going full width

[1SOLOW X]

yup, as the title says, i've been pulled in. i figure, if i'm gonna spend money on a bigger lift, bigger tires, and gears and lockers, i might as well upgrade the axles too. What i'm not sure on is if i'm going to actually leave them full width or narrow them a bit. i'm not a fan of the wheels sticking out soo far from the body, but for the price of the axles, it's kinda hard to pass up. the axles i'm getting are from a 77-79 Ford F250. they both have 4.10s and limited slips front and rear i believe. i currently have 32s on my rig with a short arm kit. i'm looking at going long arm, but not too sure. i really enjoy driving my jeep daily, and dont' want to take away from the driveability of it. anyone have any input???

 

[Alex E]

You know I have mixed feelings about this. I've never been a fan of full widths either, especially with the tires sticking way out. Honestly I think most of the time they are over kill and not needed. But you know, they've grown on me. I've actually been looking at front 44s my self or other hybrid builds and I think a certain amount of over kill is just right. I like your idea of maybe having them narrowed a bit. I think even a month ago I would of been against this but I say do it if the price is right but obviously talk to other guys who've done this swap to get a REAL idea of what its REALLY going to cost. Im pretty sure if you give me anything I can eventually manage to break it if I tried hard enough but I really like the idea of having a really solid drive train. Nothing too over kill but something just right, something streetable yet solid.

 

[jeepme]

I just finished a very similar swap. I left it full width (1979 F250 67" WMS-WMS)and used 5" offset rims. I do have BW flares, but it only sticks out about an inch from the flares. Its the little things that will add up during the build, if done right, in the end, you will be very happy.

 

[1SOLOW X]

i can't see spending 400bucks on flares that are just gonna crack when i bash them against a tree or a wall. i think i am gonna leave them full width. i was thinking of building some tube fenders once i know how far the wheels will stick out.

 

[jeepme]

Ive had the flares for about 6 years now so they where allready on when i did the swap. Tube flares would be nice.

 

[Dweezel]

the 78-79 F150 axles are only 65" WMS 2 WMS, I've got a set I'm gonna use for mine eventually, in no hurry. They have cast radius arm mounts so I'm just gonna move the coil buckets in 2" each side and make a cross member for the radius arms, change the bushing to a super joint.

 

[XJ_ranger]

I had 65" WMS axles on my junk for a while, and got pulled over all the time.

When I built my current front axle, I did everything I could to make it narrow - the narrowest I could get it and still have space to mount everything was 62.5" WMS.

Every little bit narrower helps.

Narrowing a D44 isnt all that bad - a grinder and a big hammer will get ya there.

 

[1SOLOW X]

so, i'm resurrecting this thread. i'm going forward and swapping in the full widths. my buddy's and i are going to build a 3 link long arm kit and crossmember. that means i'll be selling off my stock axles and my 8.8 that i was going to build. also i'll be looking for taller springs (more than 4") and wheels/tires.

 

[Jeep450r]

sick. be sure to make a build thread/blog her in SC. Id love to follow this.
What axles? 44/9? 44/60? Tires?

 

[crazymoose1990]

Have fun I will be doing this same swap in a couple of years only I will be using 77 f-150 axles and narrowing maybe haven't decided yet. I know the front axle shafts are not that much stronger however I like they Idea of locking hubs and bigger disc brakes. I will need to change the rear over to disc brakes though.

 

[crazymoose1990]

His axles are front dana 44 8 lug and rear dana 60 8 lung that's what the f-250 came with

 

[1SOLOW X]

yup, exactly. i got em for a pretty good deal. i'll be starting the swap hopefully when i get back to the bay area, i'm in tahoe through sunday. if anyone has any helpful hint or tips, i'll gladly listen.

 

[Jes]

if anyone has any helpful hint or tips, i'll gladly listen.

Shoot for about 63" front and 62" rear for widths. Throw away all the axle shafts as they are junk. Get some good alloy shafts and convert the rear to 35 spline as 30 spline Dana 60 shafts are junk. Regear to at least 5.13 and plop in your favorite flavor of lockers. Shave the 60 housing, ring gear, and get disc brakes for it.

 

[1SOLOW X]

at this point i'm just goin with what i've got. gonna swap the axles in and run something between 35-37 inch tires. i'll upgrade gears, lockers, shafts my next time around. i've only got about a grand to play with right now. if i can scrounge more, i'll be upping then

 

[crazymoose1990]

Yeah I agree with Jes he talked me into narrowing mine its better for trails like the Con everthing he said should be done. He knows from experance

 

[crazymoose1990]

Yeah I agree with your PM doing it cheap is cool however Anthony if you decide to narrow it later you would be doing the work twice as far as coill mounts and shock mounts

 

[1SOLOW X]

thats fine, i guess i run with a different crowd. i've been discussing this move with a bunch of different people for a long time now, and this is what i'm going for

 

[1SOLOW X]

if i do it again, its getting coilovers

 

[crazymoose1990]

I am not trying to talk you out of it dude I still may do full widths but cost wise replaceing the shafts to make them stroger wont be any cheaper to make them shorter. I just really want lockouts and bigger front and rear discs thats the only reason I will be doing this otherwise with 33s it makes zero cents because the stock axles would be strong enough for the tire size I will be runnig. Like I said I am not trying to talk you out of full widths. Jes made me relise how important a narrow track width is.
Catch you in the hood Anthony

 

[Phil]

at this point i'm just goin with what i've got. gonna swap the axles in and run something between 35-37 inch tires. i'll upgrade gears, lockers, shafts my next time around. i've only got about a grand to play with right now. if i can scrounge more, i'll be upping then

$1000 is your budget to swap two axles and get the whole thing driveable?

Best of luck. Have fun. Listen to Jes.