93 RC Trail Rig

[rjtx667]

well tore into the front axle today 

its the inner oil seal.... which means basically I got to take it all apart... the shafts the carrier the cad system all of it.

I got the shafts out and was working on the carrier but I got tired so called it a night.

I will try some more tomorrow, when I get to the seals I will go ahead and replace both so I don't have to worry about it again.

Really wish I could afford some new gears, would be a good time to give it a go 

I guess if I screw it up really bad then I will just swap axles and springs from the 91... at least I know the bolts are easy to get off on the 91 

[rjtx667]

Well I have to say getting the carrier out is a PITA 

I watched video's and searched the net for tricks, and some I tried and failed, others I was not willing to try (was not touching the pinion gear).

I finally had my light bulb go off.. I took my floor jack handle through a strap around the carrier. I placed it on the axle by the cad unit... then on the other end I placed a jack (like from a durango)... jacked away and it worked pretty good. Made my own press 

once it was out the seal was a walk in the park. putting the carrier back in was not bad either.

it appears that someone was in there before because the driver side "base" has a chunk missing, and it was not in the dif. I put it back as is because there is nothing to be done about it right now.

I now have the passenger side all done, THe driver side I need to get the intermediate shaft in and the c clip in. after that I have to install the new seal in the cad unit then lock the cad setup and finally get the driver side done.

Hopefully I can do that tomorrow, going to nascar now.

I also got a few parts to get for the a/c but it is looking promising.

[taz_man440]

Im guessing your not gonna need the spacer with the new hubs?  I'll ship it monday if you do. Thats my first weekday off this week...

[rjtx667]

might get you to bring it to hidden falls just in case but I think what I got will work for now... maybe

[taz_man440]

Will do....   I do believe I have these parts because I put a set of hubs on my old 85 rc. 

[rjtx667]

So... after I get the right seal (driver side is intermediate axle shaft seal  )  it went together pretty good.

I had a piece of all thread a few washers and nuts. pressed it in and got the axle all back together. Then realized I only had LSD gear oil and thats for the 2000 

Oh well have to go by the parts house tomorrow anyways for the A/C gasket set. I replaced a few parts while it was open and need a few gaskets.

I did take a few pics of my hubs before the MM were installed. As you can see ( I think? ) you can see the spacer of my concerns. It is pushed back far enough to be in the bearings area and not the hub area. I left the spacers in on both sides and the hubs installed just fine.

A sad note, the hubs stick out to far to allow me to put the center caps back on now.     I guess I can live with that, these wheels won't be on there for all that long. Still trying to decide if I should put the older simi dry rot 33's back on it for the trip or keep the new 31's.


I also got the e-fan installed, but not connected yet. Its not a great install, just a few zip ties and a through condenser clip but it will hold. And I can say that sucker pushes some air.

This has been an experience getting in the front axle, and sadly I will have to do it to the 91 at some point soon.

Oh forgot to mention I did the CAD lockout as well since it was out.

[rjtx667]

So today I finally got to put the gear oil back in the dif. Took it for a test drive and it did not leak, I did not engage the 4wd since I was on pavement, but I will try that once this week to verify that is working.

I also worked on the A/C. I out a new dryer on, replaced a hose with one I had a spare of. I tried to replace the expansion valve, but the new one would not fight 

I also replaced all the gaskets on all seals, those things are a pain to get sealed. I am not sure if it is the old hoses with rust on parts or not. I broke down and borrowed a nitrogen bottle from my friend to help me pin point the leaks, they were both around the dryer. Finally got that done and it all sealed up. I left the nitrogen in there at 150 psi for about 30 min, no leak. I then pulled a vacuum on it for about an hour, got it to neg 29 PSI (I think, maybe its something besides PSI but it was neg 29 which is what its suppose to be) After that I got the oil in and the better part of 3 cans. It was blowing cold while I was messing with it, not that today was a hot day but its progress. 

While I was waiting on the A/C I wired in the electric fan with a switch to the dash, nothing fancy but it works. It did seem to help, but not enough because its still trying to overheat. I got the MT 2500 out and saw it get to about 217* I can rev it up to 1600 rpm and it cools back down. I think its the non factory fan shroud that is causing issues so I will be trying to find another tomorrow.

I also worked on the rear bumper a bit and cleaned up the old mounts, ran out of time and did not see how it fit now that the old mounts were cleared out.

Oh the last thing I did, that still needs work was I got some white spray paint on the roof



It looks bad, but its better than it was. 

Will, did you want me to bring my driver axle seal installer? Its home made but works pretty good. You can borrow all of it except the part that goes in my ball joint kit, never know when you will need that tool.

[rjtx667]

Forgot to mention I mostly fixed the driver seat. The floor under it had broke some spot welds, so I drilled 2 holes and screwed bolts in there 

My welder does not have a long enough cord to get over to weld it just now, but maybe later. It's a lot better than it was 

[ernestgonzales78@gmail.com]

Well ur much further than me for now. If we can get the roll bar finished and tool boxes painted and a few lil things. I'm calling it good on the FERD. It has been more of a headache than I was anticipating. 

[rjtx667]

if there is anything to do that is not cosmetic, then it's going to be a bigger pain than expected, espically this close to the date

your parking brake looked good

[ernestgonzales78@gmail.com]

 

[rjtx667]

I am going to guess your rear bumper is attached.... that's more than I can say. heck I don't even have my winch all put together yet 

[ernestgonzales78@gmail.com]

My front and rear bumper are done. I used Ron's Front bumper off old red on the rear. Hoping it will help weight distribution. I built a new one for the front. Not to happy with it. It looks OK bur it warped from the heat. Good thing is that it bowed inward so maybe it will handle the pressure of winching Ron up the hill. LOL!! I haven't pulled the winch out of the box yet nor have I finished the mounting plate. I haven't run the wires yet either. I did build the battery holder today thought. Hope to get done tomorrow. Ron is wore out and I'm right behind him. We look like zombies walking around. 

[taz_man440]

Will, did you want me to bring my driver axle seal installer? Its home made but works pretty good. You can borrow all of it except the part that goes in my ball joint kit, never know when you will need that tool.

Don't worry about it, ill fix it some day, it's not leakin enough to bother me.... not like it gets driven every day...

[rjtx667]

Well I cleaned up the new rear bumper yesterday, by removing parts of the old bracket and grinding down what was to stay.

Today I finally got time to put it up there and see how it looked. I am shocked it looks a lot better than I thought it would.

If I can massage it I think I can get 2 bolt holes to line up, I figure do that and some welding and I should be good. I did buy some spacer material at Home Depot today and I will probably need it, but its not near as much as I first thought.

I also bought some stuff to see if I can rig up a front mount at least for this trip. We will see what I can get done before friday. Worst case I bought a hook to put up front, and should have the hitch in the back. 

Sadly after this I am going to have to put the RC's on hold for a bit... I have a patio and a storage building to build. Wife say's those will come first real quick lol