Sorry about that, redrooster.
It was the
transfer case that I have stuffed the rag into in the past. When the rear driveshaft broke, the easiest way to remove it was to pull the entire assembly from the back of the
transfer case. Ordinarily, I would stuff a rag in there, seal it with duct tap and limp home using front wheel drive (while checking it every 40 miles or so). The bottle solution worked much better with very little leakage.
What I meant by the axle hitting the fender flare, was primarilly the location of the axle on the leaf spring (the center pin is still there by the way). I needed to set the axle more forward so the tire is more centered in the wheel well. That was done during the conversion.
I used a straight edge method to line up the back differential with the new CV Driveshaft. I backed it off a bit, then took it up to our local driveshaft merchant to verify it. It was OK.
The only thing I did not like was the U-Bolt flippers. As you can see in the above picture they lean hard toward the front of the vehicle. It is in place and holding but I would feel more comfortable if they lined up a bit better. I had thought of drilling an additional hole for the center pin but it seemed to me that it would wear on the bottom plate in a detrimental way. What do you think?
It is amazing what the conversion did for the Mighty YJ. The cab is so quiet now. There is no vibration in the cab now that I can detect. It was worth every penny that it cost.
I was able to take it out once, but with the high cost of gas now, that has been the only run so far.
Thanks for your help!