I went to several big parts stores for wheel studs AZ, Oreilly, etc.. and they all pointed at the computer screen and said its not available. (who makes the Scout??)
Went to a parts + plus and the guy behind the counter pulled out the dorman book and found some longer 1/2-20 wheel studs with 1/2" more length.
#667 I think??
These went in well and are long enough that the new replacement 3/8" wheel spacer for the front threads the lug nuts on fully. I may tack weld the heads in place for extra support.
While I was under there I noticed that the tie rod end spacers:
http://jims73commando.blogspot.com/2013/06/steering-finally_18.html
had snapped their weld on the passenger side and were spinning freely in
the steering arm and doing the turning instead of the tie rod end.
They had cracked welds on the drivers side but were still in
place. I guess thats what you get for slamming a jeep down from 2-3' in the air!
So I re ground the steering arms , pre heated them with a propane torch, and welded the spacers
top and bottom then smoothed the flats out. If I have a problem with them again, I'll replace the
steering knuckles with extras and re-work the steering. If...
I'm hoping to take it out in another week and give another -mild- shake down run. First I'll check
every bolt on the thing though!
The shake down run was fun, ended up going up dewoody, thankfully a strap over the cage kept it from flopping over the first rock, after that it was all about throttle, throttle, steering, and throttle.
The rear springs are going to have to be replaced, the stock passenger rear main leaf has 2 extra curves in it and its sitting low.
I think a check of nuts and bolts and fluids and it'll be ready for hot springs in september!
