Well, for those who saw my performance on Voodoo trail Saturday, you know I messed up my jeep. Unfortunately, the trailside axle replacement didn't fix all the problems.
When I took BlueJ out to fill up the tires on Sunday, I realized something else was wrong with the front axle. Here's what I experience: going straight or turning ever so slightly, seemed to work OK. Turning a little more caused major wobble in the front tires, feeling like lots of resistance. Tires chirped on the pavement. Much worse in reverse. Delayed reaction in turning. Bad noises (grinding and clanking) at crawling speed. All the same in 2Hi, 4Hi, and 4Lo.
My guess is that I toasted my front locker, and it's is not disengaging. Possibly gears too, but I hope not. Brian is going to stop over tomorrow and see what he thinks. Anyone else want to venture a guess?
This is here in modifications, because it's time to upgrade! If it is the locker, what should I do? Get a straight replacement LockRight? That would be the easiest, just drop in. Or go for a Detroit in front also? How about ARB? Both would be much harder, since we'd need to reset the gears (and Aaron is pretty busy).
I also want to take out Joe's spare axle shaft and upgrade. Got some prices, but not sure what the difference between "High Alloy" (expensive) and Chromoly (more expensive). Anyone?
Should I look to buy whole assemblies (inner, u-joint, outer) or the separate components and put it together myself? (Of course, "myself" in this context means with a little help from my friends )
All in all, not as bad as Orange Crush (R.I.P.), but still an expensive day on the trail.
Thanks everyone!
Andrew