What have you done to your rig today?

Stuffed a Yukon Duragrip in my buddy's 2nd Gen 24v that was previously a one wheel wonder. It still blows my mind that limited slips were optional. Who wants an open rear diff in a diesel truck?!

Anyway, I hollered at ECGS and ordered it Monday. I also snagged some new carrier bearings. I should have probably gotten pinion bearings too, but oh well. We did wind up changing the pinion seal anyway, but the bearings looked pretty good for their age/mileage and everything torque back up nicely. Hollered at @Jody Treadway just to feel better about myself too.

Not too bad for a few hours work and a set of stock 3.55s with 335,000 miles on them.

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Now then...I totally forgot to order the slip additive. Wasn't 100% sure if the parts store stuff would work with these composite clutches, so I just got the Yukon additive. At least if there are any issues, they can't say it was because of that. Anyway, here's how you know Summit Racing has big IDGAF attitude. This is the box they shipped me with TWO 4oz bottles in it 🙄 It had packing material, it's just exorbitant, to say the very least.

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Took out the exhaust spacers that was causing a God awful rattle on my new skid plates....

In fairness, I should have taken it out when I installed the Tom Woods drive shafts...

Then I packed up for a quick run to Uwharrrie tomorrow...
 
beat the shit out of my fork trying to getting the steering arm off w a 4lb. hammer. The steering gear lower seal was leaking like a stuck pig.
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got a loaner fork kit from advance and one blow and it popped loose.
 
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I did more stuff today...although I was definitely lacking motivation for some reason. I even had a little ADHD side quest that had carried over from two Fridays ago.

I pulled the pitman arm off, took the belt off, took the power steering pulley off, and loosened all the steering box bolts. I didn't feel like getting covered in power sterring fluid...so I'll pull all that off later. I also figured out how to mount the hydroboost WITHOUT drilling another hole in the firewall, moving one of the studs on the mounting plate, or having to change the brake pedal itself.

Sometimes...I like how high this truck sits. Working on stuff like I did today is one of those times. Everything I did today was from underneath, I opened the hood for more light. I can sit straight up when I'm under the front of it. Oil changes are also a breeze. Throw a 5 gallon bucket under it and let it drain. Just don't drop the drain plug in the bucket 😬

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Little buddy was soakin' up some rays behind my Dmax in the yard.

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Here's where the side quest came in to play. I had told myself I had to vacuum the house and clean the glass on my storm door before I could go do truck things. Anxiety = motivation. It's weird. I know.

I did all that and went around the corner to the shop. When I got there I decided to vacuum out my truck. I had used the vacuum two Fridays ago to unclog my AC drain at the house...so it had water and clorox and purple power on top of quite a bit of dry nastiness. Figured I should clean all that out and change the filter. So, I do all that...vacuum the black truck out, worked (slowly) on the gray one, and when I decided it was time to call it a day...I realized my black truck was locked. The keys were in it too. Not the first time my lawnmower has saved my ass 😂😅

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The new hydroboost mounting place showed up today before work, so I went over and messed with that for a minute. It should work out nicely. I wont have to move a stud in the original mount place or drill a new hole in the firewall. I'm hoping the pushrod distance is the same between the vacuum and hydroboost. I'll be finding that out tomorrow.

If you'll notice, the hole is centered in the new plate. On the one that comes on the hydroboost unit, it makes it sit at the very top of the through hole in the firewall. If this was an automatic truck, I'd have gotten a new brake pedal and been done with it. However, I haven't managed to find a manual transmission hydroboost pedal and don't really want to change it anyway!

I know...a lot of effort is going in to a truck that I fully intend to sell 😅

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Croatan_Kid said:
The new hydroboost mounting place showed up today before work, so I went over and messed with that for a minute. It should work out nicely. I wont have to move a stud in the original mount place or drill a new hole in the firewall. I'm hoping the pushrod distance is the same between the vacuum and hydroboost. I'll be finding that out tomorrow.

If you'll notice, the hole is centered in the new plate. On the one that comes on the hydroboost unit, it makes it sit at the very top of the through hole in the firewall. If this was an automatic truck, I'd have gotten a new brake pedal and been done with it. However, I haven't managed to find a manual transmission hydroboost pedal and don't really want to change it anyway!

I know...a lot of effort is going in to a truck that I fully intend to sell 😅

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I like that truck for some reason, it's like a square body (solid axle and leaves)
 
Totally forgot that I needed a new shifter linkage for the transfer case, but I ordered it the other day and popped that on right quick.

The old power steering pump and steering box are out. The hydroboost is also mounted and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out based on my calibrated eyeball guesstimations. The booster is centered, pedal height looks good, and I'm happy with it.

Also had to remember to remove and plug the vacuum port fitting on the back of the intake.


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Ashamed to even be doing this just to get my parking brake to pass inspection. All of this to replace an axle seal. WJ dana 35 :shaking:

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I put new batteries in my fat scooter .........
 
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Bought me a new XJ so I can finally start on saving up for my Official "Showcase Build". Many customers and many of you on here have told me for years to build a personal rig that shows my work quality and abilities and this will be it. Bought it for $700, cleanest XJ underneath I've ever seen in my 20yrs!! Underneath looks like factory showroom almost. Interior is not terrible, very good base to work off of. body as you can see is perfect as far as body panels/no dings/dents and such. For now I put a 4" lift and some new 32s just so I can go ride around Uwharrie and local puttin around.
 
oh and don't ask why it's got chevy wheels, long story short....those new tires and wheels cost me $150...wheel adapters were free, lift was free so yeah......
 
I felt like crap today, so I stayed home from work. I just couldn't let the day be a total waste, so I went and messed with my truck.

Got the ps pump back on, pressed the pulley on, and then put in the lines. Did the pump to hydroboost, hydroboost to gear box, and the hydroboost return to the pump reservoir. Still need to bolt the box back in, but that'll only take a minute. Definitely need to flush out the factory cooler too...the fluid was gross.

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Had to make a Walmart run this morning and do some stuff around the house. Then I went over and flushed the power steering cooler, got the steering box bolted in, all the lines hooked up, and filled up the reservoir. I didn't get the steering shaft bolted back on yet...may have to get one for an HD if I can't get it all the way on. I also didn't put the pitman arm back on yet. That'll make it much easier for me to cycle/bleed the steering and brakes without jacking the truck up :D

I reused the original ½ ton return lines and fitting on the steering box. It all worked out quite well. I MAY need to get a different pressure line from the booster to the box, but I think I can tweak it enough to keep the heat away from it.

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Virginia inspector failed my brakes on this

:kaioken:

Really felt like a nit picky reason to fail me unless they thought I was an easy customer that was going to give them the cash to replace all of it. Hell nah son. I have trust issues with mechanics around here lately.

Braking performance has always been fine. Went ahead and upgraded to akebono from the original 99 teves caliper.

Really want to get South Dakota plates lately. State inspectors recently feel like they are using trivial fails to try and drive up revenue for the shop. I guess I am going to push back next time.

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I went over before work and put new LED bulbs in my third brake light. I had already put LED bulbs in the cargo lights.

While I was there, I went ahead and bled the power steering real quick. Nice and easy. I should be ready to put the pitman arm back on it, make some draglink/tie rod adjustments, and go for a drive. I'll probably go ahead and replace the steering shaft though...or at least hit the inside of the clamp area with a file so it'll slide on without constant persuasion.
 
I got the steering shaft bolted back on the box. Just needed a little time with a jeweler's file. Then the pitman arm went back on, I turned the passenger's side tire straight, adjusted the drag link to center the wheel, and finally adjust the tie rod to move the driver's side tire.

What else...

Oh! I remembered to finally cut a piece of the casting off of the transfer case because it was touching the bottom of the cab. Also greased everything up. I was going to grease the upper kingpins after I changed back to the spring style, but I was out of grease...go figure.

I fired it up a few times to test the steering and check the brake pedal feel. I gotta say...I like it! Wayyy yonder better than it's ever been. I'm ready to go for a drive and try it out. Umm, well, as soon as I make sure the wipers are good.

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Since it's going to rain for the next few days, I should probably bring it back to the house and do some soapy scrubbing while I have free water.

What's left:

Frame plates
Shock mounts
Cam swap
Tuning
Mount the WFO torque arm

That should be about it. Of course, I have stuff for an oil, transmission fluid, probably grab some gear oil, and it'll be getting the coolant dumped. That should cover literally everything. I hope 😅
 
Bled the power steering up top at the hydroboost and took it for a drive today! Then back on the trailer to bring it to my house for a good scrubbing.

The brakes and power steering are amazing!

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Ran into a bind when flipping my Dana 300 for the sd60. Had no choice but to run a flip kit. Luckily @FSU Off-Road had me covered. Couple hour trip up to hickory and I’m all set. Hoping to keep my deadline for a trip.
 

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Noel said:
Ran into a bind when flipping my Dana 300 for the sd60. Had no choice but to run a flip kit. Luckily @FSU Off-Road had me covered. Couple hour trip up to hickory and I’m all set. Hoping to keep my deadline for a trip.
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You go through the shift collars and double check the detention pressure? Common things to look through so it doesn’t pop out of gear.
 
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