Finally got the thing in! While not difficult by any stretch of the
imagination today was an exercise in frustration!
Application:
1998 Kota 4x4 with Open or Standard 8 1/4, 29 spline rear axle and automatic
transmission.
The Install:
First, unless you have super tall jack stands, bring lots of wood to stack
under 'em 'cause you ain't reaching the frame rails if ya' don't! Second, I
know exactly how those F'N ASSH*LES sheared off my wheel stud (from a previous
post for newbies ;)... I almost had to scrap the whole mission 'cause the lug
nuts where put on with a ZILLION lb-ft of torque! For anyone in the N.E. area
this was Sullivan Tire that did this. For your own sake, avoid these monkeys
like the plague! Third, probably related to 2 above, the brake drums were an
every lovin' b*tch to get off. After that the old gears, pinion shaft and
everything else was a walk in the park except for the C-clips... I dunno if
PowerTrax screwed up here or the tolerance/measurement of these vary as the OEM
clips were too large to fit in the spacers that PowerTrax provides. More of a
PIA than anything else as about 30-45 minutes, a vice and a hand metal file
fixed 'em up. Didn't take much filing at all and the large amount of time was
due to constantly testing the fitment to make sure I took off only the bare
minimum. Random notes: Bring lots and lots of brake cleaning fluid. I used
around 4 maybe 5 cans cleaning things up/out. Also, buy a can of Permatex
gasket remover. I don't even want to know what's in this stuff, but it turned
the old gasket into a goo that just rubbed off. Lastly, when they say twist
and PUSH HARD on the replacement pinion shaft, they mean it! Ya' can't be
tentative (like I first tried) and hope to get it past the internal springs.
Preliminary Driving Impression:
Note: This was a quick test jaunt of around 10-15 miles with the windows down
and the radio off. Right out of the driveway I got a big assed clunk when
shifting from reverse to drive. It's the standard Dodge tranny clunk plus
some, plus A LOT actually... This seems to have calmed down a bit (maybe just
the first shock of operation?). You are definitely going to hear a click (if
you have the radio off and the windows down) as the unit disengages/engages
when turning. There is no ratcheting sound, however, when one wheel is
"free-wheeling" or disengaged while turning as I'm told can be heard in the
previous lock-right model. Kind of interesting was I could tell which side was
"clicking" (disengaging) when going into/out of a rotary (circle for non N.E.
types). The clicking sound is not harsh or intrusive to my ears and I had a
hard time hearing it when I had the directional signal (blinker :-) on. When
parallel parking or any low speed situation with lots of turning and shifting,
forget about it! The best way to I can describe this is that the unit was just
plane confused... Lots and lots of clicking and clunking going on as I parked
the rig! I'm told, and will soon find out, that the noise lessens as the unit
breaks in... Could very well be that the driver gets used to it though! ;-)
Obviously I haven't tried it off-road yet, but there is no doubt it drives both
wheels the same when power is applied. I particularly noticed it when powering
into a turn like from a stop light/sign taking a left or right turn... The
inside wheel really wants to spin as it's being turned at the same speed as the
outside wheel... Kind of interesting feeling/phenomenon and I noticed the
increased understeer this causes. That's about it for now, but there is one
thing I need to point out/reiterate and that is that I have an automatic
transmission... I'm told, and can see how a manual tranny would transmit much
more of the feeling of the unit in operation and possibly be noisier.
If anybody has any questions, just lemme know.
Tom
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:50:05 EDT