Maverick's kid's YJ build

[Team1k]

If you have a locker in the front im pretty certain you need to disconnect the axles. I recall that if you dont then when you turn left the jeep will turn right. On a YJ we dont have a true nuetral. When the t-case is in nuetral the rear driveline still can spin the front one for whatever reason. You can swap in a shift plate from a TJ for a true nuetral and that may negate the need to have the axle disconnected.

This is all from my memory and may be incorrect though so if anyone thinks differently then feel free to correct me

I currently flat tow my YJ however i have locking hubs.

 

[Maverick]

If you want to keep the disconnect you could do one of these.

http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Drivetrain-...spx?t_c=12&t_s=237&t_pt=101224&t_pn=ALY451100

Thanks for the link. That's kind of what it has now, which is with the vacuum routed to the 4wd side. I'm looking for a way to disengage the axle when he has to make a sharp turn out on the slickrock.

 

[Maverick]

If you have a locker in the front im pretty certain you need to disconnect the axles. I recall that if you dont then when you turn left the jeep will turn right. On a YJ we dont have a true nuetral. When the t-case is in nuetral the rear driveline still can spin the front one for whatever reason. You can swap in a shift plate from a TJ for a true nuetral and that may negate the need to have the axle disconnected.

This is all from my memory and may be incorrect though so if anyone thinks differently then feel free to correct me

I currently flat tow my YJ however i have locking hubs.

The web has confirmed your claim. That's good to know. Glad I asked, but I wasn't even thinking of that possibility when I asked.

So, when towing, the front and rear shafts are connected, and potentially binding since both axles will be locked. Pushing me closer to the buy-a-28'-trailer edge, cuz flat towing behind the blowerblazer won't really be an option.

 

[Team1k]

One other thought too is that the YJ tcase should have the vacum switch built into it so normally by shifting from 4wd to 2wd you would disconnect the front end. You said yours is re-routed currently so if you route it back to stock would that accomplish your goals? Seems like a posi lock would be doing the same thing when it disconnects the shaft.

Maybe im thinking about this wrong though.

 

[TJDukit]

My bad I didn't look at it close enough, I thought the link was the posi-lock.

 

[Maverick]

Routing it back to stock means no-worky at moment, but yes, I could fix it and then have the disconnect work as designed. I did the reroute on a snowy day three years ago while taking the plow jeep up to the cabin. I kept waiting for my brother to catch up to me and he was having hella time getting up the hills. I went back and made fun of him and noticed the front axle wasn't engaging, did some checking, called ILean, found the factory switch and working vacuum and did the reroute. Been that way since.

What I'm interested in is taking said vacuum source and doing my own manual switch so that the axle disconnect can be connected or disconnected at will, particularly when in 4-low on slickrock without shifting the t-case. Or so I can flat tow it. Which I'm still not sure I can, with a lockright. Without a front locker it would basically give you 2-low.

 

[Maverick]

My bad I didn't look at it close enough, I thought the link was the posi-lock.

Oh, ya, they were on the same page at one of the other sites too. Cool, thanks!

 

[Team1k]

Ah ok yeah 2 low wouldnt be possible with stock t-case. The posi lock wouldnt be too bad and i believe it comes with steel parts instead of aluminum so it would hold up better. Theres a guy in provo that parts jeeps out and i believe i saw one in his shop last time i was there although it may have just been the cable. Ill message him if your interested

Routing it back to stock means no-worky at moment, but yes, I could fix it and then have the disconnect work as designed. I did the reroute on a snowy day three years ago while taking the plow jeep up to the cabin. I kept waiting for my brother to catch up to me and he was having hella time getting up the hills. I went back and made fun of him and noticed the front axle wasn't engaging, did some checking, called ILean, found the factory switch and working vacuum and did the reroute. Been that way since.

What I'm interested in is taking said vacuum source and doing my own manual switch so that the axle disconnect can be connected or disconnected at will, particularly when in 4-low on slickrock without shifting the t-case. Or so I can flat tow it. Which I'm still not sure I can, with a lockright. Without a front locker it would basically give you 2-low.

 

[RockChucker]

TeraFlex 2 low kit. Seriously some of the best money I have spent on my rig. You would be amazed at how much wheelin you can do in only 2wd. Since that replaces the shift plate, you would have true 2wd too.

 

[Team1k]

Yeah i was going to mention that as well but its $100 more and it wouldnt allow him to disconnect the front axle without shifting the t-case.

TeraFlex 2 low kit. Seriously some of the best money I have spent on my rig. You would be amazed at how much wheelin you can do in only 2wd. Since that replaces the shift plate, you would have true 2wd too.

 

[Team1k]

I went ahead and texted that guy. Posi-lock is sold He did mention that a forklift throttle cable could be made to work with your stock system.

 

[Maverick]

I went ahead and texted that guy. Posi-lock is sold He did mention that a forklift throttle cable could be made to work with your stock system.

Cool, thanks for checking. Which forklift?

 

[Team1k]

Good question. He just said a general forklift throttle cable. I briefly searched the interwebs and didnt find much. May be safer to get the tried and true kit.

Cool, thanks for checking. Which forklift?

 

[TurboMinivan]

What I'm interested in is taking said vacuum source and doing my own manual switch so that the axle disconnect can be connected or disconnected at will, particularly when in 4-low on slickrock without shifting the t-case.

Without a front locker it would basically give you 2-low.

I might be able to help you out here.

Ah ok yeah 2 low wouldnt be possible with stock t-case.

Don't be so sure (at least in the absence of a front locker).

About 10 years ago, my friend Mark kept having problems with the front axle disconnect his '93 YJ. In his case, the nylon vacuum lines going down to the t-case were located near the exhaust pipe... and every so often one line would sag down, hit the pipe, melt, and he'd lose the front axle. After numerous band-aid fixes on the trail, he was sick of it and wanted to come up with a solution.

I was no stranger to solenoids and vacuum lines, as I was then at the peak of my turbo minivan wizardry. (On my van, I had built two-stage boost controllers, two-stage blow off valve actuation, and numerous other little things all thanks to solenoids and vacuum lines.) We patched up his lines again, then I crawled under the Jeep to see how the stock system operated--where did vacuum go in 2wd, where did it go in 4wd, and when did vacuum need to vent to the atmosphere and from where. Armed with all this info, I scrounged two solenoids from my pile of junkyard parts and proceeded to build a vacuum "circuit" that would engage and disengage the axle connect at will. I built the circuit with thick-wall rubber vacuum tubing (which was carefully routed well away from all exhaust pipes). The solenoids were wired together, and we installed a dash switch to operate them together (ie--they were both on or both off).

The end result was elegant: with the switch off, the axle remained disconnected no matter where the t-case lever was placed. With the switch engaged, the axle connected and the indicator light illuminated; you could then get 4wd if you engaged the t-case. With the switch off and 4LO selected, his Jeep now had 2wd low range... and Mark thought that was a nifty added benefit of this setup.

To this day, his YJ still had this same setup controlling the front axle. Also to this day, it has never failed to operate exactly as desired.

Brett, do you need me to pass along some info to do the same thing for your son's Jeep?

 

[Team1k]

Very nice ^^

Guess i should clarify my statement. 2 low wouldnt be possible with the stock setup and stock t-case. Of course there are other methods

 

[Maverick]

I crawled under the Jeep to see how the stock system operated--where did vacuum go in 2wd, where did it go in 4wd, and when did vacuum need to vent to the atmosphere and from where. Armed with all this info, I scrounged two solenoids from my pile of junkyard parts and proceeded to build a vacuum "circuit" that would engage and disengage the axle connect at will. I built the circuit with thick-wall rubber vacuum tubing (which was carefully routed well away from all exhaust pipes). The solenoids were wired together, and we installed a dash switch to operate them together (ie--they were both on or both off).

The end result was elegant: with the switch off, the axle remained disconnected no matter where the t-case lever was placed. With the switch engaged, the axle connected and the indicator light illuminated; you could then get 4wd if you engaged the t-case. With the switch off and 4LO selected, his Jeep now had 2wd low range... and Mark thought that was a nifty added benefit of this setup.

To this day, his YJ still had this same setup controlling the front axle. Also to this day, it has never failed to operate exactly as desired.

Brett, do you need me to pass along some info to do the same thing for your son's Jeep?

Yes, yes indeed.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Yes, yes indeed.

Okay, I'll contact Mark and see what I can do. (It has been so long, I don't recall all the particulars off the top of my head.)

 

[Maverick]

Okay, I'll contact Mark and see what I can do. (It has been so long, I don't recall all the particulars off the top of my head.)

Any news on this? I'd like to pull the trigger soon. EJS is coming up fast. And I can get a posilok for $130. Seems like a 2 way valve should just do the trick...what am I missing? Vacuum from engine, valve, one way goes to engage (vacuum on diff side), the other way goes to disengage (vacuum on wheel side). Just need to find a valve? Heck, a vacuum Y and a couple of on/off valves. I guess what you are talking about lets you have a switch in the cab and the solenoids are under the hood?

 

[gertsch]

When me and my buddy sas is s10 we used a yj from axle. What we did for the first while was pulled the fork out and flipped the fork to the lock side and ran it in the engaged position until he finally got a posilock. If I remember it correctly all we had to do was remove the retaining clip of te for and slide it over and put te clip back in place. But it's been 3-4 years since we didnt I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Any news on this? I'd like to pull the trigger soon. EJS is coming up fast. And I can get a posilok for $130. Seems like a 2 way valve should just do the trick...what am I missing? Vacuum from engine, valve, one way goes to engage (vacuum on diff side), the other way goes to disengage (vacuum on wheel side). Just need to find a valve? Heck, a vacuum Y and a couple of on/off valves. I guess what you are talking about lets you have a switch in the cab and the solenoids are under the hood?

Mark was supposed to send me photos; I've seen nothing yet. I just fired off a text to rattle his chain.

As I recall, I needed to use two 3-barb solenoids** in order to vent the line which wasn't under vacuum. If I tried only one solenoid, the residual vacuum in the 'off' line wouldn't let things work like they should.

**: 3-barb solenoids have, well, three vacuum barbs. I label them IN, ON and OFF. IN is, naturally, the common barb where your vacuum input goes. ON is where the vacuum exits when the solenoid is on, and OFF is where the vacuum exits when the solenoid is off. I wired both solenoids together so they are both on or both off; there is only one toggle switch that controls them together. From there, I built a vacuum harness which sent vacuum where we needed it when we needed it. I believe there was at least one vacuum line (maybe two of them) going from solenoid 1 to solenoid 2 in order for the 'trapped' vacuum to vent to atmosphere; it wasn't just a case of running lines from the engine (source) to the solenoids to the axle. No lines will be run to the transfer case itself.

That's probably as clear as mud. Does it help? I figured all this out simply by crawling under his Jeep and seeing where vacuum went in 2WD and then seeing where it went in 4WD. I'm no genius, so if I was able to do it then I'm guessing you could figure it out as well. If you need me to come up to your place and sort it out with you, let me know.