IAFFCJ 81 Scrambler

[IAFFCJ]

Event was awesome. Great to see folks we only get to see once a year park was great all was well. Jeep looked like it was going to work great and that LS sounded awesome turning those 42in tires. First day went pretty well in the beginning. Then after lunch while trying to climb a ledge I pulled the front driveshaft apart and messed up the slip yoke splines. @PAPPYWAHO had a spare that went on and we continued on being very careful of the hop in the front shaft.

Second day also started out well. Found some technical rocks that were very fun and the jeep was doing very well. Still had a little more hop in the front and rear than I was hoping for but I was starting to figure it out I thought. Then towards the end of day two trying to climb another ledge I had to give it a little bump and bang the front driveshaft not only came apart but twisted into a pretzel. @Jeeperdd and @timothy were able to secure the driveshaft and remove the slip yoke so we could winch me up and out of the trail. This went smooth as it could however my winch decided it didn't want to spool out under power anymore. This is also went we thought I might have bent a spring. Turns out what looked like a bent spring was a spun axle tube on my 14 bolt. Once off the ledges we were able to drive back to camp under our own power but decided it was best to put the rig on the trailer and fix it right when we got back to VA. Third day we spent at Bass Pro Shop in Springfield: i would recommend this if you ever get the chance the NRA museum was very cool. Now for the part you all like the pictures of the carnage.

 

[IAFFCJ]

 

[IAFFCJ]

Well we didn't go home empty handed managed to earn this beautiful trophy.

 

[IAFFCJ]

Repairs are already in progress. @Jeeperdd and his Dad Dale were nice enough to be sure there was machinery around when I came to pickup the Jeep a few days ago. We were able to squat the front all the way down hard on the bump stops and then let everything go to full drop to measure for a new front driveshaft. Even took the shocks off and put as much downward force as we could on the tires to get the measurements. Then were able to change both tires out at the same time so it would fit on my trailer.



That same day I stopped by @Grantshire beautiful property and picked up an empty 14 bolt housing he had picked up for a project that he went a different route on. Worked out perfect housing has never been in a vehicle and is completely empty. I will transfer all my guts over, add a truss and be sure that the tubes are well secured to the housing before I put the new one back in the jeep.



I have also ordered some more parts to build a anti warp bar for the front axle also. I am hoping that with a new correct front driveshaft, adding an anti-warp bar to the front axle, changing out the stock spring perch on the front Dana 60, the front should work much better without having to baby it on climbs.

The rear is going to get a new housing that is trussed and has large anti warp spring perches. I am also going to change up the rear drive line angles and go with a standard shaft so I can hopefully carry one single long travel spare for both front and rear. Not sure on if the traction bar will go back on just yet but it is pretty simple to add back in if desired.

Time for update 2.0

 

[Jeeperdd]

Sweet! Wait when are we going to do mine???

 

[IAFFCJ]

Sweet! Wait when are we going to do mine???

Hey All the parts lined up and we will do a 4 day push. Seen it done. ?

 

[IAFFCJ]

Well still waiting for parts so I can get the rear axle fixed. I wanted to do as much of the welding as I could before I put the internals in parts are supposed to be here on wed. I had some time to work on the front this morning. As you can see from the posts above I had some issues keeping the front driveshaft together. New plan is a more suitable driveshaft and a anti-warp bar for the front axle.

After some discussions with @John N and @scrangler I had a pretty good idea what I was going to do for that. Got the plasma out and built a anti-warp bar. No interference with articulation and looks like it is going to work well. Tried to make it a strong as I could we will have to see how it holds up.

Have to move some mounts for the shocks as I tried to go with a shorter shock and it didn't work out so I am going to alter the mounts to use the 14 in shocks i have. Should work out well and get me full use of the shocks. Once that is done I picked up a new spring mount for the Dana 60 so I am going to cut off the stock one and get that welded on. Then it will me time for a new drive shaft and the front should be good to go and hopefully last much longer and let me climb better.

 

[mysunnshine]

Be careful because when the springs get compressed, you lose the arch and they go flat and get longer which your rigid link will not allow for. Then you start ripping parts apart.

 

[Bad Karma]

Be careful because when the springs get compressed, you lose the arch and they go flat and get longer which your rigid link will not allow for. Then you start ripping parts apart.

Was just going to post this!

 

[IAFFCJ]

Front axle repairs are pretty much done. I did build an anti warp bar for the front and have done a great deal of figuring to be sure it would actually work. It will transfer some pretty strong forces that were figured in when building. However after doing all the work to build the bar I tore into the front axle mounting locations and found mounting issues that I am quite sure contributed to my axle warp issues.

One drivers side spring mount pad hole was badly wallowed out and both unbolted were pretty loose. This I am sure contributed to the bent spring center pin.

Cut off the spring pad and replaced with a new one. Another benefit is that I no longer need spring wedges on the drivers side.



Figured if this side spring pin was buggered up pass side probably was also. Sure was. So fixed that. And then reworked the top wedge on that side to make use of the entire spring plate. Everything torqued down to about 120 lbs and I think I might not even need the anti warp. But it is there if I need it and very easy to put on and off

Last thing I did was reworked the shock mounting locations I took them from on top of the axle tube and moved them off the back so I could drop them down an inch or so. Gained about 2 in of up travel use for the shocks and should be with in an inch of so from fully extended at full drop.

Other than a new drive shaft the front axle should be repaired and ready for the next run.

On to the rear.

 

[Jeeperdd]

Nice welds

 

[IAFFCJ]

Put the shocks on the front axle today. Put a new motor on my winch. Pretty sure I might have wired the last one up wrong. Took a few tries but I’m pretty confident I got it right this time. Then moved on tho the 14 bolt replacement. New housing stripped of brackets and truss mocked up. Also cut the bottom lip off for the 13 bolt cover. Need to measure drill and tap for the ARB and then I can burn on the truss. Looks like I figured out how to do the swap without breaking down the brake lines so that will speed things up for sure.

Not looking forward to trying to change the 14 bolt yoke but I want the u-bolt style not the straps. Hopefully will have the old axle out Saturday so I can start the parts swapping over.

 

[IAFFCJ]

New 14 bolt tubes welded and it is sleeping in a blanket to cool down. Need to drill and tap for the ARB then the truss can go on.

Pulled the old axle today also and took some measurements of how the gears are in this one so I can try to get them the same in the new housing. Backlash is 6 thousands and I think I got a decent picture of the pattern. Also checked to see how far the spring perches were off with the spun tube. Right at 3 degrees.

 

[Jeeperdd]

Keep getting at it!

 

[IAFFCJ]

Truss welded on, brake brackets swapped over hubs swapped over ARB swapped into new housing. Also got new yoke on the pinion section. New seals in the hubs and pinion. Pretty good progress today I think. Thinking one more day as long as gear setup goes ok and it should be back under the jeep.

 

[Jeeperdd]

That looks beefy

 

[gr8dain]

Your welding skills amaze me. I need to learn that skill.

 

[IAFFCJ]

Your welding skills amaze me. I need to learn that skill.

Thanks Dain. I just used YouTube and the book store. Bought a welder and started doing it. No way I could have done this without it. And i truly enjoy the time I spend in my helmet so that helps.

 

[IAFFCJ]

Well scrambler officially moves under its own power again However... I Am having an issue I am going to try and work through today. Think it is a brake caliper issue which would be a best case scenario. Going to remove the calipers and go for a test ride to narrow down the issue. Lots of changes so having a hard time determining which one is making the shake.

Also finally added some rear tow points.

 

[IAFFCJ]

Well found the shake. I have narrowed it down to the driveshaft I built and the new yoke on the atlas. Old set up is on right now so I can make it to the event here in a few weeks If I find some time I will work on it some more in a few days.