JK Wrangler Aussie Locker

I was recently contacted by Bill Cole, the owner of Aussie Locker to do a test install
on a new locker he had coming to market. The locker fits the new JK Wrangler 2007-2009.

This is not the first test that I have done for Aussie but it is the first automatic locker available
for the front axle in a JK. The Dana 30 axle in the JK is a “next generation” axle.
There are small differences in the size and design of some of the internals. A regular Dana 30 locker
will fit inside the carrier, the spacing will not be correct and the locker will not function properly.

The test subject is a 2007 2-door JK Wrangler. It is has 4.10 gears in the axle so the
carrier had to come out.

As you can see the tie rod does not have to be removed to take the carrier out like id does on a TJ XJ or ZJ.
Another thing I noticed is the shims are on the outside of the bearings instead of under them.

I took the ring gear off the carrier so that the cross shaft would come out. You need a punch to get the roll
pin out that holds the cross shaft in.

Next I removed the spider and side gears from the carrier. And installed the new axle gears and spacers.
I put the cross shaft back in and measured the spacing.

The measurements we perfect. So we kept on working.I assembled the rest of the locker and measured the gap. Again a perfect measurement.

With all the measurements well within spec, I re-assemble the front axle.

Then out for a test drive. It handle perfectly on the road. The locker stayed un locked in 2wd.
COrnering was smooth with little to no noise from the locker. In 4wd the locker worked as it should.
It climbed by mounds of dirt easily without spinning a tire.

The Aussie has been in the JK for a month now and the owner has driven it daily without any problems or complaints.
This locker fits and works like all other Aussies, perfectly.

BlueDogJeep.com
AussieLocker.com

The roof that fell in……

The Friday before Christmas we had a very bad snow storm. We had about a foot of snow.
During that night the roof on my shop collapsed. This is what I saw when I looked out my window
on Saturday morning.

Things inside the shop were not as bad as you would expect. My Jeep was inside the shop
that night. I had planned to go to Rausch for the weekend. I had the roof rack and spare tire on
the roof. When the roof fell in the Jeep held it off of my tools and the Willys.

I gad insurance on the building so I was covered. The reconstruction has been going very well.
It is the same size, 36′x40′ but now I have a 14′ high ceiling with metal on it.

I am going to reopen this coming weekend and will be back to full swing next week.
It has been a long wait but it is finally over.

RcRocs Class 1 Comp rig

First off I am not too creative, so I dont have a cool name for my project. But here it is anyway. The plan is to make it into a class 1 RcRocs comp rig.

It is a 1986 Samurai tin top. It has the 1.3 liter motor that runs really bad. It just needs a little work on the vacuum lines for the carb. Easy fix (I hope).

It has almost new BFG muds on it already, So the plan is to do a spring over and weld the rear. Put a small exocage on it and go have fun.

I have already ordered new transfer case gears. I got the 6.5 trail-gear gears and a stronger front output shaft.

This should be a lot of fun and I will keep this blog going with all the upgrades and work that I do on this Sammi.

Check out the series at www.rcrocs.com

Making the long arms

After couple years of driving my ZJ on 5″ of lift and short arms, I decided to
upgrade to long arms and a little more lift.

I took out the old springs and replaced them eith 7″ Rock Krawler springs. Now this
is a little too much lift for 35″ tires. I used them because when I want to upgrade to bigger axles and tires I wont have to buy new springs.

I made the arms out of 2′x2′x1/4′ square stock. There are those people that think square arms are for rednecks,
but I think they look good and are stronger than DOM tube.

I used 1 1/4″ Currie Johnny Joints at the frame end and poly bushings at the axle end.

I had to make frme stiffeners for the unibody on the ZJ. The unibody is not strong enough to
support the forces from the arms. I use 3″x3″x3/16″ angle that extendes over most of the unibody.
Then I made the frame side brackets out of 3″x3″x3/16″ square stock. The insdie dimension are the
exact size of the Johnny Joint.

I did a 4-link in the rear and a 3-link in the front. It works well and witht he new long travel shocks
it oerforms very well off road. It has tons of flex and handles better on road as well. It rides like a new Jeep.

It fits and works well

The Aussie locker for the Chrysler 8.25″ axle is ready for the public. I installed the first one today. It fit and worked well.

The locker went in without any problems and was an easy install. The donor was a 1999 XJ Cherokee. It is equipped with a 4″ lift and 31″ tires.

There was a problem with the axle gears when we tried to install it last time. This time everything slid together without any issues. I have installed a few Aussies in my time so in about 45 minutes we had this Jeep running down the road with a locked rear.

I tested it on some of my dirt piles I have around here. The rear had much more traction with no slipping or noises. i am very happy with the Aussie and I am confident that Troy (the owner of the Jeep) will be happy as well.

Rausch Creek 9-14 and 9-15

RCRocs season ender at Rausch Creek

The list:
Cora in the newly exo’d OD CJ. Class 2 #134

Me with my 96 ZJ

Erik in the bright green  CJ – Team Hoppy Racing class 2 #201

Erik’s friend in a stock scrap ZJ

Aaron in his mostly stock TJ on 35s

Mike in his mostly stock TJ on 33s

Smike in the blue Scrambler on 42s/H1s

And Mike in his Dakota on 40s

Here we all are at Lake Christy.

Most of the guys were there to wheel on Friday. I was not able to make it until Friday night. I got the
run down from them when I got there. No broken rigs and no roll overs, so it was a good day.

We got out on the trail Saturday morning with a little fog in the air.

Mike and his Dakota were the first to have problems. On the first trail out he noticed that the
front tires were not spinning. So he had to repair his front hub, again. He refuses to buy new ones, and this happens every time we go out.

We stayed out for a couple hours then went to the comp course to watch the competition.

After watching the comp buggies and trailer queens we headed back to the trails. Everything was going great. We were tackling some nice rock strewn trails. Then we came up to Crawler Ridge.

I was feeling frisky, having Ausssie lockers in both ends, so I thought I could get up the ridge. I was doing good until my hard brake line broke. I think the tire was hitting the line under full flex. I ended up rolling backwards into a tree. I would have made it too.

A big thanks to Mike for working on getting the brake line pinched off so I could continue.

Sean picked me up a brake line on his way in. We got the new line put on Saturday night so I was 100% for Sunday.

We went out on Sunday with the plan of getting off the trail by 1:00 and out of the park at 2:00. The plans changed when Mikes Dakota
decided it dident like the transfer case bolted to the tranny anymore. Somehow the transmission broke
where the transfer case bolts on. It was just flopping around under the truck. A ratchet strap was used to strap the
t-case back onto the tranny so he could get off the trail.

After some thinking and calling around we got a Uhaul trailer from a town an hour away. We used my Jeep to
go get the trailer and with some moving of vehicles I towed a CJ-7 back.

My Jeep was not built to tow a trailer for 300 miles. But it made it, slowly. The return trip took almost 7 hours. So instead of getting home
at 6:30 I got home at 3:00am.

It was a great weekend and there was plenty of excitement. Cant wait for next time.

Rausch Creek 8-16-08

I pulled in to Rausch Friday night around 10:30 and the guys from Rightcoast4×4
were easy to spot. They have the baddest Toyota trucks that I have seen.

Here is one of them doing something that I would never try.

After getting beat up by those guys I found a group that was more my speed. There was
some clubs there that hold an event called camp heep.

Here are some pics of the Jeeps that I joined along the trail.

The scenery in the mountains is great.

It was a great trip. I made some new friends and I will remember this trip as one of the best.

Rausch Creek August 16-17

Im heading to Rausch again this weekend. IM meeting some people from Rightcoast4×4 for some wheeling fun. They are calling it The Sweaty Balls run. I will not be around to answer emails this weekend so be patient I will get to you.

We are concentrating on blue and black trails with a little red thrown in for fun. The weather looks a little on the cold side but it does look dry.

I will be camping at Rausch, they have camping in the parking lot. No running water or bathrooms but good fun all the same.

I will post a full report with pics next week.

Aussie for the Chrysler 8.25″ 29-spline axle

I was recently contacted by the owner of Aussie Locker to do a test fit install
on a new model of locker they have coming out. It is a Locker for a 29-spline
8.25″ Chrysler axle. These axles are found in newer model Cherokees, Dakotas, and Durangos.

Bill Cole, the owner of Aussie Locker, lives close to me and wanted to be present for the test fit.
They were having problems with this model due to a manufacturing problem and he wanted precise
measurements and pictures of every step.

Bill found a donor Cherokee on a local forum. It was a 1999 2-door Cherokee with a small lift
and 31″ tires. It is a nice Jeep and looked to be just what we needed.

Troy (the owner of the Cherokee) and Bill came over to my shop on a Sunday morning
with the expectation that things would go pretty smooth. Troy had a Trac-Lok carrier in the Jeep,
and you cant use that for the Aussie, but had an open carrier in a box.

We fit the Aussie into the carrier without any issues. Bill was concerned that there
may be a fitment issue with the size of the Aussie. They like to fill the entire carrier with
steel, this makes a stronger more reliable locker.

With the Aussie in the carrier I could take the measurements for the clearance from the
spacer to the cross shaft. These specs were within spec so off to tear into the rear of the Jeep.

I wont go into detail about how to do the install but I will say that this axle is
one of the easier installs to do. The locker fits without any need to clearance the carrier.

When we went to put the axles back in we ran into a small problem. They did not fit. I pulled the
locker back out and we tried to fit the side gears on to the axles . One would go with some hard pressure
but the other axle would not take the gear at all.

At this point we were stuck, so the axle was put back together and a sent on his way, without
the locker installed. Troy was great about it and is looking forward to getting the Aussie
installed when a solution is reached.

There has been a few revelations since the test install. When the broach was made to form the splines
a new axle was used. This axle should have been an exact duplicate of the factory axle shaft. Once Aussie got
the Chrysler axle to the broach maker along with the aftermarket axle they found that the pressure angle
on the aftermarket axle was 30 degrees and the Chrysler axle was 37.5 degrees. That explains the fitment issue.

I am now the only person to install an Aussie into a 29-spline 8.25″ Chrysler axle in
a Cherokee. It did not go as planned but Bill now knows the problems and I expect that he will have it fixed as soon
as he can. This locker is in great demand and will fit 100% when released.

FOr any questions you can email me at Ryan@BlueDogJeep.com

www.BlueDogJeep.com

A word on winches

At Whispering Pines this past weekend we needed a winch. We were lucky enough to have on mounted on a CJ-5. It was a Chicago Electric (harbor freight) winch. It did a great job on two of the three vehicles that needed to be winched up the Hill from Hell.

On the third Jeep, a CJ-7, it struggled a bit. Just as the winch (and us) were running out of steam along came another group of Jeeps, some equipped with winches.

The YJ that made the final pull was wearing a Warn winch. The difference between the two winches was staggering. I really see why Warn gets top dollar for the winches they produce.

The HF winch did a fine job, and for the money it is a great deal. But if you really need a winch (and if you need a winch, you REALLY need a winch) a Warn seems to be the way to go.

I found this article in Moab Jeeper Magazine and it shows the comparison between winch manufacturers in real world testing. http://www.moabjeeper.com/articles/general/listing.cfm?articleID=353