Wrecking ball's toll so far

[TheRedlines]

Well after a great Thanksgiving feast at my parents we took off for JV to meet up with a bunch of freaks I met on the internet I had met Blaine and Kat in person a couple of times but hadn't seen the rest until TG nite. Once we showed up and were introduced, we felt right at home. A great group of people I am glad to call friends. After we set up camp we came to sit around the fire as different stories were told and fun was poked. Supposedly something I said might have provoked the rock gods. Well...... I guess "might have" wouldn't be the correct words

We woke up and started rolling towards the trail at 8 am. This was to be my first time on wrecking ball. It was surprisingly easy to get to. Almost right off the bat, the gods threw some crap my way. Kind of like poking a little fun. My drivers side rear upper bar pin pulled away from the bolts.



The bolts were both tweaked so we searched for suitable replacements, found some and got rolling pretty quick. We rolled on a little further until we got to a fun little squeeze. This is where the Gods really got me good. My Rear drivers side axle apparently didn't like the pushing my engine was supplying and decided to let loose.



After a quick winching with a snatch block I was pulled to a suitable place for surgery.




I turned out that the axle had broken at the splines inside the diff leaving about two inches of tweaked splines (otherwise known as a mortar round ) inside . Afer trying to use a magnet to retreive this extra peice and failing, we decided to remove the other axle so that we could kock it out from the other side. With the Jeep properly tied off and both axles out, We assembled many 1/2" extensions together to form a long skinny rod to hammer out the stuck peice. As The hammering took place I kneeled with a flashlight about 3 feet back from the axle tube to report the progress of the pounding. Quite a few attempts were made before the peice finally let loose and let loose it did. Like a rocket! As the final attemt at jerring it loose took place, I was was starring straight down the barrel. It was like watching a cartoon. That is until it hit. Damn, I hit the floor with my face in my hands. Spline marks were cut into my face. Things could have been a hell of alot worse. A little swelling and a couple of cuts, nothing serious. Please people, learn from my mistake, NEVER stare down the barrel of a loaded gun The spare that was available wasn't shimmed correctly so we had to make a makeshift shim with bailing wire and tape. We got her all back together, stacked a few rocks and I was on my way. After a short while I put Sunni in the drivers seat. She did a great job for quite a while until she got out and told me to drive. The rest of the trail was smooth going until a monstrous waterfall about a jeep and a half high and damn near vertical. It was at this point my spare on the stock carrier was bent up to resemble Jon's spare carrier. This waterfall was a super cool experience. Lots of pucker even though you are tied off up front so that you don't go over backwards.



Just around the corner from this is the last obsticle of the trail where the Gods decided to leave a lasting impression. I got a little too sideways and recieved a small scar above the rear tire and cut a sidewall on the passenger front.





From there was a steep downhill to the end of the trail and a ride back to camp. We then packed up as we were to meet some friends up in Big Bear for the rest of the weekend. Once we got to BB a call was made to another friend coming up in the morning that had a spare shaft to swap in. Luckily we made this call, otherwise I dought we would have made it home. When morning came and our friend showed up we swapped out the axles. The makeshift shim apparently wasn't enough because the bearing blew up at somepoint on the way to bigbear. Once we cleaned up the axle tube we installed the new spare. While turning it we found that it binds at the same place on every revolution. This leads me to belive that I may have screwed up the ring gear as well. We made it home ok saturday afternoon. We will pull the cover to have a peek probably tomorrow.

More pics:
Broken axle


Mortar round


Spare axle w/ trashed bearing and makeshift shim


another of trashed bearing


We really had a great time. We had alot of fun and really appreciate all of the work that everyone put in. Thank you everyone for everything. We will definitely be back out there with you guys again. Sorry we missed a few but I'm sure well get a chance to meet you next time.
-Duke













by the way.......... the last pic was severely edited. I don't really have a black eye

[Joe Dillard]

Ahh, Johnson Valley and it's "Rock God" strikes again.

Good to see you were in good hands & had lots of fun!

[mnjeeper]

Originally posted by TheRedlines

by the way.......... the last pic was severely edited. I don't really have a black eye

Edited or not, it sure got my attention!

[Jerry Bransford]

Heh, nice writeup and that black eye photo was funny.

[Iceman]

well that turned into a reminder
Glad you made it out pretty much unscathed though Duke

[Cutch]

Originally posted by TheRedlines
. Please people, learn from my mistake, NEVER stare down the barrel of a loaded gun

Kinda reminds me of how I HAD to propose to Miss Sue

One day ( in he next 2-3 years I hope to make it out there for an American Thanksgiving Run

[Robert J. Yates]

Wow,
This post makes me appreciate the true meaning of the word carnage........................both physical and mechanical.

And here I thought I had done some damage. My fragged steering box looks like kindergarten work compared to Dukes'

[blkTJ]

nah, Chris L wins, or loses... depends on how you look at it.

[TheRedlines]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
Wow,
This post makes me appreciate the true meaning of the word carnage........................both physical and mechanical.

And here I thought I had done some damage. My fragged steering box looks like kindergarten work compared to Dukes'

Ah... it wasn't so bad. Chris L definitely wins. What a bummer. So how did your box grenade? Was it a hit or did it explode?

[Robert J. Yates]

Exploded. That Valvoline full synthetic power steering fluid sure does reflect some nice colors when it hits the sun

[JLemieux]

Originally posted by TheRedlines
Spare axle w/ trashed bearing and makeshift shim


another of trashed bearing

Picture is kind of blury, but it looks to me that the bearing is pressed on backwards? Or maybe a non tappered bearing? Either way it might explain the trashed bearing.

[TheRedlines]

You could be correct but I don't have it here to look at anymore. I believe it originally came out of a rig this way. Actually in much better shape...lol. This axle came from a D44 w/ Drums. I have a D44 w/ disks. The setup for drum has a flat axle retainer where as mine has an extra lip on it to keep pressure on the bearing. Because this was the only spare available, bialing wire and tape was used to make up for the extra lip. It held together til we got off the trail, out of JV, and up the hill, an hour away at green valley lake. In my oppinion it served it's purpose. That was quite a trail fix. It's at the shop getting outfitted with a new bearing and bearing retainer. Everyone was a huge help. That was quite a team. Thanks everybody!

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by JLemieux
Picture is kind of blury, but it looks to me that the bearing is pressed on backwards? Or maybe a non tappered bearing? Either way it might explain the trashed bearing.

It's not on backwards John. We run into a 1 piece bearing from time to time like the ones that a 35 uses. Any insight?

[JLemieux]

Originally posted by mrblaine
It's not on backwards John. We run into a 1 piece bearing from time to time like the ones that a 35 uses. Any insight?

The 1 piece bearings I have seen (BCA #A9 & A10)are cylindrical roller bearings. This means the rollers are not tappered, but instead look like a cylinder with the long side of the cylinder being the load bearing side.
These bearings do not take the axial loads (end loads)as well as the tappered bearings. In an on road situation they work fine because the only axial load they get is in a turn. In an off camber situation the entire weight of the jeep is loaded on the side of the bearing with the least amount of surface area. (the ends of the rollers).
In the tappered bearings the roller still gets end loaded, but the tappered roller also loads the sides of the rollers as it gets wedged into the tapper by the end load. (this is why a tappered bearing that is put in backwards will destroy itself, it gets pulled out of the tapper when loaded)
It can be argued that both bearings due just fine in all but extreme situations. Given the choice, I would use the tappered bearing every time. In fact, I have never seen a cylindrical roller bearing on an axle in an OEM application.

[Scott Hill]

Great to hear some one broke out there and was taken care of the people out there no blame or name calling that is what I love about the people here.

Bad part is it sucks to brake and the eye sure looks bad hope all is Good.

Also feel OK aboout the limited damage did you take a look at the rigs that frequint out there you already knew what could happen and if you notice a lit of the dents are the same on several rigs that show up out there.

Sounds like a great trip makes me more ****ed I missed it.

Scott

[Jeppi]

Nice write-up Duke and thanks a bunch for hooking me up with these people Now I can add to my list:

New ARB in the rear
Tube Fenders
New Steering
New lever for my winch
$100's in powder coating and paint
Trip to the hardware store for new bolts that were missing

Again thanks Duke

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Jeppi
Nice write-up Duke and thanks a bunch for hooking me up with these people Now I can add to my list:

New ARB in the rear
Tube Fenders
New Steering
New lever for my winch
$100's in powder coating and paint
Trip to the hardware store for new bolts that were missing

Again thanks Duke

Boy Duke, you'd almost think you were driving.

[TheRedlines]

Scott, sorry for replying so late. I've been in Kentucky/Indiana/Illiniois for the last week. I knew what to expect out there as this wasn't my first trip. The Hammers are called "The Hammers" for a reason. Even though I had a bad day as far as parts longevity goes, I certainly had a great day as far as friends go. That picture was just a goof. Photoshop is a little hobby.

Jon, I don't know what to say except, I'm really glad you made it. I limped off after a day. You not only limped off but came right back for another big helping of pucker.

Thanks everyone for taking such good care of us out there. You all were great. We had a great time and will be back at it as soon as my wallet permits.

[LOC4ROC]

Nice story Duke, looks like the 30-06 got your eye
Lookin forward to the next run out in JV...