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88 Wagoneer woes

Any ideas greatly appreciated...

Last winter, my right rear wheel and axle shaft parted company with the rest of the Jeep (1988 Grand Wagoneer, V-8, Auto) and myself at approximately 60 MPH going downhill (while trying to shake a tailgating moron).

Fortunately, my erratic progress was arrested by a handy 8 foot snowbank for a perfect 3 point landing.

After months of searching I was able to locate a replacement rear end that fit. My neighbor suggested that I just use the axle shafts with their intact oil seals and un-damaged bearings. Well, they fit fine and I buttoned up everything, and started her up.

In 2 wheel drive it just sat there, going neither forward nor backward, so I tried 4 wheel drive. With a mighty ker-CHUNK, the transfer case engaged and I was able to crawl back & forth at a very slow rate of speed, engine revving at about 5000 RPM.

So... Should I check the differential, transfer case, or transmission (auto)? Or should I just torch it right there in the driveway, or push it into the path of one of the dozens of Sam's Club semis that run by every day?

Serious replies will be greatly appreciated; unserious ones also--Hell, I still have a backup car--an '86 Subaru GL with a bad clutch...

Thanks in advance,

John

Reply to
John Saxe
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John, When you put it into drive (2wd), does the rear driveshaft turn? If so, your new axle may not be engaged with the differential. That's what I suspect at this point. The only thing driving you forward in 4wd is the front axle. The reason you went so slowly is that you have full time 4wd (right? a little lever on the dash?) which separates the front and rear drives with a viscous coupler. Anyway, check your rear drive shaft. I'll bet it's turning. If it is, your axle is still disconnected and it's just spinning the carrier in the differential. If you haven't been there yet, check out

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You'll find a wealth of FSJ info there.

Reply to
TJim

Are you sure the axles were long enough to grab the guts of the diff?

I went to swap axles once and was just about to bolt it up when I realized the inside splines weren't connecting.

What happens if you jack up both back wheels and spin one? If the other side doesn't move, then suspect something internal to the diff.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

John Saxe wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)

Thanks for the tip, Jim, I'll check that out.

John

Reply to
John Saxe

Mike,

I'm pretty sure the axles are engaging the splines, cause I had to wiggle & tweak a bit to slide them in, but I believe that diff cover is gonna come off, cause I want to see for sure. Thanks for the reply.

John

Reply to
John Saxe

Bill,

I was gonna write that one off, because I saw the thing loaded onto the flatbed when they dug me out. But then I got thinking , I was not home when they brought it over. Think I need to make a phonecall.

Thanks! John

Reply to
John Saxe

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