Ice House 12/3-4?

[SeansXJ]

Headed up in two weekends to play in the white stuff...who wants to Join?

here are a few shots from our last get together just to get the blood flowing


dates are off...these are all from last winter

 

[blondejoncherokee]

im probably in

 

[Jeep450r]

Ill check the calendar, but id love to go snow wheelin soon!

 

[suprbst]

I'd love to go, but tell me if this setup is going to fly: 2" lift, open diffs, D30 front, D35 rear, tow hooks, but no winch, BFG M/T KM2's 31"x10.5"x15". I can air down, but only so far (not beadlocked). I might try to get a locker installed in the front 30, as I have a feeling it's not worth spending any money on the rear 35. Any suggestions? Anything I'll have to have before going on this? I did go play in the snow up @ Bowman Lake area last weekend after the toy drive @ PC, and I found that I don't have any real trouble in the 6" snow on asphalt there, but when I tried heading down Lowell Hill Road toward Dutch Flat from the Hwy 20 side, the dirt/mud under the snow was causing me to slip one side or the other & traction was not happening without airing way down and/or locking the axles, so I turned around.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

you have the right ideas for lockers. your rear would be worth swapping a used rear end with a posi in it if you can find one, you can usually find d35s with stock gears and a posi for dirt cheap. then i would say a lunchbox for the front , but they do tend to have some interesting handling characteristics in the ice. in the deep snow not so bad and really helps, on the ice it can be bad sometimes, but then again the extra traction in every other situatoin makes up for it. the good news is, on your tires youd be fine with a lunchbox up front and a cheap posi rear.
its not worth putting any real money into the 35 though , but if you got a really cheap ruffstuff cover and a truss for dirt cheap, some cheap chromos, and a lunchbox you could get by on 31s, but for all that money, id say just wait for an 8.25 or a 8.8 . they are dirt cheap and plenty strong. the 8.8 is rated at taking more torque than a 44, has discs,(96+) and you can find them with the LSD all the time.
you can get an 8.8 with lsd and rear discs all the time from picknpull for pretty cheap.
i see em there alot. they are like 160$ total. the flange for the stock DS is lke 25$ at west sac driveline, and then just weld new perches up top and new u bolts.

 

[Hoooper]

I would be in for this. I will need to confirm later. If it dumps snow around then I might want to go crush powder with tires one day and skis the next, the perfect weekend. Need to get some new motor mounts first though...

 

[blondejoncherokee]

i think i can go if we do it on the 3rd.

 

[suprbst]

OK if I invite some non-XJ driving Jeep friends?

 

[Mike1331]

a chic that drives a coilovered yj...bad ass.

 

[suprbst]

Ha ha! Is it false advertising if that's actually the Jeep's owner's gf? She drives it, too...

 

[Mike1331]

yes, in that case this pic needs to be of her in the passenger seat, in a bikini, maybe a cowboy hat...

 

[suprbst]

Like this?

 

[connor0770]

 

[suprbst]

This was from Sierra Trek last year...

Anyone here go on the Sierra Trek run?

 

[suprbst]

you have the right ideas for lockers. your rear would be worth swapping a used rear end with a posi in it if you can find one, you can usually find d35s with stock gears and a posi for dirt cheap. then i would say a lunchbox for the front , but they do tend to have some interesting handling characteristics in the ice. in the deep snow not so bad and really helps, on the ice it can be bad sometimes, but then again the extra traction in every other situatoin makes up for it. the good news is, on your tires youd be fine with a lunchbox up front and a cheap posi rear.
its not worth putting any real money into the 35 though , but if you got a really cheap ruffstuff cover and a truss for dirt cheap, some cheap chromos, and a lunchbox you could get by on 31s, but for all that money, id say just wait for an 8.25 or a 8.8 . they are dirt cheap and plenty strong. the 8.8 is rated at taking more torque than a 44, has discs,(96+) and you can find them with the LSD all the time.
you can get an 8.8 with lsd and rear discs all the time from picknpull for pretty cheap.
i see em there alot. they are like 160$ total. the flange for the stock DS is lke 25$ at west sac driveline, and then just weld new perches up top and new u bolts.

I checked with the local JY - United Truck Dismantlers - and they want $550 for a complete 8.8 with 3.73 gears, new seals, bearings & LSD, with disc brakes, cables, etc. My front D30 is probably a 3.55, right? How does this price sound, aside from the gear size issue? I don't weld (yet), so I'd need someone to weld the perches & help me set the pinion angle. I still have my stock driveshaft installed, but I do have a transfer case drop kit I can install to make the angle work better if needed.

As far as the front D30, I was thinking of putting in a locker, so it might be possible to change the gearing while I have it open for the locker.

As far as Ice House being a snow run, has anyone been up that way in the past week or so? I just looked at the weather report and it looks like it's supposed to be sunny up there...

 

[blondejoncherokee]

550 is extremely high.
like they are smoking something crazy to think 550 is worth it
pnp almost always has a handful of 8.8s.
i constantly see them with 3.73s and 4.10s with LS in a 96 explorer when im there.
31 spline axle shafts and a massive housing.
all for 160$ out the door at pnp.

also, ruff stuff sells the simple swap kit for the 8.8 with u bolts, perches, spring plates, and shock tabs for like 100$ or aroud there to naxja members.

the flange you need is almost always in stock at west sac driveline (bought one for my hp9, it uses 8.8 flange and 8.8 gears) for about 30$.

so for arounf 300$-400$ total you could be set.
if you feel crazy get a ruffstuff cover while youre there .

even then youre still way under that 550$ mark(rememeber thats just the axle itself)

there are guys on here that would weld the perches on for you as well.


so to do it on the cheap, no cover, you can possibly do it around 320$ -ish.
find a 4.10/3.73 geared front at a junkyard ( i do find 4 cyclinder , 5 spd XJs and comanches at pnp as well here and there.) there is actually a bad a$$ 4.10 front with WJ knuckles on clist for 400$. at least there was one last week.
the WJ swap alone is 800$+ so thats a steal. i think it was locked.

if you got the rear done (stock cover) and a used 4.10 front that needed minimal work (bushings, maybe even ball joints) for around 400$, youd be in to lockers and gears front and rear for aroud 750$ total.

4.10s and 31s would be nice, the 3.73s would also work for the right price

if i dont wanna pull it at pnp, ill call all the people on carpart and haggle until i get em down to a reasonable price.
i bey you could get one on car part for 250$ locally if you tried ( search 96+ explorer rear axle)
http://www.car-part.com

also food for though alot of grand cherokees had 3.73s so you can find those much easier than a 4.10 front, although i think alot of tjs had 4.10s, might save you a huge chunk of change instead of regearing the front if you can find a front end already with 3.73s for say 200$ or less? shoot maybe 50$ on cl.

 

[SeansXJ]

any capable rig can come..non XJs are just fine...i have a few yotas that hopefully will show

 

[l1kenother]

sean you know im in. I got a new tank for OBA so that will be going in soon.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

alright i know im really pushing the 3rd hard, but actually the 4th is better, even though i said the opposite before . so basically you guys figure it out and lets go from there.

 

[SeansXJ]

k I think the 4th sounds better...the 4th it is! Josh works sat so im sure he votes for the 4th also...how does this work for the others that wanna join?


lets do this!!