Junkyard upgrades

[metalman]

waggy- which volvos? any way to tell if they have the tracloc without tearing into it? the yard i go to a lot has a ton of older volvos and this would be a nice pickup if i can find one

older volvos have rear D30's in them and some of them came with factory trac locks , keep your eyes out at the wreckers and pick up some cheap extra front end traction ..

just to clarify something, I DO NOT RECOMMEND the volvo diff, I am a volvo guy and although at some point every volvo guy considers swapping to them, they are so much weaker than the open diff that if you need the trac lock, you'd just break it anyway, and the open volvo diff is still really weak, usually the d30 volvo guys jack parts from jeeps because volvo took the d30 and did a lot of their own changes, although it is true usually the diffs and some versions of gears swap

its a spring loaded centrifugal toothed pawl. basically, if one wheel isn't spinning, once enough rpms of the axle are reached the toothed pawl catches instantly, and catastrophically in most cases, locks the axles

it was designed for low powered engines on snow, where lock up would basically cause equal spin, it was not designed for power or vehicle weight anywhere near a jeep, and it was deffinetly not made for big tires and low gears and t cases

put that same plan into action on pavement or wheeling, and basically it lets one wheel slip until your motor is up in the revs and the other wheel really has some momentum, and suddenly BAM, instant tooth shattering lockup

things get really fun when those snapped off teeth find their way into the ring and pinion, which considering the life of a jeep axle, will probably happen much faster, a sedate volvo can break off teeth until they pile up in the case and reach the gears, I imagine one tooth bouncing around would probably do you guys in, then you need a new diff, new gears, and possibly a whole new housing depending on the carnage

 

[dagr8tim]

Tim how high are you going? You do not need a DPA until you get up around 6" or more.

Not 6 inches now, but right now my yard is plentiful, so I figured I'd snag 1 or 2 while they are cheap this weekend (they are doing a super sale) and throw them in the parts bin.

 

[altierior]

All of the ZJ ones that I have seen have the drop, not just the V8 ones. Did you pull it from the ZJ? Maybe you are being lied to?

maybe. at the time i couldn't find one, i actually went on the NAGCA (North American Grand Cherokee Assn) forum and bought one from a guy parting out his ZJ. i didn't actually SEE his ZJ, but had no reason to think i was being misled. could be, tho...

 

[waggy]

volvos came with a few different kinds of lsd's , the one your talking about is the automatic locking differential ALD. which is NOT a LSD , they came with a dana power loc , which is a clutch type lsd ( if you find one and use it get the special friction modifier )
also if you happen to find one , youll need one that matches your gear ratio

just to clarify something, I DO NOT RECOMMEND the volvo diff, I am a volvo guy and although at some point every volvo guy considers swapping to them, they are so much weaker than the open diff that if you need the trac lock, you'd just break it anyway, and the open volvo diff is still really weak, usually the d30 volvo guys jack parts from jeeps because volvo took the d30 and did a lot of their own changes, although it is true usually the diffs and some versions of gears swap

its a spring loaded centrifugal toothed pawl. basically, if one wheel isn't spinning, once enough rpms of the axle are reached the toothed pawl catches instantly, and catastrophically in most cases, locks the axles

it was designed for low powered engines on snow, where lock up would basically cause equal spin, it was not designed for power or vehicle weight anywhere near a jeep, and it was deffinetly not made for big tires and low gears and t cases

put that same plan into action on pavement or wheeling, and basically it lets one wheel slip until your motor is up in the revs and the other wheel really has some momentum, and suddenly BAM, instant tooth shattering lockup

things get really fun when those snapped off teeth find their way into the ring and pinion, which considering the life of a jeep axle, will probably happen much faster, a sedate volvo can break off teeth until they pile up in the case and reach the gears, I imagine one tooth bouncing around would probably do you guys in, then you need a new diff, new gears, and possibly a whole new housing depending on the carnage

 

[BlueWeasel]

I've been told Chrysler recommends running friction modifier in all their jeep axles, open or otherwise, any truth to that?

 

[waggy]

it does nothing in a open diff , they just want to make some sales , its for the clutches in the lsd

I've been told Chrysler recommends running friction modifier in all their jeep axles, open or otherwise, any truth to that?

 

[stewie]

I've been told Chrysler recommends running friction modifier in all their jeep axles, open or otherwise, any truth to that?

nope

 

[metalman]

volvos came with a few different kinds of lsd's , the one your talking about is the automatic locking differential ALD. which is NOT a LSD , they came with a dana power loc , which is a clutch type lsd ( if you find one and use it get the special friction modifier )
also if you happen to find one , youll need one that matches your gear ratio

I do know of some early versions that use an actual dana lsd, but the volvo exploding joke diff is far more common, and generally what your going to find on anything built since the early 80s, it also doesn't help that the weak diff actually looks like it would be pretty strong, some almost look like a spool, until their egg shell thin casting grenades.

another caution on the volvo diffs, although the dana design has ratio splits for the carriers, and dana proper volvo axles do as well, some of the later versions volvo actually went over to using a single size carrier for all ratios, and just using some really wacky thick or thin ring and pinion gears to make it work, although i haven't heard of strength issues with them despite their sketchy looks, they are fairly hard to find replacements for if you want to change ratios and some guys have had problems with getting standard gears to clear the housings and vice a versa, plus they usually have fairly steep ratios

 

[kastein]

just to clarify something, I DO NOT RECOMMEND the volvo diff, I am a volvo guy and although at some point every volvo guy considers swapping to them, they are so much weaker than the open diff that if you need the trac lock, you'd just break it anyway, and the open volvo diff is still really weak, usually the d30 volvo guys jack parts from jeeps because volvo took the d30 and did a lot of their own changes, although it is true usually the diffs and some versions of gears swap

its a spring loaded centrifugal toothed pawl. basically, if one wheel isn't spinning, once enough rpms of the axle are reached the toothed pawl catches instantly, and catastrophically in most cases, locks the axles

it was designed for low powered engines on snow, where lock up would basically cause equal spin, it was not designed for power or vehicle weight anywhere near a jeep, and it was deffinetly not made for big tires and low gears and t cases

put that same plan into action on pavement or wheeling, and basically it lets one wheel slip until your motor is up in the revs and the other wheel really has some momentum, and suddenly BAM, instant tooth shattering lockup

things get really fun when those snapped off teeth find their way into the ring and pinion, which considering the life of a jeep axle, will probably happen much faster, a sedate volvo can break off teeth until they pile up in the case and reach the gears, I imagine one tooth bouncing around would probably do you guys in, then you need a new diff, new gears, and possibly a whole new housing depending on the carnage

Good to know. Thanks for posting this *before* I spent a weekend with the hydro jack and a wrench looking for one of these at the you-pull-it.

I've been told Chrysler recommends running friction modifier in all their jeep axles, open or otherwise, any truth to that?

Sounds like BS to me, but if it is true, it's probably to avoid people accidentally running LSD diffs without friction modifier.

 

[waggy]

i am not saying to use the whole diff , just the LSD , the dana one is the only one to get .

I do know of some early versions that use an actual dana lsd, but the volvo exploding joke diff is far more common, and generally what your going to find on anything built since the early 80s, it also doesn't help that the weak diff actually looks like it would be pretty strong, some almost look like a spool, until their egg shell thin casting grenades.

another caution on the volvo diffs, although the dana design has ratio splits for the carriers, and dana proper volvo axles do as well, some of the later versions volvo actually went over to using a single size carrier for all ratios, and just using some really wacky thick or thin ring and pinion gears to make it work, although i haven't heard of strength issues with them despite their sketchy looks, they are fairly hard to find replacements for if you want to change ratios and some guys have had problems with getting standard gears to clear the housings and vice a versa, plus they usually have fairly steep ratios

 

[deesiexj]

I'm going home for Easter and will have access to a pretty good junkyard. I'm looking for a rear hitch. Any thing besides XJs that I can scope out to scrounge a hitch from?

 

[88 Wagonman]

I'm going home for Easter and will have access to a pretty good junkyard. I'm looking for a rear hitch. Any thing besides XJs that I can scope out to scrounge a hitch from?

Every junkyard that I have ever been to has at least 5 XJ's and most of them have the hitch. I think your chance of finding the real deal is pretty good. I wouldn't screw around with modding a hitch to fit, it's just not safe.

 

[deesiexj]

Every junkyard that I have ever been to has at least 5 XJ's and most of them have the hitch. I think your chance of finding the real deal is pretty good. I wouldn't screw around with modding a hitch to fit, it's just not safe.

Yeah, last time I was at this yard they had about a dozen XJs. I was just wondering if there were any other options for the same hitch. Better safe than sorry, you know? I wasn't planning on trying to mod something...I gots no skills for that

 

[HA1RY DANGL3R]

just read every post in this thread..... what a great wealth of info!

i will be doing the ZJ steering box, tie rod, pitman arm, tranny cooler upgrades soon.... my XJ will be happy!

Thank's to everyone who posted!

 

[bubba xj]

my power antenna gets frozen down. how can i get it to just stay up? thanks

 

[metalman]

take the antenna out, turn on the radio to raise it up, then disconnect the wires for the motor while it is still up, then it should stay put pretty well, and put the antenna back in

 

[stewie]

my power antenna gets frozen down. how can i get it to just stay up? thanks

how about starting your own thread on the subject instead of asking in the junkyard upgrades thread.

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

For the guy looking for a hitch.

My XJ is currently wearing the hitch from my old ZJ with no fitment issues. Granted, I did make my own stud strips that I welded to the uniframe, But I am pretty sure the holes lined up anyway.

 

[themangeraaad]

Where is home and where are you normally? I have a u-haul hitch that you can have for dirt cheap if you are around the area and can pick it up. :dunno: No hardware, but you likely would get no hardware from the JY either so yeah, there ya go. heres what I got

 

[deesiexj]

Haha, thanks manger, but "home" is Greensboro, NC. A little far from MA. I did live in Boston for a while, but no more. Thanks for the help guys