Does anyone know the name of this L shaped strap/bracket that goes from the front support to the bumper? And if it's possible to buy a replacement? This one is rusted and practically crumbling when I touch it. If I can't get a replacement options would be to just respray it or model it and try to fabricate a new one myself. It doesn't seem to really be supporting anything but I would like it to be as complete as possible.

 

I acquired a supposedly lower milage good tcase. I didn't realize there was a gear inspection cover under the tcase. Honestly I don't see any noticeable wear on the gears. The two tcases look the same to me.

There was however a decent amount of glitter on the transmission drain bolt. The oil looked new, it had been replaced by the previous owner. I'm sure it's not shifting as smooth as a new transmission but I haven't had any issue with it.

Any advice on proceeding? Just continue with the tcase swap, or consider having the transmission rebuilt?

Almost ready to pull the tcase out. The exhaust came out with one broken bolt and the sway bar end links got a little mangled to remove them (Ill be replacing these). Overall not too bad so far. I went through almost a full can of pb blaster. All the pieces I take out will be grinded of rust and repainted.

 

I'm not a gear expert but I'm not seeing anything that stands out to me on the tcase gears. I also drained the rear diff and there was just the glitter on the drain plug and the fluid was looking brand new.

So far I have not found any definitive smoking gun from any of the gear boxes. The carrier bearing looks alright to me, debating on replacing it and the bushings while im here. The axles and driveshaft are all tight and the wheel bearings dont have any play in them from what I can tell.