What drives the need to have the axle under Jeep to sleeve? I really dont want to weld while laying under the Jeep. Ideally, I put the axle up on my workbench, sleeve and weld there before installing the assembly.

 

The nitro sleeves are an intolerance fit (sleeves are slightly larger than the axle tube). One way or another, it takes a lot of force to get the sleeves in. You'll need a way to keep the axle from moving at all, hence having it under the Jeep. If you're lucky, some dry ice and an air hammer will take care of business. However, that only went well for me once and the other times required some amount of coaxing with a sledge hammer. In fact, one required several hours of a sledge hammer.

This last time around, I welded first. There is no doubt that it would cause an issue for the sleeves as I could see the heat penetration on the inside of the axle tube. So, this last time I rigged up my tube cleaning tool with a flexible sand paper and sanded the tubes a little before the sleeves went in. Short side was still a challenge, but the air hammer got it done in about 2 min. Sanded the other side a bit more and that went in great.

In summary (coming from a guy who has installed a lot of the Nitro sleeves), if I did it again on a new axle, I would weld first, put under Jeep, sand and clean tubes, and then sleeve. Still putting the sleeves on dry ice for 6+ hours. And have a back up to the air hammer (i.e. 10lb+ sledge and driving tool and big friends to help hammer home).

 

This thread is great! Stealing a few ideas

 

Is it spring yet, this cold stuff is for the birds!!

While I wait...I have both the front and rear Rubicon axle assemblies to install...I went ahead and put my new limb risers on today. Offroad Elements just came out with a set specific for the Gobi roof rack, so I was happy to pay a bit more than other vendors charge for something I don't need to modify to work. That, plus they are a sponsor on this site!

Out of the box, the cabling is already preassembled so really the only thing to do is bolt on the upper and lower brackets. The lower bracket went on quite easily, reusing the stainless hardware from my Rugged Ridge hood latches. Once I closed the hood though, I noticed a slight touch condition of the latch to the newly installed bracket. This was alleviated by simply bending the bracket inboard a bit.



The top bracket was a piece of cake, once again reusing the original Gobi supplied hardware.



After you have your brackets installed, it's as simple as attaching the cable assemblies. OE includes stainless 5/16" bolts to use and they do the trick. However, since these will only be put on when I'm trail riding, I am thinking of looking for thumb screws instead so I don't have to fumble for wrenches when I want to put them on and take them off. Here is just a quick photo of everything instated. Overall, I'd say thumbs up, I'm quite happy with the quality and fit.



One last point, all the hardware is stainless and the steel brackets are powdercoated but I expect these exposed holes will corrode pretty quickly. A dab of grease in each should slow the process.



- Cost: $125 shipped

 

Those look awesome! I've been in touch with Off-road Elements about those same risers. I have a KargoMaster rack that I was hoping to adapt the Gobi risers for. From what they say, and my first actual glimpse of them in your rig, I don't think they'll work. They did say they would take a look at my setup to figure out if they might, as I think I may convert to a Gobi rack in the future and I'd hate to have to by them twice. There been super helpful so far and it looks like a high quality product.

On a side note, how much noise do you hear from your rack? Not wind noise, but rattles and such. My rack is terribly loud when I put the safari rack on. Rattles every time I hit a bump...

 

The Gobi's are notoriously stout and I am happy to say, it doesn't rattle at all...knock on wood!

 

Loving the look you've got going. May have to steal a few ideas for myself.

 

When I camp alone I tend to sleep in the back of my JK, I'm too lazy to put up a tent! The downside though, is that big gap when you put the back seat down. It's uncomfortable to lay on and you can only stuff so many towels and blankets in there to try to improve it. Low and behold, I ran across these on another guys overland build. The Dirty Dog trench covers!

These bad boys cover the gap, giving a clean transition to the back of the Jeep. They are very rigid and easily support my weight while laying on them. They velcro to the stock seat cover so they may not work for you guys with leather. I can't wait to use them, camping season is only 4 months away!!





- Costs: $52

 

Borrowing another idea from the guy who had installed the trench covers, he had rigged up an iPad holder in the cargo area so he could watch movies while laying in the back.

Shopping around, I found one I thought I could easily adapt and use so that I didn't have to customize any mounting brackets. The bit in question is shown below and is about 20" long. As you can see it has a 'fork' shaped mount on one end. It's actual purpose is to be used as a floor mount on the passenger seat.





Poking around under the roll bar padding, I came across this lovely 13mm bolt...a perfect location to mount it!





Tighten her down and the mount is quite rigid, it isn't going anywhere.

Here is a side shot showing stowage. A simple bungee to the rollbar should keep it from moving so it doesn't flop around while driving.



SHOWTIME!!!



Costs: iPad mount - $24

 

I'd posted the pictures of my new front Rubicon front axle and that the same guy I got it from came across a new rear axle assembly too, also in 4.10. I took delivery of that just before Christmas and here it is!

I went ahead and ordered some goodies for it and took a few minutes to install those today. Since it is way easier to work on the axle while it's out of the Jeep, I installed a new diff cover today. As you can see, I went with the AEV cover. Damn pricey but I was sold on the big fill hole at the top. I hate gear fluid more than almost anything else on earth so this was a no-brainer for me.



Looking in through the fill hole, you really do get a good view of the ring gear if you need to do an inspection.



For this install, I also went with the Lube Locker diff gasket. RTV is a messy pain in the ass.



And for future reference, here is the recommended torque sequence and values. There is a bit of a disconnect. Lube Locker wants 35 ft-lb. AEV wanted 22 ft-lb. I split the difference at 28 ft-lb.



Costs:
* Rubicon Rear Axle Assy - $1500
* AEV Differential Cover - $200
* Lube Locker Gasket - $22