Project "The Gray Goose"

Thanks Nate, I'll give it a try with one of my bigger straps. The other problem that I am having is that the passenger side seems to have a little lip on the housing which is causing issues getting it out. Goign to try and use a prybar on the bearing and the ratchet strap method and see where it gets me.

I have a port o power pull ram or 2 big pry bars for ya

Ill be hitting you up next week almost guaranteed Daniel. Courtnie and P will be gone and Ill have all week after work to actually get stuff done on it. Might try and get under there tonight and try the ratchet strap idea just so I can either get it out or start planning the next idea of how to pull it.

Alright, some good news and some bad news.

Good news, with a combination of a ratchet strap to the bumper and a slide hammer with a hook, I was able to get the diff out.

Bad news, I took the diff apart and it has teeth broken off of one of the center gear pieces inside the locker.

I dont feel like dealing with/risking it putting it back together before Renofest with a new part so I'm just going to swap Josh's old axle and keep the drum brake setup.

Then when I'm ready to sell the jeep, I will get a new locker and swap this axle back into it.

You win some, you loose some...

Glad you got it out! Hey at least you have options to work with.

Right... lol my hoarding of D44s is paying off for once. lol

I’m so proud of you

how big is the chip in the ring gear?

Nate, the ring and pinion look fine. It is all of the teeth on one side of the locker that got eaten away.

I dont k how if it is the one that I replaced the first go round or if it was the old one that I left in there.

Goose_XJ88 said:

I'm just going to swap Josh's old axle and keep the drum brake setup.

Click to expand...

Almost as if someone suggested this in a gas station parking lot while watching your jeep hop around and listening to it eat itself. Glad you finally reached this point. you will like to e-locker!

Well time for my yearly update.

Went to Renofest and had a blast as always. Finally made it to the first half of Sierrafest on the Rubicon and dropped off 200 lbs of concrete at the RTF "Driveway" for filling in a piece of the Howler Hole.
First time doing the whole trail since Kevin's 21st B-day trip and first time doing it Loon to Tahoe. I had never gone past the RTF turn off at Indian Slabs prior and the only other time I had driven past Buck was in the middle of the night.

Camped at Rubicon Springs for the first time and didnt get any water inside the Jeep going to the Dirty Dozen Camp.

Made it out on the Tahoe side only burning 13 gal of gas. lol Started on laundry while in tahoe and found out that with all the rain, Markleyville area of Hwy 89 got washed over and was closed. Instead of going the long way around to Hermit, I decided to head off to Jeff's house In Nevada to weld up my UCA mount that started to rip off the housing.

While we were in there, we welded up the gusset that I happened to have stored in the back that I didnt have time to install prior to the trip. That night before heading out to Hermit, we check road conditions to see if 89 has been cleared and opened back up. Much to our dismay, Hwy 4 has now been closed due to mudslides.

Well not to waste the wrest of the week, we decide to make the most of it and wheel Nevada. Broke trail on a new canyon and on Friday started a relaxing drive to Virginia City. On the dirt road heading to the trail I put it in 1st and 4 low down a hill and let the engine do the work. I then heard a pop and started picking up speed.

I limped it back to Jeff's to open it up and find that the pinion seal seemed to have failed, let water in from Dirty Dozen and pushed all the oil out. That starved the inner bearing which ended up grenading and taking out my R&P. Spent all day Saturday tearing it apart so I could limp it home and now I get to do both axles...

Guess that its finally a sign that I need to get the axles that are staying under this fixed, gears broken in and get this thing posted for sale so I can finally finish building my 99.
Going to figure out the parts I need, get them ordered and take the axles to Mike to re-gear.

Let me know when you're ready for a hydro assist steering box for your 99.