole.



Wheel hubs on, new rotors.



Internal mount locking hubs installed. Much better then bolt on hubs. Big clip keeps the inner portion of the hub in place.



And new pads with the new rotors, lock in hub dials installed, finished with the outer ends.

 

[spankrjs]

Scooped out the old fluid from the master cylinder, compressed calipers, scooped some more old fluid out. Not a full flush, this fluid is from last year, so not too bad.



New fluid installed.




Back to the differential cover. Better to be lucky then good!!!!!!



I was able to back out the bolt that felt "off" when being torqued.

These are only Grade Five 5/16-18 bolts, so even Ox's instructions, not to mention Lube Lockers 35 foot pounds, exceed the maximum torque for this size and grade bolt.



I tracked down some Grade 8 flange bolts this afternoon, I will remove all the old Grade 5 bolts and install the new Grade 8 bolts.

That's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

Grade 8 flange bolts to replace the original Grade 5 bolts.



I used 1" long bolts on the open ended holes, 3/4" long on the four blind holes. The thick differential cover easily accommodates the longer bolts, they barely protrude past the back of the housing.

These new bolts did not have the little teeth on the back side of the flange so I put a dab of red lock tite on each bolt. I only torqued them to 25 foot pounds, I'm not risking breaking more bolts by putting 35 foot pounds on them!!



Refilled the differential with gear oil, no leaks from the differential cover, should be fine.

Finished the front, so time to inspect the rear hubs.



Nice day, so cleaned the front and backsides of all the wheels. Easy to spot any leaks on clean white wheels.



I removed the brake pads from the caliper to get a true feel of the hub.



I bought this kit last year when it was on sale. My rear calipers have to be screwd back in, they dont just push back in like the front calipers.





These rear brake calipers are only a year or two old so they screwed back in easy enough.

Passenger rear hub was fine, moved on to the driver side, it had a tiny ount of end play, so pulled it apart.

The rear full float kit does not use the tits and holes like the front spindles do.





I think in my spares stash I have extra tit nuts and hole washers. If so, I could use them in conjunction with the existing thin outer nuts and probably improve this situation.

Rear bearing adjustment per Warn, this hub adjusted back just fine.

 

[spankrjs]

Of course all did not go perfectly in ole RedneckRay land.







Snapped off cover to drive slug bolt.

I installed these Yukon drive flanges last year, happy with them. IIRC last year, after installing them, I drove around with the rear wheel center caps off so I could check for leaks/looses bolts. I remember the bolts coming loose so I probably put just a little too much stink on these 1/4" cap screws.

Well, must be my lucky weekend with regards to broken bolts, I need to go to the casino!!! I've never had much luck with extractors, worked perfect today!






All back together, just need to obtain a new bolt, that's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

Back together, quick test drive, seems good to go.



Might work on this next:



Looks worse then it is, annoying Dana 300 intermediate shaft drip.

That's it for now.