Well, after a long delay, I finally had time to pull the front end out of the
'88 and figure out what happen during the BBQ. All I can say is I'm surprised
and disappointed. As it turns out, it wasn't a broken inner shaft like we
thought, it was in fact, the CAD like we originally thought the day it
happened. When Jim and I had it up on Jon's lift during the BBQ, because of
the skid plates and all the mud & crud, we couldn't see into the housing when I
removed the CAD. It's seemed like the CAD was working OK with it hanging loose
with the vacuum lines attached. I could reach up with my hand and manually
slide the axle shaft lock collar over with my fingers but because I couldn't
see in there, I didn't realize I was sliding it over too far. Obviously, it’s
only engaged when it's centered between the two shafts. If you move it all the
way to the right, it's completely on the outer stub shaft and all the way to
the left completely on the inner short shaft. If I had taken a few more
minutes to drop the skid plates, I would have realized that and had it resolved
that day. So in reality, I didn’t break anything just misdiagnosed the problem.
I did however, route the vent hose incorrectly after putting it back together
and it accidentally pulled loose when I drove down in 2wd to meet everyone at
the lower falls. Tom noticed the hose dragging and I reconnected it when he
mentioned it to me, however it was too late. When I pulled the cover
yesterday, I was greeted with about 3 pints of dirty milk.
That cheapo, generic Limited Slip I had it there is completely toast. There is
nothing left of it's clutches so I pulled it. I took the 4:10 ring & pinion
out to put into my 96 later. For now, I put the front diff back together with
the original open carrier I took out of it and a fairly new set of 3.90s I
acquired somewhere. I have to swap the rear gears and the rear cover and then
both the front and rear assemblies (including the rear Detroit Locker) are
going up for sale.
The rear Crane Rock Cover will be sold separately as that was almost $200
itself and has only been on the truck since May.
The TrailMaster suspension lift with all the extra add-ons will also get
listed. That includes the front and rear dual shock kits (long since
discontinued, the fronts were never even installed on the truck), the dual
steering stabilizer (also discontinued and removed after the first BBQ I
attended), add-a-leafs, and the custom pieces I fabricated myself (rear torque
bars and the supporting cross member/mount). I should be able to get $500-$600
for the lift kit (new = $1800 list, $1400+ street price) alone but I'm hoping
that with the extra pieces I could get close to a grand which will still be a
great deal for whoever buys it. I have over $2500 in parts there alone.
I'm also listing the 5 - 15x10 Champion Beadlock rims (4 plus spare) including
the 33x13.50 poly-glass belted Baja Claws. The rims are true beadlock rims and
have a 5 on 4.5-bolt pattern so I'm sure they'll get some interest from the
Jeep crowd also. 4 of the Claws have some dry cracking (from age and running
really low pressures) but have a little better than 50% tread left. The 5th
was a spare that was only used once (by Tom when he cut a tire on Christine)
and only has a couple of miles on it.
I may have a few other pieces that may get listed also. It depends on their
condition once I get them off the truck. Everything will be offered to list
members first and later listed on eBay if they don't sell.
Walt
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