D30 wrenchfest

[del_TJ]

Pics from our wrenchfest at Ryan's.

Kai cutting some old bearings off a carrier. It helps to have the right bearing puller, but a grinder, chisel and hammer can get the job done too.

We ended up drilling 1/2" holes for plug welds along the sleeves. We were expecting a major effort to get the Synergy sleeves pressed in all the way, and found the sleeves easily slid in and out of the axle tube. It helps to have a straight axle! This was a piece of cake with the axle housing on jack stands.

I even tried welding the plugs, which I found fairly easy to do. Welding a nice long, consistent bead with little experience is a different matter.

[del_TJ]

Here's a pic of the Zone Offroad upper control arm gusset. $20 for the preshaped gusset and my control arm mount is much sturdier now.

Ryan also welded in mrblaine's raised sway bar brackets with the included gusset onto the inner C. These brackets are beefy and will let me flip my new Currie tie rod. The axle sleeves were fully welded around at the end in the inner C. The axle tubing is around 0.5" thick now! I sprayed the inside of the sleeves with Eastwood internal frame spray before install.

More to come tomorrow

Tony

[del_TJ]

Wrenchfest Part2. It took 2 long days but the axle is done and back in my garage now. Thanks again to Ryan for all the hard work!

The used e-locker looks good as new!

Setting backlash on the locker.

Here's a look at my shiny new ball joints. They're ready for a trip to Rausch!

[del_TJ]

And, here's the installed tie rod flip insert. It was fully welded around on the other side. I can't wait to get my Currie steering installed!

I'm still surprised by how easy the inner axle sleeve install was. I would definitely recommend it if you ever have the axle pulled and have access to a welder.

[midniteryder]

Great pics Tony! Thank you for posting Looks like a pretty successful day.

[ChrisD]

With the sleeves installed, can you still use front axle tube seals to keep the dirt out?

[del_TJ]

With the sleeves installed, can you still use front axle tube seals to keep the dirt out?

No you can't. I asked Poly Performance and they said you would have to cut the sleeve to run a tube seal, and this would make the whole thing weaker since it would then sit towards the inside of the inner C. You can still use the plastic dust cover/slinger on the axle shaft.