Got My HP44 and F9"

[STEELFISH]

Thas it guys, I got em, now I need to figure out what to do with them, I may Wrist the Axle Housing, and will probably run arms similar to what Lucas just did to his. So now I am looking for the parts to make em trail worthy. Working on cleaning them up now, they were from Wisconsin and are rusted up pretty good, not terrible but enough. Started stripping it down last night and it got a little late so I have to pick back up tonight. Debating on running 37's or 35's, I have 33's now and would like to go larger since I can, we'll see, probably will end up with 35's for the time being.

Anyone run 35's with 5.13 gears? if so how is it?

 

[ren]

I wish that I had known someone else in Ky. was looking for those axles, I would have sold you the pair for $250. They are out of a '79 1/2 truck, mates , and geared for 3.54/3.55. Yes, the rear is 31 spline, not sure if open or not. The front still has the arms on it and both are complete. If anybody is interested, I am close to Mt. Sterling,Ky.

 

[Big Red]

I run 5.38 in my hp44 and 5.43's in my 9". They work great with the AW4 and 37's. I spent more $ and got the RE TJ 4 link kit, not this axle is setup to bolt into a XJ/TJ/ZJ. I can run 80 mph at 3K RPMs, 70 mph at 2.5K RPM. Run at least 35's. If you get alloy axle shafts and CTMs or OX u-joints, you should be o.k. with 37's especially where you live.

Troy

 

[Muddy_XJ]

Why the difference in gear ratios for the F&R?

 

[woody]

I don't think the 9" can be had in 5.38:1 .05 is a pretty minor (1%) difference, you can tune that out with tire pressure differences F>R if it bothers ya

 

[Big Red]

I don't think the 9" can be had in 5.38:1 .05 is a pretty minor (1%) difference, you can tune that out with tire pressure differences F>R if it bothers ya

Exactly, how much difference f/r psi? I run about 22-25 lbs with my beadlocks and they ride well. Of course I unlock my hubs and keep my t-case in 2 high so the difference doesn't matter on road, offroad it is too small to make much difference. I couldn't find a 5.38 gear for the 9", although a few places said they had it. I went with the common 5.43 gear, 5.29s would have been too much of a difference to match up with the 5.38s in the front, it might have worked too....but 5.43 gears are way cooler. :laugh3:

Troy

 

[XJ_ranger]

I wish that I had known someone else in Ky. was looking for those axles, I would have sold you the pair for $250. They are out of a '79 1/2 truck, mates , and geared for 3.54/3.55. Yes, the rear is 31 spline, not sure if open or not. The front still has the arms on it and both are complete. If anybody is interested, I am close to Mt. Sterling,Ky.

wow thats cool

my ford 9" has 3.50 gears to match the 3.55's in the d44 in my front end...

Steelfish:

why would you wrist the axle housing? the whole point of the d44 is the stronger housing... why weaken it?
id strongly recomend you look into a 4 link mirrored to match your d30, or if you are into custom suspention, look into some of the other designs out there...

I am not a huge fan of the Ford radius arms - UNLESS you have a 78 or 79 front end...

the one big gripe that i have on Lucas' system is that he doesnt have any re-enforcement on the arms... and that to me seems faulty...

id encourage you to look at Farmer Matt's setup...

 

[STEELFISH]

wow thats cool

my ford 9" has 3.50 gears to match the 3.55's in the d44 in my front end...

Steelfish:

why would you wrist the axle housing? the whole point of the d44 is the stronger housing... why weaken it?
id strongly recomend you look into a 4 link mirrored to match your d30, or if you are into custom suspention, look into some of the other designs out there...

I am not a huge fan of the Ford radius arms - UNLESS you have a 78 or 79 front end...

the one big gripe that i have on Lucas' system is that he doesnt have any re-enforcement on the arms... and that to me seems faulty...

id encourage you to look at Farmer Matt's setup...

As far as wristing the axle the Early Bronco guys do it quite often and are over pleased with the whole deal, they only problem they report is the torque transfer, I actually probably won't go that route. As far as Lucas' design I primarily like his arms, but will plan on plating them like mad. I really like the cage offroad arms they are sweet, the EB guys love them.
The axles are out of a 78 F-150, I will stay with the radius arms, hopefully i can get this finished soonish. Right now working on cleaning them up and sandblasting them then washing them then painting them. Any other reccomendations are food for thought.
J

 

[XJ_ranger]

buy stronger axle shafts

dont skimp on brakes - BUY ALL NEW STUFF (rotors, calipers, pads, brake lines, drums, shoes, cylenders, springs, hard lines...)

dont skimp on hi-steer - do it the first time and then dont worry about it.

get all new wheel bearings (I wore one out in the middle of a 1600 mile drive across the country in the 9")

keep the axle shafts with their bearing races in the rear if you dont change the rear wheel beaings - mixing them up is what caused my failure

check the torque on everything... again!

a die grinder is a wonderful tool.

 

[hadfield4wd]

What is better about the 78 & 79? I just got these and they are sitting in the garage waiting for time to work on them.

Matt

 

[XJ_ranger]

What is better about the 78 & 79? I just got these and they are sitting in the garage waiting for time to work on them.

Matt

nothing

the difference between the 74-75 and 76-77 is disc brakes on the front 78-79 have cast radius arm perches on the front...