Adam, I know your A/C can be colder than mine but I've had no issues with having that heater control valve out of the jeep. Do it and if you don't like the possible additional heat then just put the valve back in. I prefer the peace of mind though that the things not going to erupt on me.

Adam, great thread man! On a student budget at that! Wow!

After installing the new shocks I looked over the whole rig for any issues before loading up for this past weekend. Unfortunately I found that I had spun the passenger side tube on the front axle. I cleaned it up, welded the plug welds and then the tube to the diff. After that it was time to take care of the real reason the tube spun...the radius arms. While Ford's radius arms work very well for on road vehicles, they really hurt articulation for offroad rigs (unless you make them very very long but thats another story). So, my plan was to install the wristed arm that I've had for well over a year now. I started work on this Wednesday night and finished it up Thursday evening, just in time to load up for the Jamboree. The increase in articulation was incredible. I am now in need of longer brake lines and limit straps.

We wheeled Big Creek during the day Saturday so that we could avoid all the traffic on the trails in the forest. We then ran trails in the forest Saturday evening as the sun was setting and late into the night. Unfortunately there are no photos of the evening run but here are some from Big Creek.

Love to see those action shots! Thanks!

Holy Crap! Just read through your entire build. That went from mild to wild real quick. lol. Nice job man!

Haha that's what happens when you graduate college and finally have some money.

photo dump

What length are your shocks? I looked back some and maybe I missed it, but those things have some travel!

They're 12" travel bilsteins.

Oh, well those are what I have sitting at my house right now then, I guess we'll see how they work on my low lift 3 linked Cherokee once I get the rest of the 3 link in. Hopefully everything works out okay.

These are a little too long for the way I have it set up. I need to bump stop much more and need to add limit straps. But, the ride quality is far better than the Skyjackers I had on previously.

When I installed the new cover I found some very bad signs in the diff fluid. You can see the metal flakes in the picture below. While the metal really concerns me, I decided I'd continue on with the cover install and fill it back up with fluid. Instead of simply rebuilding it, I have decided to just trailer it to the next few wheeling trips while I build a new rear to swap in. I've always wanted a smooth bottom 60 and found one in Raleigh for sale. It's out of an 88 E350. It's in great shape. Being a D60U, it has a smooth bottom, 3.5" diameter tubes with thick walls, and D70 spindles/hubs/brakes. I can now go to 35 spline shafts without having to bore the spindles. My tentative plan for it is to keep it drum brakes (so that I can have an ebrake again), gear to 4.88 and then a locker. Unsure if I will stay 30 spline or go to 35 spline at this time. Also unsure of the locker I want to run.

Stripped down the new axle. Cut of and ground down the welds from the brackets. Then wired the whole housing. It'll get primer tomorrow to protect it for now. Gears arrive today and hopefully next week I'll find the time to set them up.

lol... that drain pan is almost the same diameter as the diff housing!

Monday night I loaded up the axle. Tuesday after work I set about regearing it. It took 5 tries with backlash, 2 tires at pinion depth and 4 tries of pinion preload but I am very happy with the outcome.