I put the rear end back together on Saturday. I went over to GTR Friday night to use their bearing removal tool and press but the tool they had was rounded on one side and it didn't work. So Saturday morning I took my grinder and cut the old bearings off. I cut them down so there was just a thin bit a metal left and then tapped them with a hammer which cracked them thin metal. Then I just slid them off by hand. Before I installed the new bearings I clearanced the teeth on the ring gear so I could install the pin. Here's how it turned out.





Then on Sunday I put the transfer case back together, which was a pain to do without a good pair of snap ring pliers. I had to remove a snap ring on the main shaft so I could remove it from the rear portion of the case to reassemble it but my cheap pliers would just bend. The only tool I had that I could spread it far enough with was a pair of small needle nose pliers. So I had Amy use a flat head screw driver to push it while I used the needle nose pliers. Once I got the case back together I installed it back in the truck along with the front and rear driveshafts, the exhaust and the fuel tank.

Everything is now working again. Well except that the amp went out so it doesn't have a radio but that's just how it goes. The truck has been sitting for a couple weeks and I forgot that the amp quit working. It's a 5 channel Sony and is about 11 years old. I'll have to wait for my income tax return before I can replace it with another 5 channel amp though.

I was thinking of turning the conversion part of this thread into a video podcast. Whattaya think Ron? It would be like an hour or two max of me recording you basically just talking the text of this thread, then I'd lay it into a slideshow of the pics you took and put on our YT page.

Maybe, do you have an example I could watch of what you're thinking?

Sorta like this, but with, err, car stuff. Maybe some underscore music if you want. Nothing too fancy, just another way to present the information and get it to the world.

I think that's doable.

I also scheduled my appointment to have the truck inspected for the engine conversion. My appointment is on March 6th so hopefully all goes well and I'll have a BAR cert for it.

So no certificate for me today. Everything was good except that the exhaust exits just before the rear axle which is right above the roller for the dyno. Because they have had the probe fall out before onto the rollers and get damaged they said I had to either extend it back or bring it out the side. So I have to get the exhaust extended and then schedule another appointment to have it inspected again.

Always something. . .

Yes it is but it's okay. On the way home the Check Engine light came on. When I pulled the codes all 4 were for the back O2 on bank 2. It turned out that I forgot to reconnect the harness to it when I put the exhaust back on after doing the T-case. So as soon as the exhaust cools down I'll go plug it in.

Got the exhaust done today and scheduled a new appointment for the 20th.

So my conversion is now BAR certified.

Congrats

Congrats Ron!

Great Job Ron!

Congrats. I know how difficult those can be to get!

Thanks guys.

So I ran into an issue with the Explorer a couple months ago. It got a vibration which I though was the transfercase but is actually from the trans. So it's has been sitting so that I could get the Cobra done. Now that Cobra is running (well except for the throwout bearing going out) I pulled the trans to have it rebuilt. I dropped it off today and it will be done sometime next week. Tomorrow I plan on pulling the trans in the Cobra so that I can replace the throwout bearing and get it driveable again. If all goes well I may have three out five vehicles running again.

I fixed the Cobra last weekend, it only took me about 3 hours to pull the trans, replace the throwout bearing and reinstall the trans. So I at least have two running vehicles. Today I picked up the Explorers rebuilt trans and new converter and I'm going to try to get it installed this weekend. It take a lot more time to install it then it does the T56 in the Cobra.

I got the trans and transfercase installed and all the connectors and brackets connected. I also reinstalled all the exhaust. I still have a couple hours worth of work to do but I need to go tomorrow morning and pick up new torque converter nuts because I rounded a couple trying to get them off.

Everytghing went pretty smooth tonight. I usually have to use two jacks and I have Amy come out and operate them while I postion and move around the trans but I was able to install the trans and transfercase together using only one. I managed to get it balanced just perfect and it didn't slide off.

What happened to Ford parts being made in the USA?

I finished this up yesterday and the vibration is now gone. however, now that trans isn't making noise and the vibration I can now hear that the rearend is. It has a hum which I'm fairly certain are the pinion bearings but at least it's driveable. I have some things that I need to fix on my Suburban now before I dig into the rearend on the Explorer so I'll probably have to wait a month or so before I do it.

Time for an update. I replaced the pinion bearings but the rear gears still hums on the coast side. When I did that I also found that it needed new wheel bearings so I replaced those at the same time. The gears looked good so I'm not concerned about the little bit of noise.

Now on to the front diff. Back when I had the issue with the trans I also had a light vibration in the steering. I figured that it was either caused by the hubs or carrier/pinion bearings. So I pulled the axles and installed just the outer stubs and the vibration went away. I then picked up new carrier bearings and took the carrier out to replace them but the old bearings looked good. That's when I discovered the pinion had 3 (out of 9) chipped teeth.

I'd left the carrier out of the front and was driving it that way until I had the cash to buy the new ring and pinion but one day Phil called and asked if I'd fixed the front end yet. He wanted to go wheeling in his new 2007 Land Cruiser FJ100 but wanted me to come along just in case. I reinstalled the carrier so I could go with him but we ended up not going. So now that it's back in I have a light vibration in the front end. I should be able to buy the new ring and pinion after the holidays but for now it's at least drivable. Below 60 mph it doesn't vibrate at all, you can only feel it above that so anytime I drive on the freeway it's there.

Update: I got tired of the vibration a long time ago so I pulled the axles shortly after I installed them. I was finally able to pick up a new ring and pinion so I'll probably install them this Saturday if we don't have anything else going on. It'll be nice to be able to go four wheeling again.

Spent all day today setting p the new Motive ring and pinion in the Dana 30. I hate that they use shims instead of crush sleeve. Anyways, I know Nordy had issues with the Motive gears in his car but mine are perfectly quiet. I found that they prerun them and stamp the install depth on the pinion gear. Mine said the depth was 2.261 and I ended up at 2.256 which was as close as I could get with the shims I had. I also set the bearing preload at 23 in/lbs and the backlash at .009. Here's why the old one was causing a vibration. It broke another tooth from the last time I looked at it.

Ouch. Yeah, that'll do it.