Being told some things...

[miked]

Well, after realizing that the wag was still having problems that I was no longer willing to work on, I drug the thing over to the local 4x4 shop and told them to either fix it or shoot it and drive it over a cliff.

They've come back with some interesting stuff. One of the issues is the vibration in the driveline that still exists even after putting on the double cardan on the front of the rear driveshaft. They threw it up on the rack and took a look under it. The fella says "that the rear isn't stock, looks like its out of a quadratrac since the pumpkin is offset to the passenger side - either that or it came with a D18 and someone has swapped in the D20 with the center output. No wonder you've had problems, you've got compound driveline angles and the double cardan up front on this driveshaft won't work with this setup."

Now this is all news to me, I've always been under the impresssion that the rear was the stock one, SOOO I'm wondering if those with older wags in the 68,69 and 70 model years with the D44 rear can take a peek under to see if their differential is also offset to the passenger side. That and the fact the the double cardan is supposed to handle compound angles better....

The other thing is up in the front end, the drag link between the knuckle and the pitman arm uses a different kind of tierod end. the end coming off the knuckle is about 2ft long, goes into a shorty adjustment clamp - about 4 inches long - and then connects to the tierod on the pitman arm which is about the normal 4" long. Never seen a tierod that is 2ft long, but sure enough its under there. They can't seem to find a source for a new one. Is this the stock setup on the steering for 69? Any idea where to get one of those long tie rod ends?

Any and all info appreciated

Mike

[Mikel2]

Mike,
I'm in the opposite side of the spectrum. I have a Dana 20 TC (centered output) and the diff in my rear axle is in the passenger side (had a QT in the truck originally). There is a little angle, but I never had any problems, and I don't see why it should cause you any. The side angle is pretty much the same as the drop angle (4in lift), so the combined angle isn't bad at all. Good luck.

[jeepbob]

The diff on my 65 is offset to the right about 4 inches and that is also the same offset as the 69 rear end that I have for a spare. The 69 rear end was from a 6 cylinder/T400/D20 combo. I would suspect either a bad tranny mount or a bent or out of ballanced driveshaft. The drag link you talk about can be had thru Carquest or Autovalue, just be sure to match it up before installing as there are 3 different lengths 1 is for early wags with ross steering, 1 is for later n/t's and the last is for w/t's. I got the wrong one the first time.
BTW I ran a q/trac with this offset also and did not have any virbations so this kinda blows there theroy out of the water. I also run a double cardan joint frt driveshaft with 4" susp lift and an automatic/D20 combo. I would look for another shop to take my rig to.

[ September 21, 2001: Message edited by: jeepbob ]

[GaWd]

The D44 in my 66 is also offset to the passenger side approximately 4". My rig is lifted somewhere between 2" and 4", and I don't have a ridiculous amount of vibrations at speed.

I've also got the 2 - 2 1/2' tie-rod end, so let me know where you can find a source in the Bay area Mike D.

Sam

[miked]

hey sam,

I picked up the phone and found it at specialty jeep, sitting down? price is $76.54, part number 9197. they are at (800) 504-5337 and had one left which i hope to snag. ouch...

do you have any vibration at all at speed from your driveline or some vibration that you're willing to live with?

[ September 21, 2001: Message edited by: miked ]

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I have the 350 Dauntless Th400/D20 the 44 I have is offset as well I could get the measurements if you like. By the way that is a nice Ride you got there great pictures! ;)

[GaWd]

My truck vibrates about what I figure a 30-something year old truck with an older lift kit would vibrate...

In other words, I don't think so, no. And to add to the lift and the age of the truck, I've had tons of shadetree-type mechanics done to it, like it's never seen a real mechanic for all of the non-Jeep mods done to it.

I think I would concentrate on the driveline itself as the culprit. If it's out of balance, you'd have all of the trouble described, and not even a real mechanic would be able to tell you that without seeing it move or doing whatever to it to balance it.

$80 for a tie-rod? I'd look online or in mail-order for the part and see if you can't find a better price, though I doubt it'll be dirt cheap anywhere, you might get some kind of break elsewhere.

Can't wait to replace that one...

Sam

[joe]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by miked:
. The fella says "that the rear isn't stock, looks like its out of a quadratrac since the pumpkin is offset to the passenger side - Mike<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mike, he's right that it's not stock because yours stock would be pass side offset but whether or not it came behind a QT or D20 makes no differences. The D20 and QT(Borg-Warner)equipped rigs between 1973-'79 both had the same identical rear axles...pass side offset as did all earlier FSJ's. The only FSJ's that used a centered diff being AMC20 or D44 was the 80-91's and the D44 wasn't offered till late 86 till 91. Don't know if yours came from a late 86 FSJ or some other brand donor. Bottom line...all 79 and earlier FSJ's had the diff offset pass side and all 1980 and later had the diff centered regardless of x-case used.