nielsenml

Really X2 what Ausxj said.. It takes talent to take a pic that shows something, I know. It also takes dedication to stop and take the pic while your in the middle of something especially "new terrritory" like your doing. 2 thumbs up dude and make that a third thumb up.

sanchezcruz_20

Thanks bud! More than anything, I just try to be THOROUGH when I'm documenting a modification. Honestly, the pictures speak for themselves... they tell most of the story. I'm just snapping. I know that I appreciate the pictures when I'm reading/researcing threads, they're so helpful when I go to do the work myself.

And don't give me too much credit for "stopping to take a pic..." Most of the time I have to stop anyway to read the next step in the instructions or read from the laptop hahaha.

sanchezcruz_20

Stopped by the salvage yard today, picked up a front driveshaft off an auto XJ. I'm gonna toss it on there just to get me around town until I order up the custom rear DS.

Nothin special, but have a look:


CV style:


Slippage:


BTW, also removed the TC drop! Looks a lot cleaner under there now. Also went ahead and remeasured for the custom DS, the new measurement is 33.5'' after removal of the TC drop.

You've all seen this before, just excited...




Will try to install the new-to-me front DS in the rear position tomorrow. Forgot to take the yoke straps while I was at the salvage yard so will have to pick some up, otherwise it'd already be installed.

sanchezcruz_20

The new speedo gear and o-ring for the speedometer assembly arrived from Quadratec today. Pretty straightforward install, but took some pictures anyway.

When shopping around online for the parts, I found a little discrepancy in exactly which gear to purchase, there was variation in the charts/manufacturers. I ended up finding a couple speedometer gear charts that matched up so I went with a 40 tooth gear. I have 4.56 gears and 32'' tires.

Remove the retaining bolt and clip...


Remove the speedo gear assembly...


Assembly hanging from TC, ready to swap gear out...


The factory gear pops right off...


Comparison of new and old. The new gear is the orange one, it's larger. Also pictured is the old o-ring and it's new replacement.


Pop the new gear on and install the new o-ring, here I am in the process of seating the o-ring...


Reinstall the speedo assembly but be sure to orient the gear properly. This is achieved by lining up the proper gear tooth range. My new gear is a 40 tooth gear, so I chose the 39-45 range stamped on the side of the speedo assembly. On the stock tailhousing there is a mark to line up the speedo assembly with, but the new tailhousing has no mark so I lined it up as best I could and using the retaining clip's visible leg as a landmark.


Once it's lined up, you can tighten it down and you're done.


I still need to take it for a test drive and validate the speedometer accuracy with my GPS system.

AUS XJ JEEP

Yep !!! will be posting some pics this w/end !!!!

sanchezcruz_20

Looking forward to seeing your decision.



Finally got the "rear" ds installed and took the XJ for a spin. It's nice to have rear-wheel drive back.

Drove around the neighborhood at low speeds before going on the highway. At low speeds, the vibrations are 100% eliminated. The drivetrain is smooth. On the highway, around 50mph+ there is still a little residual vibration, though it is SIGNIFICANTLY reduced. If I were asked to put a number on it, I'd say comparing the before vibrations to the current setup, there is an 85% reduction in vibration. It's not bad at all.

The vibration still occurs mostly during deceleration. Also, keep in mind that my pinion angle has not been corrected yet. I understand that is a pretty important part of the equation once you have converted your slip yoke to a fixed yoke (SYE). So, the pinion angle will be my next project.

I'm also happy to report the speedometer is working great! In fact, it's only 1mph off at highway speeds per my GPS system. I finally know how fast or slow I'm going. Additionally, I have not noticed any leaks around the speedo gear housing. Guess that o-ring did the trick.

I did take a couple pictures of the final product...






Just to give you an idea of how much extension is required at resting height:

I'm not sure how much more extension this DS has, but I don't plan on being too aggressive with it. It's just gotta get me by until I can get the the custom DS made.

AUS XJ JEEP

Just went through your postings and have noticed that the all of your pics are saying something about Bandwith exceeded ???? I cant look at the pics... I want to see the section about when you changed the steering damper ??? have you noticed this ??

Again great work on the recent RD shaft and T/C mods... yea when the pinion angel is corrected will be much better...

sanchezcruz_20

Yeah, I noticed the picture issue. It sucks . I mentioned the issue on page 18 actually (post #258). Basically, photobucket.com monitors and limits the amount of bandwidth account holders can use on a per monthly basis for their free accounts. Essentially, everytime someone access any page in my thread, it uses bandwidth. So there's nothing I can do about it. The bandwidth issue should reslove tomorrow b/c I think that's when my new month begins, the 11th of every month.

I've tried to circumvent the problem for future pictures by opening a new/additional account with photobucket. That's why the most recent pictures are still able to be viewed.

Maybe I should look into an alternative host for my pictures....

truckntractorhick

so where did you buy that gear at??

sanchezcruz_20

Got the gear and o-ring from quadratec

mikeXJ1020

Wow i just skimmed/ went through every page on your thread in the past 15-20 minutes and I must say this is one nice clean well done jeep. You did everything the right way the first time. No cutting corners no BS and in such a short period of time as it seems. Nice Jeep man. Good Luck

-Mike

89cherokee479

So what's the total build cost on a rig like this? I have an 89 model? And don't you have to have the TC drop for a lift like this?

sanchezcruz_20

Thanks bud!

Cost? It would take me some time to calculate that figure, I've saved all my receipts but I'd rather not know the exact number

As far as a quick and dirty estimation goes.... lift = $1000, wheels and tires = $1000, bumper, brakes, SYE, misc. stuff = $1000. If you are frugal and make budget-minded purchases, I'm sure it's possible to build a comparable and even far more capable rig for far less than that. This is especially true if you are able to do much of the work yourself, including being handy with various fabrication processes.

The TC drop is not required per se, but usually any moderate lift will necessitate some type of driveline angle reduction. The TC drop is one way of accomplishing that. An alternate method is to modify the TC with a slip yoke eliminator (SYE) and custom driveshaft. Though more expensive, most consider it to be a superior solution. I started with a TC drop because it came with my lift kit, now that I have a SYE I am able to remove it. Essentially, you either have one or the other (TC drop or SYE).

goldenlandscaping

Great build man im subscribing

Bro-quo

Great build man. You are practicing excellent tech.
I went through all the same trials and tribulations with mine, so I'm reading this with a nostalgic grin.

*Subscribed*