The Lunchbox Build... 4x4 chevy shorty van
- Thread starter Lunchbox2
- Start date
Quitting can be done. It only takes a few rounds through a 3-step process. 1) Remove broke *** part. 2) Bust out wallet.
3) Replace broke *** part.
A few trips through the process is a fantastic motivator. A bit of a muddy trail is one thing, but blasting through semi-bottomless holes is another, much more expensive prospect.
And THIS is where I'm at....LOL Don't get me wrong... it's fun to blast through the water and mud, it's just that it costs too much money! Also, the maintenance required after a good mud/water run is ridiculous. I don't want to re-pack wheel bearings every week, and spend hours pressure washing all of the mud out of the nooks and crannies. It's been constant rain here in kentucky, so every weekend we've gone out it's been a mud-fest. I'm over it....:victory:
It doesn't look like we're going to get any snow here this year, so I guess I'll have to wait until next winter for that, hopefully we're in colorado by then...
I hear you. My last serious "mud run" was during a charity event in W. Va. I tried my hand at a pit called "Refrigerator Hole" because apparently someone had dumped a refrigerator in it, and it disappeared. I didn't make it. Almost burned up my winch getting out, ended up replacing my alternator in town, and had to winch my tie rod back into something resembling a straight line (also junkyard replaced in town), then perform a campground front end alignment.
The worst part is that freakin mud smelled like sewer and I never got it completely gone. It was like metal stain or something. Discolored everything and stank like a dirty dead skunk. That was it for me.
Bahahahahaha! That sounds almost exactly like my experience last weekend.... ugh I got stains on my paint, and it's burned permanently onto my exhaust, and I'm STILL fixing things from all the water damage..... I'm done...
I figured it was time for an update....
We've been wheeling the crap out of the van. Then braking it. Then fixing it..... rinse, repeat....haha You guys know the drill...
Hit the trail with a lifted XJ and a yota on 38's, found a fun new trail that none of us had been down before.
We've been wheeling the crap out of the van. Then braking it. Then fixing it..... rinse, repeat....haha You guys know the drill...
Hit the trail with a lifted XJ and a yota on 38's, found a fun new trail that none of us had been down before.
We camped and then headed home the next day. As soon as we got up to highway speeds, it felt like the rear end was trying to lock up on us, then a pop sound and she was rolling fairly free then. When I got home I investigated the problem, only to find this.... I don't know if it's because of the noise of the tires or what, but I never heard anything grinding...
Don't ya just love it when a race welds itself to the spindle??
A quick trip to the parts store and I'm back with some seals and bearings... Then I got to work cutting that race off....
I put it together but noticed it dripping gear oil.... my nightmare was confirmed, the seal surface was boogered up enough that the seal couldn't do it's job. So I ordered a speedi-sleeve to repair the surface.. Luckily that worked...
Now on to the next problem, my leaking steering box...
I thought I was just going to change out the input seal, but realized there were more problems than just that seal. Time for a new steering box. So I ordered a replacement steering box from advance auto parts, I also got a new pitman arm and tie rod end while I was at it.
Don't ya just love it when a race welds itself to the spindle??
A quick trip to the parts store and I'm back with some seals and bearings... Then I got to work cutting that race off....
I put it together but noticed it dripping gear oil.... my nightmare was confirmed, the seal surface was boogered up enough that the seal couldn't do it's job. So I ordered a speedi-sleeve to repair the surface.. Luckily that worked...
Now on to the next problem, my leaking steering box...
I thought I was just going to change out the input seal, but realized there were more problems than just that seal. Time for a new steering box. So I ordered a replacement steering box from advance auto parts, I also got a new pitman arm and tie rod end while I was at it.
I've noticed these past few times out that I'm starting to bottom out the crossmember on the pumpkin if I hit big bumps. It's happened several times, and when we went to crawl over a big log that was down on the trail, my brake pedal went to the floor. Luckily I was able to get the van stopped (we were going downhill), and I jumped out and noticed that the line on the passenger side had been punctured and losing all the brake fluid. I quickly grabbed a pair of vice grips to stop the bleeding, then topped off the reservoir and limped it back to the house....
I called Off Road Design, we figured out which line it was that I needed, and they sent it my way! Good group of people...
While I was waiting for the line to show up, I decided to add a leaf to the front spring packs, to lift it up a little more so this doesn't happen again. So I pulled the springs, figured out which two leafs I was going to "split", and cut one to fit. I bolted it all back together and she definitely sat up a little higher...
she definitely sits a little low in front..
That definitely brought the front up a couple inches...
I called Off Road Design, we figured out which line it was that I needed, and they sent it my way! Good group of people...
While I was waiting for the line to show up, I decided to add a leaf to the front spring packs, to lift it up a little more so this doesn't happen again. So I pulled the springs, figured out which two leafs I was going to "split", and cut one to fit. I bolted it all back together and she definitely sat up a little higher...
she definitely sits a little low in front..
That definitely brought the front up a couple inches...
So we were ready to hit the trail once again! It's turkey season over in LBL, so all of the good roads/trails are closed, the place is a ghost town. We still wanted to get out into the woods, so we just rode around in 2wd all day, and my son had the great idea to ride his bike while I drove the van. I figured what the hell, it'll wear him out right? He rode for about 3.5 miles, crossing 4 creeks (at least 5-6 times per), and hitting every mud hole on the way, he had a BLAST! haha
The hills finally got the best of him....
We barely locked in the front axle that day, and probably had as much fun as we've EVER had...haha
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The last time we were out, I noticed a pretty good vibration when it was in 4wd, I forgot all about it because of the brake situation. We ended up meeting up with some jeep friends once it got dark, and decided to hit a last trail on the way out of the park. As soon as I locked the front axle in I was reminded of the vibration, I just chalked it up to a loose u-joint and kept on truckin'. When we stopped I checked it out and the u-joint was definitely moving a little bit, but so was the slip joint. Oh well, it'll get us home...
So the next morning I investigated. The front shaft has been getting it's *** kicked, and it's just a homemade shaft that I welded together in my driveway. The ujoint was shot, but so was the slip joint, it had been hogged out from all the abuse. She really needed some love, so I pulled it out and did a little grinding on the c/v end to give it just a little big more flex. Then I swapped out the other end with a spare unit I had. That gave me a little more angle, and a fresh ujoint for the axle end, so I bought myself a little more time. Eventually I'm going to HAVE to build a new front shaft, with some expensive parts.
[URL=http://s173.photobucket.com/user/steveswain12/media/IMG_2095_zpsubrmbzu6.jpg.html]
So the front springs are awesome now, no more bottoming out, and the little bit of extra spring rate really improved it's on-road manners. My front driveline is solid again, although I don't know for how long... All of the hard trails are back open as of tomorrow, so we are going to head over this weekend and do some wheeling with friends. The lunchbox lives to see another day! haha
The hills finally got the best of him....
We barely locked in the front axle that day, and probably had as much fun as we've EVER had...haha
[/URLThe last time we were out, I noticed a pretty good vibration when it was in 4wd, I forgot all about it because of the brake situation. We ended up meeting up with some jeep friends once it got dark, and decided to hit a last trail on the way out of the park. As soon as I locked the front axle in I was reminded of the vibration, I just chalked it up to a loose u-joint and kept on truckin'. When we stopped I checked it out and the u-joint was definitely moving a little bit, but so was the slip joint. Oh well, it'll get us home...
So the next morning I investigated. The front shaft has been getting it's *** kicked, and it's just a homemade shaft that I welded together in my driveway. The ujoint was shot, but so was the slip joint, it had been hogged out from all the abuse. She really needed some love, so I pulled it out and did a little grinding on the c/v end to give it just a little big more flex. Then I swapped out the other end with a spare unit I had. That gave me a little more angle, and a fresh ujoint for the axle end, so I bought myself a little more time. Eventually I'm going to HAVE to build a new front shaft, with some expensive parts.
[URL=http://s173.photobucket.com/user/steveswain12/media/IMG_2095_zpsubrmbzu6.jpg.html]
So the front springs are awesome now, no more bottoming out, and the little bit of extra spring rate really improved it's on-road manners. My front driveline is solid again, although I don't know for how long... All of the hard trails are back open as of tomorrow, so we are going to head over this weekend and do some wheeling with friends. The lunchbox lives to see another day! haha
Its hard to tell definitely from the pics, but it appears the output shaft on your xfer case is pointing up just a bit too much. If this is the case I'd guess what's happening is when you engage 4x4 and start cycling that rear suspension the misalignment becomes great than the cv joint can account for and that's why the vibrating and/or grinding you're getting.
That's the front output you're talking about. It might look more exaggerrated in the pic, but that's just how that front output is on the 205's. The transmission and motor are level like their supposed to be. The bearing noise is coming from the axleshaft bearing INSIDE of the spindle on the passenger side. I discovered that yesterday morning when I went wheeling. I can grab the axle on the passenger side and move it up and down quite a bit, enough that it actually hits the steering knuckle/kingpin, so that's my vibration. As soon as I throw it in gear and give it any gas, the axle jumps around. I'm going to pull the spindle off tomorrow and hope that #1 it's not trashed beyond repair, and I can just knock out what's left of the bearing and put a new one in. #2 Hope and pray that the stub shaft itself isn't damaged where it rides in the bearing. We'll see in the morning....
