My "Big Baby" Axle Swap thread

[2Greys]

Well in the meantime I will go barless (no not bra-less well yes bra-less but I digress), I did get confirmation on JF that the rear anti-rock should work with the 8.8. Maybe next year I will do anti-rock all around.
Shooting for Friday to actually drive it to work.

 

[2Greys]

I looked at it quick and I think I could get away with trimming about an inch off of the truss bridge for about a 2-3" section. Since the think is 4-5" wide I doubt it would affect it doing its job.

Side note She lives!!

First thing I did today was throw on the summer tires and drive around the block a couple of times.

Once I realized I had forgot to put in more gas, I hoofed it back to the house and brought my 10 liter can of gas and put some in. Drove it to the gas station and put in another $40.
Took it to the local bus stop park and ride and did some brake break-ins.
Things to note:
1. Need to get the parking brake working. Right now the driver side is too loose and the passenger side popped right off. I have a hunch I may have to pull the shaft to actually fix that. That may wait until I change the diff fluid.
2. Rear is a bit loud but I am pretty sure I was hearing that before. It is like a bit of a whine when slowing down I took a gander at the rear drive shaft and the u-joints seemed fine. Dunno about that but may have to keep an eye on it.
3. I would say it is amazing but it tracks straight even though I didn't have to adjust the tie rod. but I definitely need to fix the steering wheel as it is sitting at 10.
4. Guess I bled the brakes right since it seems to be firm.

 

[bradleyfitz]

Nice Chris, congrats!

 

[2Greys]

Thanks, we will see how it behaves over a longer period.

Guess I have no excuse not to go to Spring Fever

 

[chunkytrunks]

Nicely done Chris!
Congrats

 

[dwcjwerfner]

Good work, worry about the sway bar after Spring Fever if you still think it's a problem

 

[2Greys]

Made it to work this morning. Can tell it doesn't have the rear sway bar bit I am going to deal with that later on. There is a whine when decelerating but it may have been there before I wonder if although I filled up the fluid I should try topping it off again.

 

[KBjeep]

It travels down the tubes so it takes some time to settle.

 

[2Greys]

Actually figured it out, it was the pinion nut had loosened up, pulled it off threw some locktite and torqued it again to 150 (remember I used a crush sleeve eliminator) Whine is now gone.

 

[chunkytrunks]

Awesome!
Enjoy your trip!

 

[trixter192]

Another idea for your brake line Chris, I saw someone modify a bungee cord to pull it away from the coil.

 

[2Greys]

For anyone wondering, JG is talking about I got extended front brake lines and they seem to be hanging out. My concern is them getting pinched. May look at replacing with YJ front brake lines which are a couple inches longer than stock. I think these may be overkill. I need to measure and compare to YJ lines.

 

[2Greys]

Back home now I need to put mileage on this week.

 

[2Greys]

Got 120km on the new gears, seem to have a mild leak on the front diff but it should be good for this weekend. Also got the plumbing run for the front locker and it isn't leaking. Guess we are a go for this weekend. Hopefully the rain clears up.

 

[chunkytrunks]

Sweet! Well done Chris! See you in a couple days

 

[Mitko]

How you feel it after the alignment?

 

[2Greys]

Hard to say since I only drove it once before I got it aligned but it feels good. One of the big things is the balance between caster and pinion angle. Ideally pinion angle wins but some people have reported having to drop the caster down to 5.5-6 for 33" tires. But it seems to center fine. If and when I go to 35s I may have to adjust it then.

There is a bit of a vibe at 100 but when I put on the tires I hadn't aired them up so I suspect it is either they are underinflated or more likely I may have to get them balanced. I probably lost a weight or two last year as I noticed some of the rims have some rub spots right on the edge. It's not bad in the least just a bit noticable.

It still feels weird driving it but that is the lack of a rear sway bar (which Artec is still looking into. I suspect they may suggest using the 8.8 sway bar which I chucked (oops) since I didn't think I would need it) so I may end up going to Kenney's in the near future and see if I can grab one off of an explorer if that is their suggestion. It will be interesting to see how it is fully disconnected front and back.

 

[2Greys]

Artec got back to me, they recommend trimming the passenger side back. It should be a non issue since all the forces are vertical. During Spring Fever I disconnected the front and did not like how it felt, it was too wobbly.
Today I drained the rear diff and checked the gears, everything looks good, no chunks removed since the weekend.
Stuff that I need to do:
- Fix parking brake so it works
- Trim the truss bridge so it stops interfering with rear sway bar
- Attach rear sway bar
- do something with the diff vent hose. It hangs down too much and I could see it getting cut between the gas tank skid and a rock.

 

[2Greys]

Today's accomplishment:
Cleaning up the garage after the last 6 months.
Here is a pic of what I dealt with at the worst of it:

PS: Brad, once you are settled in let me know and we can coord getting my old axle back off of you

 

[2Greys]

3 year (and a month) update.
I have had intermittent air leakage issues from the locker a while after I had built the axle and was not sure what it could be. It is intermittent as it only happens when the driver side of the axle is cycled down.


Research pointed to two possible issues:
1. Nicked o-ring when putting the shafts in, not enough to leak but possibly under load was enough to shift something to allow air to escape.
2. Too much pressure due to inadequate oil flow from the driver side tube creates a suction that will not allow the diaphragm to lock so air gets forced past the o-rings.


I had planned as of Sunday to pull the rear locker and possibly see about widening the hole and replacing the o-rings and emailed ARB of what I was seeing and what my theories were and here is his response.


I’d say you’re overthinking this. From your description, I’d say that it’s very likely you have a carrier bearing pre-load issue. Here’s what I would do- I’d figure out a way to reproduce the leak in my shop or driveway. I’d then pull the diff cover off and spray the locker with a soapy water solution and figure out exactly where the air is coming from when it leaks. When you find that and remove the diff from the housing, pay close attention to how easy or difficult it is to remove the carrier. If it comes out easily, then lack of preload is likely, and it’s allowing the diff to move around. The design of the seal housing on the 8.8 is such that it shouldn’t be as susceptible to pre-load problems, but it can still happen. Check your ring gear bolts for tightness also.

So two things happened when I pulled the locker:
1. It literally dropped out
2. The ring gear bolts were loose, fortunately none had walked out.


The threads look ok on the ring gear (teeth are fine in appearance as well) and I have ordered new bolts. Planning to throw back in with enough equal shims on each side to make it much tighter (5 thou each side?) . He warned that there may be more gear noise but over the tires now I doubt I will hear it.


Thought I should put this up as a reminder to others. When I had done it the first time I used the rubber mallet method and thought it was tight then. I guess not tight enough.