Last disconnect lockout attempt lasted about 1/2 day of wheeling. Back to popping under heady load just like at Rausch. Left in trailer until yesterday.
Pulled apart everything, fresh nylon bushing is destroyed, male splines on disconnect shaft are wasted.
Noticed drivetrain moving more than I'd expect shifting from R to D. Checked 3rd drivetrain mount and found this:
Chased threads with M10 tap but when reinstalling new bolts, the threads did not survive umph with with 3/8 ratchet. I was able to run a 7/16-14 tap up through the holes and installed new bolts that did pass the umph test.
After a little thought, I ordered a 7/16-14 bottoming tap and some grade 8 threaded rod. Plan to bury studs in there with red loctite. Hopefully better clamping force can be achieved and if they do loosen up, my hope is that the studs hold tight while nuts come loose preserving the threads in the bosses.
I am thinking excessive drivetrain movement was a major contributing factor in how quickly the last two lockout/repair iterations lasted. I am currently in the process of designing a solid replacement shaft. I have every intention of revisiting the disconnect but haven't come up with anything I feel more confident in yet - considering taking apart a transfercase to see if I can borrow some components to make something more robust. Solid shaft will get me back in the woods and will serve as a good backup to throw in the trailer once the new disconnect is designed.
Other things to do:
Exhaust flex connection is blown out
Ram guards - bent a rod at F&F in October
Hood and door skins
I see I really need to get this thread caught up to it's current status... I really let it go once I got it running. Here is mostly up to date pic from the starting line at Humble Pie.
