[deermjd]

After seeing photos of other soft tops on the forum I realized mine was sagging. Not bad for a 12 year old top.

Before:



After:

[Idared]

Its looking pretty GOOD!!

[deermjd]

I just finished replacing the front axle seal on the passenger side. I'm still rocking the vacuum disconnect so removal of the diff. carrier wasn't required. I replaced the u-joint while I had everything apart. I also replaced the wheel hub bearing that was bad. The old axle seal wasn't torn or deteriorated. It just appeared to be stretched out. Pressing the new seal back in proved to be a chore. I tried about a dozen times until it finally went in straight.

If anyone is interested, here's the homemade device I used to press in the new seal. I used a 1/2" threaded rod that was 2 feet long. The washers are 2 inch diameter. I placed on washer at the opening of the axles to center the rod. Then I placed a block of wood on the steering knuckle and another washer and tightened the nut to pull the seal in.



Now it's time to move on to my next project, replacing the exhaust manifold.

[jrhdpaintball]

clean looking jeep

[89blackwidow]

Congrats and welcome! Your in for a bumpy ride.

[deermjd]

Well I have some updates after going over my jeep very thoroughly. I bought the Jeep knowing it had rusty floorboards and had seen alot of mud. I looked at the frame carefully and looked under the jeep before I bought it for some of the common rust areas (rear frame near shackle mounts, front of frame near steering box). These areas looked fine and I have since inspected them with a screwdriver and hammer.

Front of frame near steering box:



Rear driver side frame:



Here is the only bad section of frame that I recently noticed. Wish I had known to look here before I bought it. This is on the driver side frame rail near the fuel filter. The frame has started to rot where the fuel filter skid plate meets the bottom of the frame rail.



Also, there is a small hole in this same area right next to the body mount. The four other holes appear to have been for nerf bars that were installed at some time.



I realize this damaged portion of my frame may seem minor compared to some of the pictures I've seen on the forum but I am concerned and want to address this issue before it becomes major. Here are the options I believe I have now:

A. Do nothing
B. Repair frame
C. Replace frame with one in better condition.
D. Sell jeep or part out

I really don't see option C or D as viable options for me. I don't have the space available to swap frames or to have the Jeep in pieces as I part it out. I can't see that selling the jeep it in its current state would possible either. If and when I do a frame off restoration of sorts, I could see a frame swap making good sense.

My preference would be to have the frame repaired and done right so the repaired section will last as long as the rest of the frame. I do not have any welding experience but I am confident I can learn with some time. My only question at this point is: Can the repair be put off for a period of time (say 12 months) while I purchase a welder, take some classes, and acquire the skills to perform this repair? (The Jeep is not my DD nor will it not be wheeled hard until this is fixed)

I am perfectly fine with paying someone to repair this but I have learned that sometimes the only way to make sure something is done right is to do it yourself.

[giggityjeeper]

I would fix your body mounts first... holy hit taht one in the last pic is compeltely blown out ..

ya none of the froame looks bad yet, I did some frame repair on mine last year, it was much worse then yours, it would have held up for longer but I had it apart anyhow....wether it becomes majr or not, the same is required for a bad repair or not bad repair, cu out hte bad, replace with new, waiting just means you will need to cut maybe 1/2" more somewhere, either way, you have to replace a sectin of frame...

I wold buy some new body mounts, maybe a 1" lift, get what I needed to do the frame repair, and lift hte tub right off, drop the fuel tank... never know what you may find then.... take a week maybe 2, clean the frame up, replace your body moutns, fix frame, and whatever else you find.... put tub back on....

[deermjd]

Just got around to replacing the exhaust manifold. Thanks to PB blaster all the bolts came out without a fight.

[superj]

your floor pans look just like mine. since mine are still solid when whacking them, even though they have holes in them, i just wire brushed the crap out of them and repainted them. i don;t replace unless they are falling through. living on the beach most of my life, i know what bad looks like and mine are not it. nor do your look bad.

i like your header, looks sporty

oh ya, good looking jeep. my same fender is beat up too, ha ha ha

[deermjd]

Another update on my YJ. I recently was planning to take it on a short weekend trip (400-500 miles roundtrip) and thought this was a good time to replace the oil in the transfer case. I've had the Jeep about 3 months and had no idea when it was changed last. So I get out all the supplies and get to work. I removed the fill plug first to make sure I would be able to refill it. Then I get my drain pan into position and proceed to remove the drain plug. Then nothing happens, not even a drop of fluid came out. I have no idea how long it's been like this but I suspected there must be a pretty big leak somewhere to completely empty the case and it must've been fairly recently because my transfer case hasn't disentegrated or made any funny noises.

So upon further inspection I saw where a PO had put some silicone around the seal on the rear output of the case. I started picking at it and reallized it was covering up a missing chunk of the tranfer case extension.



I'm still in the process of replacing the housing extension and have found all the resources I need here on the forum (including the part itself). Thanks Cody.

Having a YJ sure is an adventure but I love it.

[deermjd]

I just replaced the transfer case extension housing with a new seal of course and have found what caused the rear transfer case output seal to go bad.

Oil was literally pouring out of the old seal due to significant stretching of the seal as seen below.


Here's a shot of the new seal for reference.


As I was reinstalling the drive shaft I discovered the reason for why the seal stretched so much. When the drive shaft is installed the transfer case output seal covers the yoke of the drive shaft beyond where it should. To clarify, the seal is riding on the rough unfinished portion of the yoke rather than the machined portion where it should be. Notice how the seal is stretched in this picture.



Can any of you driveline guru's shed any light on why I'm having the problem? My initial conclusion is that the transfer case drop (1.5") is culprit. I will probably remove the transfer case drop or at least reduce it to see if that adds a little more distance between the transfer case and the axle to allow the tcase output seal to be properly located on the driveshaft. I believe my suspension lift is 2.5". Here's a shot of the rear driveline angle for reference.

[94chb]

yea definitly take that transfer case drop off, you dont need it, that drive shaft is way to far in. thats why the housing was busted also.

[deermjd]

Thanks for your input. It's nice to have some validation that I'm going in the right direction.

[deermjd]

I know my "build" thread is probably quite boring and I apologize if you find it to be. I am mechanically inclined and have done car repairs and maintenance on my personal vehicles for years. But I am new to the world of lifted and modified jeeps and want to share my experiences to anyone who is in the same boat as me.

Moving on,
I finally got the transfer case drop removed and the drive shaft reinstalled. I went for a test drive and quickly noticed some driveline vibration. It's most noticeable at 35-50 mph when coasting. I know this must directly be related to the transfer case drop I just removed. I had so vibrations previously and the u-joints are brand spanking new.

Here's a shot of the driveline angle currently. After some research it appears that I need to shim the rear axle to bring the angle of the pinion yoke to that of the transfer case output yoke. Or perhaps add a little drop back to the transfer case. Any tips or suggestions as I prepare to do this are appreciated.

[jay1335]

I would do a slip yoke eliminator kit (also known as an sye around here). You will need a new driveshaft when you do that. I recommend tattons driveshafts. It's expensive to do an sye but it's the right way to do things.

Also your build thread isn't boring!! I just got my yj and enjoyed reading what you are experiencing. I am going through much of the same things.