Started later than I thought we would tonight but we got a lot done. Started by removing the old dummy axle from the 2wd setup:

Once that came out we started working on getting the front diff in. The only real problem we had, besides the general struggle of holding the front diff up with a single jack, was getting the track bar in. We ended up using the old track bar as a lever and attached a ratcheting strap to that and then to the other side of the Jeep on the “frame” rail. That actually worked pretty well and went pretty smoothly.

Once the diff was in I got the brakes put back in and the new shocks and springs. So much nicer than the probably stock springs and shocks that were on there. The only problem I had here was getting the passenger side caliper to screw in. The one thread is a little worn out so we are fixing that probably Wednesday.

The other issue we had was the remains of the front drive shaft that was still attached to the front differential I bought. They had buggered up the screws real bad so it was a giant pain to get them out but after some struggle they finally came out. We also decided that doing the two u-joints on the CV side of the front driveshaft looks too complicated so, since they appear to be in good shape, we’re just going to see how they do and if they have to get replaced I’ll take them to a shop to have them done. We also discovered the play in the front differential I was concerned about last year (and created a post on JeepForum about) was bad u-joints in the axles. So I’m going to replace those before putting new fluid in the front diff since that fluid is so expensive.

We got the rear driveshaft in and put the Jeep in drive and shifted through the gears. As far as we can tell, it appears to be a good transmission. Sitting on jack stands and only going up to about 2000 RPM doesn’t say much though. Hopefully we can get the speed sensor plugged in and get the front drive shaft installed so we can FINALLY take it out for a drive!!

Special Thanks

My AC unit. I got this free from a buddy of mine (the same guy that’s been helping me) and I don’t think we could have made it through this project without it. The 95+ degree temps are brutal in a shop so very happy that I added this right before the project started.