Braxton Installs a Transfer case lowering kit into his XJ and everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Follow us on Instagram & Facebook to see more content: / trailspintv / trailspintv
Braxton. Hey there, David here. Good job buddy! I just subbed and punched in a big thumb up. Im a son of a father who died before he had a chance to teach me the way of the wrench and socket. However, that has never stopped me, nor should it stop you.I dont know you but I do know your frustration. Been there, done that and no, I didnt buy a lousy clean, t-shirt for myself. I kept on keeping on, enough times that now, at 55, I just fgured out that I will never know it all. HA! Just keep this in mind. Failure doesnt occur, unless you stop trying. Most every problem has a solution. Enough head scratching thought and then walking away, colling off and trying again and you'll find that "there are no unsolvable problems, only not yet found solutions" Good luck, keep wrenching and always keep an open mind. Get it done, son.....
I'm right there with you on the frustration side of what should seem to be an easy fix. I really liked watching your tenacity. You may want to spray a bit of paint or other metal protectant around your new holes to protect against rust. Great video!
Yea, I am thinking of doing a huge rust clean up at some point. But I want to get it drivable with no issues and I kind of have to wait until Florida is out of its rainy season. -Braxton
That was great. Thanks. I still can't get my studs off so I ordered a stud remover. Very entertaining video and nice work capturing and explaining all of your issues.
Great job and great video. You didn't quit and that is what it takes to own a Jeep XJ a lot of hard work but it pays off in the end. I have a 2001 XJ and just removed the entire front axle and thats some work, Rusted bolts, broken bolts hard to get to parts to remove but you stay at it and great results . Keep at it Trailspin it looks really sharp what lift do you have now. I have the Rocky road OME 4.5 lift with 35" coopers
I just got done doing mine. I am old and disabled and everything HURTS! Just to make things a little more complicated, Mine also has a transfer Case skid plate attached from the center of the crossmember, over to the driver's side frame rail (unibody) behind the crossmrmber. It's never easy! I broke off one bolt and had too drill and tap. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL !!! 🛠️
Braxton ..... way to go man, dont give up its a clean FLORIDA jeep (surprised). Sometimes you do what you have to in order to achieve your goal. You picked one of the best all around platforms out there. Keep buying tools like the last guy said, no matter whether what you drive you will need them. I would also suggest that you do a disk brake conversion on that jeep using 1st generation grand cherokee (ZJ) rear disk brakes. Also full cross over steering nuckles from the 2ND generation grand cherokee (WJ), obviously that will require replacing the steering linkage. These are suggestions thats all, hope to see you on the trails.
Well in a future video, I do the rear drum brakes, but after that, I will definitely do a conversion for the future. And I do have a heavy duty steering upgrade from cavfab that I need to install at some point. And thanks again! -Braxton
My ZJ has a 3.5 or 4" kit no issues. I've never found the exact criteria that make a drop necessary. I got the ZJ with the purpose of making it a project and doing a lot of the mechanical work myself to get those muscles moving again. It always seems to fight you I get it lol
Yea, some people have a lot of problems with a small lift and others have no problems. I do know that my Cordan joint in my front drive shaft needs to be fixed. But then I also may need to rebuild my axles........... I’m still trying to figure that out at this moment. -Braxton
U joint, I have already replaced a U joint on the axle shaft on the passenger side, so I can do it, it’s just now it’s a double ujoint setup that I need to replace. I’ll do this once I figure out if I am going to rebuild or replace my front axle. -Braxton
@@trailspinTV If your seals are good and the gearing is fine, I'd say just replace the u joints and drive the vehicle. It's really easy to get caught in never ending construction phase.
Oh, I think something is messed up and may need to replace the bearings but I might be the pinion. I replaced the fluid and checked with my eyes and everything looked ok, but after replacing the fluid, I can hear kind of like a muffled grinding noise which seems to be coming from the front axle. So I’m going to take it to a shop in the next couple of days and see if they can diagnose a specific issue and go from there. I was thinking of just buying a whole new axle because mine is a low pinion and the high pinions are stronger and have more ground clearance. But if I can’t find a high pinion axle, I may just wait about a month and do a whole gear upgrade since that would be the best time to do it. -Braxton
Did you check your U jjoints? Before you tear into your transfer case you might want to service your differentials. Much cheaper.and more likely to be the source of your ratcheting sound.
Found out that the ratcheting noise was from the cardan joint in the front drive shaft. So I removed that momentarily and still get some sort of grinding noise from the front diff. I did change the fluids and inspected the gears, but I didn’t try to push things around to see if things were loose. Will take it to a shop soon and see if they can diagnose the specific issues
@@trailspinTV You can change the U Joints yourself without too much difficulty. When it comes to drive line issues I try to only go to a shop that specializes in driveshafts and differentials specifically. By me there is a shop called Suburban Driveline and they've never let me down. More importantly they don't guess and take you down the rabbit hole. Good luck with this issue, if you need help you can always call me, if you still have my number.
Yup, I have already replaced one U joint. So I am not worries about my driveshaft. But I will definitely go to a specific shop that specializes in differentials
I had a worst time that you with all the tools I needed. My nuts welded to the jeep for those studs broke off. I had to fish with string on bolt on one side on each side and tighten it that way with an impact. Heli coils didn't work for me. I did a hack and tap, worked great, cut it shorter than I wanted but no issues. You need to use 4 degree shims on the rear axle when you do the the hack and tap with a front drive shaft in the rear, that's how I solved my vibes in mine with 4.5 inch lift. Mine looks identical to yours but with steel bumpers. Message me if u have any questions.
You just need more tools man. You'll always use them. Use Liquid wrench instead of pb blaster when you can. Don't even bother saving those old, crusty nuts and bolts. Just get new ones.
@@trailspinTV it is just way better stuff. I'm working on rusted stuff all the time in minnesota so I researched what's the best stuff and liquid wrench was the best and has been great during my usage. Search 'liquid wrench' and 'project farm' on youtube. Keep up the good work.
