Headed home. Front wheel drive only. Had an absolutely awesome time.

The rear bumper got caught on a rock ledge as I dropped off. Thinking I’ll redo the bumper a bit when I fix it. Probably do a bit of a body chop and extend the bumper to the wheel well and tie it all together. Make it strong enough to hold up to abuse but angled enough to slip away from obstacles.

The Lincoln locker held up for 1&1/2 days of tough trails with lots of rock crawling but finally let loose on a good hill climb. Had to get snatched quite a bit to get back to the road. Was fun nonetheless. This pic shows the 3rd blow out from the diff.

 

On the plus side the new motor rocks. Held steady temp crawling on the trail, awesome oil pressure and throttle response. Way more power when you need it (or don’t need it ) hence my diff. Lol

 

Jacked up a parts truck

Got out a replacement

Brought it home in style. Back of a p38. I’ll be cleaning it up and painting it before I install.

 

Cleaned up and painted. Just trying to figure out a safe way to jack the back of my truck up.

 

I finished swapping the rear axle last night. Took it for a drive tonight. Axle seems fine. Pretty sure my MAF is toast. Throwing the right codes for it. I still need to fix up my exhaust, it got tweaked bad. Also my power steering pump sounds like a Ford. Lol not good

 

Check the idler pulley below alternator, mine when crazy noisy after drowning. Also, MAF had to be changed...would idle, but no pedal action.

 

I swapped out the maf, seems way better, no more codes. Still have to fix the exhaust. I might save up for a new pump and hoses for the steering I think. I put a used pump on over a year ago. Probably should just get a new one this time.

 

Another hole through the axle case



It looks like I didn’t get enough penetration into the carrier casting. Oh welll, it got me through my last trip

 

That carrier housing is cast, very difficult to weld...you'd need nickel rod/wire...and then it's still a crap shoot. When doing a "lincoln locker", most folks weld the inner gears together, then plate them on each open access hole. The gears are harden, naturally or they'd wearout in no time, so heat settings, wire choice and technique are crucial. I'd probably never atempt it with a 110 model welder. Now, for a field repair...l'd use whatever l could get my hands on...a battery, welding stick and some jumper cables have been know to "getter done".

 

yeah it was definitely a “get-r-done” repair. Lol
im going to go with a locker and lower gears as my next big investment. Just need to save up some $.
I am still on the fence about a Detroit or a selectable locker. I kind of like the thought of no air lines to worry about with a Detroit but have heard that if you break an axle shaft you can destroy the Detroit.