Over the weekend we got started on some serious business. XCM came down to help out with the new Gears and lockers. It's really nice having a friend who is good at this stuff. I technically can install gears, but I am NOT a gear installer. I probably could have spent a week of evenings on these things, and Matt knocked them out in less than a day.
We got the Jeep up on the lift and pulled apart the front end, popped the cover and to my surprise oil actually came out! I say surprise because I was lazy when I bolted in the D30 and I never actually checked the fluid level LOL. Oil in it was actually pretty clean too! Matt wasted no time at all getting the new carrier set up with the No-Slip locker and new Motive 4.88 gears.
If you were paying attention way back at the start of this you probably saw that I had planned to put an 8.8 in the back of this. I even had an 8.8 sitting in the yard ready to have perches welded on, but then I came across an MJ D44 and decided to go that way instead. IMHO it's a better axle, and it'll bolt right in. Not like welding on perches is a big deal for me, but still.
It was missing an axle shaft, but that didn't really bother me since I planned to put alloy shafts in it anyways. There was some evidence of rather explosive shaft failure though, which explains the missing shaft. When we pulled the cover we found several pieces of metal sitting in the bottom, which appear to be pieces of the limited slip clutch system.
This might have been an issue for some, but since I'm replacing everything inside it's more amusing than anything. Once Matt had all the guts out of the housing I went to work welding the tubes to the center section and filling in some of the plug welds. D44s don't seem to have as much of an issue spinning tubes as the 8.8 does, but it's just a good idea for any axle, especially when it's out on the stand and the welder is right nearby.
Here's the old factory LSD with 3.54 gears next to the new Powertrax Grip Pro with 4.88s. I decided to go with the Grip Pro rather than a full on locker because this truck will see a lot of street use and is not going to be running really hardcore trails. I was also really interested to see how well an all gear, torsen style limited slip would perform off-road. I've never been in love with clutch style LSD's as they always seem to wear out and just not work that well. I'm excited to try this one out though as it promises to have smooth on road performance as well as providing more reliable traction in the dirt as well.
