Dennis_MN

That's exactly what I did today, I bought a 9/16-18 die and cleaned up the threads, then they all came off nicely. I was afraid that I might break a u-bolt but I didn't. I took the U bolts off and cleaned them up with that die so they will be ready to go back on. I'll round up a rear bumper jack thing tomorrow and then Thursday I'll be back under there doing the switch. The u-bolt and clamps on the truck also hold the shock absorber so it is pretty important to re-use all of that hardware. I was thinking that those bolts have been there for 62 years, they should be hard to get off.

More progess today after a weeks vacation in the Bahamas, I expeced Spring when I returned but the request was ignored. Today I crawled under and broke the bolts loose and started soaking in wd-40 I plan to use the u-bolts that are there so hopefully the nuts will come off with a little help tomorrow. The plan is to remove the u-bolt nuts, unhook the drive shaft and brake line and jack up the rear of the truck using a big air jack, removing the wheels and then sliding out the old axle. Then the reverse happens. By the way, the Jeep -35 rear end is slightly less than 3" dia. and the one replaced is exactly 3" dia. I did buy 3" spring perches from Northern Tool from their trailer line. By the way, crawling in and out from under that dang truck is really not good for fat old guys. Truck restoration is for younger guys

Glad you are safe and able to post. I was watching the news the other night and they were interviewing a gal in Alabama. She described the noise of the tornado like a "big ol Mopar" Never heard anyone describe the noise like that before, freight trains, but never a big ol Mopar.

My buddy has a plasma cutter but we didn't use it. The pinion bearing was shot in the unit I bought and I brought it over to a local gas station/garage for rebuilding. He cut off all the brackets with a torch and saved the brake hose mounting brackets for me. Then I ground down the slag with a grinder which took a couple of hours. Hopefully it didn't warp. You can buy a complete new rear end without brackets from one of the jeep suppliers if you want to spend a lot of money.

Apparently the plows were used to clean off any debris that may have floated on to the road and become a hazzard when the water went down. When I went through there the posted speed limit was 15 mph. I had my 85 year old neighbor over this afternoon while I was switching the calipers. I told him of the value of the internet and how someone observed the little detail on a picture that the bleed screw was too low. Learn something new everyday. I really appreciate you taking the time to look at those pictures and find that error.

Thanks for the tip, I never noticed a left or right but reversing them does change the bleeder position.

Today I finished installing the brake calipers, pads, hoses, and the hook up lines. I made the brake line project much too difficult by making a pattern and using my bending tool. I ended up with standard 20 inch and 36 inch lines and I hooked up both ends, of each piece and worked it into place where I could bolt down the hose to the bracket. Hopefully the U-bolts will not interfere with the brake lines. Here are the pictures of the finished axle ready to go under the truck. That project will have to wait until I get back from Burmuda next week.

I had another picture of the welding to add and while I was at it, I thought I'd repost my travels back on I-29 last Sunday and here is an interesting link http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSnBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-110411-dakota-flooding-05.photoblog900.jpg http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSnBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-110411-dakota-flooding-01.photoblog900.jpg

Last week I drove my Ranger up to East Grand Forks to visit my cousins daughter and I took my axle along to have my buddy weld the perches on. I got hollered at because I painted it and that the bearings were new and installed. However, I ground off the paint in the area where the perches and brake hose brackets would go and we used the brass vent bolt as the ground connection for the wire feed welder. He had an interesting collection of jack stands and a great adjustable bracket to allow us to set the 5 degree angle and hold it while he did the welding and I did the leveling. Here are the pictures. Currently I'm adding the brakes and the line bending for the axle.

This is what it looked like on Sunday Morning, about 2 to 4 inches. They closed it at 6:00pm and didn't open it again until today. Now I-29 is closed north of Minto to Grafton.

Nope, I stored it in my neighbors barn and she fired right up. Photo was taken a year or so ago for a collection of states that Bob Koch wanted for a calendar, guess I was the only one with a state theme. By the way, Mopars in the Park is June 4-5 and new this year is a car auction. details at www.midwestmopars.com http://www.midwestmopars.com/

My neighbor said that it must be spring, Dennis brought his truck home

While shopping for brakes for my rearend project, I came upon two choices for the piston material. Phenolic or Aluminum. Which should I choose, and why is one better than the other. I was thinking Phenolic would be better because the truck is in storage for about 5 months a year, but I don't think I had that choice when I added the front disk brakes. Thanks

I just finished removing all of the slag from cutting off the brackets from that Jeep Axle. When I had the shop change the seals and replace the bad bearings, I had him cut all of the brackets with a torch. I bought a new grinder from Northern Hydralics and some flap type sanding disks and went to work to remove all of the left over metal. Took about two hours and now I'm ready to clean it and paint it with POR-15 I alternated sides to reduce the heat effect of the grinding

I don't remember if this has been posted before or not, but I'm seeing it for the first time. http://www.lov2xlr8.no/broch1.html A fellow in Norway has posted hundreds of sales brochures including many pilothouses

I'm going to run a hose up to the frame and then I was thinking of adding a gas line filter just to prevent a possible drip. Do you suppose anything is needed beside the hose?

You are right, I picked up spring perches from Northern Hydralics and right now I'm grinding off all of the old scars from the cutting torch where the spring perches were removed. I have some measuring to do, and the angle to figure, then I'll have them welded and then it will be ready to slip into place. I'm doing it at a friends shop and I'm figuring on a 1/2 day's work. There was unbelievable number of brackets to cut off the the Jeep axle. I found where you could order a new one with out brackets, just under a $1000

The Jeep Grand Cheokee is supposed to be a bolt in fit, from what I've read in previous threads. I bought one with disk brakes so now I'll have disks on all four wheels. This is a Dana 35 with 3.73 ratio and it does have e-brakes inside the rotors although I don't plan on using them. I'm about one month away from bolting it in. Dennis

That's a great find, exactly what I'm looking for. I found one in the Jeep listings but it has a hose coupling on it. Apparently the Jeeps go through deep water on occasion and the vent has a hose to bring the vent up higher. The cost was only $1.65 plus 3.00 shipping, so we'll see next week it this one does the trick. At least with your posting I can take the picture to the junk yard.

I did search the Jeep forums and thats where I found the part number for the junction block for the brake lines. That part is 380-889 but no luck yet with the bolt. When all else fails, I will pull it from the current axle when I switch em. I guess no one loses them.

I've started to collect parts for my '97 Jeep Axle (Dana 35) and I run into a problem. The axle that I purchased was a 3.73 with the Rear Disc brackets but nothing else. I've found a brake junction block at NAPA but I cannot find the breather bolt that holds in on. I just came back from the hardware store and I determined that it is a 3/16 pipe thread but that is not a common size. I figured that I could make one with pipe parts but no such luck. Any one know where I could find such a bolt? I slipped out to the storage barn last week before the latest snow fall and retrieved the axle with the goal of getting it ready to slip under by mid April.

Notice that the size of the tailgate is for the lowside box which is pretty rare on our pickups. Also, the letter E and G are different. Other than that little detail it is a nice job. Great for the previous series of pickups like Young Ed has.

That looks to be the Case Eagle sitting atop of the world. I looked at the image to see if they were also a Case dealer but that Eagle is the only clue.

Thanks, just what I need

Every once in awhile, some one posts a RockAuto discount code, the last one expired in February, anyone with a current one? Going to be purchasing the disk brake components for my pickup rear axle replacement. Also having diffuculty finding a axle breather bolt that holds the brake junction block. Most stores don't have a clue. Dennis