Axle Upgrade

[dcxj1990]

I wanting to upgrade my XJ's axles from the factory HPdana30 and 8.25

need some opinions on a good seat up

 

[256offroad]

What size tire?

posted using my 4g, fast as hell, Verizon phone via tappatalk

 

[Lowrange2]

If you don't plan on going over 35's then I'd say go with a D44 and a 8.8 or 9".

 

[dcxj1990]

I have ran 38's but im sticking to 35's for price and flex reasons

 

[dcxj1990]

are either of these hard to implant under mine. By harder I mean, is it harder then making mounts and spring locations and mounting them under my jeep.

never attempted the axle swaps...

 

[Lowrange2]

The 8.8 is nothing more than welding on spring perches on top.

The 44 is a bit more complicated but fairly easy. Depending on what kind of budget you have here. You can make it all from scratch with plate steel or you can spend more and buy a whole truss to weld on and be done.

Then you need custom steering and tracbar.

 

[Lowrange2]

This is the half bought, half custom way to go.

This is a 1982 Jeep Wagoneer Dana 44.

 

[dcxj1990]

hmmmm, i might have to dig more into this, i have built my front end around the HP dana30

and the steeringand track bar of course will add costs that i didnt think about due to me not knowing anything about doing this particular project...ugh

 

[Lowrange2]

I've got about 1500 bucks in my axle. This was with me making most of the parts from scratch.

Wagoneer 44
4.56 gears
Chromoly shafts and super joints. (Doug, who made those shafts and joints?)
Detroit full carrier locker
all custom truss and highsteer
5 lug swap:
Chevy spindles
new bearings
new rotors
new pads
new ball joints
new calipers
new studs


Some of which were bargain buys.

Had I bought it all new it would have been close to twice that price.

 

[dcxj1990]

ugh, definately cant afford that right now

might just build up the axles under it now, biggest thing I need is GEARS!!!!

still running the stock 3.55

 

[Lowrange2]

What size tires are you running.

I'll tell you... the BIGGEST mistake I made when building my Jeep was dumping a bunch of money in my 30 from the beginning.

Personally, if you plan to go bigger, I'd take the money that you'd spend on gears and buy an axle. Then build it slowly until it's good enough to go in. You can have a Wagoneer axle under your rig for around 500 bucks if you keep it stockish.

The end price sounds like a lot but I obviously didn't spend that all at once so it didn't hurt as bad.

 

[dcxj1990]

Ah, I don't want much bigger I'm only running 35's for flex but 38's were the last set on it

 

[Cottontail]

Want gears? Go to the junkyard and pull an HPD30 and a Ford 8.8 both with 4.10s in it and slap them under your Jeep. I did mine that way for under $350.

 

[Lowrange2]

35's for flex? How's that work?

You were running 38's on a stock 30 with stock gears and driving it everyday? I bet that was horrible.

 

[dcxj1990]

38's SUCKED lol, 35's still arent the best

and yea 35's for flex, cause 33's look stupid small

 

[Lowrange2]

I don't understand what you're saying. How do 35s give you more flex?

 

[XJLI]

Bigger tires mean less flex, gosh n00b :screwy:

 

[Lowrange2]

Lol, Glad you cleared that up...

 

[PacificEd]

I don't understand what you're saying. How do 35s give you more flex?

There is more room for articulation. A 38" tire is bigger and thus fills in the wheelwell. Taking the same XJ and same suspension and installing 35" tires allows for the tire to have a broader range of movement....ie: more flex. Nevermind the fact that even a standard trim on the rear quarters still harldy fits a 38" without major body surgery.

 

[Lowrange2]

I understand that... I was thinking there was something abit more technical going thru is mind... I guess not.