Seabee M38A1 Build

Getting a short list... Of course as soon as I took the picture I remembered I need to get a longer hose for the power steering return to the reservoir... Oh well.

 

After I made my list and added a couple things as soon as I posted the picture above I got right to work. By lunch time I had a lot of the big things done. I only needed the return hose for the power steering and a new distributor cap. I noticed this pretty cool cloud too... Which plays into later



I picked up the kiddo from school and hit the flaps for those parts I needed. After I built a set spark plug wires I fired it up and backed it out of the shop. I topped off the fluids and went for a test drive. Everything seems like it's working as it should. The cloud from earlier brought some friends...



We got dumped on on our way back home...



Poor old Toby wasn't too thrilled. We barely got back into the shop when it really opened up with hail and everything...

Overall the jeep did fine. The mechanical fan did just fine. It stayed right at 195 degrees like it usually did. The new transmission shifts smooth and quiet just like I hoped. That's a huge relief and makes me that much more excited for the Rubicon trip next month...

 

I had to take the dog for another test drive today. The power steering needed burping so I went up on the hill behind the house and motored around for a bit.



Shortly before this pic was taken the power steering reservoir burped and it started working correctly. That's the north side of Mount Shasta in the distance

up on the ridge in the previous pic for another shot of Mount Shasta. So far it looks like everything is working as it should. The new fan is keeping the engine cool, and the transmission is smooth and quiet. I finished up all the little things like put the winch back on and the front driveshaft then picked the kiddo up from school. I went across the scales at the pellet mill in Grenada and the Jeep weighs 3800 pounds with a mostly full tank of fuel. No tools, spares or nothing. We made it back to the house right before the thunderstorm hit and started dumping rain again... Only one more thing I need to get done and then we'll be ready...

 

Just finished reading this thread. Nine years in the making. Awesome build! and even better to have seen it in action on the 2023 ECJ5 Rubicon trip. Post-trip what mods are planned in the future?

 

Thank you, I appreciate it. The thing about something taking so long is all the planning and reading and figuring out how I wanted to put it all together. Tons of time were spent on this forum and others reading builds, including Posimoto's build on your jeep.

I don't really have any big plans for my jeep right now. There's a lot of little things I'll be doing. I need to build a better hold down system for the hood. The rubber latches aren't working very well. I need to do some stuff on the hardtop for winter time. The defrost doesn't work well, the doors don't seal very well. The Jeep works well for everything I do with it.

 

What are the specs on your axles?

 

His profile says “Axles:Ford 9in F&R”

 

Yup

I guess I should be more specific.
Housings look to be Currie? 44 outers?
WMS?
Any pictures of them? Interested to see the passenger side leaf spring mount on your front axle.
What brakes did you use?

Thank you!

 

The front axle is a Currie 9in with Dana 44 outers. I told them it was going under a CJ5 so they knew how far the center pumpkin could be towards the passenger side, and I wanted to be 62 inches wide and the wheel mount surface. The passenger side spring perch is crowded so I didn't use a U-bolt on the inside. I attach a picture. I used some junkyard F150 outers so I would have the correct 5 lug pattern. I used calipers from a Ford T-bird that have the same mount, but have a larger diameter piston. The inner axle shaft is a Currie 31 spline part that they cut to the correct length with the housing. The outer is a Tom Woods Bronco stub that fits the big Dana 44 U-Joint, both are Chrome moly. The hubs are Warn Classics. The 3rd member is a junkyard nugget with a ebay Detroit Locker.

The rear axle is a Quick Performance 9in but it's a full floater. The housing was only 299 bucks then, now it's 499. They make widths from 58, 59, 60, 61, and 62 inch. I used 62 inches wide to match the front axle and to make room for the 38in tires, they barely rub the front leaf springs at full lock. I wanted the full float for strength since the axle shaft doesn't support the vehicle weight, and I can pull the axle shafts out in a couple minutes and flat tow. The axle shafts are from Mark Williams or Dutchman. I can't remember. I have a long side and a short side. 31 spline inner and a 24 spline outer to engage the hub. The hubs were the hard part, they are from Speedway Engineering in SoCal. The big 5x5.5 pattern isn't that common in circle track racing. They offer a hub for the desert racing/prerunner guys. I had them drill for a 1/2 x 20 stud the the lug nuts would be the same on all 4 corners. The brake rotors are the same as the front rotors. I had to have the center hole opened up a little at the machine shop so I could press the wheel studs in front behind to attach the rotor to the hub. I had purchased a pair of brake rotor hats and Wilwood Rotors, but I couldn't get the caliper mount and everything to work together. The calipers are the older big Cadillac Eldorado ones with the parking brake. I had the parking brake system all hooked up, but it never functioned correctly. I think the original parking brake handle didn't have enough travel to work right. The 3rd member in the rear is a Strange unit with another ebay Detroit Locker.

The Ford 9in is a great axle because of Nascar gear ratios are available from stump pullers all the way to Bonneville gears... I'm running 4.56. The gear ratio and my tire size, no overdrive it cruises at 2400rpms at 60 mph. The exhaust is nice and quiet and it actually gets about 13-14 mpgs. The other cool thing about 9in axles is they don't have a cover to peel off and dent. You can weld all sorts of stuff to the housing, like the front hydraulic assist cylinder mount. On my rear housing I plated the bottom and the lower backside for extra protection. The pinion does hang kinda low, so a spring over would be difficult to work out the driveshaft angles. I'm still spring under for stability and my wife is 5'2. The rear pinion is tilted up since I have a cv on the driveshaft. The driveshaft is above the leaf springs and completely out of the way. I have a pinion guard that has barely been touched. The front driveshaft is longer and flatter, so it's been scratched up a bit, both are Tom Woods Driveshafts.

I think there should still be pictures in the thread when I was assembling everything back in 2021. I hope that helps.


^^^ that's a simple but strong mount. A fine thread bolt with the head cut off welded to the housing. The a piece of scrap 3/16ths fit in the wedge.

 

Here is the passenger side front leaf spring perch...

Still has Rubicon mud on it...






And from below... The leaf spring U-bolt clamp was a conglomeration I came up with for high clearance. They already broke once about 100 miles from home. I added some straps and angled gussets and it hasn't been a problem since. I kinda over built a lot of this suspension like having 9/16ths greasable bolts for the shackles and leaf springs. I think the U-bolts are 1/2in or 9/16ths. I haven't bought a onboard welder yet so I want everything to be strong...

 

Safety in numbers; bring a jeeper with a welder...plus Johan to do the dirty work.

 

https://www.thecarycompany.com/tact...MIr46Js46vgAMVnyWtBh0wuQ5UEAQYASABEgLq7_D_BwE

 

That looks pretty good but I'm not sure about the price or the quantity!
3600 bucks for 16... So 225 each... Group buy?

 

2.5hrs to charge a 18min weld and I'll never have mine charged before I need it.

The diy on-board welder gets my bid.

 

I didn't even see that it was rechargeable... No thanks. The onboard welders I saw in action on the Rubicon seemed to work pretty dang good.

 

Bringing this back from page 5...

During the Rubicon trip and shortly after, the left front bumpstop got shredded. I didn't really spend a lot of time on them, I kinda just threw them under there and they worked good enough. I decided to upgrade to something different and make a few changes.


First order of business was switching out the front shackles for a set an inch longer. The front always rode just a bit low for my taste, and it limited up travel. Now the front is more droopier.



I have barely enough room to squeeze a hydraulic bump stops in between the shocks and the frame. This full bump on the passenger side.


This is the approximate ride height on the driver's side with the shaft fully extended. These are from Locked Off-road with a 2in stroke using a pin mount at the top. These are fully tunable by adjusting the nitrogen pressure using the Schrader valve at the top. Hopefully I can find the balance between full articulation and full bump for both sides...
Thank for checking it out. Laters.