Picked Up A 71 For A Buddy Of Mine......

I'm updating this thread for Steve.

After watching this years Rubicon footage (and breaking a D27) it is apparent that Steve needs to make a front axle investment.
Anybody remember this complete intermediate at Pick-N-Pull that I posted about?????
Well FinoCJ got the trans, Jeeppeep got seats and Steve pulled the transfer case and axles out of it. 3.73 D30 and a 3.73 D44






So here is the plan!!!!!!
Front D30 is going to get a ARB air locker. Rear D44 is going to get a ARB air locker. Both geared at 3.73.
The D20 is going to get a blend of D18 parts as well as a bronco slider gear to become a 2.46 Low range D20.
This combined with his SM420 transmission will give him a crawl ratio of 64.5:1......
Plenty of crawl for Rubicon use and about 2800 rpm on the freeway at 70 mph.

 

Great plan. Don’t let him wait until next spring to pull it out of storage.

 

"After watching this years Rubicon footage (and breaking a D27) it is apparent that Steve needs to make a front axle investment."

What broke ?

 

Either the long side axle shaft joint or the Gleason differential itself. By the end of the trip he was making all kinds of popping noises in the left front area. We took the hub apart before Cadillac hill and found it to be in working condition.

 

James, you are going to LOVE that 4:1 first gear and the crawl ratio in the 60's!
Leading the Rubicon group gave me the opportunity to watch allot of different setups and driving styles. It looks to me like 60 is almost the magic number for crawl ratio when equipped with 33" tires and V6 type of HP.
From 50 to 60 there is a small but very noticeable difference in speed which allows for steering wheel turning, spotting, control and balances engine idle vs throttle input.

Steve wanted to stick with the 3.31 ratio..... but realized he has a set of 3.73 axles that are ready to rock with a diff change only.
Steve wanted the terra low D20..... but realized that with the purchase of a $99 bronco slider gear he would stay at 2.46 and could achieve 64.5:1 crawl.
Steve planned on purchasing an ARB for the front axle..... but with his new found savings, he can purchase a rear ARB and RCV axle shafts for the front.
Steve now has a jeep that will survive his "Hammer Down" driving style...... and have a crawl ratio solidly in the 60's......

 

He was very fortunate that he had only 2 trail fixes required.
I think he learned his lesson....... But who am I to talk..... I required 2 trail fixes and I work on/drive my jeep daily....

 

He almost went on his lid this year..... Some fast action from Carl prevented him from flopping really hard on the passenger side while leaving Buck island.

 

That is an awesome score. What pick-n-pull is that Jeep at?

 

That was Redding, Ca about 6 months ago.

 

New developments.....
We yanked Steve's SM420 and D18.
The plan is to rebuild the SM420 and use a mix of parts to build a 2.46 Low D20. Steve is dropping his Pick-N-Pull intermediate axles off to get ARB's front and rear installed this week.
His new crawl ratio should be 65:1

 

I have a large hole 18 if you need any parts, let me know. Yours for the cost of shipping.

 

If he's getting ARB's why not go 4.10s or 4.27s at the same time? My '73 had 4.27s and I felt it was fine on the highway. In for a penny ...

Take anything else from that Jeep? One item screams out to me.

Ah, I missed jeeppeep.

 

Out here we need to be able to maintain 70 on the freeway to keep from getting run over, even at 70 trucks will occasionally pass you.
With 3.73 his freeway RPM will be 2699. We sometimes hop on the freeway for an hour or more run up to the mountains.

 

Huh. I had a tach, but I did not worry about the 304's engine speed. I'm sure I drove that fast and faster. And my tires were something like 31s but they were called 10.00-15s.

Anyway, there was a lot of Jeep in that picture. A shame. Good that you guys got most of it. I wonder how it ended up at the pick-and-pull. My contact with these yards suggests they mostly get stuff with funny history, like abandoned cars. Or cheap - whatever the regular yards don't bid for. One pick-and-pull yard I used to frequent regularly had many cars from police impound.

 

Steve's Jeep came to live with me...... I don't have time for it now, but at least it will be dry while it waits.
Currently it is apart for a transmission/transfer case rebuild and axle upgrades. There's a whole pile of new trans, transfer, axles ect....
The new build will consist of:
TBI fuel injection
Sm420
2.46 low D20
D30 with ARB and RCV axles
D44 with ARB
3.73 gears
My own design of YJ spring/shackle hangers with proper geometry, U bolt flip, ram assist steering, custom transmission cross member, shock relocation, Currie swaybars front and rear.
I really forgot how beat this jeep is..... Steve was always hard on it.... but damn ... it doesn't have a panel with a straight 12" on it....
I am torn because half of me wants to build it to beat on and treat it how Steve would have . The other half of me wants to hang fresh metal from classic ent. on the whole jeep and make it look nice again. This jeep would look great with dead pigs or a trophy buck in the back.

 

This is heart wrenching. Part of me thinks you should build how you want it, the other part thinks do the upgrades but save the overall look and feel of the Jeep.

 

With the amount of off road gear you going to put....arb, rcv, ram assist, custom suspension, tbi...etc it will be a hard core wheeler. So replace body panel will be just temporary since you will ended up in the same state in a few year of abuse...

BTW nice project, can wait to see it coming together