Topic: Rear axle swap project

[JFanaselle]

There is no longer an official project day. It was originally scheduled for Feb 18th, but that turned into a CF with almost no one available, and potential plans for my wife and I as well. So I pushed it up to this weekend, which also presented challenges with people being able to make it. I decided that I'll just tinker on it myself until it's done, and was planning to get started today. I have a teleconference meeting until 11:00 and once that's over, I was going to pull the X in garage, get the rear end up on jack stands, and start swapping some brake parts over to the new axle.

I'll likely have Gavin by myself tomorrow morning, so I probably won't get much done until Saturday afternoon/evening, and hope to wrap the project up completely by the end of Sunday. I was thinking I would just get the rear axle done and save the front diff for another day and live without 4WD for a while (it's much easier to bring the front diff project to someone else's house, which may get a few more hands on deck to help). But with Jordan now potentially showing up on Sunday, we may end up getting the whole thing done after all.

Jordan - I was thinking about it, and I believe my transfer case fluid is only about 18,000 miles old (I had to have the TC output seal replaced, and they drained and refilled the fluid). Is it something that's considerably easier to drain/replace while the front diff is being pulled out, or would it make sense to save that fluid change for another day just to focus on the overall task at hand? Also, do you happen to have any synthetic fluid for the front diff? I couldn't find any at the local auto parts stores, so I ended up with a bottle of Lucas Oil non-synthetic. I'm sure it'll be fine, but I'd rather run something synthetic if I can.

[knightrider]

the transfer case fluid change makes no difference, the skids get in the way but that's about it.  I do have amsoil synthetic gear oil I can bring, if you haven't guessed by now I like amsoil.  I can bring a few qts.

That reminds me, Steve needs to change his transfer case output seal

[zaphos]

I'll lend a hand if you need it Sunday. Also let me know if you still need any of the following:

4. Black RTV Silicone Sealant for the diff cover
5. A new box of disposable gloves, as I'm getting pretty low
6. Smaller 3/8" drive torque wrench for some of the smaller stuff like the drive shaft bolts (would like to borrow one from someone coming to help, if possible)
7. A small pack of cloth shop towels

./Mark

[JFanaselle]

Project update 1/27/17:

Well, I intended on tinkering with the project a little today, and I ended up nearly completing the entire rear axle portion. I decided that if I pull my Xterra into my garage sideways, I would be able to close down the door at night so that I can drag the project out over a couple of days (this was my initial concern with getting it all done at once - the fact that my rig would be half in/half out of the garage and taken apart). I put it up in the air and removed the rear wheels and wheel spacers, then began to pull brake parts off of the C200 axle.

I started out by disconnecting the rear brake lines on the Xterra and draining them while making as little of a mess as possible. I planned to use just the calipers and rotors, but I discovered that one side of the emergency/parking brake setup on the M226 was in pretty bad shape, including chunks taken out of the brake shoes. I'm not sure if any of you have had to work on your e-brakes before, but the setup is a PITA to work with. I didn't even know if I was going to be able to swap the parts over, but I practiced on the C200 first by taking apart one entire side and putting it back together. Once I was confident that I wasn't going to screw it up, I pulled all the bad parts out of the M226 and swapped in the parts from the C200. This one parking brake side alone probably took me about an hour and a half. Like I said, major PITA! Once that was complete, I finished moving the rotors and calipers over, as well as the hard lines that are fixed to the axle, as the ones on the M226 were bent and crushed in some places from when I transported the axle. I also installed the ABS sensors into the M226.

I then proceeded to start disconnecting everything from the C200 in the vehicle, including the drive shaft, emergency brake cables, ABS sensors, and diff breather tube. Once the axle was ready to come out, I rolled a jack under the pumpkin and removed the u-bolts and unbolted the rear ends of the leaf springs. Unfortunately, the axle ended up falling off the jack as I was rolling it out, so I ended up having to muscle it out of there with just elbow grease.

I installed the bushings in the new OME springs and put a good coat of grease and anti-sieze wherever appropriate (thanks again to RikRong for letting me borrow some). I then bolted up the front sides of the leaf springs and allowed the rears to dangle onto the floor. I rolled the new axle into position (using my better jack this time, so it wouldn't fall off) and jacked it high enough off the floor that I could bolt up the rear sides of the leafs. I then carefully lowered the axle into position and spent some time and effort working each side perfectly into position (once the center pin found the hole in the bottom of the spring perch. I then installed the u-bolt flip kit to anchor that sucker down to the leaf springs, and torqued them down to 80 ft-lbs. so they're nice and tight.

Then it was just a matter of reconnecting everything - the diff breather hose, the ABS sensor plugs, the brake lines, the drive shaft, and the emergency brake cables. It ended up taking me all day to get this much done, but it was so rewarding, and it was nice to be able to work on it at my own pace and figure things out. All I have to do tomorrow is fill the diff up with fluid and bleed the brakes (which I hate doing, but it's gotta get done). Then I'll probably start tackling the front diff.

Some photos from today:

Xterra pulled into the garage sideways and rear end up on jack stands:

Rear axle swap project

Ouch... I discovered this when I removed one of the tires. Looks like I'll be paying a visit to America's Tire once I get everything put back together:

Rear axle swap project

After the C200 fell from off of the jack. You know you're not supposed to, but you always try to catch heavy things when they unexpectedly fall (and you always fail at it). Such was the case today, and I ended up crushing my left arm in the process. Stupid me:

Rear axle swap project

Look Mom, no hands axle!

Rear axle swap project

Rear axle swap project

All of the old stuff:

Rear axle swap project

New leaf springs and bushings partially installed... ready for the new axle to be rolled into position:

Rear axle swap project

Rear axle swap project

U-bolt flip kit installed:

Rear axle swap project

Before:

Rear axle swap project

After:

Rear axle swap project

And after about 10 hours of working on this, when I just couldn't do any more for the day, I remembered why I parked it sideways in the garage. The wife's car even still fits, so I don't have to hear her complain about the cold in the morning.

Rear axle swap project

[JFanaselle]

I'll lend a hand if you need it Sunday

I sincerely appreciate the offer Mark, but I think I'll be ok now that I've already tackled most of the rear axle swap. I'll just be doing the front diff now, which won't be nearly as much of an "all hands on deck" project as I was hoping for with the rear axle. Jordan, if you're still up for coming by, I could use your brain to keep me from doing anything stupid. I also never got a chance to pick up a socket for the front axles, and it would be nice if you could bring yours. Other than that (and whatever fluids you're bringing), I don't think I really need anything else at this point. I actually just updated the second post with some notes on my original "needed" list.

[CAWoody]

Very impressive Joe.

I have to say, i have never seen a three car garage that you could actually fit three cars into.  I have one and can barely fit one car in it.

[RikRong]

Awesome progress Joe. The X definitely looks weird in that pic with nothing under the rear.

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[RBduffer]

Well done Joe.  That's a lot of good work solo.  I grew up with drum brakes, so I know how fun the E brakes can be.  Let me know if you get in a bind for Sunday, Nilda's out of town.  good luck!

PS I love a guy who can 'drop' his axle and then have the good humor to take a photo and post it

[JFanaselle]

Well, I managed to get the diff filled with fluid today, and I spent a couple hours wiring up the e-locker. put the wheels back on and got it off the jack stands, and discovered it was sitting about 1/2" lower in the rear than it was before. So I went up to the highest hole on my PRG shackles (I was already on the middle hole), which put me at a perfect amount of rake, and now the rear end sits about 1/4" taller than it did before the swap. I bled the brakes and took it for a drive around town, and I love the new gear ratio. Not a huge difference, but very noticeable, especially at highway speeds.

I realized when I woke up this morning just how much work that all was yesterday. My body was SO SORE. That's mostly why I took it easy today. I'm getting too old for this crap. 

[knightrider]

What time tomorrow Joe?  Any last minute requests? bringing tools and dif fluid for the front.

[JFanaselle]

Just tools and the fluid should be good. As far as time... Is 9:00 am too early? How long do you think it'll take? We're just swapping the R180 and complete half shafts.

[Toro]

The time is upon us!

[CAWoody]

I got shivers seeing that picture again


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[JFanaselle]

Well, the project is officially done. Special thanks to Jordan for coming over today and knocking out that R180 swap. Took us about 3 and half hours, including some down time to check out my neighbor's fabrication skills. The new setup works great! I love the new gear ratio. Even though it's only like a 7% lower ratio, it's a FAR better setup for the 33" tires. Makes me jealous of all you Pro-4X and Off Road edition folks out there that have been running the 3.36 gears this whole time and never knew just how sluggish the 3.13s are. I know I was supposed to notice it more on the low end, but I'm in love with the fact that I can travel at freeway speeds again without constantly hunting between 4th and 5th gears.

I tested out the e-locker on my street, but I don't really want to take it off road at the moment since everything around here is SUPER muddy... I have to take it to the stealership this week for some warranty work (I have a bad fuel sending unit, and a Check Engine light as a result ). I'm not so sure they'd be thrilled about tons of mud caked all over the undercarriage when they're dropping the fuel tank.  But the locker worked just as it's supposed to, and I'm very happy I tapped into the factory "Diff Lock" light in the instrument panel. I ended up using an aircraft safety style toggle switch, just to make sure I don't accidentally engage it when I wasn't planning to (in a turn, on the highway, etc).

I can't say thanks enough to everyone who helped me with this project. There was tons of input from other members along the way; the opinions and advice, the physical help, the acquisition of parts, the loaning of tools... I'm in serious debt to you all. And I'll gladly pay my newfound knowledge forward if anyone else plans to perform a similar swap.

Some special thanks goes to:

* DannyX for the acquisition of the rear axle
* Motorpig77 and his son for coming by my house to help me unload the axle and get it stuffed away in my garage as I acquired everything I needed
* Ghost65 for the amazing checklist that helped me make sure I was super prepared for this project (I literally didn't hit a single hiccup with a part or tool that I didn't have on hand, and didn't have to take a single trip to the parts store)
* Knightrider for spending his afternoon at my house swapping out the R180, and for the synthetic front diff fluid
* RikRong for the R180, half shafts and the grease and anti-seize (which I need to get back to you now)
* RBduffer for... umm... mmm.... being Randy!
* Everyone else for the moral support, encouragement and advice along the way

I'm sorry if I forgot anyone, I promise it's not on purpose. Just tired after a long weekend of wrenching! I didn't take any photos today... I know that's very out of character for me, but I was just ready to get the last part of the project done and over with.

[RBduffer]

Congrats Joe!  That's one great weekend.  See ya on the trail soon.