well, the 5 speed is in finally. I also did the front wheel bearings, and new ball joints.

 

I had originally thought my axle eating was due to the lift/springs set-up, but after diagramming it out, I figured it really shouldn't be the case, so when I pulled my old tranny out, I discovered some very bad tranny mounts. one was collapsing and getting smaller it seemed. the other was very very flexible/worn.

 

I put in a set of good mounts, but not before filling up the rest of the mounts with urethane. I also did the motor mounts as well.

 

put 2 new front axles in as well, and one new rear.

 

now it's very solid. has a bit of vibration at idle that comes through to the cab, but not too bad. tranny shifts fine. the adjustment of the new clutch cable seems oddly tight, but it was the only way to get it to disengage the clutch.

 

all in all, the front end feels as much tighter and better. it's quite a difference.

 

the shift console set-up is kind of cool. used all ea81 parts, and 1 ea82 part. I have all the ea82 shifters/linkage...

 

will try to get pics later. I had to get rid of my "industrial" set-up I had earlier, and went back to the slant console, and mounted the CB on the dash....

Hey Mick, I have something for the Grizz. Shoot me your mailing addy.....you'll like it