Dblaron

Well i attempted the gear swap myself yesterday. Id say it took 8 hours and still counting. The hardest part is fabricating a tool that can with stand crushing the sleeve. I bent 2 pieces of angle iron and they where doubled up. I got the rear completely done with the stock shims and .06 backlash but snapped the angle iron on the front which needed shim adjustment on pinion and carrier. . Its crazy that i have to use a breaker bar and my legs just to get a quarter turn. On high note the poly ball joints when in with ease.
Now off to get more angle iron to get te front done.
Im glad i did it if always wanted to see what the $300-$400 an axle is all about.

knotaddicted

Well, I am a mechanic...

And I didn't say I would charge 4-5 hours.

Dblaron

Im only a shade tree mechanic but ball joints from start to finish took me 3.5 the press autozone rented worked better at removal than install.
Gears however took me 10 hours but all good and done now.

Bob Thario

Damn firemen think they can do everything themselves. Silly.

CrazyCasey

I'd bring it down but I don't have the time. Wife is out of town so it's just me and the boys. And next weekend is my sons b-day and I don't want to wait 3 weeks to drive my jeep again. My mechanic at work said he would do it for 150 bucks so I'm just gonna get it done

Dblaron

Im kinda a big deal lol. Seriously that pinion nut is no joke it took me using all my leg strength and a breaker bar to crush that sleeve 1/4 turn at a time.
Hindsight id do it again it was good learning expeirence. When i put lockers in next year ill get another shot .

azrwilkinson

Nice job doing the gear install yourself. I was going to do it as well but a deal of a lifetime came up. So I had them installed.... Lol

Hskr4x4

Sorry it took so long to get posted up. I can also help you run the cb cable and everything if you want as well. I run the cable so you can't see it at all. I did Andrews 4dr and you can't see it on his either. Also my cap (covers) I got from ACE. I changed out Caseys tailgate and hood window bumpstops and it looks great. Caps are about 47cents a piece or so. (not even fraction of the UFO's)

awesomo

Looks awesome Dave! I have my CB installed already using the same bracket. im about to pull the trigger on the OrFab tire carrier, now that I know the CB bracket will fit.

One question though, did you have to grind away any of the powdercoat/paint to expose metal to get a good ground?

wralston89

Are those caps just push in?