1951 M38

Yes it is a home made box. Having a fuel gauge is not very high on my list. I am used to not having one. The 65 and 67 had gauges that worked perfect. The rest - not so much.

 

The PO had purchased a MC but not installed it. I got it all ready to install and then discovered it was not for a M38. Ordered the correct one and it came in today.

Bench bled the second MC and also tested the brake light switch.



Monday starts the fun of putting it all back together. With all new parts it should be a piece of cake. Should be....

 

I wondered why the wheel looked a little jik jakked.

 

I think your kingpins are a little sloppy

 

I literally LOLed!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAAHHA!!!!! I'm laughing because I have been there. Make sure you keep the shims.....I love this jeep.

 

It's fine... active camber adjustment, helps handling... or something

 

Hope the ball housing isn't damaged for the king pin bearing.

 

That's ok I have some new kingpin bearings and seals and such and they come with a free D25

 

Here is an update on the front end.
https://youtu.be/qV1nJ_GoV94

 

Enjoyed your video, good job! Be sure and let us know how much top speed you gain from magnetizing those steel balls.....or was it acceleration?

 

The magnetic field increases speed and decreases death wobble, kind of like a gyroscope.

 

I've scoped out a few good Gyro's, especially liked the ones with the Taziki sauce

 

Minor setback today. Put the knuckle back on and everything was going perfect. In tightening the top I discovered why it was easy to disassemble. Two of the four king pin bolt holes have stripped threads. So a small detour but no turning back.

 

I moved on to the curb side today. Uneventful - disassembled, cleaned and replaced the knuckle seals. Both sides were packed with a lot of wheel bearing grease. No damage or water on this side. Reassembled and ready to put on the brakes.

 

I was so excited that everything was going back together so great. Installed the shoes, wheel cylinder and spring-it went together so nice.
then I looked at the floor and saw the eccentric bolts laying there.
so apart it came......

It went back together great including new bearings and races. New bolts on the lockouts and this side is all set.




On the drivers side I had to find a new hub.




Ordered one with LH threads. No I don’t know why. So now I’m awaiting new studs.

 

Rolled out of the garage and brakes seem to work. However it won't turn left.






And the last gauge arrived.


Seat work proceeds. I'm just not into boat seats. I will say however, they fit well and are pretty comfortable.








-----------------------------------. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

MOVED FROM FLAT FENDER TECH
I know it's something I did on my M38. I rebuilt both front knuckles with new king pin bearings on the left side and new wheel bearings on the right side. I disconnected the tie rod end from the left knuckle and sure enough its only the LF that will only turn right and won't turn left. Right side works fine.

It's on Jack stands. The axle seems to function correctly with no noise. I can rotate the LF wheel and the RF wheel turns the opposite way.

I'm also wondering if one of the king pin bolts is interfering with the rotation of the knuckle. Both sides were assembled the same way adjusting for the correct preload as described on metalshapers video (which follows the service manual).

THE NEXT DAY AFTER THINKING A LITTLE

No interference with the king pin bolts. But after completely disassembling the front hub, drizzling corn head grease all over my tools/floor (working in front of a box fan) and being impressed with the work I was undoing, I discover the fill plug is sticking in too deep and hitting the end of the axle housing preventing the whole thing from turning left.
The sound made me think something was hitting the axle housing but it was so hard to determine where the contact was occurring. I know-check the easy stuff first.

Obviously I never dreamed that would be the issue. That's too easy to fix. But it puzzles me the plug would go that deep. So I guess ill be using yellow Teflon tape to take up the slack.

 

On to the steering box, drag link and tie rod ends. Followed the instructions in the FSM to get the box out and it went without too much difficulty. The bushings were absolutely shot along with the steering sector shaft. NOS sector shaft should be here this week. Worm gear bearings also look more like a round rock than a ball bearing. I am replacing both bearings and the steering column bearing by the steering wheel. While the steering box and drag link were out I was able to evaluate the pitman arm and bell crank. The pitman arm was sketchy but the bell crank seems ok. I purchased a drag link rebuild kit as well.
With everything loose I looked a the tie rod ends. They seemed ok. No rubber dust covers but decided while this far I would replace those covers. When I took the tie rods out I discovered the TR ends were quite loose. So I decided instead of replacing just the dust boots I would replace the tie rod ends. They come as a set which made it pretty easy.


No provision for a horn wire. It's not leaking so I am not changing it.

Bushing wear.

Sector shaft wear. Can I smooth that out with emory cloth and try to get another few miles out of it?

Flat side on the pitman arm ball.



So in a few days when I get it all reassembled I hope it will steer a little better. BTW there was 1/2 turn of slack in the steering wheel. Quite a task to herd it around the neighborhood.

 

And of course I'll be making my own gasket. Neither of these two fit.