Putting the Jeep Back Together.

Background.

I needed some extra muscle to get the axel under the jeep so I talked to Frank, Denis and Johnie on Tuesday, to see if I could get some help putting the axel back in the jeep.
They were taking a ride Wednesday so we made a date with them to come over Thursday morning around 9:00 to help.

Getting Started.

Around 8:45 Denis and Frank showed up so we got started.
First we had to get the axel out of the trailer and onto a transmission jack.

Once we got it on the jack we were able to maneuver it under the jeep.

Bolting on the parts

The first thing to connect is the lower control arms.

Next we bolted on the upper control arms.

Springs Won’t Go!

Next we had to put the springs in place.
 

Oops, we can’t get the springs in with the upper control arms on so we had to disconnect the upper control arms.
Once we did that, the springs went right in. Then we hooked the upper control arms back up.

Getting to this point  only took about 15 minutes.

Johnie Shows up.

Johnie showed up at 9:00 and jumped right into the job. He started hooking up the shocks.

While Johnie was at that, Frank and I hooked up the tie rod.

The Track Bar.

We tried hooking up the front track bar.

We found that the jeep would have to be sitting on the tires before we could hook it up so we left one side hanging down for now.

Denis and Johnie tried to connect the front drive shaft but were having trouble. I convinced them that we had to get the tires on and take the jeep off the stands before the drive line would go on.

The Brakes.

Next we had to install the front brakes. As we were installing them I noticed that I was going to need new pads very soon. We went ahead and installed the brakes. I made a mental note to get new pads tomorrow since I would have to go to either Blythe or Parker to get them.

The Tires.

Next it was time to put the tires on…

and set the jeep back on the ground.
Once the jeep was sitting on the tires we started tightening all the bolts.

The Track Bar.

To get the track bar connected I had to turn the steering wheel to move that body back and forth until the mounting bolt lined up with the hole.

Steering Damper.

The last thing to connect was steering damper. The steering damper keeps the front wheels from going into a death wobble when you hit bumps.

Okay, all the parts are on and the bolts have been tightened. The whole job only took us two hours.

Now its time for a test drive.

Everything seems to be working fine except the brakes are a bit noisy. I’ll see if that cures itself. Either way I will buy new pads tomorrow.

Take a ride.

Once we had the jeep back together we planned to take a ride tomorrow. I’ll get the new pads on the way home.

Patti did a great job of documenting the repair even though she didn’t know what we were doing.  She managed to get pictures of all the steps.

Okay, the jeep is back!!