September 2006
Installation of the hood scoop went better than we thought. As mentioned earlier we weren't sure if it would clear the factory Laredo stripes. I was pondering this at work one day (yes sometimes I do have time to daydream in between pushing the cycle start button on that cnc machine) and remembered the all original 1981 Laredo setting along this guys house we spotted several years earlier. So we cut out a cardboard template and went on a road trip. The guy had no problem with us checking out the fit, after he removed the machete from the hood. (I guess it was there to scare off nosy Jeep enthusiasts). As luck would have it, the scoop would clear with no modifications. We just marked the centerline of the hood on the hood and template, lined up the template front to back on the line and after making sure the back mounting studs would clear the underhood bracing, drilled out the six holes. Some fender washers and nuts and it was in place. The studs will later be cut off and capped with acorn nuts for a more sanitary look. Since it was mounted cowl induction style, we trimmed the bottom of the opening to angle front for a more scoopy (is that a word?) affect. We were after a different look without being too bazaar. The bulge hoods just stuck out too much, too obvious. This is a more subtle look without taking away from the classic Jeep look and adds a little hint of muscle car flavor, plus gives us a mounting surface for those all important 401 emblems.
We decided to tuck the exhaust up a bit higher so that means notching out the rear crossmember, again for that muscle car era look. It really didn't take that much time other than measuring several times before cutting. Something anybody with a drill press and welder could do. We decided to go with 2 1/2" exhaust diameter so we got some 3" diameter pipe, cut it to the length that the crossmember is thick then sliced it a little less than half. Used a hole saw the same diameter as the outside of the pipe. Since the pilot drill on the hole saw would not be engaged in the crossmember during cutting you must securely (and I do mean securely, otherwise it will kick back) clamp the crossmember to the drill press table. Use a slow rpm, a light feed and plenty of cutting oil. Once that was cut thru simply lay the section of pipe in and weld. Finish it off with some grinding and you end up with a personal custom touch, not really noticeable to the casual observer but somebody looking over the details of your rig will appreciate. I guess sort of a wow factor. Not that this thing with a 2" lift really needed the extra ground clearance with tucked up exhaust, it was just something we wanted to do and it was easy.
Frame ties, If you got a fiberglass body don't leave home without them. I have seen these thing in alot of variations, some good and not so good. Now I don't proclaim to be an expert, or posses any mechanical engineering knowledge, but some how I don't think a section of 1 1/2" pipe welded to the side of the frame is going to do much to save your *** in the event of a roll over. This is my kids life on the line. After much thought on this subject we decided to go with 2 x 3 x 1/4 wall rectangular tubing. Maybe a little overkill but I don't think so. I took an adjustable bevel gauge to get the angles and transferred them to cardboard, made some adjustments then transferred these to a piece of 2 x 3 wood. Kept tweaking the angles on my radial arm saw then finally put it to metal. All I did was cut a v shaped section at the bend, not cutting thru the one wall, that way I wouldn't have to rely totally on my weld. Just heat up the area of the wall and bend close and weld the 3 remaining sides. The decision was made to notch the end to fit to the top outer corner of the frame, that way any force would have to be transferred down and in on the frame rails, thus literally having to collapse the frame rails rather than a shear force if they were fastened to the outside of the frame. I would rather have the frame take the force and work for me versus a weld to the side of the frame rail. The passenger side tie also had to be clearanced for the fuel filler hoses, so I simply cut a section of 1 1/2 pipe and layed it in the corner of the tie and weld. 1/4" plates are then welded to the top of the ties and bolt directly into the rear roll bar mounts. Hopefully these will never have to be tested, but at least give us piece of mind knowing we went above and beyond.
Trying to make a decision on hardtops, we picked up a CJ top for $75 without a liftgate but then found out the liftgates rust out and finding a good one was out of the question. They do make fiberglass ones but am told they are flimsy and fit poorly. So we contemplated on a Wrangler but couldn't find a nice one in our price range (read that as cheap) but got a second chance offer on this one on Ebay for $275. The only problem with a Wrangler top with a CJ tailgate is that the gate opens up from the inside and the liftgate can't be opened up with the gate shut. Sort of backed myself into a corner. (I like corners, makes me think of ways to get out.) We will definitely go with the Wrangler because of bigger windows, and all glass lift gate with wiper. Unfortunately we didn't score one with a rear defroster. The fit to the body is great, a testament to Shell Valley http://www.shellvalley.com/ The tailgate shouldn't be that big of a problem fitting an outside activated latching system. I'll keep looking for some kind of flush mounted latch during my trips thru the junkyard.
Disc Brake Fab
Well we were all ready to tear down for final welding to the frame when I stumbled upon an article in JP Magazine http://www.jpmagazine.com/ on Dana 44's in Isuzu Rodeos and Honda Passports with rear disc brakes. "Hold the horses, this needs some attention". Turns out these things come with 12" rotors with internal e-brakes, 6 lug bolt pattern the same as our Dana 44 Wagoneer axles and a finned aluminum diff. cover. Had to check this one out, considering I was going to buy a conversion kit off Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rear...emQQcategoryZ42605QQihZ013QQitemZ230109416674 for $499.00 that used Cadillac calipers but was holding off on doing so. This was a really nice set-up but hey, I'm cheap. So with tape measure in hand, or in this case if anybody knows me, on my belt, off to E-Z Pull we went. http://www.joesusedautoparts.com/EZPull.html We only found one but that was all we needed, a 1994 Isuzu Rodeo with complete rear end (except for the finned aluminum diff. cover, somebody already scarfed that one up). $35.00 if we took it off or $45.00 if they burned it off for us. Needless to say we left them burn it off. Rotor to rotor complete. Took some rough measurements and the axle tubes are the same dia. as a Wagoneer, so for $45.00 I figured I would gamble. Now this will be the 3rd axle housing that Jeffrey and I have CARRIED out of this place and was hoping it was the last. These thing just keep getting heavier or I just am getting older. Got it home and tore into it and found some amazing things. These axles use the same wheel bearings and seals as Jeep, have a very simple caliper set-up and an internal e-brake that would put some small compacts to shame. (Minor note of interest, I have tried to buy these bearings at my local Auto Zone for a Wagoneer and am told they are not available anymore, so I asked for bearings for a 1994 Isuzu and low and behold they put them on the counter in front of me. Hmmm!!) Now the article in JP was an installation of the whole axle housing into a Jeep by changing mounting brackets, but since we already had our housing narrowed with the offset differential for the Quadra Trac we had different ideas. Next post I'll show you how we modified what we had and got rear disc brakes for $45.00
OK, here we go. I pulled the Jeep axle and slid it into the Isuzu housing and it fit except of course for the length and I thought all would be fine, but found when I put the rotor on the axle flange it stuck out 3/8" further and would not line up with the caliper. I would have to turn the bearing shoulder and seal area back the 3/8" to allow the axle to move in further thus locating properly with the caliper. Now before I did this I had to mark my axle tube where it would be cut off so as not to disturb my 56" track. I cobbled up this simple fixture to hold a felt tip pen to mark the housing, that way holding the relationship of the axle flange (track) to the housing. Both sides are marked in this manner by clamping the fixture onto the axle flange and rotating the marker around the housing tube. Then I modified the axle shafts on a lathe where I work. At the same time I cut the diameter of the axle flange down so that the Isuzu rotors would seat properly. In fact, Jeffrey met me there by getting off school early and made an educational field trip out of it. Hey, he has to learn some how, right? After that was done the axles were slid into the Isuzu housing, clamped on the fixture and marked the Isuzu housing in the same manner.
I made a holding fixture from 3/4" plywood to support the housings while I sawed them on my band saw, the other end was supported with a steady rest. Now that I had the end pieces from the Isuzu, they just had to be spliced on to the Jeep housing in the same manner that my axle shop spliced the one side when they narrowed it.
I turned up some tubes to fit into the housing to bridge the weld joint again on a lathe. Now it turns out that the Isuzu housing tube is thicker than the Jeep (same outside diameter but smaller inside diameter) so I had to step the diameter on these tubes that I made. They were made to a slight press fit.
I should mention at this time, that before the ends were cut off the Isuzu housing, I took a degree gauge and mounted it to a place on the ends and recorded the degrees. This was accomplished first by removing the diff. cover (oh that's right somebody already took that) and placing the gasket surface onto a level flat horizontal surface and took the reading, then did the same to the Jeep housing to locate the new Isuzu ends so that the calipers would be in the same orientation.
After the ends were pressed on, the housing was positioned on my workbench which I know is level and flat, with the gasket surface on parallels and the ends were squared off the table, then flipped the housing 90 degrees and squared again. This was done several times to assure accuracy. I then tack welded the joints, checked it again then mounted the backing plates, axles, rotors and calipers to make sure everything lined up. Then final welded, jumping back and forth from each side to eliminate warping, then left it air cool.
The final very important thing that was done was to drill out the stud hole to 35/64" to press fit the 12mm. x 1.5 studs which is crucial to center the rotors, because Jeep uses a smaller 7/16" x 20 stud. I then found lug nuts on a trip to Carlisle http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/spring/index.asp from a vendor calling himself The Lugnut King http://lugnutking.com/ with the same 3/4" hex size with 12mm. and 7/16" threads. Very knowledgeable guy and great prices and nobody will be the wiser. Just don't mix up the front and rear lug nuts. This way you only have to carry one lug wrench. So there you have it, $45.00 killer disc brakes with easily obtainable parts that you can get at your local parts store. And here is the best part, I just sold the Isuzu gear set on Ebay for $50.00 Hell I just got paid $5.00 for putting them on. Now maybe if we don't find any new good ideas to put on this thing we can get it tore down, finish the welding and get it sand blasted and painted. Damn you JP, stop writing those informative articles.
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Frame and related parts are sandblasted and painted, now comes final assembly of the chassis. Hill Top Sandblasting 479 Hetzels Church Rd, Pine Grove, PA. 17963 (570)- 345- 6695 did the blasting and paint work. Super nice guys, a dying breed of sorts. These brothers have a mobile blaster that they use to contract out really big jobs, but will do smaller stuff at their shop. They also do glass etching and decorative stenciling on rocks with whatever you want etched on. These guys take pride in what they do along with very reasonable prices. Give them a call first so they can tie "the dog" otherwise it WILL jump up on the side of your vehicle. Ask for Ed and tell him the guy with the "67olds" license plate sent ya. Turns out he has a 455 big block olds engine in his 19 foot boat. (really hauls ***) The paint I got for them to use was Limco brand acrylic oem black quick mix "LMPQ900LY" with "LMSLR12GL" Limco 1-2-3-4 reducer and "KCPWL8" wet look hardener. This was sprayed on top of SEM green self etching primer. This stuff really dried hard after a week. Can't even pick at it with your fingernail. All these supplies were gotten from Klines Auto Inc 648 Mauch Chunk St Pottsville, PA 17901 (570) 622-4010 (570) 628-2943 and ran me a total of $113.06. Assembly will commence as soon as we clean all the grit from the rears and set up the ring and pinions which I'll be doing a piece on next time. We plan on going with red calipers and brackets just to stay with the perfomance image in which you'll be able to see a hint of them thru the factory chrome rims. If you look over the photos you can see how we molded in the front shackle reversal hangers. I didn't like how the 2 bolt heads stuck out the side of the frame so I cut some 5/8" round stock and slid them thru the hangers and frame keeping them just under flush with the frame and button welded them and all around the perimeter of the mounts, then ground everything smooth. Gives it a more molded in look, again not really noticeable to the casual eye but there, never the less and without sacrificing any strength. Stay tuned, it's starting to look like something now
The rebuild went rather well on the rear Dana 44 rear housing. A rebuild kit was purchased from http://www.4wd.com/ part number 8744 at $89.95. This comes with all the good stuff, like Timken bearings, seals, shims, pinion nut, ring gear bolts and sealer and marking compound, no overseas crap. For the price you can't beat it, although a set of instructions of anything would have been great. Since this was our first time at setting up a rear, I wasn't about to wing it, which I've been known to do. I found a good set of detailed instructions on the internet at http://precisiongear.com/. http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p2.jpg and http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p3.jpg and http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p1.jpg and http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p4.jpg
We first started by carefully washing out all the sand left over from the blasting process and even took a wire chimney brush on a drill and ran it through the tubes. All threads were chased with a tap so as to get proper torque readings later on. First thing I did was to make up a set of "setup" bearings, these I honed with a drill mounted cylinder hone so they would slip over the both ends of the carrier housing and sanded the O.D. on the pinion races on a belt sander. This allows for repetive install and removal until you get the proper shim thickness. (One thing that was quite tedious was mastering the stroke on the drill mounted cylinder hone, I overstroked a few times, and we all know what happens when you overstroke. It wasn't pretty. Imagine a long flexable drill mounted 3 stone cylinder hone winging at 1000 rpm's and coming out of the hole on the vise mounted bearing!!!) It got the job done, but I think I need a new cylinder hone. I do see now that Precision Gear offers "setup bearings" that are made just for this purpose. Might be worth looking into. Just follow their detailed installation hints from the links I listed above. These are very informative pages and have lots of pictures. Since this rear already had a 3:54 gearset in it from the junkyard things were pretty well in spec. but we went through the whole procedure as a learning tool for the front housing which will require a gear change, so hopefully we gained enough knowledge to do that one right also.
Assembly commenced on the rear rotors at the bench to make sure all our fabrication was honky dori, it seemed to be, so we took it back apart to lighten the load when it came time to hang it on the springs. I made up my own greasable shackle bolts by taking a stainless steel bolt and drilled a hole halfway down the length on a lathe with a #3 (.213) dia. drill which is the tap drill size for a 1/4-28 thread to accept a grease fitting. Then I milled 2 slots opposite each other along the length in the area covered by the urethane bushings with a carbide ball end mill. A crossed drilled hole was put in connecting the 2 slots with a #38 (.101) dia. drill at the position where the 2 bushings met, then tapped the end for the grease fitting with a 1/4-28 tap. The urethane bushings were cross notched where the 2 inside ends met, this will allow grease to flow through the bolt and to the inside and outside of the bushings. Everything I hear is that these bushings
are prone to squeaking, so hopefully this will take care of that. The axle was then set on top of the springs, and as I was gathering the u-bolts, Jeffrey says something doesn't look straight. I figure, how can that be, but sure enough it was not straight. That's when you start to get this bad feeling in your stomache. Here it turns out that there is more than one hole on the bottom of the spring pads and one of them wasn't centered on the leaf spring bolt. I won't tell whose side it was, but I'm glad he spotted it before the u-bolts were torqued down. We then installed the u-bolts and sway bar and torqued them to spec. Slid in the axles and rotors, painted the caliper brackets red to stay with the performance image and thing were looking good. The calipers will also be painted red but didn't get them yet due to the fact I couldn't find them for under $75.00 apiece, and we didn't need them right away. Priority is to get this thing down on all fours. At this point I was curious to see how good a job I did welding the Isuzu ends on so I mounted a magnetic base to the frame with a dial indicator on the rotors and only had .005 runout, within the limits, so I was happy. Next we'll tackle the front housing.
After washing out the grit and grime like we did for the rear housing we disassembled the carrier and found a cracked spherical thrust washer for the one spider gear. Turns out it's only available in a $90.00 spider gear rebuild kit. The spider gear shaft also had excessive wear. We took apart the 3:07 gear set that came with this housing and found good parts like the shaft, washers and spider gears so those were
substituted. We didn't have the luxury of having the pinion shims with this set so it was hit and miss without having a pinion depth set up tool, and couldn't find one to borrow. After spending a good part of a Sat. afternoon putting this carrier in and out and trying to get a good contact mark on the ring gear we walked away from it. Although I must admit Jeffrey was getting pretty quick at it. Sunday came and a new outlook, I stood
there alone while he was up at 4:30 at his job milking cows analyzing the situation and tried to come up with a method of finding the centerline of the axle tube, which is what is needed to set up the nose of the pinion. It dawned on me that if I measured with my dial calipers from the gasket surface down to the top of the carrier bearing race, then removing the carrier and measured the diameter of the race, divide in half then add that to my first measurement I would know where that centerline was in relation to the gasket surface. From that point I added the 2.625 (the standard measurement for a Dana 44 from the axle centerline to the pinion nose) I would have a number from the gasket surface to the pinion nose. Now the markings on our pinion was "0" so I didn't have to add or subtract any amount from that 2.625. I found that the pinion was .015 too low which means I had to add a .015 shim. Did that and got a good measurement and put the carrier back in, adjusted my side to side of the ring gear to get my required .008 to .010 backlash, painted up the ring gear for a marking and was rewarded with a good contact mark. Hey that wasn't that bad, wish I would have thought of that on Sat. Makes ya
realize that walking away can be a good thing. Now all that was left to do was disassemble one more time, put the proper pinion bearing preload shims in to get the required 15 inch pounds of torque, yeah that's right inch pounds not foot pounds. If you don't have an inch pound torque wrench 15 inch pounds equates to 1.25 foot pounds, 1 inch pound = .0833333 foot pounds. Just multiply 15 by .0833333. Installed the oil slinger, seal, yoke and a fresh washer and nut. Then added a .003 shim to each side of the carrier
bearings for preload, spread the housing with my home made spreader and drop in the carrier, torque down the carrier bearing caps and take some final indicator readings. This can be a very time consuming endevor, we got by with minimal tools but can see why a professional charges what they do. They earn every penny. And who knows I might be talking out my butt and find out 1000 miles down the road that it would have payed to have it professionally done. Time will tell. Next post maybe we'll have this thing on all fours.
Installation of the hood scoop went better than we thought. As mentioned earlier we weren't sure if it would clear the factory Laredo stripes. I was pondering this at work one day (yes sometimes I do have time to daydream in between pushing the cycle start button on that cnc machine) and remembered the all original 1981 Laredo setting along this guys house we spotted several years earlier. So we cut out a cardboard template and went on a road trip. The guy had no problem with us checking out the fit, after he removed the machete from the hood. (I guess it was there to scare off nosy Jeep enthusiasts). As luck would have it, the scoop would clear with no modifications. We just marked the centerline of the hood on the hood and template, lined up the template front to back on the line and after making sure the back mounting studs would clear the underhood bracing, drilled out the six holes. Some fender washers and nuts and it was in place. The studs will later be cut off and capped with acorn nuts for a more sanitary look. Since it was mounted cowl induction style, we trimmed the bottom of the opening to angle front for a more scoopy (is that a word?) affect. We were after a different look without being too bazaar. The bulge hoods just stuck out too much, too obvious. This is a more subtle look without taking away from the classic Jeep look and adds a little hint of muscle car flavor, plus gives us a mounting surface for those all important 401 emblems.



We decided to tuck the exhaust up a bit higher so that means notching out the rear crossmember, again for that muscle car era look. It really didn't take that much time other than measuring several times before cutting. Something anybody with a drill press and welder could do. We decided to go with 2 1/2" exhaust diameter so we got some 3" diameter pipe, cut it to the length that the crossmember is thick then sliced it a little less than half. Used a hole saw the same diameter as the outside of the pipe. Since the pilot drill on the hole saw would not be engaged in the crossmember during cutting you must securely (and I do mean securely, otherwise it will kick back) clamp the crossmember to the drill press table. Use a slow rpm, a light feed and plenty of cutting oil. Once that was cut thru simply lay the section of pipe in and weld. Finish it off with some grinding and you end up with a personal custom touch, not really noticeable to the casual observer but somebody looking over the details of your rig will appreciate. I guess sort of a wow factor. Not that this thing with a 2" lift really needed the extra ground clearance with tucked up exhaust, it was just something we wanted to do and it was easy.



Frame ties, If you got a fiberglass body don't leave home without them. I have seen these thing in alot of variations, some good and not so good. Now I don't proclaim to be an expert, or posses any mechanical engineering knowledge, but some how I don't think a section of 1 1/2" pipe welded to the side of the frame is going to do much to save your *** in the event of a roll over. This is my kids life on the line. After much thought on this subject we decided to go with 2 x 3 x 1/4 wall rectangular tubing. Maybe a little overkill but I don't think so. I took an adjustable bevel gauge to get the angles and transferred them to cardboard, made some adjustments then transferred these to a piece of 2 x 3 wood. Kept tweaking the angles on my radial arm saw then finally put it to metal. All I did was cut a v shaped section at the bend, not cutting thru the one wall, that way I wouldn't have to rely totally on my weld. Just heat up the area of the wall and bend close and weld the 3 remaining sides. The decision was made to notch the end to fit to the top outer corner of the frame, that way any force would have to be transferred down and in on the frame rails, thus literally having to collapse the frame rails rather than a shear force if they were fastened to the outside of the frame. I would rather have the frame take the force and work for me versus a weld to the side of the frame rail. The passenger side tie also had to be clearanced for the fuel filler hoses, so I simply cut a section of 1 1/2 pipe and layed it in the corner of the tie and weld. 1/4" plates are then welded to the top of the ties and bolt directly into the rear roll bar mounts. Hopefully these will never have to be tested, but at least give us piece of mind knowing we went above and beyond.


Trying to make a decision on hardtops, we picked up a CJ top for $75 without a liftgate but then found out the liftgates rust out and finding a good one was out of the question. They do make fiberglass ones but am told they are flimsy and fit poorly. So we contemplated on a Wrangler but couldn't find a nice one in our price range (read that as cheap) but got a second chance offer on this one on Ebay for $275. The only problem with a Wrangler top with a CJ tailgate is that the gate opens up from the inside and the liftgate can't be opened up with the gate shut. Sort of backed myself into a corner. (I like corners, makes me think of ways to get out.) We will definitely go with the Wrangler because of bigger windows, and all glass lift gate with wiper. Unfortunately we didn't score one with a rear defroster. The fit to the body is great, a testament to Shell Valley http://www.shellvalley.com/ The tailgate shouldn't be that big of a problem fitting an outside activated latching system. I'll keep looking for some kind of flush mounted latch during my trips thru the junkyard.



Disc Brake Fab
Well we were all ready to tear down for final welding to the frame when I stumbled upon an article in JP Magazine http://www.jpmagazine.com/ on Dana 44's in Isuzu Rodeos and Honda Passports with rear disc brakes. "Hold the horses, this needs some attention". Turns out these things come with 12" rotors with internal e-brakes, 6 lug bolt pattern the same as our Dana 44 Wagoneer axles and a finned aluminum diff. cover. Had to check this one out, considering I was going to buy a conversion kit off Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Rear...emQQcategoryZ42605QQihZ013QQitemZ230109416674 for $499.00 that used Cadillac calipers but was holding off on doing so. This was a really nice set-up but hey, I'm cheap. So with tape measure in hand, or in this case if anybody knows me, on my belt, off to E-Z Pull we went. http://www.joesusedautoparts.com/EZPull.html We only found one but that was all we needed, a 1994 Isuzu Rodeo with complete rear end (except for the finned aluminum diff. cover, somebody already scarfed that one up). $35.00 if we took it off or $45.00 if they burned it off for us. Needless to say we left them burn it off. Rotor to rotor complete. Took some rough measurements and the axle tubes are the same dia. as a Wagoneer, so for $45.00 I figured I would gamble. Now this will be the 3rd axle housing that Jeffrey and I have CARRIED out of this place and was hoping it was the last. These thing just keep getting heavier or I just am getting older. Got it home and tore into it and found some amazing things. These axles use the same wheel bearings and seals as Jeep, have a very simple caliper set-up and an internal e-brake that would put some small compacts to shame. (Minor note of interest, I have tried to buy these bearings at my local Auto Zone for a Wagoneer and am told they are not available anymore, so I asked for bearings for a 1994 Isuzu and low and behold they put them on the counter in front of me. Hmmm!!) Now the article in JP was an installation of the whole axle housing into a Jeep by changing mounting brackets, but since we already had our housing narrowed with the offset differential for the Quadra Trac we had different ideas. Next post I'll show you how we modified what we had and got rear disc brakes for $45.00

OK, here we go. I pulled the Jeep axle and slid it into the Isuzu housing and it fit except of course for the length and I thought all would be fine, but found when I put the rotor on the axle flange it stuck out 3/8" further and would not line up with the caliper. I would have to turn the bearing shoulder and seal area back the 3/8" to allow the axle to move in further thus locating properly with the caliper. Now before I did this I had to mark my axle tube where it would be cut off so as not to disturb my 56" track. I cobbled up this simple fixture to hold a felt tip pen to mark the housing, that way holding the relationship of the axle flange (track) to the housing. Both sides are marked in this manner by clamping the fixture onto the axle flange and rotating the marker around the housing tube. Then I modified the axle shafts on a lathe where I work. At the same time I cut the diameter of the axle flange down so that the Isuzu rotors would seat properly. In fact, Jeffrey met me there by getting off school early and made an educational field trip out of it. Hey, he has to learn some how, right? After that was done the axles were slid into the Isuzu housing, clamped on the fixture and marked the Isuzu housing in the same manner.
I made a holding fixture from 3/4" plywood to support the housings while I sawed them on my band saw, the other end was supported with a steady rest. Now that I had the end pieces from the Isuzu, they just had to be spliced on to the Jeep housing in the same manner that my axle shop spliced the one side when they narrowed it.
I turned up some tubes to fit into the housing to bridge the weld joint again on a lathe. Now it turns out that the Isuzu housing tube is thicker than the Jeep (same outside diameter but smaller inside diameter) so I had to step the diameter on these tubes that I made. They were made to a slight press fit.
I should mention at this time, that before the ends were cut off the Isuzu housing, I took a degree gauge and mounted it to a place on the ends and recorded the degrees. This was accomplished first by removing the diff. cover (oh that's right somebody already took that) and placing the gasket surface onto a level flat horizontal surface and took the reading, then did the same to the Jeep housing to locate the new Isuzu ends so that the calipers would be in the same orientation.
After the ends were pressed on, the housing was positioned on my workbench which I know is level and flat, with the gasket surface on parallels and the ends were squared off the table, then flipped the housing 90 degrees and squared again. This was done several times to assure accuracy. I then tack welded the joints, checked it again then mounted the backing plates, axles, rotors and calipers to make sure everything lined up. Then final welded, jumping back and forth from each side to eliminate warping, then left it air cool.
The final very important thing that was done was to drill out the stud hole to 35/64" to press fit the 12mm. x 1.5 studs which is crucial to center the rotors, because Jeep uses a smaller 7/16" x 20 stud. I then found lug nuts on a trip to Carlisle http://www.carsatcarlisle.com/spring/index.asp from a vendor calling himself The Lugnut King http://lugnutking.com/ with the same 3/4" hex size with 12mm. and 7/16" threads. Very knowledgeable guy and great prices and nobody will be the wiser. Just don't mix up the front and rear lug nuts. This way you only have to carry one lug wrench. So there you have it, $45.00 killer disc brakes with easily obtainable parts that you can get at your local parts store. And here is the best part, I just sold the Isuzu gear set on Ebay for $50.00 Hell I just got paid $5.00 for putting them on. Now maybe if we don't find any new good ideas to put on this thing we can get it tore down, finish the welding and get it sand blasted and painted. Damn you JP, stop writing those informative articles.
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Frame and related parts are sandblasted and painted, now comes final assembly of the chassis. Hill Top Sandblasting 479 Hetzels Church Rd, Pine Grove, PA. 17963 (570)- 345- 6695 did the blasting and paint work. Super nice guys, a dying breed of sorts. These brothers have a mobile blaster that they use to contract out really big jobs, but will do smaller stuff at their shop. They also do glass etching and decorative stenciling on rocks with whatever you want etched on. These guys take pride in what they do along with very reasonable prices. Give them a call first so they can tie "the dog" otherwise it WILL jump up on the side of your vehicle. Ask for Ed and tell him the guy with the "67olds" license plate sent ya. Turns out he has a 455 big block olds engine in his 19 foot boat. (really hauls ***) The paint I got for them to use was Limco brand acrylic oem black quick mix "LMPQ900LY" with "LMSLR12GL" Limco 1-2-3-4 reducer and "KCPWL8" wet look hardener. This was sprayed on top of SEM green self etching primer. This stuff really dried hard after a week. Can't even pick at it with your fingernail. All these supplies were gotten from Klines Auto Inc 648 Mauch Chunk St Pottsville, PA 17901 (570) 622-4010 (570) 628-2943 and ran me a total of $113.06. Assembly will commence as soon as we clean all the grit from the rears and set up the ring and pinions which I'll be doing a piece on next time. We plan on going with red calipers and brackets just to stay with the perfomance image in which you'll be able to see a hint of them thru the factory chrome rims. If you look over the photos you can see how we molded in the front shackle reversal hangers. I didn't like how the 2 bolt heads stuck out the side of the frame so I cut some 5/8" round stock and slid them thru the hangers and frame keeping them just under flush with the frame and button welded them and all around the perimeter of the mounts, then ground everything smooth. Gives it a more molded in look, again not really noticeable to the casual eye but there, never the less and without sacrificing any strength. Stay tuned, it's starting to look like something now




The rebuild went rather well on the rear Dana 44 rear housing. A rebuild kit was purchased from http://www.4wd.com/ part number 8744 at $89.95. This comes with all the good stuff, like Timken bearings, seals, shims, pinion nut, ring gear bolts and sealer and marking compound, no overseas crap. For the price you can't beat it, although a set of instructions of anything would have been great. Since this was our first time at setting up a rear, I wasn't about to wing it, which I've been known to do. I found a good set of detailed instructions on the internet at http://precisiongear.com/. http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p2.jpg and http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p3.jpg and http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p1.jpg and http://trailhed.com/images/d44/d44p4.jpg
We first started by carefully washing out all the sand left over from the blasting process and even took a wire chimney brush on a drill and ran it through the tubes. All threads were chased with a tap so as to get proper torque readings later on. First thing I did was to make up a set of "setup" bearings, these I honed with a drill mounted cylinder hone so they would slip over the both ends of the carrier housing and sanded the O.D. on the pinion races on a belt sander. This allows for repetive install and removal until you get the proper shim thickness. (One thing that was quite tedious was mastering the stroke on the drill mounted cylinder hone, I overstroked a few times, and we all know what happens when you overstroke. It wasn't pretty. Imagine a long flexable drill mounted 3 stone cylinder hone winging at 1000 rpm's and coming out of the hole on the vise mounted bearing!!!) It got the job done, but I think I need a new cylinder hone. I do see now that Precision Gear offers "setup bearings" that are made just for this purpose. Might be worth looking into. Just follow their detailed installation hints from the links I listed above. These are very informative pages and have lots of pictures. Since this rear already had a 3:54 gearset in it from the junkyard things were pretty well in spec. but we went through the whole procedure as a learning tool for the front housing which will require a gear change, so hopefully we gained enough knowledge to do that one right also.



Assembly commenced on the rear rotors at the bench to make sure all our fabrication was honky dori, it seemed to be, so we took it back apart to lighten the load when it came time to hang it on the springs. I made up my own greasable shackle bolts by taking a stainless steel bolt and drilled a hole halfway down the length on a lathe with a #3 (.213) dia. drill which is the tap drill size for a 1/4-28 thread to accept a grease fitting. Then I milled 2 slots opposite each other along the length in the area covered by the urethane bushings with a carbide ball end mill. A crossed drilled hole was put in connecting the 2 slots with a #38 (.101) dia. drill at the position where the 2 bushings met, then tapped the end for the grease fitting with a 1/4-28 tap. The urethane bushings were cross notched where the 2 inside ends met, this will allow grease to flow through the bolt and to the inside and outside of the bushings. Everything I hear is that these bushings
are prone to squeaking, so hopefully this will take care of that. The axle was then set on top of the springs, and as I was gathering the u-bolts, Jeffrey says something doesn't look straight. I figure, how can that be, but sure enough it was not straight. That's when you start to get this bad feeling in your stomache. Here it turns out that there is more than one hole on the bottom of the spring pads and one of them wasn't centered on the leaf spring bolt. I won't tell whose side it was, but I'm glad he spotted it before the u-bolts were torqued down. We then installed the u-bolts and sway bar and torqued them to spec. Slid in the axles and rotors, painted the caliper brackets red to stay with the performance image and thing were looking good. The calipers will also be painted red but didn't get them yet due to the fact I couldn't find them for under $75.00 apiece, and we didn't need them right away. Priority is to get this thing down on all fours. At this point I was curious to see how good a job I did welding the Isuzu ends on so I mounted a magnetic base to the frame with a dial indicator on the rotors and only had .005 runout, within the limits, so I was happy. Next we'll tackle the front housing.



After washing out the grit and grime like we did for the rear housing we disassembled the carrier and found a cracked spherical thrust washer for the one spider gear. Turns out it's only available in a $90.00 spider gear rebuild kit. The spider gear shaft also had excessive wear. We took apart the 3:07 gear set that came with this housing and found good parts like the shaft, washers and spider gears so those were
substituted. We didn't have the luxury of having the pinion shims with this set so it was hit and miss without having a pinion depth set up tool, and couldn't find one to borrow. After spending a good part of a Sat. afternoon putting this carrier in and out and trying to get a good contact mark on the ring gear we walked away from it. Although I must admit Jeffrey was getting pretty quick at it. Sunday came and a new outlook, I stood
there alone while he was up at 4:30 at his job milking cows analyzing the situation and tried to come up with a method of finding the centerline of the axle tube, which is what is needed to set up the nose of the pinion. It dawned on me that if I measured with my dial calipers from the gasket surface down to the top of the carrier bearing race, then removing the carrier and measured the diameter of the race, divide in half then add that to my first measurement I would know where that centerline was in relation to the gasket surface. From that point I added the 2.625 (the standard measurement for a Dana 44 from the axle centerline to the pinion nose) I would have a number from the gasket surface to the pinion nose. Now the markings on our pinion was "0" so I didn't have to add or subtract any amount from that 2.625. I found that the pinion was .015 too low which means I had to add a .015 shim. Did that and got a good measurement and put the carrier back in, adjusted my side to side of the ring gear to get my required .008 to .010 backlash, painted up the ring gear for a marking and was rewarded with a good contact mark. Hey that wasn't that bad, wish I would have thought of that on Sat. Makes ya
realize that walking away can be a good thing. Now all that was left to do was disassemble one more time, put the proper pinion bearing preload shims in to get the required 15 inch pounds of torque, yeah that's right inch pounds not foot pounds. If you don't have an inch pound torque wrench 15 inch pounds equates to 1.25 foot pounds, 1 inch pound = .0833333 foot pounds. Just multiply 15 by .0833333. Installed the oil slinger, seal, yoke and a fresh washer and nut. Then added a .003 shim to each side of the carrier
bearings for preload, spread the housing with my home made spreader and drop in the carrier, torque down the carrier bearing caps and take some final indicator readings. This can be a very time consuming endevor, we got by with minimal tools but can see why a professional charges what they do. They earn every penny. And who knows I might be talking out my butt and find out 1000 miles down the road that it would have payed to have it professionally done. Time will tell. Next post maybe we'll have this thing on all fours.


