Freshmeat's Explorer EB on 34s (for now)

[Freshmeat]

Okay- the D35 is torn apart. I had the spider gears welded and I pulled the C-clip. Going to finish cleaning up the center section, replace the seals, then re-install it, then start replacing the U-joints (with full circle clips and 5-760X joints) on the shafts, open up the passenger beam window a bit, and grind on the inner most yoke for the passenger shaft so it can angle downward a bit more without binding.

Time for a parts store run for seals.

 

[Freshmeat]

Holy crap, those retaining rings are hard to find! I went to Home Depot, Lowe's, Advance Auto, engine parts stores, hydraulic shops... And finally found the correct external retaining rings / snap rings / full-circle clips / whatever else they may be called, for the 5-760x joints.

The O'Reilly part number is 632-118 and they're $.59 each.

I'll assemble my new 12-ton press tonight, disassemble the shafts tomorrow night, then grind/assemble them Wednesday night. Ready to get it back together to see how it performs.

 

[Freshmeat]

Pictures as requested...
(Forgive blurriness- it's crazy humid and the lens kept fogging up.)
(Forgive the wreckage- it flooded about two inches in my garage last night so I had to pull out lots of crap to throw away for fear of mold/mildew. Gotta love Louisiana...)

A stack of 38.50s- two boggers, two SXs, and one LTB (spare); these will be mounted on recentered H1s

A kingpin Dana 60 (one heavy sumbish)... Will get 5.13s or 5.38s and a 35-spline rear to match.

Here is my new toy, which I finally assembled tonight. Couldn't find time to put it together so I piled it up in my living room... which caused my fiancee to make time for me so I could get it out of the way.

Hope to finish prepping and assembling the D35 axle shafts this week and reassemble the whole thing this weekend. Of course, I had to test out the press as soon as I finished it. I thought it wasn't going to work at first- had a whole lot of pressure on the joint with no give, but popped it with a 6# mallet and jolted it loose. After that the other three points were a cinch.