As I tore into the steering last night, more details of this bodge job became apparent.
Here's the pump, laying across the steering rod for now.
Sure looks like a newer steering box, and possibly old style leaf shackles.
As I tore into the steering last night, more details of this bodge job became apparent.
Here's the pump, laying across the steering rod for now.
Sure looks like a newer steering box, and possibly old style leaf shackles.
Just Empty Every Pocket, et cetera.
I bought an old Jerry can a while back and a small collection of CJ bits came with it. They won't work on my J20 but maybe they will work for you. Shoot me a PM if you don't hear from me by Monday.
Something called "winter" finally arrived here with a vengeance, and while I consider myself "fairly hardy", and I do have some heat in my shop, when temps drop into the teens at night I pretty much just want to stay inside by the wood stove with a cup of tea.
That, and I was ill with some sort of snot-and-plegm producing plague for most of last week.
Still, I managed to get some work done.
The Dana 44 spider gears arrived. With the center section removed, replacing the locking blocks with the gears was pretty straightforward.
Then it was just a matter of getting the chunk back in the axle housing.
Same way I took it out. The old Home Brew Dana Axle Housing Spreader.
Back Story: in 2010 we decided to swap gear ratios in our Volvo Amazon 24 Hours of Lemons car. The Amazon uses a Dana 30 rear axle- which is pretty similar to the 44 in this Jeep, just smaller. The way these axles work, the inside of the center section is a few thousandths _thinner_ than the width of the bearing to bearing width of the center section. This preloads the bearings. To get center sections in and out, you actually have to spread the axle a few thousandths.
The axle housing is a giant chunk of cast iron.
Huh?
Yes, this actually works. The cover bolt pattern was a bit different on the 44 than on the 30, but this tool I made 14 years ago still worked perfectly- after drilling new mounting holes. A couple of turns of the nuts on the threaded rods top and bottom and the section went in and out easily. There is an actual tool to do this, but last I checked they cost something like $600. And I think that was in 2014.
Differential: Unlocked!
Looking good! The D44 is a great axle. Good luck sorting out the steering, looks messy.
When you get around to the front axle, check for a tag on the cover to tell you what it is. Disc brakes were not available in 1974, so yours has either had a conversion kit put on, or a later ('77-81 narrow) axle assembly installed. It might even be another D44, from a Scout or something. Brakes and knuckles varied by year, which is why I suggest finding the tag, and knowing for sure what is on it before ordering parts. Most FLAPS have every swap possibility listed, but sometimes not the original. The D30 axle shafts/diff themselves should be the same from '72-'81. I think, don't quote me.
Old Jeeps are fun! Right?
Keith Tanner said:You made me look. Wheelbase on this thing is 83.5". My stumpy little Land Rover is 88".
I didn't realize CJ-5s were so short. That wheelbase is only 3.5" longer than my Samurai.
It's a '76+ windshield frame. The '75 and older are slightly wider at the top and less angled toward the rear. If the roll bar angle matches the windshield, it's a '76+ as well. Disks up front suggest newer than '74 as well.
I have a mutt of a '74 CJ5. The chassis is a '74 but the tub is '76+ (retaining the older windshield and roll bar). People mix and match all kinds of stuff with these things.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
Yep! Stumpy little bastiges that are well-suited for scrambling around in the woods on barely-a-two-track forest service roads. Lifting them to the moon is anathema to their original purpose. I tell folks its best if they think of them as the OG side-by-side ATV.
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