So this will be my to-do list and progress thread for my summer projects, most of which are aimed at getting the truck ready for the Rubicon in August. Let the list begin.

-Finish mounting sliders
-Replace outer bearings and seals on 9" to fix newly developed leak, replace 3rd member gasket to fix 2 year old leak.
-Install Ruffstuff front diff cover
-Install new rear u-bolts
-Paint roll cage and sliders with rust bullet
-Install Borgeson steering shaft thats been in my garage for 2+ years
-Do something about overheating in hot weather, probably means lowering the winch aprox 8" to get more radiator air flow.
-Remount rear shocks to fix angle. After installing my deavers and moving the axle back 2" the shocks no longer line up.
-Maybe get new shocks to replace shitty Ranchos.
-Do something for night wheeling (more pismo oriented). Probably sell the pro comp lights I have and get some good KCs.
-Figure out why no one can hear my on the CB, I suspect the microphone is the problem as its an old POS and not the one that came with the radio.
-Add rear speakers so I have some tunes with the half doors on.
-Rear mud flaps. Not sure if I legally need them but its probably easier to just have them than to explain to a cop that I dont need the because acording to CVC #....
-Install steering stabilizer
-Re-hook up oil cooler
-Secure center console with something other than duct tape, possibly build a bigger center console, time permitting.

I think thats it for now... Looks like Im gonna be busy the next couple months.

Fixed it for you!

First bit of progress came over the last 2 weekends.

I got 2 spare 9" shafts from Ryan who got them from Cesar who got them from me (funny how that worked out huh?). So I cut the bearings off to put on new ones.

Getting them off was super easy, took less than 5 minutes per axle. Just used a cutting wheel on a grinder, a hammer and a chisel. These shafts are my spares, my plan was to get new bearings on these, put em in and use the shafts in the truck as spares.













Important note to anyone considering cutting off wheel bearings: Notice in the first 2 pictures there is a backing plate with 4 holes in it, this backing plate holds the seals and bearings in place on the axle, but I DID NOT need to resue them because my disk brake kit elminates these piece. This is important because it wouldve been very hard to cut off the bearings without destroying this backing plate.

Took it apart

















So this is where my good progress stopped. As it came time to put the new bearings on I was prepared to try the hammer on method prescribed by Dave and Scott. I got the bearing on with a lot of effort, but the retainer just wasnt happening. These things supposedly have .001" tolerance so its a tight F**n fit. After a lot of hammering I decided to cut my losses and put it back together with the olds shafts and seals.

So I had the week to think about it and with Dave out of town (only person I know with a press) I decided I would build one. Started with a bunch of 2x2 .250 square tubing I had in the garage and a piece of 2" round .120 wall DOM tubing. I was also lucky enough to have Ryan come help me today so we cranked this out.







So I built this thing and was feeling pretty stoked that it would work. Borrowed my dads 12 ton bottle jack, put the shaft in with the bearings and BAM it slid right on like butter. The retainers proved to be a little more effort, I was damn near maxing out the bottle jack and there was like 18 metric shit tons of pressure on this thing but it slowly pushed them down. Pushing the last retainer on when it bottomed out the round tubing bent and came flying out and the whole jig fell over and parts went flying everywhere. Fortunately nothing broke and everyone got out of the way of the shrapnel.









So at this point I was feeling pretty damn good that my home made press had gotten the job done. So Ryan and I cranked on it and had the whole thing back together in like 2 hours with a lunch break. Thanks Ryan for your help I greatly appreciate it.







I put some silicon around the outer flange and the axle retainer hoping to prevent leakage in the event of a future seal failure. I drove it around a little today and everything seems fine, so this is officially crossed off the list.

Couple other things...

When the third member was out I inspected it thoroughly and the gears look to be in perfect condition, the pattern looks good (had some left over paint) and the backlash feels good (I dont have a gauge to measure). I had forgotten how stout that Strange 3rd member was! The whole assembly probably weights like 75-80 lbs its heavy!

The press was welded together with MIG. I expected it would hold but it was kinda cool confirmation to see the 110volt MIG welds to hold up to 24,000 lbs of force. The bottle jack put a good dent in the top support where it was digging in, and thats impressive considering it was 2x2 .250" square tubing, I mean this shit is stout. Basically there is a rediculous amount of force on these things... Made me appreciate the amount of power these little bottle jacks have.

How about getting rid of the f'ugly 1/2 airflow blocking grill Also maybe replacing your t-stat with a lower one. My truck doesn't pass N under normal conditions.

Glad you mentioned the disc brakes, I was confused why you would want to by that retainer again.

In you last shot there, did you grease your oil lubed bearings?

Looks like a good list buddy, here to completing them (and making more trips) before the 'con!

Since when do you have a problem with the skidplate? Well it just might go so that should make you happy... I already run a 180 thermostat and wouldnt want to go any lower, plus once its open its nots like a 180 is any different than a 195.

And the bearings were greased pretty heavily out of the box, but they also have gear oil all the way out to the edges there that they are constantly rolling in, so its not like the grease on them is their only source of lube.

hes talking about your billet grill

The ford V8 EFI is suppose to run at 195 for optimal conditions. Then again, they wern't designing it for what we do with it so whatever. As far as your'e list, I'd put speakers in the half doors themselves. Being one of very few with experience, the rear speakers do less than you'd think and even a crappy pair of front speakers are way better than good rear speakers. Also, hooking up front speakers to the existing wiring is super easy using common wire lugs (the same that slide onto bosch relays and such).

And seriously, "shitty Rancho shocks"? I'd wait until you have something to compare that to before making such a blastfamous statement. I could be wrong as well but i'm not spouting off that they are the best when I don't really know that either.

One of the biggest thing I need to do before the con, Spare parts.

My half doors live outside so speakers in them isnt really an option. Plus (I know this is dangerous) I have a plan!

As for the Ranchos, Ive felt some other options (namely bilsteins in Stan and Julians rigs) and stand by my proclomation. But Ill give it to you that my assesment might be a little harsh given my lack of experience with other options on SASd FSBs.

When my half doors lived outside I wrapped them in construction grade trash bags to keep them out of the weather as well as many other items.

now i'm confused a little when did ford start using the thrust type (roller) bearings. I am used to seeing the ones on this page for the mustangs.
http://www.mustangsplus.com/tech/bearings/rearber2.html

Those are the "big bearings" just not the 1ton ball bearings... All of the late 70s and broncos have roller bearing

EDIT: all late trucks / vans with 9"s

Dont know what to tell you, those pics are definetly different. the seal design is way different too, it presses into the axle housing before the bearings, mine go on the outside of the shafts.

boat/marine grade speakers bro