CJ7 Build Part 2 aka Stopping the Flopping

[aw12345]

Look on E Bay, I found a guy in NY state that had several 79 ford dana 60 front axle housings. If you cannot find it I'll do some digging. Oh yeah his Jeep is da bomb

[dirtman13]

Alright, I’ve been out 3 times now and with every major build you’re bound to have a few issues and I thought I’d post up what I have encountered.

The rear uppers are still too soft. Currently I’m running 250/300. Defiantly need to loose some more weight in the rear. The Gerry cans are coming off and I might be going 300/300.

I melted a bushing on the transfer case support but it was easily fixed with some heat shield.


I’m still getting a P0404 code and I’m convinced it’s because of the 2.5” exhaust. My back pressure is way to low. I should be around 1.5 psi and I’m currently at .3 psi. I will be going back to 2.25”. I restricted the exhaust at the tail pipe and at low RPM the code does not come back.

I did have some overheating issues but I changed from a 2800 cfm fan to a 3000 cfm fan and that has gone away. I also believe the restrictor at the tail pipe helped with this.

The Ballistic Joints have settled and I have to tighten them because they have developed some play.

I have already relocated the air intake because it was to low.

The master cylinder is leaking out the cap. This really sucks since it is brand new.

Other then that the Jeep has performed beyond my expectations. I’m very happy with the on and off road performance.

As long as my welds hold we should be good.

[USMC 0369]

As long as my welds hold we should be good.

:thumbs_up

[dirtman13]

So just a little update.

I did end up changing the rear springs to 300/300 which I’m sure to some seems way to stiff but for my rig it has been perfect. Still not running sway bars and it still has all the same flex.


If anyone is thinking about going with the Ballistic Joints take my advice. Spend the extra coin on the Nylatron race and stay away from the injected molded. Since I replaced the races I have not had any more issues with the joints developing play.

The transfer case will just not stop leaking so I’m going to replace the case with a Stak Replace a Case.

Some might say why not just get an Atlas. Well, the Stak is much smaller and I won’t have to do any major mods to get it in and it’s still cheaper than an Atlas with my current set up.
Disclaimer: Not my picture.

[xjkevin]

wheres it leakin from the shift rails? looks great chuck....

[dirtman13]

I was able to get the shift rails to stop leaking. It leaks in the front where the intermediate shaft comes through the case. There is no seal there. The RTV only last for a while and then it leaks again. Since the Stak is a split case that hole is not there so no more leaks.

Where you at on your build? I want to see that thing perform.

[aw12345]

Chuck I agree with your choice for the Stack case, dana 300 is a dependable transfercase, you got the gearing in it you like and on top an atlas is huge and not all that easy to mount with a flatskid. Would have requiered a lot of floor cutting, maybe a new crossmember and even might have had to have the driveshafts remade.

[xjkevin]

i bring mine home this wed, plumb brakes and add fluids, should be it,,LOL ya right, im workin on so many things im flustered...

[aw12345]

Well Kevin, just make a list and tackle them one at a time, that way it's easier to deal with

[Ol Man]

One of the guys in my club has been fighting the STAK since he bought it a few years ago. The big problem he is having is popping out of gear. Do a search on Pirate and see what the comments are on the STAK. The Atlas is a bit more, but a BFH will take care of the size issues on installation and you will find very few complaints on the Atlas. You have already mentioned how paying a few extra bucks is worth it.

[dirtman13]

One of the guys in my club has been fighting the STAK since he bought it a few years ago. The big problem he is having is popping out of gear. Do a search on Pirate and see what the comments are on the STAK. The Atlas is a bit more, but a BFH will take care of the size issues on installation and you will find very few complaints on the Atlas. You have already mentioned how paying a few extra bucks is worth it.

I did read about those issues but they all seem to be with the complete case. This is just an outer case that uses my Dana 300 gears. Is that what he is running?

[aw12345]

Chuck if you haven't bought the case yet, there is a much cheaper solution for the oil leak make a cap out of a piece of aluminum round bar that will fit over the end of the intermediate shaft and then bolt to the case seal it to the case with anaerobic pipe sealant and life is good. If the fit of that shaft in the case is relatively tight, then there is a good change that the anaerobic sealant alone will fix it.

[dirtman13]

Chuck if you haven't bought the case yet, there is a much cheaper solution for the oil leak make a cap out of a piece of aluminum round bar that will fit over the end of the intermediate shaft and then bolt to the case seal it to the case with anaerobic pipe sealant and life is good. If the fit of that shaft in the case is relatively tight, then there is a good change that the anaerobic sealant alone will fix it.

Been there done that Art. Except for the cap. The anaerobic sealant dries pretty hard and think what happened is the intermediate shaft rotated breaking the seal.

The case is already ordered and being built. I did quite a bit of research and the only issue I heard of was from guys that did not follow the instructions. The most important thing to do on these is make sure the shift forks are at a perfect 90 degree angle to the rail. Everyone that followed that seems to have had no issues.

[Ol Man]

I did read about those issues but they all seem to be with the complete case. This is just an outer case that uses my Dana 300 gears. Is that what he is running?

Guess I missed that. No, his the non-300 variety.

[NAILER341]

I would avoid the STAK like the plague. Those guys have produced shiny piles of junk since day one. There MUST be a way to seal out your leaking 300.