camera_man's 1997 Jeep Cherokee Sport

[camera_man]

I'm fully aware a locked rear is worse... I was commenting from the entertainment side of things, getting the back to step out on command. Makes snow driving a lot more fun!

[Rope-Pusher]

It's actually a 29-spline ....

How mini time I godda spline it to you, Lucy?!!!

[ElectroGhandi]

I can see how the locker would worsen performance in corners but I could have sure used one recently. One half of my steep uphill driveway was covered in snowy ice and the other half was clear. It took a lot of manipulation to get my 2WD, open differentialed, bald-highway-tire-outfitted truck up that hill.

[camera_man]

Got a few more things added on this past break...

CB mount with hardwired 4 ft Firestik II antenna, Midland radio. Don't have a picture of the final product right now.



Routing the coaxial cable through the cabin...



Replacing the front hubs turned into a major disassembly...



It was time for them to go. The old ones had about 1/16 to 1/8 of play in the bearing pack. Plus, they sounded like sand paper.



Once I graduate, get settled and start making some money, the plan is to do a major overhaul on the Jeep. I'll be swapping the axles to Ford 8.8 w/ disc brakes in the rear, HP D44 in front. Re-gear to 4.88s, locked front/rear, 6.5" long arm kit, and 35x12.5 tires. Then there's the random projects such as new seats, upgraded headlight harness, roof rack, additional off-road lights, front/rear custom bumpers (already have the model for the front one done), rock sliders.

I'm excited.

[wannabe]

welcome back hows the snow situation up north? i heard you guys still have like...13" on the ground...we don't have any

[theholycow]

If you're planning to swap in different axles soon, why did you open up the differential?

[camera_man]

If you're planning to swap in different axles soon, why did you open up the differential?

The axle swap plan are still a few months down the road. Right now, I'm just figuring out what I'll need to complete the process correctly when the time comes.

In order to pull the hubs, the axle shafts had to come out. Because the only seals are on the differential side of the axle tube, mud and dirt can pretty easily bypass the little covers on the outboard ends and build up in the axle tube (especially with all the off-roading I do). While reinstalling the axle shafts, I had a sneaking suspicion that some of that mud got pushed passed the seal and into the diff. It's easy enough to pull the cover (only about a 15 minute job from pulling the cover, to reinstall, to fluid fill), and it's a good thing that I did. There was a decent amount of dirt and rocks that got pushed in there, so it needed to be cleaned out.

welcome back hows the snow situation up north? i heard you guys still have like...13" on the ground...we don't have any

Thanks! The snow situation has been pretty disappointing the last month or so. We've been fluctuating with really warm temps (for winter at least) of mid-40s to mid-50s. Around town, pretty much all of the snow is gone. We went down some back woods trails the other day, and there was still a good foot on the trails. It was really hard-packed, and decently easy to drive on, until you catch a rut in a bad way (and these ruts are about 8-9 inched deep--feels like you're driving on rails, pretty much steering itself) and it throws you into the ditch, where there's still about 4 feel of the soft stuff.

4 guys, 4 shovels, 2.5 hours, and a tow strap to another Jeep and I was out. I like the winter, but I'm ready for it to be done so more trials will clear up and the 4x4 adventures can begin once again!