Pete's Buildup '73 Scout II

Some more progress. I installed the carrier, filled the diff, and sealed it up on the d70. I am now just waiting on the dom tubing to make the tierod and draglink (which should arrive Thursday) and the parts for hydro assist which should also be here before the end of the week.
I picked up the rear driveshaft today. I had the shop re-tube the xj shaft I had since it would have been almost double the amount to mount a cv joint on my current 2.5" shaft.
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With the cv shaft I had to install the cv yoke on the t-case that I bought from IHOnly north. Here is a comparison so you can see the difference between a standard ujoint yoke and the cv yoke. Cv yoke on the left. Standard on the right.
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Then some pics of it bolted in place.
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Yesterday I drilled and tapped my steering box and reassembled it. I put some plugs in it for now and I am debating whether to install it or wait until I add the cooler and ram (for hydro assist) I will probably just wait since I would rather bleed the system only once.
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Tomorrow I should install the ball joints and start assembling the front axle.
 
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Start of today's progress on the front axle.
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Then some pictures of where I finished up at.
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The heavy duty differential cover was a Christmas gift from the wife from RuffStuff. Between ihonlynorth, ruff stuff, and part's Mike I have been getting a ton of packages to try and get this axle swap done before the next wheeling trip.
The hydro-assist parts should show up tomorrow or Monday so I should be seeing the ups guy again. :cornut:
I haven't mounted the steering arms yet since I need to see if the tierod will clear the springs without a spacer or not. I got some sky manufacturing thick arms so the have a built-in 7/8" spacer. I ended up getting the 4" studs though so in case I need to add a 1/2" or even a 1" spacer I won't have to purchase new hardware. A problem I ran into at the end of the day was trying to mount the 2" wheel spacers (I bought to widen out the front to match the d70 rear) won't let me fit a socket in to tighten the lugnuts. So I need to find some lug nuts that will work. Hopefully with the current studs because I don't want to tear down the axle again just to swap out the studs.
The ups guy showed up as I was working and brought my 1.5" x 1/4" dom for my tierod and draglink. I am using 7/8 thread tre's and draglink ends. Maybe tomorrow I will work on cutting those to length. The whole issue of the spacers has me bummed since that means yet another trip to the parts store. :mad5:
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Cut the tierod and welded the bungs in.
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I welded one bung into the draglink but I am waiting to get the axle under the Scout before I cut the end and weld the other bung in.
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Well, I thought I should update. I don't have the pictures to post up right now, but the front axle is in, the 2" spacers have been mounted, the tierod and draglink have been installed, the hydraulic lines and ram have been plumbed and bleed. (the ram still hasn't been permanently mounted yet). The brakes need to be bleed some more since the braking is very spongy. Mounting the front axle was way more of a pain than the rear. I don't remember the front axle being so difficult when I did the SOA conversion a couple of years ago, but this time I had the axle completely assembled before I tried to mount it. Last time I just used the bare housing+knuckles and that is the way I should have done it this time.
I still need to mount the ps cooler that showed up yesterday and place the bumpstops. The shock will be used in the interim, but they won't last since they were made for only a 4" lift. The up-travel looks to be fine, but the down-travel with the wider axle will be an issue. I will post some picture up later.
 
Here are some of the "semi-completed" swap. It started getting too dark and I was tired so I called it a day and left it somewhat together.
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Tierod and draglink pictures. I ended up with using a .5" spacer on the steering arms. It was too close to the springs at full droop. I May have gotten away without it, but I wanted to have everything in place anyways in case I ever get around to adding another leaf to the front spring packs.
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Here is a picture as seen from the front. You can see that the ram is just being held up by some 550 cord (parachute cord for you non-military types :icon_wink: ) the driver-side bushing probably needs to be replaced it started looking how it does after I played on the rock pile at hollister.
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A picture of my ram.
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Before someone asks, the draglink is mounted at this time, but it is parallel to the tierod so you can't really see it in a straight on view/picture.
 
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And here is a picture of the steering box. I still need to clean up some of the ps fluid that burped out of the reservoir when I bled the system.
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I used a drop pitman arm that I had on when I bought the Scout. It had a superlift SUA 4" lift on it so I assume the pitman arm is the superlift arm.
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I still need to mount the ram and route the hoses, bleed the brakes some more, try and measure for bumpstops (so I don't smash my oil pan), and see what other random things need to be taken car of.
 
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Keep up the good work, it is nice to see what is being done out there, and the results. It is also nice to see pictures of the build move along.
 
Nice work pete. I think you're going to like your new set up. I'm running the same GM 44 up front, so far I've been happy with it. Only issue I 've had to this point is a blown axle shaft u-joint, everything else has held up to the 37s. It's been through the rubicon twice and numerous other trail runs, I think the foregiving powerlok has helped reduce the stress on things. Hope to see you on a run sometime soon.

Matt
 
scouty said:
nice work pete. I think you're going to like your new set up. I'm running the same GM 44 up front, so far I've been happy with it. Only issue I 've had to this point is a blown axle shaft u-joint, everything else has held up to the 37s. It's been through the rubicon twice and numerous other trail runs, I think the foregiving powerlok has helped reduce the stress on things. Hope to see you on a run sometime soon.

Matt
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Thanks Matt. I was asking you about how your d44 was surviving at the ralleye just to see if it would work out for me. (at least for a few years till I swap in a d60). If it ever stops raining I might be able to finish this project up.
 
Well I couldn't wait for the rain to let up so I made a lean-to to keep most of the water off of me.
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The position of the tierod really wasn't acceptable. There is only about 2" before it would smash into the oil pan.
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I was able to install the ps cooler this morning, but no pictures since I did it in the 15 minutes the sky was blue before it started dumping down rain.
Since I didn't take any pictures of my bling-blinging spacers on the d44 here you go.
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The rear d70hd is ~73" wms so the full width d44 needed to get a little wider to help with the steering (and so it wouldn't look too weird). The tires stick out about1/3-1/2 of the tread, so 4-6" or so.
And to help with the oil pan/tierod issue I added 2 leaves to the front driver pack. In this picture I have a punch sitting in the centering hole to keep the leaves in place as I add more and clamp them down. I need to put the spring clamps back on too. I will try and do the passenger side tomorrow and see how that helps. Then bumpstops.
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I finished adding the extra 2 leaves to the passenger side today when the rain stopped for an hour or two. This is where the Scout sits now.
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And the before and after adding the leaves with the tierod/oil pan clearance.
Before:
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And after:
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I still need to bleed the brakes (again), set the bumpstops, and mount the ram. I need to figure out where I can mount it without worrying about going into the oil pan when the suspension compresses.
 
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Mounted the ram.
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I only tacked the mount onto the tierod in case I need to adjust the toe-in. I will weld it on before any wheelin' trips.
I did realize that I need to take out one of the leaves that I put into the front packs since the driveshaft won't handle two leaves. Good thing I hadn't put the spring clamps/wraps back on because that would have made the whole ordeal more of a pain. Then I'll extend the bumpstops.
 
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I have the stock springs and they're doing just fine but I don't put them to the test like others do. Take randy for instance. He takes his truck to the edge and it always seems to ask for more (knocking on wood as we speak). Esspecially when his four low went out half way through the con. If you want to know if the stock springs are tough....
 
Removed one of the two leaves I had added to the front spring packs and mounted the bumpstops. I still need to replace the spring clamps and then it should be ready... "should" being the key word. :icon_mrgreen:
 
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