Jeep update

[94xjstud]

Finally getting around to posting some pics and updating. I got my lights to work again, it ended up being a crappy gound wire and dirty grounding area.

I also put it the Aurora back-ups lights:

Intake: The tube gets warm, but not hot. I think I am going to get some thermal wrap anyways.

Front fender pinch seem:

Sorry about the cell phone photos. Let me know what you think.

 

[94xjstud]

I picked a Dana 60 out of a 1974 Ford 250 with 4 doors (guy had the truck it came out of next to the axle). I only needs wheel cylinders and hard brake lines as of now.

I am still compemplating my plans with it. I am thinking I am going to keep the 30 splines go 5.38's on 37's and weld the spiders (This way I can later upgrade to a 35 spline without putting too much money into it). From what I have read and seen that shouldn't be a problem.

The drums are huge and I am updrading to the Wj booster and master cylinder so I don't think I should have a problem stopping this thing.

Is there another booster and cylinder that would work better and will the drums be good or do I need disks in the rear?

Probably going to get rid of the leafs and do coils in the rear with a 4 link with a truss on the 60.

For the front I am looking at getting another Dana 60. I would preferablly like to go with the 60 out of a 1979 F350, but I am trying to see what else is out there as these are hard to come by. I will be doing a 3-link on the front too. I don't see a problem with a 60 on 37's.

Going to keep the stock 231 and drive train for now and plate the whole frame.

This will be very slow moving as I only have about $1500 to put into this for now, just married (but she loves to wheel and told me to build it so we won't break EVERYTIME), and I have my first child on the way.

I have read the Billvista Dana 60 bible (bookmarked) and I am starting to learn more everyday and I will continue to read builds/tech info and whatever else I can get a hold of, but any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Phil]

On a $1500 budget, with a child on the way, I would really, seriously, honestly suggest getting some Ten Factory or Nitro axle shafts for both ends and stay on 33s or 35s. You have a D44 or similar rear already?

 

[94xjstud]

I know the budget is lacking by a lot and it will actually be around 1800, but I didn't want to put any more money into those axle, plus I just sold them for the budget money. And after that money is gone I should be bringing in more money to assist in the build. As I said this will be very long and drawn out build.

Before I sold them I did some research and it just seemed like if I upgraded the front I would have to either deal with just moving the weak link (shafts to ring/pinion). So I decided that I would be better off with running a D60 F/R on slighlty smaller tires to deal with not having to upgrade the axles to much.

For money purposes I am going to continue running leafs in the rear so I will only have to buy spring perches and shock tabs to save money on not doing links/heim/truss/brackets. But when more money came in I would upgrade as allowed.

Some metal fabricating friends and I will be doing all of the building and what not so that is where I plan on saving the most $.

ROUGH ESTIMATE ON PARTS:
D60 perches and ubolts/plates = $120
D60 rear wheel cylinders = $50
D60 stock front axle = $500
D60 high steer arms = $300
Ballistic fab Heim steering = $300
D60 3 link set up including links/heims/brackets = $500
WJ brake booster and master cylinder and hard lines = $150
Frame stiffeners = $200
Not sure about hydro assist prices
Tires and wheels will come later
Lots of other expenses like shocks and things I can't thinks of ?

Yes this is already over my budget but the Jeep is not going anywhere soon so I have time to save and build as money allows.

Yes, I am a noob and not doing this on the best budget, but my heart is set on being able to be on the trail knowing that I wont have to worry about the axles at all. I am also fine with simply running 35 or 36 to save on axle money even with giving up ground clearance.

Until the baby is older and stronger I am not even thinking about doing hardcore trails, just having confidence in the obstacles that I want to drive over.

I appreciate and accept everyone comments, advice, help, critisizm, and flaming. It will only help me get better.

 

[Jes]

Where are you finding a front Dana60 for $500?

 

[94xjstud]

Where are you finding a front Dana60 for $500?

Every now and then one will pop up on craigslist for cheap. I am patient and will wait till I find one that will work. Actually there is one in monterey from a dodge (pass. drop) for $350, just for a reference.

Plus I believe all axles are the same price from pick and pull whether is a dana 30 or a dana 60 the prices are fixed.

 

[Jes]

Good luck finding a Ford HP D60 at pick and pull. I'd love to find one of those for under $1000 let alone $500.

 

[94xjstud]

Well we'll see. The more I think about it and look around I might end up going with an 8lug D44 on 35's until I can upgrade the shafts and hubs.

Any input would be nice.

 

[Letterman]

What is your goal, hard to tell you what you need when I don't know where you want to get to. 37's and not a heavy foot or smaller and you are good with the 44.


Oh and if you have the cash just go 609, and make two, one for a spair that I will use on my jeep and give to you when yours breaks!

 

[94xjstud]

What is your goal, hard to tell you what you need when I don't know where you want to get to. 37's and not a heavy foot or smaller and you are good with the 44.


Oh and if you have the cash just go 609, and make two, one for a spair that I will use on my jeep and give to you when yours breaks!

My main goal is to have a reliable trail rig that won't break on the trails. I pretty much just wheel in Hollister and with the baby coming I will pretty much just be doing the obstacle course stuff and the some the blue trails, but I won't be doing things like Jungle, tank trap, truck hill and what not until he is older.

I am heavily considering a D44 on 36's, so I am going to wait and see what pops up on craigslist for a good price. And if nothing happens I'll take a trip to PnP.

Not sure if the 609 is very practical right now . . . espicially two.

 

[Letterman]

My main goal is to have a reliable trail rig that won't break on the trails. I pretty much just wheel in Hollister and with the baby coming I will pretty much just be doing the obstacle course stuff and the some the blue trails, but I won't be doing things like Jungle, tank trap, truck hill and what not until he is older.

I am heavily considering a D44 on 36's, so I am going to wait and see what pops up on craigslist for a good price. And if nothing happens I'll take a trip to PnP.

Not sure if the 609 is very practical right now . . . espicially two.

With that in mind, if I was you, I would build for 33's, but build the rig as over built as you can for 33's. With 36's you really have to think about building up everything, quick example the stock stearing will not hold up very long pushing the larger tires ect. etc. etc.

I am sure some will say you are just polishing a turd, but I think a nice built XJ on 33's is the way to go for a road driven sierra chapter style trail rig. An xj on 33's can go on just about every trail in the Sierra Chapter, and 33's make the Rubicon fun. Spend the money on good quality after market parts to build up what you have and you will end up with a nice rig.

When I get my next XJ, I will over build it for 33's, just for the sierra chapter style trails and for Hollister.

 

[Phil]

With that in mind, if I was you, I would build for 33's, but build the rig as over built as you can for 33's. With 36's you really have to think about building up everything, quick example the stock stearing will not hold up very long pushing the larger tires ect. etc. etc.

I am sure some will say you are just polishing a turd, but I think a nice built XJ on 33's is the way to go for a road driven sierra chapter style trail rig. An xj on 33's can go on just about every trail in the Sierra Chapter, and 33's make the Rubicon fun. Spend the money on good quality after market parts to build up what you have and you will end up with a nice rig.

When I get my next XJ, I will over build it for 33's, just for the sierra chapter style trails and for Hollister.

He said his old axles are already gone.

 

[94xjstud]

Yep axles are gone. I had 33's and 4.56's on a 30/44 combo. I went through 4 of the 297 axle shafts/u-joints. I didn't want to upgrade the shafts for fear of busting the ring and pinion instead of the shafts. The last run ruined the upper ball joint housing, so pretty much the entire axle. This is why I decided to go bigger.

I did not want to put another dana 30 in, and since I wanted a new front I figured I would put matching widths/lug pattern in the rear too. I just came up with the dana 60 first. This is why I decided to go bigger.

 

[Jes]

Yep axles are gone. I had 33's and 4.56's on a 30/44 combo. I went through 4 of the 297 axle shafts/u-joints...

Then don't bother with a Dana44 unless you can afford the $1000+ for alloy shafts and CTM u-joints. Old stock truck axle shafts are generally junk and will break in short order. You'd be a lot better off with a D60 and stock shafts/joints assuming it's all 35 spline stuff.

 

[94xjstud]

I wouldn't put $1000 into the Dana 44 when I would rather put that into a D60. But would the D44 hold on 35's with 5.13 or 5.38's? I broke two of the axle shafts on Jungle, won't be doing that part of the trail for a while, broke one shaft trying to climb over a log with one tire in the sand and the other on the log, and the forth I broke trying to climb out of a pretty much vertical trench.

But until I get the front axle situation handled I was thinking about starting on swapping in a brake booster and master cylinder. I am thinking about going with the WJ system but I am not sure if that will have enough power or if I need to go to a 1-ton system. What do you guys think?

Also I am planning on doing a hydro-assist steering setup and I am still collecting info and reading through tech to figure out which way I want to go with it.

 

[Letterman]

I would go to pick n pull on half price day and get a stock axle, swap it in and just get more seat time. Spend your weekends driving not building. I think a day in the dirt is better then a day looking for parts, building or looking at a non-running rig.

From 2000 to 2003 I was at Hollister over 50 Days, I had a year pass for 3 years in a row and would try to get out at the least 3 weekends a month. (some weekends were on the dirtbike)

Unless you can't get out that much, or just want to spend all your time in the garage and under the rig, and thats cool too.

 

[Jes]

A Dana44 uses the same axle joints as a Dana30(assuming the D30 has 297X joints). If you're already breaking the stock ears/u-joints on a Dana30 a Dana44 will do you no good unless you get alloy shafts and CTMs(or RCV axles).

 

[1SOLOW X]

i've got a 44/60 full width combo for sale if you're interested. both bone stock in working order out of a late 70s F250

 

[94xjstud]

i've got a 44/60 full width combo for sale if you're interested. both bone stock in working order out of a late 70s F250

Possibly, but it would need to be a good price. PM with some info and a price.

 

[94xjstud]

Started to work on the D60. You can see that the Driver's drum need some work.

Took a look at the diff. Looks pretty good

Took out the shafts and . . .

Yep they're only 16 spline.

From what I have researced the shafts are the same diameter as the 30 spline type so I can put some of those in. Also IIRC the 16 spline shafts are the strength, but the splines are slighlty weaker because the load is more on a smaller area (less splines). If I can find a front that has matching gears I may keep the 16 spline for now and weld the spiders until more money comes a-flowing. If I put the 30 spline shafts in I will get new gears and spool.

I started to take apart the rear drums and the brakes are in good shape, but covered in brake fluid from the bad wheel cylinder. I picked up two new wheel cylinders so they will be going in tomorrow.

Any advice or comments?