The Frankenjeep

[bmorgil]

Wow Jeff you do have a tough one there. You could try some bread as gmwillys suggested. That might provide a better seal. I dont think its coming out with the grease method however. The correct way is to use a blind hole puller. I have a few different ones, it takes one with a fairly long arbor. You can rent them at auto parts stores. There are some out there for fairly cheap. They must have a long enough reach however.

It will come out if you cut it in two or three pieces with a hacksaw blade. The bushing is soft and it cuts fairly easy. Just take your time and cut it through in a few spots then take a small chisel and crush it. It will definitely come out that way. When they are very badly worn, sometimes that's the only way to get them out. Try not to damage the shaft I.D..

[51 CJ3]

My slide hammer type puller reaches but couldn’t get it to move. I was trying to cheat the first time by not removing the shaft from the transfer case because I don’t have a good way to secure the shaft. I thought the weight of the transfer case would help.

Now that the shaft is out, my next step may be to try tapping it and drawing it out with a bolt as suggested earlier.

By the way, I was able to remove the bearing without damaging anything. I used a wood chisel to unseat the bearing and a cold chisel to separate it enough to get pry bars behind it. Now I have an idea of the wedge angle needed to make a bearing removal tool like the one shown in the service manual. I just need a day to make the cuts and weld it together (as if I will ever find the time).

[bmorgil]

It is possible that the bushing was installed with Loctite. That practice was used if someone felt the press was insufficient. If the fit was loose, the reamer would spin the bushing instead of cutting smoothly. Loctite was a common "fix". You may want to heat it up just to be sure.

[51 CJ3]

Given the amount of time I had invested in replacing the bushing in the transfer case output shaft and lack of progress because of it… I chose to order a new shaft. It came with a new bushing installed but only measures 0.622. The front output shaft slides in with just a hint of dragging through the bushing. I ordered a 0.628 reamer this morning but now I wonder if there a spec for the difference between the bushing ID and the front shaft OD?

[bmorgil]

The shaft O.D. should be .625". The bushing clearance spec is .0017" to .005", and .005" is loose and considered worn out. The bushing by design has a range of .0017" to .0035". I think .003" is as far as I would like on a new one. It will be really hard to measure the bore exactly without a plug gauge. If it fits together and turns smoothly without any wobble, that's as good as you can do without being dead sure on the I.D. with a plug gauge. If it fits together and the shaft is .625" but its a little tight, you may want to polish the bushing. A new reamer may cut a little oversize. It might just be a poor reaming cut. A bit of polishing with #400 emery cloth might do it. I bet its good.

[51 CJ3]

I had my numbers reversed before. The shaft going into the bushing is .622 according to my calipers. It may not hurt to check that against a micrometer. The bushing gave me .623 using a telescoping bore gauge and the calipers. I would love to have some plug gauges. Sets seem to be split at the .625 mark and start at $115 on Amazon. Individual plugs can be bought from McMaster-Carr for $7.51 - $9.33 each. A plug set would also give me something to check my calipers against. Hopefully I can still cancel the order for the reamer.

I don’t see where it would be a problem to run it like this if the shaft is consistent at the bushing and I polish the bushing for proper clearance.

Thanks for the help.

[bmorgil]

I don't see a problem at all either Jeff. If it goes together and spins smoothy without wobbling, that is what your looking for regardless of what numbers you come up with. The shaft is the best gauge you have for your particular fit. I would rather do it by feel with the components I am going to use. If the shaft is slightly undersize, you don't want to ream it to .628".