1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

[Dr. Marneaus]

That is very weird. I had one I put in the rear of my d35/YJ wrangler back in the early 90's and it never did that even with it being a manual. When I upgraded axles, we put the lockright in another friends YJ until he upgraded his rear axle, if never did that. We moved it to another buddies YJ and it never acted like that, he upgraded axles and I gave it to another guy, don't know about his experience, but that locker saw a bunch of miles and at least four rigs and it was never a problem like you describe. The same locker was installed in four different axles.

Another friend put one in the rear of his scout II in the early 90's as well. Spec'd out much like your wagoneer, v8, auto, d44 on 33's and the only time you could tell his was installed was in parking lots, it would "click" as you turned corners and of course off road. Other than that, it just worked.

I wonder if the clearances were off a little on yours or if there was something wrong with the springs or center pin?

They are very simple and forgiving. I have never heard of one acting like yours.

Sorry to hear of the issues.

Jack

some folks say the springs could have been worn or something, but who knows. I took it out, not super worried about it, and dont need to fuss with it. I need to be able to drive my jeep. Maybe if i get motivated some day i will look into it, but not now. I need to be able to enjoy my jeep again, because i havent been able to for the last year and a half. Thats my main priority.

 

[JeepN95YJ]

So, are your vibrations gone?

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

I dunno.

put the axle back together, backed it out of the garage and parked it in the driveway. not really interested in it, and not really prepared for yet another let down at this moment, so, I'm sure I'll take it for a ride in the coming days whenever i feel like being disappointed, and then I'll list it for sale and buy something that isnt crappy and old, and have lots of debt. yay.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

drove it a good 15 miles to go pick up my dog when i got back to town on sunday. No APPARENT issues with the unicorn at this time, however I only got up to about 55mph.

Will try to get on the highway sooner than later and get my shock mounts sorted.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Well I gave it a ride with the unicorn and it was much much better than with the offset axle but I was still getting vibes under similar conditions, but not as severe.

I measured my angles. T case yoke angles down 3*, pinion yoke angles up 10* That is opposite but it sure as hell ain't equal! And definitely ain't equal when under load. Turns out the shims that were installed long ago are 8*

Pulled those out and measured everything again, still about 3* down on the engine side (measured on starter, bell housing, and a flat spot of the T-case, all the same) and now the pinion is at about 2* up. Wayyyyyy better.

Took her for a ride and it's about 90% better. Had it up to almost 90mph and I can hear/feel some vibration but it's nowhere near what it was before. It's probable that what I am feeling is because of the new poly transmission mount.

I am satisfied.

 

[justcuz]

I would get online and download the instructions for installing the locker. There is a critical measurement on the side gears that if incorrect will do what yours did. Also Summit stocks new pins and springs in a set. The last time I bought a set it was 20 dollars.
For a vehicle that see's less than 10,000 miles a year you would be nuts to sell this Wagoneer, especially since it's just about where you want it.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

I would get online and download the instructions for installing the locker. There is a critical measurement on the side gears that if incorrect will do what yours did. Also Summit stocks new pins and springs in a set. The last time I bought a set it was 20 dollars.
For a vehicle that see's less than 10,000 miles a year you would be nuts to sell this Wagoneer, especially since it's just about where you want it.

I have the original instructions for the locker, followed them.

It doesn't matter, its back in the box sitting on my work bench until I am in there cleaning up next time, when it will be throw directly into the trash.

 

[JeepN95YJ]

lol, like you followed instructions on the brake issues? And driveline vibrations?

Your track record suggests you are either the most unlucky guy in the world or maybe not quite up to owning a 40yo vehicle!:sombrero:

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Where's the instruction manual for swapping in axles, and converting an entire brake system?

Not to mention, on the brakes there were 2 proportioning valves that were faulty from the factory, as well as 2 master cylinders that would not bench bleed (by my hand or others hands), and aside from having to re-do 2 flare fittings that didn't seal too well, I don't think there was anything I failed to "follow instructions" on. When I brought it into the shop to take a look all they did was swap the location of the booster vacuum line from where it had been since I owned it, and put a few more clicks of adjustment into the rear drums.

I'm sorry I fell short of where I should have been on my first time doing any custom work of anywhere near this scale. I guess it shouldn't be a learning process, I should just have it perfect the first time. But thanks, I appreciate your opinion.

 

[JeepN95YJ]

My opinion is that you have one of the coolest rigs on this site. You did an awesome job getting it into usable condition and wrote awesome trip reports that included your trials and tribulations along the way. I love, love, love your campah build!

Somewhere along that way, probably beginning with the axle swap, your posts became more and more melancholy. It felt, to me, like you had changed from upbeat and excited to frustrated and bitter. It changed the way I viewed you and your writing. I love your Jeep and I kept coming back to this post and the three (at least) other threads you had going across other forums hoping to see that you are having a great time enjoying it per your original intent.

My last comment surely offended. I have held back comments along the way because I knew it would be difficult to convey what I was thinking without coming across as a jerk. Obviously I still didn't get that part right.

The work you did on the jeep was admirable but hardly custom. It was parts swapping. You received tons of good advice from many knowledgeable folks across the internet, much of which seemed to go in one ear and out the other. My recollection is that your brake problem was fixed by eliminating the leak people told you that you had yet you insisted wasn't there and adjusting the drums as they had also instructed you to do. Your driveline vibration issues were corrected by removing a shim that others had instructed you to check (ie pinion angle). It seems to me that your issues have easily been solved only after you take the most difficult path to get there.

Maybe it is an interpretation problem on my end. Maybe you see what you write as humorous or slightly sarcastic. I don't know. I really don't. I look forward to future updates about your travel adventures. I hope you get out and enjoy what you really like to do. I think you might take your own advice and start looking for a more modern ride however.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

it's been an experience, thats for sure.

After 15 months of not being able to get things right, I am very tired of it, but as of right now things seem well enough. Who knows though, I'm sure the next issue will rear its ugly head sooner than later and we'll see how I feel at that point.

I honestly can say I dont recall what leaks I did and didn't have in the brakes. After patching up the flare fittings (maybe thats what we are referring to?) I still had 2 brand new PV's that were trash and leaking from the front (not a flare fitting, mind you) from the factory. I also was fighting 2 bum master cylinders which further compounded the issues I was perceiving. I had them adjusted to the point that I was told to, I had other people who are knowledgeable come look at it, i was on the phone with INCREDIBLY knowledgeable people, and nobody could help me. I thought something was wrong that apparently was not nearly as wrong as I thought. Turns out that's just sort of how it works, according to the people who tweaked the adjustments and moved a vacuum line. I expected it to be different than it was, when not much was even wrong.

Regardless, I have been beat down by the jeep over the last 15 months, whether by my own doing or by byd luck or by ignoring information or by taking the wrong information to heart, and It's not much fun when all your vehicle does is drain your energy, emotions, and bank account, when all you want is to enjoy it.

and sorry, don't want to argue semantics, but I'd consider taking parts from another vehicle that were not factory parts to this vehicle and having to make modifications to this vehicle for them to work, as custom. I didnt say anything about fabrication, but it isnt stock anymore, and you cant just go into the parts store and say "I need x for a 1973 wagoneer" for quite a few things.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Saturday:

Loaded up woman and dog, drove across the dam to arizona, went down kingman wash road to go to the lake.

Was gray on the way down to the water. a few sprinkles on the windshield. great....






Didnt see another soul on the whole trip in, and with the weather I figured we'd have the place to ourselves like every other time i had gone down there. Yeah. right!


Anyway, sun came out, had a nice afternoon and got sunburnt.


Ammo can speakers rockin' out





Grill, PBR, good cigar, my jeep, my woman and my dog...dont mind the half million dollar RV in the background.



So, Sunday, I just drove it a bunch. Flash forward to Monday. My woman's sister just bought a 2004 rubicon from a friend of mine. wanted to go wheelin. I told her we could go up Rocky Gap rd from inside of Red Rock NCA. I hadnt been up there in a few years, but it is a mild trail. Or maybe it was a few years ago. It was WAY more washed out and off camber than I remembered.

Anyway, my old iron lead the way up and back down the 5 mile trail.

Red Rock:





oooooooo! Risk!





gets fairly narrow....climbing up to 6500'




pause for a selfie....







Some photo's from behind:




My jeep did stall out once on some fairly off camber and bouncy stuff. Other than that, on the trail itself, well, there wasnt too much trouble.....but....... there were a few things.

1. My mostly broken battery tie down fully broke.
This made the battery shift while I was bouncing around and pulled the power lead to my accessory breakers. Well, one of the accessories on those breakers would be my fuel pump. kinda need that. Fixed it right there, i noticed it while we were having lunch.

2. On the way down, I realized my steering was weird. sloppy as hell. wheel had to be turned like 90* to go straight. heard some clunking. waited until i got down the trail. went under the truck pulled on everything and it was all solid. noticed some leaking brake fluid though. Seems like a bunch of the fluid from the front reservoir flooded into the rear one? Not sure.

3. After that, I drove about half a mile and was all "this isnt right!" steering was allllll over the place. as i was slowing down to stop, I heard a "pop" and my brake pedal went almost to the floor. DAMMIT!?!?! Rear wheel cylinder popped and bled out all the fluid.

Go back and look at the front. realize a bolt is missing from my steering box mount. DAMMIT! Limped my *** home doing like 35, stopping entirely on the front brakes, trying my damnedest to drive in a straight line. Got home alright but took a while.

I fixed the steering the minute i got home, new bolt and tightened up the other two. in hind sight those must have been loose for a good bit because i recall having a slight shimmy at 60mph for the past few weeks, just figured i threw a wheel weight or something.

Anyway. That was an interesting trip, and the trail was a hell of a lot worse condition than I remember it being. Some parts were still just a crummy dirt road but other parts were all washed out and rocky.

Anyway....phew. long hot day.

All's well that ends well I suppose. Just some minor repairs needed and i dopnt think the brake cylinder had anything to do specifically with the trail. I guess I should just be glad everything fell apart as soon as i finished my jeepin' for the weekend haha.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Love it. Break downs and gremlins suck, but I love it when ppl rock it old school.

Sent from my XT1056 using Tapatalk

 

[justcuz]

Nice trip pics and write-up.
I suspect the holiday weekend had a fair amount to do with the crowd at the lake.
I snapped a sway bar link in the 2000 Suburban last week. Sounded horrible, like a pinion or wheel bearing.
Pulled over and looked at the rear axle, no leakage, nothing out of place. Then I spotted the broken link at the sway bar. Drove the rest of the way out to the highway without any further ugly noises.
Came to the conclusion after about hundreds of miles of driving from Prescott to Tahoe, back to home that the sway bar is not effective to any great degree any more.
I installed Hummer H2 springs in the rear a couple years ago, so the extra spring rate and progressively wound coils, negate the need for the sway bar.
You may want to offer the locker for sale, with the explanation of your difficulties with it. I've worked on and installed several of these and your problem seems to stem from your driver (side gear) clearance as best as I can tell from your description. Increased shim thickness between the driver and carrier may solve the problem.

 

[clandr1]

I'd call that small potatoes as far as issues go. Battery tie down, wheel cylinder, and a steering box bolt aren't the end of the world.

How many miles did you put on it over the entire weekend?