Tales From The Frog Farm

Howdy All,
Very inexperienced at all this forum stuff, but going to give it a try. Patience with me; it took me 10 years to get a fourth-grade education. But anyway, I need to catch up on posting up my project.



Well, as per my introduction, this is what I drug home. It wasn't running, and I thought I could push it into the shop with the tractor, but being a lovely day out, I thought I could get it going. I pulled the old battery out, put in a new one, and cleaned up a few connections. Cranked it over, and the carburetor seemed dry, so I cranked it a couple more times, and it took off. What the heck thru the dog in the back and drove it up and down the driveway several times. The brakes worked but were spongy. But it was running reasonably well. I decided to take it out on the road. It shifted OK till I tried to get into fourth gear. It took a hard pull to get into gear. A lot of driveline vibration @ 50 MPH. It steered OK at this speed. I brought it back home and pulled it into the shop. I again questioned my sanity for buying it like I needed another project. I told myself I would let it sit until I caught up on a few other projects.



Funny, I already had heaps of fun with it, even tho I have only driven it less than 10 miles!

 

I could not go a day walking by it without looking it over and trying to see what it would need to make it road worthy and fulfill my needs or wants. PO had the body off it about 15 years ago, sandblasted, cleaned the frame up, and reinstalled the body, replacing many of the rubber seals and replacing most of the fasteners with stainless steel. He tried hard but lacked some mechanical skills. He replaced and installed many new parts that may have resolved a few issues and created many more as he proceeded. My gut feeling is that it sat out in the weather the last 10 years and was not driven, or at least very much.

 

Hey welcome to the forum! Looks like a nice jeep you got there!

 

What caught my attention was that it wasn't hacked all up but wasn't a restoration piece. I just wanted something I could modify without feeling guilty but wanted to retain the original period feel and look. Black wheels, Ha!

 

The only fractures I found in the frame was just forward of the steering box which has been welded just not quite up to my standards and the bumber has been spot welded to the frame. So I will put that on my list down the road to fix. Body is in real good shape, a little rust at a few of the seams but real minor. Spray in bed liner on the floor which I have mixed feelings about. Piant is oxidized but OK about 3 different yellows. So when I get done it may have a few more variation.

I think original engine and drivetrain.

 

Imposibale for me to leave it alone so I already repalced batery cables and cleaned up the conections. The PO had about a 16 ga. wire runing to the body for a ground. I scraped some of the paint off the body and installed a 10-24 S.S. stud that I can access from the engine compartment and under the dash. Then ran a 10 ga. wire to the stud not sure if it that is large ennough but I can change it latter. Also there is no ground strap to the frame and was woundering if I should install one.

 

Checked out the rear drive shaft as I expected and found it out of phase, but the universal joints were satisfactory. No abnormal play in the rear axle pinion, but transfer case yoke I could wiggle by hand and the yoke oil seal has been leaking. So I pulled the yoke and cleaned it up. Vissually I could not see any abnormalties so now it got me thinking about the output shaft bearing.

 

That's as out of phase as you can get right there.

 

Well, indexing the spline the yokes are still about 2 deg. out of phase that is the way it was built not much I can do about it unless I want to cut it apart. Spline appears satisfactory.

 

Checking the front driveshaft out I found it to have at least a 1/16 clearance in the slip yoke spline so I went ahead and pulled it. The transfer case yoke appeared correct. The front axial yoke appeared tight by hand but had a serious oil leak. So I pulled the drive shaft, chucked it up in my lathe to cut it apart and found the drive tube to have about .06" to .07" TIR. So I machined the spline weld to extract the it and straitened the tube. Did a little more TLC to the tube installed a new spline shaft and yoke and corrected all runout down to about .003" TIR I was happy.

 

After finding all the problems with the front drive shaft and going to order parts, I knocked the u-joints out of the rear drive shaft and found the fixed-end yoke to have been previously damaged when somebody was replacing the joint. So I decided if I am doing one, I might as well do both, so I ordered up the parts for a rear.



I knew this was how it would go if I start working on one thing, I would find more problems. I am glad it is winter, and I have a supportive bride.

 

I could not get the transfer case rear output housing off without getting really brutal, so I decided maybe best to pull it and the transmission to figure out why it is shifting so hard into 4th gear. So out came the transfer case no real issues. However, the transmission was a bit of a head-scratcher figuring out how to do it by myself and with what I had. I scrounged up some odds and ends around the shop and modified a floor jack.



A bit spooky but it worked. Need to make a few modification before it goes back in.

 

2 degrees out of phase is 2 degrees too much on that rear driveshaft. Glad you are fixing it. There should be no play in the transfer case output.
I didn’t see your introduction so have no idea what year your CJ-5 is other than ‘76 and newer. Putting that in your signature line is very helpful for us to help you. If you have a ‘76-‘79 with the 20 transfer case you can remove the rear output by removing the 5 housing bolts and and work on it on the bench. If an ‘80 or newer with 300 the whole transfer case has to come out and come apart to fix the play issue.

 

You posted just before I did. Stock T-18 and adapter for a 20 transfer case. You should be able to use a long punch on the transfer case rear output assembly and drive it out. There is a small divet in the output shaft from factory machining that helps with that.

 

Howdy neighbor,
Thanks for your input. I fixed my signature line (at least, I think). Good point!
I have fabricated and repaired a lot of drive shafts over the years, but my rear shaft must be one of the shortest. The tube was only 5" long.

 

Once the transfer case was up on the workbench, I removed the output housing using a few machinist wedges. It came out brutally hard, but I could extract it without damaging anything. When I reassemble it, I will see how one can use a punch as you described to remove it for future reference. However, as hard as it came out, I don't know if I could have done it with a punch, a good size drift, and a 4lb hammer.

I cleaned the splines up, and they look satisfactory. This transfer case output shafts are SAE 10 spline which my research finds Spicer has discontinued production of the yokes. Novak indicates they have 26 tooth involute spline yokes and matching output shafts. However, as I stated above, mine are satisfactory, but when I reassemble, I will use Loctite on the splines. That will stop all movement and oil leaks.

 

Check your yoke seal surfaces carefully and if they are rough at all either replace the yoke or use a repair sleeve. If grooved really bad fill in the groove with body filler or something like JB Weld first. Otherwise the sleeve can collapse into the groove and you’ll still have a leak.
Also good practice to put some sealer on the splines so the lube doesn’t migrate out. I put a little on the yoke splines before installation then put the yoke on. This smears the sealer along the splines for a better seal but doesn’t push it into the transfer case or bearings.
I would recommend sealer not threadlocker. Easier to remove down the road if needed and will do the same job. I do recommend threadlocker on the shaft and nut threads.

 

The front axle yoke was leaking, so I pulled the seal. The housing looks satisfactory. The front cover is leaking at the bottom and appears to be torn up from floor jack damage causing a leak. I pulled the fill plug and found the oil level down a few inches.

I drained the oil and pulled the front cover. The gears all look visually satisfactory. The carrier has some minor rust where it has been sitting above the oil level.

I pulled both front wheels to inspect the brakes, which looked like all new parts. The front knuckle joints have been rebuilt with new components, including tie rod ends, which I could see on my pre-purchase.

Castle nut cotter pins were missing, so I checked the nut torque and installed new ones.

The Warn hubs have been rebuilt or inspected and appear to be new spindle oil seals, so I assume the wheel bearings have been replaced. Bearing clearance and rotation feel good spinning the wheels and checking for backlash

 

The rear axle yoke appears dry with no leakage. Unique something that is not leaking. The oil level was found satisfactory. The back cover has a significant leak at the bottom and appears to be floor jack damage.

I drained the oil and pulled the cover. Visually everything looks satisfactory.

I pulled the wheels and drums all parts appeared new, just a lot of insect nests. Interesting new axles.

 

With the transmission pulled, I found a new clutch and throw-out bearing.

A lot of oil inside the bell housing, so I decided I better pull the bell housing. Not sure if it is the front transmission seal, the rear main bearing seal leaking, or both. The valve cover has a significant oil leak, and oil has been running down on top of the starter, so I don't know if some of this can get into the bell housing.

I checked axial thrust clearance and found it to be .030" ugh. I must draw the line here, leave the engine alone, and resolve some of these other problems first.