Modified the spare rear axle housing this weekend to fit my new e-locker, turned out to be a lot more work than it looks like. Ended up taking a full two days of grinding, welding, drilling and tapping, some more grinding, tons of pounding accompanied by some choice swear words, and a little more grinding. It slips right in now just like it was meant to be there.

Here's some pics of the work so far. I have to make the dent to clear that damned bolt a little bit deeper before I can button it up and then it's on to installing my FRORF full-floater kit and picking up some new u-bolts, then it'll be time to put the whole deal under my truck.

Figured out a pretty slick way to drill and tap the stud holes too, never seen anyone else do it quite like that.

 

Shane,

I'd say you've got more nerve than I have to, as far as I can tell, build up the housing by welding and then grind it down flat enough to get a good seal.

Why are you drilling holes in your drill press table? I thought that was for bored kids in shop class! Just kidding; thats actually a slick way to align things without making fancy jigs or fixtures. Haven't seen anyone recommend that for situations where the hole in the table is big enough. I've got an old drillpress I bought used and it doesn't have the tilting table to do something like that.

 

The table doesn't actually tilt that far... (I've yet to see one that can) I took the thing apart and reassembled it upside-down

And ya, you lay some weld bead down where you need more sealing surface and then grind it flush with the existing ring.

 

Those pics gave me deja vu. Looks like you are taking your time and doing a nice job.

Speaking of pics, can I steal this one for use on my e-locker write-up?



It precisely illustrates my point that the turbo/V6 housings are deeper and do not require the "dent modification." In the pic below, you will see exactly how much deeper the V6 housings are:



Between your photo and mine, it looks like the V6s have somewhere between 1/4" and 1/2" more room.

Also, I did not have to cut out the notches for the ring-gear, the V6s come from the factory a little wider.

Looks great Shane. Have fun with it!

 

Hey Ken, still got your truck right? Sure, I don't have any problem with you using that pic. I was actually gonna ask you the exact same question I'll have a writeup at that same url where the pics are once everything is done if you want to link to it from your writeup. (http://4-low.com/tech/rear_elocker/) For the record the housing I'm using is out of an '87 4-cyl X-tra cab. I had to do a lot of grinding just because of the sheer size of the 5.29 gears, the ring gear is a lot thicker than on the higher ratios. There's even more now than you see in those pics, I just haven't been able to get a picture of it yet but there's now a second shallower notch on the actuator side of the normal notches to help clear the ring gear bolts and carrier.

 

Thanks for the use of the pic, I will give you photo credit on the bottom of the picture.

How do you intend to wire it? I highly recommend paying the $25-$50 for the ECU, it makes things so much easier, IMHO. The factory dash switch just looks so darned cool too.

 

I'm going factory FJ80 ECU (front locker is gonna be the a high-pinion e-locker ) and the rotary dual-locker switch.

 

Oh sure, rub it in!