OD is installed and admittedly was much more difficult a job than I anticipated. The thing fought me every step of the way. With a significant amount of swearing and wrestling I finally got the damn thing in. After topping off fluids and running at a fast idle as stated in the instructions, I went for a very short test drive up and down my road. A couple immediate observations:

1. I had to remove the shift knob from the OD shift lever in order to push the lever far enough forward to engage the OD. With the knob installed, it hits the e-brake handle and will not engage the OD. Do I just need to bend the shift lever a little?

2. This one worries me a little more - When in direct drive (OD shift lever pulled back), the OD will jump forward into a "neutral" like position all on its own. Kind of like a synchro issue when old Jeeps pop out of second gear.  Any suggestions? I tried calling Herm but I think he is closed weekends.

And Nate, I noticed in one of your pics above the planetary gear lock washer appears to be in backwards? Is it?

It is supposedly one of Herm's new homebrew OD's, not a rebuild. I will mess around with it some more and see if I can make any sense of it. I have not yet cut or installed the tranny cover. I want to make sure everything is in its final position before I break out the grinder again.

Here's what I'm referring to about your lock washer. Could be just the way I'm looking at it

Yep, mine is opposite of yours! Good catch. I don't know how much of a difference it makes though. Do the instructions specifically say which way it goes? I do not know where mine are atm.

My OD had the tabs in, not out, and I can't see how it would lock that nut behind it with the tab out. I ruined mine as I didn't realize it wasn't the actual nut at the time I opened mine up , and tried to spin it out with the impact.. Bad move!! I might be able to save it but....I'd rather have a new one.

I fixed it and I see why it needs to be the other way. It prevents the nut from backing out. Appearently, it doesn't make much of a difference though as I have tested it for 3 years now.

OD is installed and trim pieces buttoned up. A couple suggestions I would make to anyone else who installs one:

1. Attach shift lever rod to OD shift rail BEFORE installing OD unit. Doing so after the fact is nearly impossible unless you have 6-jointed fingers.

2. Shift stick is made for generic applications and may need some bending to fit properly. Test fit and bend BEFORE making it all pretty with 6 coats of paint and clear coat. None of that holds up well to the extreme heat of a MAPP gas torch.

After speaking with Herm, he thinks the reason I am popping out of direct drive is that a synchro is stuck. Apparently this can happen if the unit is shifted before being driven around, which is what I did. The OD unit arrives pretty well greased up to keep components from falling out and may be what's causing the problem now. He states that the synchro will likely free up after a thorough workout. Since the roads here are still encrusted with salt it will be awhile before I can put many miles on it. If I still have problems I'll probably be asking him for some shims as this seems to be the standard fix.

235 miles logged since the OD install and it still pops out of direct drive. It is absolutely fabulous in all other aspects though. What a difference between cruising between at 40mph and cruising at 50mph! I drove 140 miles last weekend like it was nothing. The motor certainly appreciates the gearing upgrade too - it's so quiet that it now allows me to hear all kinds of other problems in the drivetrain that would have otherwise gone blissfully unnoticed.  

Herm is going to be sending out some magical parts that will hopefully remedy the direct drive issue. I'll update again once I have them in.

Shims and adjustable screw cap have arrived from Herm, are installed, and roughly 50 miles put on the Jeep. With the screw cap too tight, it shifts between OD and DD very hard and grinds loudly, especially going in to DD. Once in DD, it seems to stay there as it should.

If I back off the adjustable screw it shifts much more smoothly but is back to its old trick of popping out of DD under any sort of load. If I set the screw adjustment somewhere in between, it'll grind AND pop of of DD. Not exactly the fix I was hoping for.

Herm is suggesting I send the entire rear part of the OD unit back so he can inspect.  I think I'd rather pull out one of my own teeth than disassemble this thing again (I've done it 4x now already) and then be down for however many weeks it takes for turn-around time and maybe a solution, maybe not. He also mentioned it could be the end play in the transmission shaft but I don't think that is the issue. I'm leaning towards just holding it in DD when needed as I spend most of the time in OD anyways. Still not right but I'd rather send it back to Herm next winter when I can't drive anyways instead of ruining the next month of good driving.

Has anyone else who installed the shims and adjustable screw cap had a similar problem, and a better solution?