TheKSmith's 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ Limited 4.7 H.O. - The Do-It-All Rig

[theksmith 4,041]

so these pics don't look like much other than some freshly painted axles, but it's a big upgrade for me:

 

 

Joe at Absolute Offroad treated me right again as always. the swap cost a little less than expected, and could have cost a lot more if i had gone to place that tried to charge me the price of each service instead of just bulk labor (like ball joint change @ rate times 4 PLUS bushing change @ rate times 2 PLUS etc. PLUS etc.).

 

my observations so far:

 

- i can't tell the upgrade to 4.56 nearly as much as i expected... it's a little peppier off the line, but i thought i was going to actually be over-geared for 33's... instead it seems just fine, we'll see what the MPG turns out to be now...

 

- having all new ball joints, control arm bushings, unit bearings, CV's makes driving feel nice and tight, no wobbles or sloppiness (plus the TRE's and SS are only about a year old)

 

- damn that aussie locker is noisy, i knew it would make clicks, but it's a bit more than i expected. after reading other peoples experiences, i don't think anything is wrong, just more noise than i expected... i'm learning to take it easy on the throttle on tight turns

 

- gear whine is a bit annoying coming from the 44A. Joe told me that he didn't think that whoever setup the gears did anything wrong per-say, but that the 44A can just be a noisy axle and it's the only one he actually won't warranty himself against noise when doing gear installs.

 

i just ordered a bunch of parts for my on board air install, till then i have a completely useless ARB in the front - nonetheless, i can't wait to wheel with even just the rear locker now and see how it's different.

[Phildo 2]

All the pics I have seen of the CRAZY stuff you go through, and you didnt have lockers?

 

Thats incredible!

[Number7 87]

Looks good K, Is the 44 aluminum or steel? See you on the trail. George:cool:

[GRUNT 87]

Looks good K, Is the 44 aluminum or steel? See you on the trail. George:cool:

 

Kris correct me if I am wrong, George I believe the D-44A has an aluminium center housing and normal tubes.

 

Looking good Kris!

[theksmith 4,041]

Kris correct me if I am wrong, George I believe the D-44A has an aluminium center housing and normal tubes.

 

Looking good Kris!

 

indeed, it is the bastard aluminum one that only exists in the ZJ and WJ and the dodge viper (but the viper just uses the center section, it has independent rear suspension)

[theksmith 4,041]

went to several self-serve junk yards yesterday in search of a NP242HD, but found nothing.

 

so today went to Precision Salvage on one side of town and picked up one with only 30k miles on it, then drove over to the other side of town to AMC Salvage and picked up a matching floor shifter.

[theksmith 4,041]

so Tom Woods tells me he can make custom SYE for the 242HD if I send him the tailcone and main shaft... so apart it comes!

 

 

remove the extension tail cone that only the HD has with 4 bolts

 

big snap ring needs to come off to get the main tailcone off

 

after removing the bolts, i tried beating it with the rubber mallet, but couldn't break the tailcone free, had to resort to using a 5-in-1 tool to split off the tailcone... you're not supposed to do this as you can easily mess up the aluminum and make it hard to re-seal later... but oh well.

 

use a scredriver in the provided holes on each side of the case to split the main case halves after you remove all the bolts

 

here's the main case all split

 

as you start to pull out the main shaft you can work the chain off the secondary shaft

 

this piece slides off the main shaft and can be left inside the shift fork

 

 

here's the main shaft and differential out

 

 

another snap ring on main shaft

 

 

this snap ring inside the differential on the main shaft was a huge pain in the ass

 

finally got it out using the snap ring pliers and a giant spliff holder

 

here it is all apart!

[dzJeepChic 2,517]

That's so cool! I wish I could of watched. Not sure my virgin ears could've handled it though.

 

d

[Number7 87]

Nice job K. Now I want to take a t-case apart. George:cool:

[theksmith 4,041]

so went for a little shake down run up at Saguaro Lake, just to make sure everything's ready before my week long trip to the Canyonlands, UT (Offroad Passport Community Forum - 09-29-2009)

 

i finally really noticed the new gears, crawling down steep hills in 1st gear and 4lo was much slower and predictable compared to before, and running in 4hi in the sand didn't take nearly as much throttle as before either... kewl!