ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[aka Larry]

To say this thing is beat to hell would be an understatement...

At least from the pictures shown, I think your frame of reference of "beat to hell" might be skewed Mike. I've seen 10X worse on Jeep DD's that have never even seen a trail or have engaged their 4WD.

As for as the wiring, use of bus bars is a step in the right direction that is not found in 90% of the Jeeps I've seen. He needs larger wires and fuses for sure, but otherwise, again, I've seen MUCH worse.

A good friend of mine has a '23 Gladiator Rubicon-X. He's added a light bar, rock lights, and a winch. The wiring literally looks like he balled it up and shut the hood before it squirted out the sides. After he saw my wiring of the accessories I've added he said "I need you to redo mine". Since I'm sure I'd have to rip it all out and start over, I politely declined.

 

[zmotorsports]

At least from the pictures shown, I think your frame of reference of "beat to hell" might be skewed Mike. I've seen 10X worse on Jeep DD's that have never even seen a trail or have engaged their 4WD.

As for as the wiring, use of bus bars is a step in the right direction that is not found in 90% of the Jeeps I've seen. He needs larger wires and fuses for sure, but otherwise, again, I've seen MUCH worse.

A good friend of mine has a '23 Gladiator Rubicon-X. He's added a light bar, rock lights, and a winch. The wiring literally looks like he balled it up and shut the hood before it squirted out the sides. After he saw my wiring of the accessories I've added he said "I need you to redo mine". Since I'm sure I'd have to rip it all out and start over, I politely declined.

Vincent, yes, I will admit that my vision of what an off-road vehicle is supposed to be may be a bit "skewed", but I'm not exaggerating that this thing is a 50-footer at best. The pictures don't show how rough this thing is. Yes, the bus bars are good in concept, just not executed worth the damn. If you're going to run bus bars, fine, then have a battery terminal supply them via a large gauge conductor. Otherwise use the battery terminal style, one or the other, both aren't needed.

When he was telling me how many tires he had gone through while at a rally in Yuma and seeing how banged up the rock rings on the 1-year-old wheels are as well as the full skids underneath, I can attest that he flogs on this thing.

I just simply cannot beat on a vehicle like that and to be honest, I really don't want clientele that do either. This isn't a Jeep nor an owner that I want to be married to just because I touched it.

I see a lot of Jeeps on the trails and I realize that many are in just as rough of condition, but that's nothing I really want to be associated with.

 

[aka Larry]

When he was telling me how many tires he had gone through while at a rally in Yuma and seeing how banged up the rock rings on the 1-year-old wheels are as well as the full skids underneath, I can attest that he flogs on this thing.

I just simply cannot beat on a vehicle like that and to be honest, I really don't want clientele that do either. This isn't a Jeep nor an owner that I want to be married to just because I touched it.

I've only been off-roading three times and I tell people that the published 'difficulty ratings' should be based on your level of prep (rig), your skill (experience), and your desire (or lack there of) to 'just send it'. My buddy with the aforementioned Gladiator has a 2" lift rolling on 35's while my Sahara is still at stock height with 33's. On our last trip to Uwharrie he was behind me, and I could hear every time he bottomed out and scraped on the rocks. I never scraped once. He's definitely one of the 'just send it' guys, and you can tell from the looks of his rig. I say it's a lot harder to navigate a trail if you care about avoiding damage.

My Jeep is a DD, and I while I do enjoy using it as a Jeep occasionally, I don't NOT want to tear it up. One, it's not in my nature. Two, the bank doesn't care if it's drivable or not they just want that payment. Three, my wife would kill me!

 

[zmotorsports]

I've only been off-roading three times and I tell people that the published 'difficulty ratings' should be based on your level of prep (rig), your skill (experience), and your desire (or lack there of) to 'just send it'. My buddy with the aforementioned Gladiator has a 2" lift rolling on 35's while my Sahara is still at stock height with 33's. On our last trip to Uwharrie he was behind me, and I could hear every time he bottomed out and scraped on the rocks. I never scraped once. He's definitely one of the 'just send it' guys, and you can tell from the looks of his rig. I say it's a lot harder to navigate a trail if you care about avoiding damage.

My Jeep is a DD, and I while I do enjoy using it as a Jeep occasionally, I don't NOT want to tear it up. One, it's not in my nature. Two, the bank doesn't care if it's drivable or not they just want that payment. Three, my wife would kill me!

I concur Vincent, especially with the bold.

I just had this conversation with my wife yesterday after she commented about how bad the Jeep was beat up.

It's not in my nature either and although there's no bank involved, I just can't bring myself to beat on a vehicle, on or off-road. I know many in the off-road community look at body damage or trail damage as badges of honor, I work with a few of them, however, my idea of a badge of honor is airing down, wheeling for a full day, enjoying the outdoors, scenery and the wife, airing back up when we reach the pavement and then be able to cruise down at highway speed back to town or camp with no adverse conditions from the trail.

The best compliments I seem to get about my Jeep is when people ask if I actually ever take it off-road. Most say it with a bit of condescending undertone trying to insinuate that it never leaves the pavement, but what they don't understand is that they just paid me the highest compliment.

As far as banging and clanging over every obstacle, I like to call it "driving by brail". Some people drive through a trail and just do so with little thought and hit everything that sticks up. I prefer to move through rough sections testing not only my vehicle, but my driving ability by trying to avoid coming in contact with anything other than the tires.

My wife and I got a chuckle following a Toyota, Jeep and new Bronco up a trail when we could hear the banging clear back in our Jeep and just played a game guessing which one was hitting and when. My wife called it whack a mole.


On a similar note, we noted how many breakdowns we saw during our week in the San Juans week before last. On average I would say we see somewhere between 3 and 5 a year during the week we wheel that area. This year we saw well over a dozen different breakdowns of all makes and models of vehicles. There was a Toyota gathering going on again this year while we were in the area and a few were having vapor locking and/or overheating issues when we stopped to assist.

That being said, we didn't come away completely unscathed from the week's adventure. More to come on that in a future post.

 

[ntsqd]

The first thing that struck me about those jumpers was how short they are. No give if something flexes and it will tear something up. One need only look at the well documented do's and don't's of hydraulic hose routing to see hints about how wiring should be laid out. I've used terminals strips in the past, but never a bus-bar. I tend to use isolated studs instead. A bus-bar's space claim is huge and not justifiable to me.

I think that I've mentioned before that a proper crimping will yield a crimp that, when cut thru and filed smooth doesn't show the outlines of any of the strands or the edges of the lug in the crimp. It also can't go much further than that or the over cold-working of the copper will put the crimped metal in the brittle zone. To do this reliably with a fixed die requires that all of the parts being crimped be within spec. Too large and the crimp will make them too brittle. Too small and the crimp will be short on both electrical and mechanical strength. In NEC crimps the dies and the lugs for each die cavity are color coded. Additionally the die imparts which die cavity was used to make the crimp in the crimp itself so that an Inspector can tell that the correct die was used on each crimp.

I've always seen vehicle to ground/rock/whatever contact as a failing on my part. That my skills or my understanding of the situation was lacking. Even in the avatar where maintaining inertia is hugely important I tried very hard to not make contact. Contact can't be 100% eliminated, but limiting it to barest minimum is my goal.
I've weeded out the "beat on it until something breaks" guys and do not go on runs or trips with them. Or maybe they've weeded me out because they can't understand why I'm unwilling to just drop the hammer in any technical spot and that drives them crazy.

 

[GeoRoss]

Yes, there are a couple of obstacles on Mineral Creek that have been "altered" over the years. It's much easier now, but they left a few as "options" or as I like to call them "extra credit", but there are go-arounds. It is still one of my favorite trails as the scenery is just spectacular.

Thanks Mike

 

[zmotorsports]

So, if I've said it once, I've said it a dozen times on my thread, that Ouray, CO (or SW Colorado in general) is my proving grounds for our Jeep. A lot of areas that we wheel are more "technical" in terms of off-roading and obstacles, but the terrain and elevation in SW Colorado will put the whole vehicle to its test because it will work each and every subsystem and component in the vehicle and reveal where the weak links are at or the areas of opportunity.

The steep grades of the mountain passes that go from 8k feet to well over 12k or 13k feet through a series of switchbacks and then back down the other side with little to no relief are tortuous not only because of the climb, but also because of the thin air which makes it more difficult to expel heat from the cooling packages. The terrain will push the vehicle's cooling system, transmission, transfer case, brakes, drivetrain and engine health to their limits and any one of those subsystems that have a weak point, that terrain will reveal it.

I have used our annual Ouray, CO trips for the past 19 years to build my Jeep as well as my son's and have found if they function well in Ouray/Silverton area, they will function well anywhere else. During some of those climbs, especially with any other traffic on them, my engine cooling system and transmission cooling systems will get tested, and then the brakes and drivetrain coming down the other side. I have seen my highest coolant and transmission temps while in the Ouray/Silverton area of the San Juan Mountains.

That being said, I have also had a couple of failures and areas which I have determined I needed to focus more attention on after a trip to Ouray so that is why I consider it my proving grounds. Coolant temps can sometimes hit 230-235 degrees and transmission temperatures right at around 200-degrees, even with ambient temperatures in the 80's, then drop immediately as soon as the passes are crested. In other area where we travel even in high 90's or triple digits, the coolant will fluctuate between 200-212 range and transmission temperatures in the 180-195 range when crawling through trails.

In the early years of my Jeep build, I had a couple of minor issues while we were vacationing in the area but they were easily addressed upon the return home. Then as some of you may remember, I have had to rebuild my RCV axle shafts after two separate trips to Ouray. Both times the axle shafts were fine the previous trip and then about 2 or 3 days into the Ouray trip I started to develop that infamous clicking and clacking coming from the RCV axle shafts that RCV technical team says is "normal". I have rebuilt my RCV axle shafts twice now in the 170k miles I have had them in my Jeep and about the third day of our trip they started making noise again. That's when I looked at the wife and said "I'm done with RCV's". I have been a long-time proponent and supporter but over the course of the past few months, my opinion(s) have changed.

A couple of months ago when we were in Kanab I saw a guy blow his entire front carrier apart who was running RCV's in his JL. The failure was catastrophic and to the point that the carrier came apart so dramatically inside his housing, the whole front axle assembly locked up and prevented any movement. Granted he was on 40's, which I wouldn't recommend, but the fact was he was dead in the water and the most expensive component failed, the RCV's seemed to be fine.

Combined with mine now needing their third rebuild, I am going back to U-joint style axle shafts in my Jeep JK. I have not had nearly the issues with a good set of chromoly axle shafts running a high quality U-joint in any of the builds I have done compared to the constant issues with the RCV's. Are the RCV's the strongest axle shaft available? In my opinion, yes, I think they are. However, looking at my earlier though process of wanting to build a good strong front axle, maybe I was a bit naive and should have looked more closely at "where" I wanted the failure to be in the event of something binding. I would much rather replace a $40-$100 U-joint than a couple thousand dollar carrier which will also more than likely take out the R&P causing even more expense, and worse, dead on the trail. Carrying another spare U-joint and needing to do a trail repair is nothing more than an inconvenience, but usually won't ruin an entire trip. This thinking combined with the constant maintenance that RCV states is "routine" is the last straw for me.

I have to lick my wounds and admit that I am not above changing my mind or thought process when new or different data is presented to me and this has been a big data point in my personal experience.

My son and I installed Ten Factory axle shafts in his WJ build several years ago and he has had no issues whatsoever with them. I have installed several sets of Ten Factory axle shafts in client builds as well with zero failures, not even a U-joint over the course of the past 10-years.

Lately, over the past 4 or so years now, I have been using almost exclusively Revolution Gear & Axle products and have been very pleased with the overall product quality, customer service and availability. Revolution offers an import set of chromoly axles called their "Discovery" series, which is comparable to G2 and Ten Factory in terms of country of origin and overall quality. However, they also offer a 4340 Made in USA version of their front axle shafts as well with the larger 1350 series of chromoly U-joint, which is the version I ended up going with. While I have the Jeep in the shop I figured I would go ahead and service the differentials and replace the unit bearings. The gear oil doesn't have all that many miles on it, but it's been a couple of years so may as well and the unit bearings have about 76k miles on them now. They are not showing any signs of wear in terms of play or slop, but they need to come off anyways to change the axles and 76k is an awful lot of miles with 37" tires attached so this wil be preventive.




Gear oil still looked nice and golden brown.


I also wanted to drain the gear oil so I could double check the wear in the carrier and make sure everything looks good before the remainder of the season.




I didn't get nearly as much accomplished last night as I had intended as I was late getting home, but this is where I left off for the evening when the wife got home from work.



I'll share more as I progress through the work.


Thanks for looking.

 

[bggrnchvy]

Are the Revolution Gear 4340 1350 u-joints bushing or needle bearing still?

I've never been a huge RCV fan just because of the 45° steering limit (which doesn't really matter with a 1350 shaft I guess), but the rebuild frequency is pretty close to the bushing high strength u-joints out there for mileage (probably longer). With the miles you put on your Jeep I wouldn't think bushing style U-joint would get you the PM gap you would want.

Regarding the gear/carrier strength limitation to ease of u-joint replacement, all of the knuckle u-joint failures I've witnessed have taken out one side or both of the shaft ears and in more than one situation broken the upper balljoint as well. U-joint pops are less of a trail repair than a gear set for sure, but can be an expensive and/or involved repaired as well.

 

[zmotorsports]

Are the Revolution Gear 4340 1350 u-joints bushing or needle bearing still?

I've never been a huge RCV fan just because of the 45° steering limit (which doesn't really matter with a 1350 shaft I guess), but the rebuild frequency is pretty close to the bushing high strength u-joints out there for mileage (probably longer). With the miles you put on your Jeep I wouldn't think bushing style U-joint would get you the PM gap you would want.

Regarding the gear/carrier strength limitation to ease of u-joint replacement, all of the knuckle u-joint failures I've witnessed have taken out one side or both of the shaft ears and in more than one situation broken the upper balljoint as well. U-joint pops are less of a trail repair than a gear set for sure, but can be an expensive and/or involved repaired as well.

The Revolution Gear & Axle 1350 joints are still needle bearing. Upon the first rebuild of my RCV's, after contacting them about their warranty and learning "wear" was not covered under the warranty that they tout so much, I talked to a tech who mentioned the importance of the 45° maximum angle, which at that time I went in and restricted mine down to 42° to be on the safe side. I found it made no real-life difference in overall wear or intervals between rebuilds.

The main thing I like about the Revolution style of axle shaft and joint, beside being 4340, is that they use a full circle retainer. Most of the failures I have seen in Jeeps have been a result of those half "C" clips popping out and then the cups being allowed to walk which then results in a failure. I agree that of the catastrophic ones I've seen on the trail, almost all of them have ended up being a broken ear (or two) or a pushed out ball joint. The pushed out ball joint has been mainly on the JL's however.

I have definitely altered my feelings towards RCV. I can no longer be such an advocate based on my personal experience. Going back to the old tried and true U-joints.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

[ScepterToad]

Great timing on the axle shafts Mike. I just checked my r-zeppa (I know you're not a fan) in my front driveshaft and the grease has slung out of it again and now it's loose and will need replacement. I have a spare, but this is getting stupid. I was having a hard time justifying going to u-joint double cardan shafts both front and rear, but with the loose slip joint in the rear and now this, likely time for a change.

 

[zmotorsports]

Great timing on the axle shafts Mike. I just checked my r-zeppa (I know you're not a fan) in my front driveshaft and the grease has slung out of it again and now it's loose and will need replacement. I have a spare, but this is getting stupid. I was having a hard time justifying going to u-joint double cardan shafts both front and rear, but with the loose slip joint in the rear and now this, likely time for a change.

Keith, correct, I'm not a fan, especially on anything over a couple inches of lift. I ditched my Rzeppa OEM back in 2011 when I originally lifted my Jeep.

 

[bggrnchvy]

The Revolution Gear & Axle 1350 joints are still needle bearing. Upon the first rebuild of my RCV's, after contacting them about their warranty and learning "wear" was not covered under the warranty that they tout so much, I talked to a tech who mentioned the importance of the 45° maximum angle, which at that time I went in and restricted mine down to 42° to be on the safe side. I found it made no real-life difference in overall wear or intervals between rebuilds.

The main thing I like about the Revolution style of axle shaft and joint, beside being 4340, is that they use a full circle retainer. Most of the failures I have seen in Jeeps have been a result of those half "C" clips popping out and then the cups being allowed to walk which then results in a failure. I agree that of the catastrophic ones I've seen on the trail, almost all of them have ended up being a broken ear (or two) or a pushed out ball joint. The pushed out ball joint has been mainly on the JL's however.

I have definitely altered my feelings towards RCV. I can no longer be such an advocate based on my personal experience. Going back to the old tried and true U-joints.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ok, so needle bearing, but 4340 body, got it. That should work well for your application.

Full circle clips was the game we used to play with kingpin D60 stuff. That and tacking the caps the to the 1480 ears of the 4340 35spl shafts to keep from spinning them in the bores.

You can probably source 1-1/8" external retaining clips and use them on any shafts clearanced for them with any 1350 joints you like.

 

[road ruiner]

don’t the u joints make the wheels jump more ?

 

[zmotorsports]

don’t the u joints make the wheels jump more ?

I wouldn't necessarily say they "jump", the U-joint style of pivot inherently has a speed difference when the axles are not aligned, so that increase/decrease as the joint moves through its rotation when the tires are turned to nearly full lock, there can sometimes be a slight "pulse" felt as the joint speed varies through its rotation. This is where the CV style of joint excels as they have constant torque or velocity applied no matter the degree of angle.

When the tires are turned to near full lock in either direction this is also where a typical U-joint is weakest and most vulnerable. This is also why when I wheel I attack obstacles with my tires straight or about 15° or so maximum and then once the front end stresses are reduced I turn hard to make my turn. I still wheel that way even with the RCV's and how I've taught my son to drive off-road so I don't see that changing between axle styles.

There are definitely pro's and con's to each style. For the past 15 years I have been of the opinion that the con's of the CV style of joint outweigh the pro's of the U-joint style of front axle shaft. However, I have had a recent change of opinion based on my experiences.

 

[zmotorsports]

I wasn't able to get much shop time last night due to mowing the lawn. Holy **** is it growing fast. I mowed Saturday and I was cutting at minimum 1.5" and in many places closer to 2" just in three days growth. There is no way I can go more than a few days between mowings or I'll need to buy a swather.


After putting the mowers away, I did have some time so I figured I would assemble the new Revolution axle shafts. One down.


Here you can see the full circle retaining clips installed on the inside of the bearing cups.


Both shafts assembled and greased, all ready for installation.


With the wife still not home from work I decided to disassemble the right side, which was the one making the noise.


RCV insists that the wear is caused by lack of lubrication and I tried to assure them that I use plenty of grease. In fact, this is also another con of the RCV shafts, they are messy. I routinely clean grease off the inside of the knuckle as well as the boot, but then during a routine LOF service on the Jeep a few pumps of grease into the joint and the mess begins all over again.



If I grab the inner shaft and outer stub shaft I can actually get rotational slop between the two. It can be coming from either the balls/cages or the splines but in this case by looking closely I think it is both with a little more emphasis on the splines this time around.

Thanks for looking.

 

[madison069]

Grease, a necessary evil. I used to pump cases of that stuff in a day and I don't miss it. Now I just got a few things that takes grease and due to limited use, I'm not having to grease them often. The riding mower and the Camaro has the majority of zerks in the fleet.

 

[zmotorsports]

Grease, a necessary evil. I used to pump cases of that stuff in a day and I don't miss it. Now I just got a few things that takes grease and due to limited use, I'm not having to grease them often. The riding mower and the Camaro has the majority of zerks in the fleet.

I agree Cody that many newer vehicles have little to no grease zerks these days. Unfortunately, much of my stuff still requires a significant amount of grease.

In the industrial field, I was fortunate to have a lot of exposure to various greases and greasing practices over my career, and I still have a love/hate relationship.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

I don't know too many people running RCV's anymore. They got crazy expensive and their customer service *****. When they went from a niche product to mainstream, they couldn't keep up. I've never been a fan of them for a daily driver due to the maintenance, but those orange boots tend to get you street cred on Instagram.

We used to run them on the race UTV's, but other options have made them unnecessary now (even OEM). We would send our axles back every race (we're old buggy dorks) and I think it was like $400 each for service! Even with that price tag it was unpredictable when we would get them back. Truth be told, one guy I raced with owned a race shop and he would use the OEM axles he got from customer's cars who went with RCV's and he did well. Most axle issues on a UTV I believe are chassis/suspension related though.

My CJ7 has a Dana 44 front with Dana 30 knuckles (came that way). I run Spicer joints and old Yukon Chromo outers with stock inners and old Warn hubs. My 115HP and 35" tires shouldn't be an issue. I figure if an inner shafts breaks I can pull it and still have my stubs in place to get me home in 2WD. One of my best friend's runs a 100% stock Ford Super 60 on his Jeep with 43" tires and 500+hp. He always says "the internet tells me it will never hold up".

 

[zmotorsports]

I don't know too many people running RCV's anymore. They got crazy expensive and their customer service *****. When they went from a niche product to mainstream, they couldn't keep up. I've never been a fan of them for a daily driver due to the maintenance, but those orange boots tend to get you street cred on Instagram.

We used to run them on the race UTV's, but other options have made them unnecessary now (even OEM). We would send our axles back every race (we're old buggy dorks) and I think it was like $400 each for service! Even with that price tag it was unpredictable when we would get them back. Truth be told, one guy I raced with owned a race shop and he would use the OEM axles he got from customer's cars who went with RCV's and he did well. Most axle issues on a UTV I believe are chassis/suspension related though.

My CJ7 has a Dana 44 front with Dana 30 knuckles (came that way). I run Spicer joints and old Yukon Chromo outers with stock inners and old Warn hubs. My 115HP and 35" tires shouldn't be an issue. I figure if an inner shafts breaks I can pull it and still have my stubs in place to get me home in 2WD. One of my best friend's runs a 100% stock Ford Super 60 on his Jeep with 43" tires and 500+hp. He always says "the internet tells me it will never hold up".

Thanks for the clarification to what I am now experiencing Ryan.

I know when I built my Jeep originally back in late 2011/early 2012 I wanted to build my Dana44 to the strongest possible axle I could, and the RCV's fit that description. They were the most expensive option even way back then and I waffled on the purchase, but again, I wanted to build the best version of the axle I could. What I wasn't aware of at that time, and what the interwebs failed to communicate, was the amount of routine maintenance they required. Maybe because at that time they were still relatively new to the Jeep aftermarket and there wasn't much data nor track record.

I know Toyota used a version of these (Birfield joints) for many years (late 60's up until mid-80's) with high success, but they did require routine maintenance which on those was not a quick job and required an in-depth teardown, cleaning and reassembly using new gaskets and felts. They then switched over somewhere in the mid-80's to the fully sealed modern style of CV joint still used today.

I also wonder if I am having these issues now due to the amount of miles on them. I have just over 170k miles on these and upon a deeper inspection last night I think the wear is now on the axle splines as well as the internal star and cage.

Ryan, you had mentioned sending yours back for rebuilding and paying $400 for the rebuilds. That sounds about right because if memory serves the rebuild kits which consist of a new star, new cage and all 6 new balls sells for about $145 per side, so when I rebuilt mine twice before it was running me nearly $300 in parts to rebuild both axles.

Cost aside, I have had to change my opinion on not only the purchase from a financial point of view, but also practicality. Even the import Ten Factory axle shafts I have used on my son's and client's builds have yet to see a failure and they were much less expensive than the RCV's and have not even needed new joints yet.

As for the "internet telling me it won't hold up", agreed, I got that all of the time when I was on a couple of Jeep forums and had shown my LS swap. I still get the so called "experts" that hit me up on the trail when they see that I have an LS and still have D44 axles. I am dumbfounded at what nonsense continues to get repeated on the internet. HOWEVER, that being said, I may have fallen into one of those who actually listened back in late 2011 when I was purchasing parts for my Jeep and laid out the cash for the RCV's.

Fortunately, I have a lot of miles and years of data now so if someone were to ask me about RCV's today, I would have a different answer than I had 12 or 15 years ago.

 

[zmotorsports]

More work on the Jeep last night.

I started by cleaning the passenger's side knuckle area and tube by grabbing my extend a tube attachment for my Blue Point air operated vacuum to reach inside the axle tube.


Works great for reaching deep inside the axle tube.


After cleaning the tube, I sprayed a little brake wash on the inner C to give it a cleaning. The RCV's really like to sling grease and although I've kept them relatively clean, it's hard to really give them a good cleaning with the shaft installed.


Tube and inner "C" clean and I pumped a few pumps a grease into the ball joints while the axle was out.


New shaft slid into place.


Assembling the new unit bearing and torquing the axle nut to spec.


And torquing the unit bearing bolts to spec.


Adding paint marks.





And that wraps up the passenger's side of the axle.

More to follow.

 

[zmotorsports]

Continuing on.

Before tearing the driver's side of the front axle apart, I moved to the rear to get the differential draining. Oil still looks decent with only about 17k on it. Probably a little premature on fluid change, but since I was doing the front and I wanted to give the internals a good looking over.


No sludge and only a little debris on the magnet. Overall pretty clean inside.


And the gears and wear pattern look great. I have right @ 40k miles on this set of gears now since my pinion failure several years ago forced me to rebuild the rear end a little sooner than expected, but it seems to be wearing well.


Checking backlash. Zero'd out the dial indicator.


Right at .008" backlash. Perfect still.


Moving back around to the front, I prepped the front differential to accept the cover. I like to let them sit overnight when I seal with sealant so I wanted to get this sealed up before closing up shop.


Driver's side disassembled, cleaned and going back together with the new axle shaft and unit bearing. I think I caught this bearing just in time as it was showing signs of being a little dry and starting to make a slight growl once removed and spun. No signs when installed and it was still tight, but glad I decided to replace them at this time. The front unit bearings have held up well for running 37" tires. They have 76k driven miles and probably another 30k-35k towed miles.


Everything torqued and paint marked.


Lowered down to install the tires/wheel.s


And that's where I closed up the shop for the evening.



Thank you for looking.

 

[madison069]

*****Looking for the paint pen that's being used.*****


Nefty looking vacuum gun thing, never seen that before. I usually tape a piece of PVC or pex to the vacuum hose if I need to reach inside a tight long spot.

 

[Jgaz]

I keep one of these handy to make the small hose to shop vac connection easier.

 

[zmotorsports]

*****Looking for the paint pen that's being used.*****


Nefty looking vacuum gun thing, never seen that before. I usually tape a piece of PVC or pex to the vacuum hose if I need to reach inside a tight long spot.

Cody at this time I've been using the paint pen that you suggested and using it solely just to test the longevity and how well the felt tip holds up. So far so good, but I think I may have contaminated the tip slightly last night and need to clean it. It should be on the cart somewhere in the picture.

The air vacuum is a must.

 

[rattle_snake]

My neighbor runs RCVs on this highly modified Tacoma. The truck is only used for overlanding/offroad, so it doesn't get a lot of miles. I have lost count how many times he has pulled the shafts and sent them back for service. Has had to put in OEM shafts when they don't return in time for the next trip.

 

[zmotorsports]

My neighbor runs RCVs on this highly modified Tacoma. The truck is only used for overlanding/offroad, so it doesn't get a lot of miles. I have lost count how many times he has pulled the shafts and sent them back for service. Has had to put in OEM shafts when they don't return in time for the next trip.

Thanks Justin. Hearing of stories like this as well as what Ryan shared are just confirming my decision to go back to the good ole' tried and true U-joint style axles.

Back in late 2011 when I first purchased these axle shafts and installed them, there wasn't this kind of data and if people were experiencing these kinds of issues, they certainly weren't sharing them openly. I have never had this level of issues when running U-joint style of front axle shafts on any of my vehicles over the years nor on any builds I have been a part of so I'm not sure why I stuck to my guns so fiercely on the RCV's, maybe because I spent so much on them that I have been internalizing and unwilling to accept the fact I made the wrong decision. I do know that I can no longer support them to the level I once did. Do I still think they are a strong axle shaft? Absolutely. But if someone were to ask me today, I would be honest about the pro's as well as the con's, and there are definitely con's.

 

[zmotorsports]

Cody, aka @madison069 had mentioned my "nifty" vacuum gun earlier and it goes to show that often times as we are going about our tasks or work, we don't give a second thought to grabbing a tool from the drawer because we've had it for so long and used it so much it just feels familiar and no one will give it a second glance. This is another one of those cases. I know I've had one of these in other photos over the years because I've had this style of air actuated vacuum guns for nearly 4 decades and have used the snot out of them as they are so convenient.

The older Blue Point one was very basic when I purchased it back in the late 80's. When working on various forklifts and other pieces of equipment at work, they had the old traditional form of contactors which had stationary bars, springs and contact bars activated by an electromagnet which pulled the contacts into mating. See photo below. These components were quite sensitive to using air to blow them out when working on them. Even at my young age and being new to the industry I excelled at being able to see patterns and see different variables from day to day. What I noticed was that many times my coworkers would blow the compartments out before working on them and then either almost immediately or at best, shortly after leaving the shop, these assets would be back in the shop for directional or hydraulic issues traced back to contactors. What I discerned was that dirt and debris was being blown around in the component compartments and getting up into these contacts and creating issues because the dirt would get between the contact points and if they didn't fail immediately, they would begin to arc and fail eventually, but their demise was actually accelerated by the mechanic.

Image of contactor.




I saw this pattern and realized there had to be a better way that wouldn't cause premature failure of these components, so I would grab the shop-vac and had a makeshift attachment for reaching into the tight confines between the components as my solution. Sucking the dirt out rather than disturbing it with compressed air and having the debris get trapped in the contacts. One day my Snap-on dealer walked into the shop while I was vacuuming out an electrical panel and said "hey, I've got a tool for that", which seemed to be a theme with him and for me it was a slippery slope.


I purchased my first one and it has been with me ever since. It only had one attachment, a piece of PVC tubing that fit into the end of the plastic body with the trigger and a collection bag. The new style operates the exact same way but has a few more attachments and is a bit more "refined". I started using it at home for things like engine work as I would vacuum around intake manifold bolts or valve covers before opening the engine and exposing the internals to this debris and found it had so many useful purposes and was much more convenient than the big ole' shop vac in most cases. I purchased the newer version fairly recently, about 10-years ago and have used it mostly since then. I seldom grab the older one from the drawer. I tend to use the older one for real nasty stuff and the newer one for less nasty.


For you observant ones, you will note that I don't even have the newer high flow air plug on the old one which shows I haven't used it in quite a while as I have had my high flow Prevost connectors for several years now.







I'm not necessarily trying to promote these, but ya'll need to go get one now....

 

[M.Brane]

Perhaps enlist the older one in your machining area for vacuuming up chips?

 

[zmotorsports]

Perhaps enlist the older one in your machining area for vacuuming up chips?

Unfortunately, I think the larger shop vacuum does a much better job of cleaning up the different sizes of chips that come off of the machines, the shop vac is definitely faster with the larger nozzle for chip cleanup.

For a while I was using the older one for when doing upper engine work such as heads or intake manifolds and running the vacuum through the runners and into the cylinders before reassembly. Often times these can have traces of coolant and I felt less bad about getting the old one a little contaminated compared to my newer one.

 

[signcrafter]

I'm never going to be able to save up for that press adapter set if you keep posting other tools Mike!

Just did a search for air powered vacs and looks like sunex makes one very similar to the blue point for a very reasonable price, https://www.amazon.com/Sunex-SX1000-Function-Power-Vacuum/dp/B002T15L16/?tag=atomicindus08-20.

I won a used torqometer on ebay yesterday, thanks for the advice on that.

 

[zmotorsports]

I'm never going to be able to save up for that press adapter set if you keep posting other tools Mike!

Just did a search for air powered vacs and looks like sunex makes one very similar to the blue point for a very reasonable price, https://www.amazon.com/Sunex-SX1000-Function-Power-Vacuum/dp/B002T15L16/?tag=atomicindus08-20.

I won a used torqometer on ebay yesterday, thanks for the advice on that.

Scott, that Sunex one looks very close, nearly identical and Sunex historically makes nice stuff.

Congrats on the torque wrench. Happy to help.


Is there anything else I can help you buy? Please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[signcrafter]

Scott, that Sunex one looks very close, nearly identical and Sunex historically makes nice stuff.

Congrats on the torque wrench. Happy to help.


Is there anything else I can help you buy? Please don't hesitate to ask.

Your posts and pictures are usually good enough to keep my wallet light. Hopefully my kids will appreciate the tools and not want to go to college.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Is there anything else I can help you buy? Please don't hesitate to ask.

I just realized who my new Crack Cocaine dealer is......

 

[zmotorsports]

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Saturday morning as I was sitting on the deck enjoying my morning coffee before meeting my son and grandson to break bread, I was admiring my backyard and counting my blessings for what the Lord has bestowed upon me.


The wife and I asked my son and DIL if we could take our grandson for the day and hang out with him. We have been able to do this a few times now and it really enriches the weekends.

Upon arriving home from an early breakfast and my wife not quite ready yet, my grandson assisted me with cleaning the sprinkler system's filter as well as digging and straightening a sprinkler head in the front yard. No matter what is going on, he just wants to be a part of if and help. I gave him a pair of slip joint pliers in which I use to turn the water off and he carried those around for half an hour looking for something to use them on. When I reached down into the valve box to turn the water back on he insisted on doing it his self.

After completing those couple of sprinkler projects we decided to do a little disassembly of the yard tractor. He felt like he needed both the step stool as well as the shop vac to work on it.


We removed the fuel tank, seat and rear fenders and did a little body work to a couple pieces as they came off the tractor. He was a big help with the hammer on the sheet metal.


When the wife was ready for the day we asked him if we wanted to go on an "adventure" and he was certainly up for it. I wanted to give the Jeep a rattle test and ensure my noises were fixed in the front axle so we piled in the Jeep and headed up into the mountains to find some dirt roads and he was all in. When I told him maybe we'd see some deer or elk he insisted on having the binoculars at the ready.


As we were coming down off the mountain in the early afternoon my wife suggested he needed an ice cream cone before nap time. Not sure the ice cream helped with his nap, but he enjoyed it.



Then before bringing him home for the evening we had asked him what he wanted for dinner and that was sphagetti, so we went to one of mine and my wife's favorite little Italian restaurants and spoiled him just a little more before bringing him home.



We sure love this little guy and he is so much fun and has enrichened our lives so very much. Hopefully our son and DIL will let us take both him and his little sister as she gets a bit older.

 

[Swanny1953]

Greatness, Mike - just greatness! The quality time you're spending with the little guy will pay HUGE dividends now and in the future, and you get the opportunity to reinforce the character traits and world views that have shaped your and your family's lives. Not that your son and DIL can't or don't do that each and every day, but a grandpa is just different!!! It just warms my heart every time my granddaughter tells my bride she is her "best friend"!!! I'm sure your little guys feels the same way about you!
Carry on!

 

[zmotorsports]

Greatness, Mike - just greatness! The quality time you're spending with the little guy will pay HUGE dividends now and in the future, and you get the opportunity to reinforce the character traits and world views that have shaped your and your family's lives. Not that your son and DIL can't or don't do that each and every day, but a grandpa is just different!!! It just warms my heart every time my granddaughter tells my bride she is her "best friend"!!! I'm sure your little guys feels the same way about you!
Carry on!

Thanks Gary. Watching my grandson, he reminds me so much of my son. Their mannerisms and demeanor are identical.

 

[zanyad]

The wife and I asked my son and DIL if we could take our grandson for the day and hang out with him. We have been able to do this a few times now and it really enriches the weekends.

It's wonderful that you're able to do that. I'm sure your son and daughter-in-law appreciate both that he's spending time with you and your wife, and that they get a breather, too! I wish my dad were still around to spend time with my boys.

 

[SilverJimmy]

One day my Snap-on dealer walked into the shop while I was vacuuming out an electrical panel and said "hey, I've got a tool for that", which seemed to be a theme with him and for me it was a slippery slope.

So let’s see if your dealer was really good and put you on his Slip-N-Slide for the full ride! Did he sell you a YA862 Choke Tester? I’m thinking he probably did as you’ve said you really liked doing carburetor tuning. The last one I sold was to an A&P working at the Grand Canyon Airport who was having to do an inspection on a Twin Otter. He was buried deep inside the fuselage doing the annual inspection of all the control cables and it was really hot, he was melting! He bought the choke tester and then hooked it up with about 10 feet of shop vac hose to blow cold air into his coveralls! Your grandson will love it if you do have one, I had grown men play with them on my truck and they just couldn’t understand how it worked, magical!

 

[zmotorsports]

So let’s see if your dealer was really good and put you on his Slip-N-Slide for the full ride! Did he sell you a YA862 Choke Tester? I’m thinking he probably did as you’ve said you really liked doing carburetor tuning. The last one I sold was to an A&P working at the Grand Canyon Airport who was having to do an inspection on a Twin Otter. He was buried deep inside the fuselage doing the annual inspection of all the control cables and it was really hot, he was melting! He bought the choke tester and then hooked it up with about 10 feet of shop vac hose to blow cold air into his coveralls! Your grandson will love it if you do have one, I had grown men play with them on my truck and they just couldn’t understand how it worked, magical!

Sterling, I am not familiar with that one. The only "choke testers" I have are one that magnetically sticks to the choke plate and measures angles of the dangles and the other is just a vacuum tester to check the choke pull-off. I'm not familiar with the YA862.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Who remembers Chokes???

Here's an old tool most have probably never seen...Blue Point Choke Tester:

www.garagejournal.com

This is a thread on the YA862 and how it magically takes compressed air and turns it into hot and cold air. Now I even know how it did it!