Budget XJ

[fl0w3n]

Mini ice cream cones to keep my fat ass from getting fatter

 

[fl0w3n]

Been chipping away at my mini d30 rebuild.

Made a spreader to compress the clutch pack to slip the center chunk in.

Kind of cool way the “locker” works. These roller balls ride in the valley and they have a tiny ramp in one spot. When you engage the locker, a magnet pulls some pins down and it keeps the collar engaged on the ramps. This adds extra pressure to the clutch pack.

 

[fl0w3n]

The RCVs had some surface rust that was annoying to look at, so sanded them down and fogged them

Fogged the whole axle, and gave up for the hubs and calipers… which I’m sure will annoy me next time I take it apart.

One of the things I did was cut off the POs bump pads that were hitting the track bar. Re checking that there’s no contact issues. I’m not sure how much the bumps compress but I probably could get a couple more inches of up travel if I worked at it.

 

[RunningProblem]

You could TOTALLY get more up travel with the front axle. Slap some coilovers and new shock towers in there and BAM...more up travel.

Still trying to make it up for the Reno run?

 

[fl0w3n]

I am, but also just went into escrow on a house so time and funds might be tight. As of now planning on going and trying to drag another NAXJA buddy with

 

[Bmxbry9]

Reno run? Is it xj only?

 

[RunningProblem]

Reno run? Is it xj only?

The NAXJA guys do a ‘Reno Run’ every Memorial Day weekend. This year it is apparently more in the Carson City area. Last year it was mostly trails in Reno like a day at Moon Rocks, a day at Prison Hill, then some trails like Budweiser Canyon on Peavine or some stuff up Close to Virginia City.
It’s a fundraiser or something. Cool raffle prizes too. I think a winch is offered every year.

Reno Run 2023 May 25th-29th - NAXJA Forums -::- North American XJ Association

Reno Run 2023 May 25th-29th Sierra Chapter

www.naxja.org

 

[fl0w3n]

Oh shittttt

Realistically won’t be able to get to this for a while. I’m in the middle of doing floors and paint before I move, then moving, then unpacking.

I’m not going to make Reno run, but have a trip with some friends in June I’d like to hit… most likely not with this doubler setup yet though.

Having the ax15/ecobox 300 swap complete for August Sierra Trek at Fordyce would be sickkkk

 

[Mike Honcho]

How in the hell did you get that so fast ?

 

[Twankie]

Do you need a pedal assembly for the ax15 swap?

 

[RunningProblem]

Welcome to the club. I’ve had mine fully assembled sitting on the shelf for a few weeks and the mounting foot just showed up. I have the Dana 300 clocking ring if you’ll end up wanting it. I can’t remember if you have it or not.
what are your plans for shifters? I ask since I’ll need some too.

 

[fl0w3n]

How in the hell did you get that so fast ?

12 weeks and a few days, not too bad considering they stated 12 weeks on the site. I was ready to get in line with all the other frustrated tcase people in General

Do you need a pedal assembly for the ax15 swap?

Are you offering one or asking if it’s required? If you’re offering, I appreciate it but already have one I picked up with the ax15

Welcome to the club. I’ve had mine fully assembled sitting on the shelf for a few weeks and the mounting foot just showed up. I have the Dana 300 clocking ring if you’ll end up wanting it. I can’t remember if you have it or not.
what are your plans for shifters? I ask since I’ll need some too.

All I cared about was being in the club anyway

Shifters… I bought a TMR Machette because I thought it was a good excuse to try using it to bend up some shifter linkage and levers. We’ll see, no solid plan yet.

I do have some ideas…

Like this shift boot: AX15 Transmission and Twin Stick Boot Combo Also works with NV3550

And either copying this twin stick kit or for $175 just buying it and using it as a starting point to make it work: Twin Stick Transfer Case Shifter Kit For AX15

A behemoth flip kit sounds like it would make everything much easier, but it’s damn pricey. I’d be into everything for about $3k so I think that’s still ahead of a 4spd atlas, but not by much. Dana 300 Twin Stick Flip Kit

And as a last resort… the NWF cable shifters for a flipped 300 Dana 300 Reverse Cable Shifter Kit

So basically the short answer is I have no idea

 

[RunningProblem]

You’re lucky/smart for the Dana 300. So many more options. I like the $175 bracket you linked above. Add some heims and all thread and you’re probably good to go.

My research had me stumble upon this NAXJA thread where a very smart XJ man types out his solution for shift linkage. I was thinking of a fancy setup from JBFAB with cables and dual shifters for something more hassle free. I need to just slap mine in next week and figure out shifters after.

Assembly is fun. The shift are is actually really stiff/solid.

Personally the flipped Dana 300 has such a history of leaking I wouldn’t put money into it. It wasn’t designed to run upside down, BUT none of this shit was designed to do what we’re doing.

 

[JMRobins]

I recently put the $175 twin-stick and boot on an AX15 converted '68 Bronco. The boot is pretty thin but good enough. The twin shifter is nice but is sensitive to how the t-case is clocked. It works, but isn't very smooth. It'd be fairly east to modify though.

 

[Twankie]

Are you offering one or asking if it’s required? If you’re offering, I appreciate it but already have one I picked up with the ax15

I I have a set that I'm not going to use

 

[fl0w3n]

edit: got it. Had to remove rear output housing to give enough play to pull input

Mike Honcho what am I missing on the d300 … how can the bearing retainer come out with just step 3 and 4 if there’s a snap ring holding it on the backside?

 

[fl0w3n]

Well shit the input gear doesn’t slide onto the NWF shaft. My cheap calipers say the NWF shaft is 0.5mm larger on the spline OD than the stock Dana shaft. Or it almost seems like they’re slightly different spline profiles. The input gear is a TeraFlex one, but I don’t know why that would matter. Emailed Kris to see what he thinks.

The more I look at these stock shift rails the less confident I am becoming in figuring out my own shifter setup. I may just need to pony up and go with the NWF cable kit… or for $500 more go with the Behemoth 300 flip kit. For $1,000 though it really feels like im polishing the turd too much.

thoughts? I’m into the setup:
$1,135 - Ecobox-i
$600 - Dana 300 with 4:1 and 1310 yokes (and a "free" 23 spline aw4)
$175 - Flat plate cross member
$127 - Aluminum inspection cover
$0 - ecobox guts

There will be some misc things but I’m about $2k into a 4 speed 10.8:1 case which is hard to beat. Cable shifters is probably a moot point compared to an Atlas / Behemoth / MMW, and so is mounting probably. So if I spend $500 on cable shifters I’m not adding that to the "should have got an Atlas math"

BUT… if I got a Behemoth flip kit for $1k, and now I’m into the setup for $3k, am I approaching dumb turd polishing territory? Or by the same logic, an empty MMW case is probably $2k tax and shipped so into the whole setup for $4k?

 

[Mike Honcho]

I did the NWF shifters. I am a cheap ass

I can take some pics of mine if you would like?

 

[fl0w3n]

I remember bugging you in your Cherokee thread about pics from your MJ, but if you have some more that would probably help convince me. Did you do the factory shift lever with new linkage to the Ecobox, and then the NWF D300 Reverse Cable Shifter, or did you go cable on all 3?

Also, I think you had a sight tube, did you drill your own holes or repurpose existing ones?

Dana 300 Reverse Cable Shifter Kit

**This Product is out of Stock Until Oct 2023 when 48" Cables will be available again** In some applications our standard Dana 300 Cable Shifter kit just won't fit. This can be the case a when using large manual transmission mated to your D300 or especially in a 'flipped' drivers side drop...

northwestfab.com

 

[Sluggy]

When I built my nwf ax15/ np241/d300 they did say something about one of the 4to1 kits being a pain to get the gear on. I have the low max gear set and everything went together smoothly. I ran a hard mounted shifter for the range box and cable shifters on the d300. I'll be at my shop later if you want me to snap a couple pictures.

 

[fl0w3n]

I should probably just go straight to cable like I first thought instead of dicking around with trying to make something and then giving up and going cable anyways. Did you use NWF's cable for the 300 or someone else? Pictures are always helpful.

I just got a response back from Kris and he said that they haven't had issues on LoMax, but can't control other companies tolerance, and that I should heat up the gear and press it on. I'm not sure what the tolerance of the Tera kit has to do with it if NWF's shaft is slightly larger than the stock Dana shaft, unless the stock shaft is just worn down from being 35+ years old

Considering it just slid off the stock shaft I wanted to make sure there wasn't a spline profile difference or a year break before I went straight to force.

 

[Sluggy]

Get some liquid nitrogen for the shaft and heat that gear up... never have a problem with it falling off again

 

[fl0w3n]

Get some liquid nitrogen for the shaft and heat that gear up... never have a problem with it falling off again

You think dry ice would do the trick? I’m not fancy enough for liquid nitrogen

 

[arse_sidewards]

You think dry ice would do the trick? I’m not fancy enough for liquid nitrogen

For steel it's thou per 100deg per inch of shaft/bore diameter.

Measure the gear, measure the shaft. I bet your toaster oven will do the job.

Five thou is practically a hot dog down a hallway when it comes to parts that are actually machined into some semblance of a known shape.

 

[Sluggy]

You can also put the shaft in the freezer for a day or 2

 

[fl0w3n]

For steel it's thou per 100deg per inch of shaft/bore diameter.

Measure the gear, measure the shaft. I bet your toaster oven will do the job.

Five thou is practically a hot dog down a hallway when it comes to parts that are actually machined into some semblance of a known shape.

Cool, didn’t know that relationship. It’s about a 1.5” shaft, haven’t checked the gear yet

You can also put the shaft in the freezer for a day or 2

But then I can’t make dry ice bombs with the leftovers

 

[Sluggy]

North West fab shifters, came with the already built dana 300. Just mounted the other shifter right off the base.

 

[fl0w3n]

going cable shift on the 300 and keeping mechanical to the box seems doable, and saves like $150

thanks for sharing

before I fuse this input gear to the shaft is there anything else on the case assembly I need to do first? Probably no going back after. The instructions aren’t the best since im following the blackbox-i and the ecobox regular. Kinda guessing between the two

 

[Sluggy]

I ended up assembling the nwf dry until I figured everything out. I also had to use both case directions to figure out the assembly. Make sure you get the clocking/ orientation correct before you rtv it.

 

[RunningProblem]

I did mine a bunch of times before I figured out what you posted above. The front half really only goes one way on the transmission. The back half will only fit the Dana 300 one way as well.
The rest is just matching the front and back half. If you REALLY want to get fucky you can add a Dana 300 clocking ring to the mix and get Buck wild with possibilities.