What I'm working on now: Axle Swap and Shock Shifters
 

Just a quick post about what I'm working on now. . .

The axle swap is well underway and in the middle of that I've decided to do a shock shifter modifiction as well.

Some of you might know I picked up the stronger rear D44 axle out of the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon edition to replace my current rear axle. Along with a number of goodies it has the factory air locker in it which I'm looking forward to. So it is a strength and traction improvement.

All told the project is encompassing these major phases:

Axle Swap
This is the basic mechanics of getting the new axle installed and mechanically functional. Normally, the new axle is a straight bolt-in swap. But I needed to re-set the pinion angle as well as add lower shock mounts) and I'll be swapping out the pinion yoke for a different type.

Electrical Installation
The axle locker is air actuated and requires an air pump. This requires electricity and I'll be tapping into the Jeep's Power Distribution Center and opening up the dash to install the necessary relays, switches, and wiring harness.

Pump Mounting
The pump needs to be bolted under the hood, hooked up to electricity, and have the air hoses routed to the axle and to the firewall / air filter.

Shock Shifter
This is the biggest PITA of the project. Trying to re-design the suspension system. I'm basing it off of an existing aftermarket kit but otherwise having to reverse engineer it based on looking at internet photos. Normally it's a $130 kit but I can fab it up out of some scrap steel I have kicking about my garage. The tricky part is accounting for the movement of the axle. As the Jeep suspension cycles the axle moves left to right, up and down, and slightly forward or backwards, not to mention it also rotates slightly.

This is as far as I've gotten as of last night. I started at the beginning of June but have had many nights where I couldn't work on the project. With the first shock shifter largely "in" I feel like I've turned a major milestone on this project. Still lots of work to do. But I think I can get the Jeep ready to roll for a camping trip at the beginning of July with my son.

I see you have a floor jack.

If you find yourself needing another, let me know. I won't be using mine for a while

That's cool and all, but seems like a lot of time and effort to save $130. :dunno:

Yes, this was my conclusion a few days ago. . . . but I have more time in the evenings than I do the $130 to drop on the Jeep.

Adding the extra $130 on top of the $1200+ spent on the regear, the $400 spend on fixing other worn components on the front axle, and the $800-900 for tires that the Jeep also needs would not go over well from the finance department.

Thanks! But I think I'm good with the one floor jack for now.

Pulled the axle out from under the Jeep again so I could better finish the welds. They look a bit blobby but they'll hold.

Man, I went through a lot of angle grinder cutting disks, 4, in the last day and a half. For some reasons these discs kept binding up when cutting through the plate steel. And at ~12,000 rpm when they do that they crack or chip and then start disintegrating rapidly after that. So, I picked up another disk this morning. That and more welding wire. Ran out of the welding wire last night after HD had closed so I couldn't do much additional work.

Ummm... I may call on you for a favor. :)

With what I see you able to do - should take 10 minutes.. haha

:)

Dude, those welds look awful. :)

Thanks. . . yes they do.

Made more progress this weekend....