This was an extremely efficient project. Sure, Luke and I could have banged this job out in a driveway with a MIG welder we found on Facebook Marketplace, but being able to do this in our friend Enzo's shop was just too dang easy. I can't say thanks enough to him for letting us come in and make a mess of the place.
With the front end of Cream Puff up in the air, we were able to take a closer look at that giant crack above the spring hanger, and also inspect the rest of the suspension and steering. What we discovered is that this Jeep also has a pretty good bend in the tie rod and the hubs are super worn out. I think the front end play going down the road is more a result of the hubs than anything else, and that crack we fixed developed from the lateral stress of the death wobble.
So, with that said, is the Jeep really fixed?? NO. It's not. There's more work to do once Luke decided whether to go for a Dana 30 narrow track or press on with rebuilding this Dana 25. I think the deciding factor will be figuring out the gear ratio in that rear axle and then seeing if we can even find a Dana 30 with a matching ratio. Wouldn't that be nice...
If we do decide to rebuild the Dana 25 though, I'm sure that would make for some interesting content. Out of everyone I know, Luke would be the guy to rebuild a notoriously weak front axle with hard to find parts. He loves old junk. If it were me, I think I'd try to get a setup that I could add some HD steering to and start a chain reaction of spending money and replacing things until the transmission, transfer case, and rear axle were also gone. I'm obviously flawed in my own ways...
This is on the list of things to address before TDS because this Jeep needs to be road-worthy, so either way, we'll let you all know how it gets fixed up!
-Jarrett
23 янв 2024
