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

So, up next, try to eliminate/or at least greatly minimize the Dana 300 intermediate shaft leak.

I have had good luck with Novak's intermediate shafts eliminating leaks, due to an o-ring seal on both ends. The OEM shaft, and most aftermarket rebuild kits, only have a seal in the front side. Clocked transfer cases, like this one, also seem more susceptible to leaks.

Contents of the Novak intermediate shaft kit.

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I was going to attempt to remove the intermediate gear and shaft with the Dana 300 still in the Scrambler, more on this later.

Removed well loved skidplate:

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Might try to fix this dent!!

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Hardware removed to access the intermediate gear and shaft (minus the little square piece that holds the rear of the shaft in position):

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The Lomax 4:1 gear set:

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So, this is the problem with my hare brained scheme. While the front of the shaft is visible, and this shaft needs to be driven from the front out the back, and it is clear of the Dana 300 clocking ring, just no room to get a straighter shot at the shaft. The transmission is too large, I can only get a glancing blow with a punch angled, just not going to cut it.

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I was able to move the shaft forward, which does not help me, because the shaft hits the Dana 300 clocking ring/AX15 adapter. At least it's not froze up.

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So, after spending about 20 minutes with this short cut attempt, I am calling it. Going to pull the Dana 300 off the back of the transmission and do the swap on the bench. If I'm having this much fun trying to just remove the intermediate shaft and gear, installing the new shaft/needle bearings,/thrust washers/gear laying on the ground does not seem fun.

So, pull the driveshafts, floor plate, Dana 300 shifter, vent hose, vehicle speed sensor, 6 nuts, pull the 300 out.......

That's it for now.
 
More gear oily goodness.

Taking more stuff apart.

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Only 6 nuts hold the Dana 300 adapter plate to the back of the AX15.

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And safely on the ground.

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First time pulling out a Dana 300 without the transmission attached to it. Not too bad. Shimmed up the high side of the case with a 2x4 to match the passenger side angle drop. Made sure I drained the transmission first!!!

On the bench, took some effort. No way I could have removed and reinstalled this shaft while the transfer case was in the Jeep.

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So, the rear of the shaft that I removed had an o-ring seal on it already. The only thing I am gaining with the new shaft is an o-ring on the front side of the shaft, too. The side that wasn't leaking. I will also gain a new rear o-ring, too.

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This transfer case came from Yard Scrambler. I installed this Jeeps original Dana 300 in Yard Scrambler, rebuilt yard Scramblers Dana 300 with 4:1 gears for my red Scrambler. The installation of the LoMax 4:1 gear set necessitated a full rebuild, so this made the most sense. IIRC Yard Scrambler had less then 100k miles, so I reused it's original intermediate shaft. I was not impressed with the new shaft that came with the Dana 300 rebuild kit.

This shaft does not look too bad, I'll inspect it and the case better tomorrow. Everything fit tight, so I don't think I have a case bore problem.
 
So, the other issue with the 4:1 gear set is that the large gear on the intermediate gear is larger then the stock gear, so extra fun to remove and reinstall.

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When this case was empty, before starting the rebuild, I made a notch per the LoMax instructions for this gear to clear during installation. Should have made it just a hair deeper, but got there in the end.

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And this would have been fun to deal with if I would have gotten this far with the transfer case still in the Scrambler, face full of needle bearings!!

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Just about left it like this for the night, getting the intermediate gear out is a PIA.

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But gave it the old college try, held my tongue right, got it out, and let it puke needle bearings all over the work bench LOL!!

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Cleaning, inspection, maybe some install tomorrow night, that's it for now.
 
My life right now too... Well kinda... I have another 300 thats also in this state, just not in the picture. Input shaft bearing (the little one) destroyed itself. Oil was all sparkly and had chunks on needles in it. The output shaft clearly was over heated, never mind the damage from the "bearing". You can see the damage on the thrust bearings too.
Decided to rebuild my spare 300. This 300 is now just spare parts.

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Bad Karma said:
My life right now too... Well kinda... I have another 300 thats also in this state, just not in the picture. Input shaft bearing (the little one) destroyed itself. Oil was all sparkly and had chunks on needles in it. The output shaft clearly was over heated, never mind the damage from the "bearing". You can see the damage on the thrust bearings too.
Decided to rebuild my spare 300. This 300 is now just spare parts.

View attachment 121811
Click to expand...

Copy Cat :p
 
Back at it.

Old parts, no abnormal wear or damage.

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New parts from Novak that came with their shaft. No idea what the top 3 clips are for, did get two spare O-rings for the intermediate shaft (shaft came with o-rings already installed).

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Old needle bearings, two rows of 23. Made sure none were floating around inside the bottom of the case.

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Ended up reusing my spacer rings, they looked beefier, but more importantly Novak sent three skinny rings where there need to be a fat spacer in the middle of the two rows of needle bearings.

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Comparing the length of the needle bearings, just because, old and new match.

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If you are doing this type of work, I recommend this grease. Thicker and stickier then normal grease, really keeps parts in place.

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Grease on the center spacer and one end, one row of needle bearings in:

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Repeat for the other end, done.

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I noticed that with one outer ring flush to the gear face, the other side was slightly recessed, see above. I did not compare the old set up because it fell apart during gear removal. But, needles the same length, reused the spacers, probably fine. I imagine there needs to be a bit of slack here. The other set up lasted around 80k miles with no issues, probably normal.

I greased both bores and the inner case face where the thrust washers go. The notch in the case is where the tang on the back side of the thrust washers go. I assume this is to keep the thrust washers from spinning, and I reckon oil drainage channels, too?

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Using the new shaft to hold the rear thrust washer in place.

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The front, due to clocking ring, more PIA. Can't get a straight shot, did the best I could. I needed both hands for the intermediate gear.

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And just like that it fell right in. Hahahahahahahahah!!!!!!

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Minor PIA. My case notch needs to be a hair bigger. Also, my dumb butt put the transfer case in neutral before I removed it from the Scrambler. I don't recommend this, leave it in 2wd. With it in 2wd, you can at least grab the rear yoke and turn one of the corresponding gears. With it in neutral, no Bueno. So, you are then trying to roll the new gear into place by pushing on the other gears, and you can't get much leverage this way. I would recommend NOT beating on the gears, or prying on the gear teeth. Took about an hour in total to install the gear. Biggest issue, I let the rear thrust washer slip out of place slightly. So, you then need to gently pry it back into position without damaging the case bore, the washer, or the needle bearings. Small screw driver, then brass punches, then sockets with varying ODs and an extension to gently pry the washer back into place. Gently. You don't want to shear off the thrust washer tang.

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Once the washers are in position, aligned with the case bore holes. I gently drove the shaft through the gear/needle bearings with a sand filled plastic hammer. It should go firm yet easy.

Rear end, might need to go in a hair more.

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Front end, looks a bit shorter then the old shaft.

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So, I greased the case bores, no sealant. People talk about using sealant, I can't see how, especially with an O-ring at each end that will simply push the sealant out, especially the rear.

Hopefully the o-rings work 🙏

That's it for now.
 
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