Ordered a felpro valve cover gasket which I desperately need, and my PS pump is leaking a little bit, haven't dug into it to find out where. Originally I thought it was the steering box but upon further inspection it's dripping from somewhere down the backside of the box.

Now is a great time to do maintenance that needs to be done. I've already done the regular things. (Thermostat, coolant, all fluids, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, etc)..

Hooked up the battery for the first time in a few weeks, turned right over and purred like a kitten. Let it idle for 15 minutes to circulate all the fluids.

 

Just ordered a set of 4.88 gears, master install kits and a 3.73+ Dana 30 carrier.

Shipped to my house for just over 500. The axle is out, might as well gear it, buddy of mine sets up diffs all the time, I have a pretty good understanding of how to set all the tolerances but he will be watching over my shoulder.

I'll probably wind up buying a spartan or Aussie locker for the rear when I do the gears.

Question: Do I need a notched cross pin in the rear 8.25 with 4.88's?

 

I hope you do a nice write up when you do the rear. I am not too far behind you on doing a gear swap and cant say I have done a 8.25 before. Pointers would be nice as I have heard/seen its not the normal install.

 

I'll take pics and post some tips or any issues I run into. If they ship in time I hope to do it this weekend.

 

Got the Ford Fusion seat bracket fitted up, welded out and finished. Fits extremely well, doesn't sit any higher than stock and it's a million times more comfortable. Adjustable lumbar support, nicer bolsters, wider bottom and the seat cushion extends further down the back of your thighs.

Had to trim a little bit of plastic so the factory slider handle had clearance. No big deal. Cleaned up the edges with some sand paper after I was happy with the amount of plastic I removed.



Picture of the bottom of the seat adapter mounted up.



Looking down at the base. Made the whole thing out of 3/16 channel. Should be very sturdy.


Picture in the jeep. (don't mind the dirty interior, its getting a deep cleaning when grinding/welding is done)



The trimming I did so the side of the seat would slide freely without contacting the lock pillar. I cut the plastic trim from the inside next to the seat so I could gain about a half inch.


Seatbelt fits and functions great, very easy to reach the buckle. Nothing in the way.



Picture of the back seat, leg room is comparable to stock.



All the seat controls are very easily accessible. Only functionality I lost was the power adjustment obviously. The recline and lumbar support are manual, and the new seat uses the factory track to slide back and forth.

 

Nice! Look like they're right at home!

 

The one hard part is the bearing retainer caps for the carrier. They are threaded, but also clamp together. You'll need a long piece of bar with a large nut welded on the end to fit into the retainer cap, I made one out of scrap. Insert from the outside of the axle tube to thread the cap into the threaded clamps. You'll see what I'm talking about as soon as you see it. Also, mark those clamps to make sure they back into the right spots. I used a punch, marked the left one with a single dot, right one with 2...also mark the mating surface of the cover. Other than that, it's just a lot of putting together, shimming, taking apart, setting preload, and getting a pattern. Took me a couple of tries before I got it right. I also had help...did this in an automotive shop course at the local community college.

 

Good to know, i plan on looking up some literature on the 8.25, the D30 should be a breeze. I'll be taking it over to my friends shop where we build/work on the race cars. Nice heated environment with an axle stand.

Thats also where I plan on building my cage after I get done designing it. Have a Mandrel bender, notcher, dimple dies, etc... (spoiler alert)

 

Sweet.







Still need to get a decent notcher...

 

Very nice! When are we having a cage building party?

Pro Tools makes a nice hole saw style notcher that is reasonably priced. Ive heard nothing but good things about them.

https://pro-tools.com/collections/tu...e-saw-notchers

 

I'd be happy just to find enough time to get my Spartans in...

 

I hear that, ive been lucky to have some free weekends to get stuff done.

Track bar bracket should be here this week, going to burn that in and the truss. Then all that's left is the gears and the front axle will be done and ready to go in.

 

Well that happened quick, I just ordered the gears yesterday and they showed up today. Turns out RWK HAUS is only a few hours from me.

The USA gear install kits use KOYO bearings and look like a very well put together kit.

Only problem is they sent me a ring and pinion for a Chrysler 9.25. Just sent off an email to get it sorted out.

I wish that Yukon box was filled with a locker but it's only a Dana 30 3.73+ open carrier.

 

Looks like you have hours of fun ahead of you! I will be sitting back taking notes.

 

Got an email back from Robert @ RWK HAUS, then a follow up call to ensure I received his email with prepaid return label. They are cross shipping the correct gears for the 8.25 and emailed me a tracking number.

He was extremely helpful and very polite. Great customer service and responded within an hour.

Apparently RWK HAUS ships their products directly from randys ring and pinion. Would gladly do business with them again and it was a smokin deal.