05 RME Slow Build

What pins? do you mean the bearing caps?

Got it out. The key was not to be a pansie and use my brain. Wrench on ring bolt and spin the driveshaft with a prybar and it popped right out.

told you to stop being a sissy. If you need me to help you get it all together call me shaun. as early as possible.

One thing i would do though just cause it was soo damn tight coming out would be to VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY lightly hit the edge of the bearing caps with a emery cloth to first clean them then to remove the slightest amout so it will go in easier, it could very well be what we talked about today, might have had a little bit of sealant or whatever jeep did when they asssembled the damn thing...regardless call me

The bearings had a little bot of crap in the races which cleaned up quite easily with just brake cleaner. I was basically just a thin film. I will put a film of axle grease on the face of the races to help with the reinstall.

Locker install complete. I will post a full write up after break in is complete. I don't want to post anything until I know it won't blow up!

Nevermind I had some free time before the wife got back from NYC. Install posted in the technical forum.

Savvy Under Armor and Novak conversion ordered!

Ordered my suspension today from Dirk @ DPG Offroad. What a great guy to speak with. Looks like Santa is coming early this year.

Awesome! Looks like you should change the title from 'slow build' now... Will be sweet for sure once its all on.

You'll love the Novak. My stock shifter mechanism broke while I was on a trail with one of the guys from here, literally while I was in the middle of a 4-5" deep lake of mud that spanned 20 feet in every direction. I didn't know what had happened, but knew that when I hit the gas the RPMs went up but the Jeep went nowhere, even when in gear. Just my luck it broke while I was shifting through neutral.

Had to be dragged backwards with tow straps back to the trail head, and then lay under the Jeep on a hill in torrential rain while it ran down my back as I reached up underneath trying not to burn my arm off on the Cat, and manually shifted the selector back into 2WD. That was NOT FUN.

Novak rocks. Cable shifter should have been what Chrysler installed from the get-go.

I would change the title, but it has as much to do with the owners mental state as the build speed lol.

Ryan that sounds lovely. i am sure to have many experiences like this, but want to minimize them with quality products anywhere I can.

Research is a great thing and leads to a well built and capable rig. I read A LOT before ever posting on JF and I am glad I did.

Ordered a set of OEM front/rear hooks from Ebay tonight. I will finally have recovery points!

I think I have finally weeded out the shimmy issue. Bead balanced the tires. They are perfect now. Then found my track bar bushing was bad. New track bar in hand. Just have to pick up a M10x1.50x75mm class 12.9 bolt tomorrow to avoid further bushing issues.

On another note. Did a little bit of wheeling the last two days. Unfortunately, my buddies Jeep decided to shed a lower CA bolt and the proceeded to nearly rip off both CA mounts. Needless to say, we didn't get much wheeling in today. Just a small section near some power lines.

It's amazing how a five dollar bolt can lead to five bills worth of damage including the tow. FML. Seriously you are bad luck every time I take you out somthing happends to my rig. I need to cut you nose or ear off and use it like a lucky rabbits foot to curve this bad ju Ju. Well at least I got to upgrade my control arm mounts. Not the way I would have planned it but an upgrade nOne the less

donnyb373 wrote:It's amazing how a five dollar bolt can lead to five bills worth of damage including the tow. FML. Seriously you are bad luck every time I take you out somthing happends to my rig. I need to cut you nose or ear off and use it like a lucky rabbits foot to curve this bad ju Ju. Well at least I got to upgrade my control arm mounts. Not the way I would have planned it but an upgrade nOne the less

Now's a good time to get the johnny joint kit.

Hahah I was just flipping through hannles on the tv and got a quote that was fitting for my rigs situation

"you are the weakest link.....goodbye"

Ryan M wrote:

donnyb373 wrote:It's amazing how a five dollar bolt can lead to five bills worth of damage including the tow. FML. Seriously you are bad luck every time I take you out somthing happends to my rig. I need to cut you nose or ear off and use it like a lucky rabbits foot to curve this bad ju Ju. Well at least I got to upgrade my control arm mounts. Not the way I would have planned it but an upgrade nOne the less

Now's a good time to get the johnny joint kit.

Nope a trussed 44 in in my rigs future

Well

Got a lot accomplished today. Installed the new track bar with a Class 12.9 M10-1.5x75mm bolt with heavy duty thick washer. Installed front/rear tow hooks as well.

Haha now I can pull you through the mud with destroying your rig

I think you meant without destroying my rig. But yes it will be nice to have tow points. Now you just have to actually make it on a trail w/o breaking

Just wanted to add where I got the class 12.9 M10-1.5x75mm bolt/washer. I went to Bel Metric in Tyngsboro, MA for the first time after striking out several times. McKittricks in Lowell recommended them. Glad they did too. The guy was very friendly and knew exactly what I needed.

www.belmetric.com

We did another steering test and everything in the front end appears to be nice and tight and torqued to spec.

The steering issue has been resolved, but now a new one has popped up. I now have a front end shake at highway speed. Its not shimmy but a shake.

I removed the front driveshaft tonight to rule it out with no luck. Shake is ever present.

I am thinking its the crappy Duralast Gold axle ujoints. I am putting in new Precision greasables this weekend. Will post an update with results.

Just ordered all 4 Dana Spicer ball joints from 4wheelparts.com as well. Not bad $106.38 shipped with coupon code cc5off (5% off).

Looks like this build is going really well. If you're gonna do ball joints, rent the ball joint press from Advance Auto Parts. It's beefy enough to get the job done, and it has about 20+ different attachments to use to get out the ball joints. You only need four of those attachments, but that kit at least comes with them.

Also, I'd be more than happy to help out with ball joints if you need it.

are tires balanced? can you feel shake in steering wheel or floor?
does it go away after a certain speed? and does it start at a certain speed?
u joints would most likely make it vibrate