Slaughterhouse Gulch again...

[cewtwo]

Planning on running Slaughterhouse gulch again this weekend. We had snow earlier in the week so the trail may have a lot more on it.

Got a message earlier in the week that the final 5 foot snow drift at the top of the loop was busted through last week prior to the snow storm so we are hoping we can get through...

I'll leave a report (with pictures)!

 

[cewtwo]

Ever feel really good about your rig? Get set up for a hard trail and you know everything is a go?

Firstly, we decided not to go to Slaughterhouse Gulch. There was a group meeting at Johnson's Village for a run on Chinaman's Gulch. We decided to join them.

That's what I thought when we headed out for a trial at Chinaman's Gulch near Buena Vista, Colorado. Could have done it, too! except that...

We had made it through the preliminaries. The steeps with their rocky lines. The extreme downhills that can flex your suspension. To the loop and beyond. Then Tom drove the "Rock Garden" obstacle. Somehow, as the Mighty YJ traversed the obstacle, he buried the driver side front tire in a hole. He was just getting it out when the back tire tried to climb a rock step. Way too much pressure was applied to the rear axle and the rear driveshaft broke. When that happened, the welds on the rear spring perches broke. We stuffed a rag in to the opening and duct taped it closed. Then we pointed the differential up to the bottom of the Jeep.

Now, we had a fairly serious break in the middle of a deep trail. The front axle was engaged and working so we were technically able to drive it out. We'd have to solve a couple of minor problems first. When the drive shaft broke, it had to be removed. The easiest way to do that was to pull the slip yoke from the transfer case. That left a large hole that the transmission fluid would very rapidly leak out through. We came up with a quick and somewhat ingenious solution.

Someone was standing by with a water bottle. We had him drink it to give us the bottle. We cut off the top of the bottle. It fit into the opening. We got a tight fit and duct taped it into place.

We told the group that we would head back out. As is the credo of the trail, people were volunteering to go with us. It was a large group. We didn't want anyone to miss the fun, so Tom and I elected to head out by ourselves. The trail is well travelled and if we couldn't make a spot, we could wait until the group finished the upper loop. We were also on the CB and FRS radios.

The group headed onward toward the "Whale's Tail" and we headed out. We got out to the beginning of the upper loop without a problem. From there it was a steep hill down and then a few heading up. Down was not problem. Up? Even locked, we were pulling the Mighty YJ and it couldn't get the traction to climb the hill. We had to winch. We winched a total of 7 times. It was slow going, but we were finally off the trail.

We checked the transfer case and the quick fix was working! We contacted the group that we were heading back to Denver. They told us that they would keep the channel open and look for us on the way back. We thanked them and headed out.

Being in 4 wheel drive on the front axle, it was wise to drive no faster than 40 mph. Saturday late afternoon was a good time to have that limitation. We inconvenienced few on the 5 hour drive back. We stopped several times to check the transfer case fix. It held all the way back to Denver. It is still holding as the Jeep sits in front of the house.

Overall, a good if somewhat stressful weekend. How much will this event cost? About $250 to switch over to a slip yoke eliminator and $300 for a new drive shaft. Oh Well...

 

[cewtwo]

I decided to go with a Slip Yoke eliminator. I have ordered it and it should be delivered tomorrow or Monday. After that is installed, I will take the Mighty YJ in to have a custom drive shaft manufactured.

Everything should be ready for a trail run the weekend of May 12th.

 

[cewtwo]

Well, the SYE I ordered was a problem. Apparently, there are not many out there that are available. I used NorthRidge to order then called when it did not arrive in a reasonable amount of time. They weren't even going to get it in for another couple of weeks. I cancelled the order.

I called around and found one in Denver at 4-Wheel Parts.

I installed it this weekend. I removed the spacers from the transfer case skid plate and cinched it up tight. I still need to reweld the axle perches, but I am going to design a jig so I won't need to use a shim at all. I will need to move the axle forward (as it is hitting the fender flare).

I will take it in to a local drive train comapny and get a custom rear drive shaft manufactured for it.

I hope to have the Mighty YJ on the trail again this weekend!

 

[redrooster]

You stuffed a rag in what hole, then pointed the differential up? A hole in the axle or were you referring to the transfer case? I have never heard of anyone ripping a hole in an axle tube.

I also don't understand what you mean by "the axle is hitting the fender flare"? The only way I could see that happening is if you broke the centering pin in the leaf spring. You will definitley want to check it as you repair the perches.
BTW... you don't need a Jig to reweld the perches. Measure where the old perches were from any reference point (Usually done from the brake backing plate). Then grind off the old welds. Put your new perches or your cleaned up old ones back on where you measured. Bolt it back up with the u-bolts and plates before doing any welding. Use a hammer to bump the differential up or down until it is pointing straight at the NEW transfer case yoke (if you point it toward the old location of the slip it will be too high). Use a straight edge to verify that it is pointing straight at the yoke, then bump the pinion down 3 to 5 degrees. You can use a cheap magnetic angle finder if you want to be exact. Tack weld the perches in place, double check everythign, then drop the u-bolts out and weld it in.
The reason you go 3 to 5 degrees lower with the rear pinion is that the torque of the engine in a forward gear will try to rotate the pinion upward. Setting it lower helps compensate.

 

[cewtwo]

Sorry about that, redrooster.

It was the transfer case that I have stuffed the rag into in the past. When the rear driveshaft broke, the easiest way to remove it was to pull the entire assembly from the back of the transfer case. Ordinarily, I would stuff a rag in there, seal it with duct tap and limp home using front wheel drive (while checking it every 40 miles or so). The bottle solution worked much better with very little leakage.

What I meant by the axle hitting the fender flare, was primarilly the location of the axle on the leaf spring (the center pin is still there by the way). I needed to set the axle more forward so the tire is more centered in the wheel well. That was done during the conversion.

I used a straight edge method to line up the back differential with the new CV Driveshaft. I backed it off a bit, then took it up to our local driveshaft merchant to verify it. It was OK.

The only thing I did not like was the U-Bolt flippers. As you can see in the above picture they lean hard toward the front of the vehicle. It is in place and holding but I would feel more comfortable if they lined up a bit better. I had thought of drilling an additional hole for the center pin but it seemed to me that it would wear on the bottom plate in a detrimental way. What do you think?

It is amazing what the conversion did for the Mighty YJ. The cab is so quiet now. There is no vibration in the cab now that I can detect. It was worth every penny that it cost.

I was able to take it out once, but with the high cost of gas now, that has been the only run so far.

Thanks for your help!

 

[redrooster]

So, it looks like to center your rear axle in the wheel well, you drilled a second hole in the spring perch. Is that right?
If it is then, you would need to drill a matching second hole in that lower plate on your u-bolt flip kit to make the u-bolts sit straight up. Should be an easy fix.
The driveshaft angle looks good. You might want to re-tighten the bolts in the yoke after you drive it a little.

 

[cewtwo]

The spring perches had a pre-drilled hole to reposition them. I will have to drill a hole in the U-bolt flipper bottom plate to bring them into alignment. The same is true for both spring perch/U-bolt bottom plate combos.

Thanks for your help