Previous, Part 1, Part 2

Part 3: General reassembly

Reassembly is pretty much a reverse process, but here are a few helpful tips that will make the task go smoother.

Before proceeding with the assembly, I made sure that all bonding surfaces were scraped clean of old bonding material

Here is a picture of me scraping off old sealant goo on the end of the tube frame.

Fresh sealant is applied at every bonding surface as the assembly goes together.

Differential assembly:
In order to apply the proper torque to the eight hex bolts that hold the upper and lower halves of the differential together, I had to cut the Allen wrench that came with the tool kit.

When installing the eight hex bolts that hold the differential case together, you will notice that there are fewer lock washers than there are bolts. This is because the mounting plates for the brake lines act as substitute for washers for those bolts.

I found a 1/2 inch socket that fit the Allen wrench and used my 1/2 inch torque wrench to tighten it down to 65 foot-pounds. Since we are looking at this picture, note the differential locker witches' hat. Be careful when bolting it to the differential. Do not to crush the O ring.

Tighten the hex bolts that hold the left and right axle seals (to the right of the vice grips), then reinstall the boots.

Once the differential was back together, I started re-assembly with the differential as the starting point and added a component to each end in an alternating fashion (rear locker, suspension bracket, spacer case, rear locker housing, transfer case, etc.) to maintain a balanced structure on the assembly stand.

Don't forget to install the round plate on the front of the differential!

This is a disassembly picture with the six hex bolts that hold the plate in place removed.

Also, don't forget to reinstall the circlip,

As necessary, I installed the long rods to hold things in place while installing any bolts that hold the two pieces together locally.

Long rods in place.  Note the freshly-painted body-mount plate!

Also note the T-block for the brake lines on the side of the spacer unit.  We had difficulty disassembling and reassembling this part of the brake line possibly because the truck has an aftermarket exhaust system on it.  We ended up loosening the bolt that held the block in place and to get at and remove the input line (the line that runs to the front of the truck) with an open socket brake wrench.

Spacer Block and Transfer Case
Carefully insert the short drive shaft into the end of the differential after installing the spacer case so that it is firmly seated. After applying sealant, slide the transfer case onto the rods and up against the spacer case. Turn the input flange of the transfer case as you push into place so that the short drive shaft properly seats itself on the output of the transfer case.

Goo up the faces with sealant and push them together.  Apply the nuts to the end of the rods.

Front of the Transfer Case
Get a bunch of huge flat washers put them over the ends of the rods bolts sticking out the front of the transfer case. Make the stack the thickness of the flange on the front tube mount.

Put the acorn nuts on and tighten them to secure the whole assembly. If you have everything together correctly, there should be no gaps between assemblies.

4x4 Locker Assembly
Attach the locker's witches' hat the same way that you attached the rear locker making sure that you do not crush the O ring.  DO NOT INSTALL THE PLUNGER OR INDICATOR SWITCH! If you remember disassembly (you should if you don't take three months to do this project like I did!), you'll remember that these two items will be in the way when you try to mate the rebuilt assembly to the tube flange.

Transferring From The Table To The Transmission Jack
This was the fun part! I haven’t used a forklift since that job with Campbell-Taggert Baking in college. Hoist the assembly off the table and set it on the jackstand.

Forklift in position over the drivetrain assembly

Jack rigs a sling using a tow strap.

Indispensable assistant

In the air

On the transmission jack.

Installing the front drive shaft
Before the driveline is mated with the truck, the front drive shaft must be installed. Both ends of the drive shaft are the same, so you can install either end in.  It is a bit difficult, but with a little shoving and levering, you can eventually get the far end seated into the front locker input. Just remember to hold your mouth right!  It helps a lot unless you have the factory tool for easily inserting the driveshaft…

Driveline Insertion Tips
We used a truck transmission jack that had adjustments on the support plate to control the angle of the transmission fore and aft along with side to side. One of the jackstands that the truck was resting on was about 1/2 inch shorter than the other, so the truck's body was not resting parallel to the ground from side to side. Furthermore, the rear of the truck was much higher than the front. The adjustments on the jackstand made it possible to accurately guide the entire assembly to its final destination, the tube flange.

Mating The Drivetrain To The Truck
Carefully guide the drivetrain towards the tube flange.  Tilt the front of the drivetrain up so that the wide part of the locker that holds the actuating plunger and the indicator switch clear the outer lip of the flange.

Remove the acorn nuts and the stack of washers that have been holding the driveline together.  Carefully guide the drivetrain to the flange until they almost meet.

Unless some sort of miracle occurs, the two sections will not come together until the teeth on the end of the front drive shaft and the teeth on the output of the 4x4 locker magically mate up. Here's how to make them mate up together:

Make sure that the drivetrain is high enough so the transfer case output is centered on the front drive shaft. While applying light pressure to the drivetrain, turn the input flange on the transfer case until the front drive shaft seats on the transfer case output.

Re-attach the acorn nuts and tighten to 64 foot-pounds.

Now, the tricky part.
Carefully lower the transmission jack so that the drivetrain assembly droops about 3/4 inch. DO NOT ALLOW THE ASSEMBLY TO BECOME UNSUPPORTED BY THE TRANSMISSION JACK! You want the assembly to sag down just enough so that you'll have room to assemble the parking brake and rear body mount components onto the end of the drivetrain.

Once the parking brake assembly is in place, you can raise the drivetrain into place and bolt up the body mounts. The rear body mount can be difficult as there is a floating nut on the top side of the body part of the mount. Careful positioning is necessary before the bolt will thread into this nut.

Tighten the body mount bolts to 64 foot pounds.

Reassembling the Rear Suspension
The easiest way to install the springs is as follows:

Use a floor jack or the transmission jack to just barely support the axle that you are working on. This removes pressure on the pins inside the differential while giving you more space to install the springs than if you installed the limit strap first to remove pressure on the pin. Carefully insert the springs one at a time using a pry bar and a dead-blow hammer until you can fit the spring bolt inside the bottom spring cup. Screw in the spring bolt while tapping on the spring to get the end of the spring bolt into the center indentation on the under side of the cup.  Tighten the spring bolt down to 64 foot-pounds.  Repeat on the second spring. Jack the axle up until you can install the bolts for the limit strap and the shock mount. You may cause the side of the truck to lift off the jack stands, so be careful!  To keep this from happening, put a load of deadweight in the bed of the truck. Tighten the bolts to 64 foot-pounds.  Repeat on the other side.

Final Assembly
At this point, all that is necessary is to hook up the following:

Parking brake. Install the nylon guide bushing in the driver's side of the body mount bracket and guide the cable though it and back to the parking brake lever.

Locker hydraulics and Indicators. Re-install the indicators and the hydraulic pistons for each locker. Insert the thrust pin flat-end first (the end that has the O-ring).  Insert the large spring.  Insert the piston housing so that the rubber boot covers the large spring. Bolt into place with some Locktite.  I used "blue" from the local auto parts store.  Install the indicator switch on the opposite side of the unit.  Check to make sure that the wiring is in good condition. If not, rebuild it.  Spade connectors for the switch are of a common size that are available locally at an auto parts store or hardware store. Make sure that the long pin that fits between the plunger mechanism and the switch itself is in place (I misplaced mine so the rear locker indicator did not work until I replaced it). Install the cover using Form-A-Seal or similar product.  The heat shield on the 4x4 locker switch should fit up against the head of the bolt with the lock washer on other side against the spacer. Check the fluid level in the locker system reservoir.  It is located behind the indicator panel in the cab.  Remove the panel by loosening the two hold-down screws.  Fill and bleed the systems as needed.

Transfer Case shifter cable. Lube up the socket on the end of the shifter cable with some moly grease, the press it onto the ball at the end of the shifter arm.  You may need to play with the shifter in the cab in order to get things lined up.

Rear Brakes. Re-attaching the brake line at the tee-block is a pain. We loosened the tee's hold down bolt until we were able to get enough room to tighten down the brake line fitting. Bleed the brakes.

Tip: Find an old dish detergent bottle with a push close cap or a bottle with a similar style of sealing top and use it to dispense brake fluid.  The design of the bottle will allow you to dispense fluid in the tight places where brake fluid container are located in a Pinz without spillage.

BE SURE TO PROPERLY LABEL THIS CONTAINER INDICATING ITS CONTENTS.  BRAKE FLUID IS A TOXIC/POISONOUS SUBSTANCE!  STORE THIS BOTTLE IN A SAFE PLACE.

Final Comments.
I had a scare when I drove the truck for the first time. I had a lot of trouble trying to engage the 4x4 locker.  The symptoms we experienced included:

Partial engagement that induced drag on the driveline. After trying to apply 4x4 lock, you could detect the binding and resistance in the way that the truck resisted coasting on an incline.  The problem was cleared by placing the locker control in the two-wheel-drive mode and shifting the transfer case into neutral.

There was little engagement pressure on the 4x4 shifter lever when you moved it.

The indicator lamp would not turn on.

It turned out that the fluid reservoir for the lockers was empty and the 4x4 locker needed bleeding. An easy fix.

Conclusion
I would like to thank the following for their support and contributions to this project:
Angelo Cambiano, owner of A-C Hauling for his generosity in allowing me to use his workspace and tools.
Dennis Williams, LinDen Engineering for considerable advice, tips, parts and support.
Jack Braton for his ideas, insights and muscle while tearing down and rebuilding everything.
Jim Laguardia for permission to use his disassembly pictures.
Willie Berchtold and the gang at Swiss Army Vehicles for parts and fast service.
Juergen Schoepf for his moral support.
My friends and family -- especially son Jon - for putting up with me during this process.

Contributed By Jim “Ack” Cambron