Finally got her running! As I stated on a previous post, the front axle fried on the beach. I removed it to assess the damage,and found all my bearings and seals were shot.So I rebuilt it, all new bearings, all new seals, new bushings for the intermediate shaft. But I tried the 4X4, and I heard the same "pop,pop,pop, BOOM!!" sound I got on the beach. I finally put her on the concrete and removed the vacuum shift motor. The end of the intermediate shaft's teeth were ground to nothing, and the shaft the shift fork rides on was bent. There is also about 3/8" of space between the inner and outer shafts. The only thing stopping the gap from increasing is the diff spider gear assembly. Is this normal? Both outer shafts are new due to an unfortunate universal joint replacement gone terribly awry. So, I think I need a new intermediate shaft, as well as a new collar. and a new fork (mine is terribly eaten due to the fork pads missing). I replaced the intermediate shaft end bushings with Mopar original equipment, but there was another type of bearing in it when I opened it up. These appeared to be rollers in nature. Are these better, and where do I go to get them? One more thing. I pulled the transfer case vacuum supply line and attached my vacuum pump. I cannot keep a vacuum on it! do the vacuum switches go bad on these things? I will keep investigating. Thanks, everone....

 

You could do away with the whole Vacuum actuator thing and put in a posi-loc cable actuator. It works really well i did away with the whole vacuum system. Dont know about the rest of your problems would think just a new shaft and collar and a shift fork would be fine.

 

when you hear the pop pop pop boom it usually has to do with the 4 wheel drive not fully engaging, it slips which makes the pop and when you get enough speed and it tries to catch than boom.


As for the vacuum, There is two hoses that go from the trans area into the front axle, If you have been working on the axle it is very easy to install the braket upside down giving you the wrong vacuum at the axle.


And the little actuator on the axles tend to stick also usually hitting it with a hammer a few times will free up the parts inside if not try removing the actuator and oiling it up. Also dump so seafoam in the vacuum lines that should free up and gunk on anything inside the lines

 

When I removed the actuator (did I mention I replaced that as well? Sorry if I didn't) the vacuum shaft was bent. I did happen to get the hoses on backwards, but I pulled over and swapped them. I really like the vacuum motor, I can't think of a convienient place to mount the pull cabe for a posi-lok, although that may be what it comes to. Do they make an electric version? My biggest problem is the collar cant bite enough spline on the intermediate shaft. When I removed the motor yesterday, there were actually spline shards in the bottom of the CAD ****....

 

Until you replace the shafts,bushings,collar and shoes on the fork, how do you expect it work properly?

 

Well, friend, I am trying to do that; however, the intermediate shaft showed no signs of excessive wear. I'm trying to fix it now, but I'm on a limited budget. My biggest problem, I fear, is this:

In case this pic doesn't show, this is my CAD ****, with a great deal of space between the outer and inner axle shafts.

The shaft slides all the way into the carriers splines, like this:

Is this supposed to do this?

 

save up an extra $200. then upgrade to dana 60s...

 

i think its proper for the inner axle end to be butted up to the pinion shaft.
there is no c-clip to hold it in place. it just slides all the way in until it hits the pinion shaft.

the cad end of your inner shaft looks completely shot. i don't think the collar will hold engagement on that. with that kind of scrubbing, check your collar, it may be shot too. you might want to go to a junk yard for replacements. purchased new, that axle will be expensive, and the other items will add up.

 

also, there are either 2 bushings in there. a large one holding the inner axle, and a small one where the two halves meet. the one large on might be a bearing, depending on year. replace both of those to ensure good alignment....

 

Ha Ha Ha..... yeah.... ummm, by now I've sunk so much into the axle I cant afford to do anything else.

I have replaced EVERTHING except this one shaft and the fork itself. (and the diff) I want to buy a new center shaft, collar, and fork. But herin lies another problem: I can find no ID numbers on my axle. I have a shop here that can get it direct from Dana, but I need the bill-of-sale (i think?) before any parts can be given. Can some one show me a pic of these numbers? Maybe I'm overlooking them. Also, that gap between the two shafts worries me. Is that normal? If I can get another half inch of bite on that collar, I need it, don't I?