Be careful with the pressure washer. Use some super clean and spray the greasy areas, let it sit for a bit then scrub it all with a stiff nylon bristle brush. Use as little pressure as possible to rinse it off, in fact a garden hose with no nozzle, just running water should do the trick.

Pressure washers on old hoses, gaskets, electrical insulation etc will rip them to shreds.

 

I will be using a cheap small electric pressure washer. I dont think it should really even be considered a pressure washer haha. If it was my gas pressure washer, heck no. I am going to soak it with a couple bottles of super clean first, then go to town. Im not too worried about destroying anything. If I do, that means it was time to replace it anyways.

 

I love me some superclean. Its great on your hands too if youre all greasy.

I have one of those electric pressure washers too, they are pretty handy although not very powerful. Lol

 

For you guys with suspected RMS leaks....


Click for full res

 

Got some more work done on the axle today

Got the stock passenger side UCA mount cut off and cleaned up, tacked the track bar bracket in place.



Made an extended section for the truss out of 2x2 - 1/4 wall that way it would go all the way to meet up with the OTA track bar bracket.


Got the truss partially burnt in and the track bar barcket completely welded out, trying to go slow to keep from warping anything. Going to call it a night for tonight, will finish burning it in tomorrow. The axle will get its first coat of primer in the very near future.

 

Comin along! What I would be able to take on if I could weld. Envious of you guys! I may just have to drop the coin on a welder, and start teaching myself.

 

DO IT

Opens a whole new world of opportunities.

 

BTW, lookin' good Ryan

 

You could definitely teach yourself, especially with all the youtube videos out there these days.

ChuckE2009 & Weldingtipsandtricks have a bunch of good tutorials to get you started.

Word of advice, buy the best/biggest welder you can afford. Dont need to go overkill with a full industrial setup, but get a machine that is capable a good bit beyond what you plan on using it for (miller 211, hobart 210mvp, etc should serve you well). Its definitely buy once cry once as a quality welder should last you long long time.

Its a substantial investment, especially when you factor in the extra tools you need for metal working. (Grinders, saws, etc). But it also opens a whole bunch of opportunity.




Thank you sir. Definitely getting closer. Just need to finish welding the truss out, paint and install gears. Going to finish welding it out tonight after work and get a coat of primer on it.

 

I've been thinking about it for a while. Will probably kick myself in the *** that I didn't do it sooner, when I finally do get one. I'm ignorant to welding for the most part, so I appreciate the machine recommendations. I'll check those bad boys out.

 

Whelp, aside from gears, the ruff stuff diff cover I ordered and reassembly, the axle is all done.

I'm happy with how it came out. Safe to say shafts and the diff are going to be he weak link now.





Extended the truss to the back side of the OTA track bar bracket. The bracket is welded to the tube itself, then the truss is notched out to also weld into the bracket and to the tube. Should add a considerable amount of strength.



First coat of implement paint. Going with a black semi-gloss implement paint from tractor supply. Takes forever to cure, but its about as tough as it gets when it comes to rattle can paint.

 

Ive dabbled in welding for years, by no means a pro and always learning. Roni is a great guy to talk to about welding as well, fabricating on jeeps is easy compared to the stuff he does on a daily basis, he's doing all sorts of repairs and fab work in some much less than ideal environments.


Never too late to pick up a welder and start laying beads.

If you haven't already, go check out the welding thread. I sent you a PM as well.

 

I hit ya back!

Yeah, Roni is definitely doing some serious welding at his job. Maybe if he wasn't fixing those trucks so good, they'd stop ****ing em up so bad. Stop being so good at your craft, Roni!

 

Another minor accomplishment, got the 4.88 ring gear mounted/torqued on the 3.73+ carrier. Using red lock tight of course.

You'll notice a trend as this build progresses. Everything I torque gets a torque mark with a paint pen. Makes visual inspections simple and eases my OCD.

 

That's a handy trick. Gonna have to try that for my future torquing.