John D Super Slo-Mo Rebuild

[John D]

Picked these up on eBay, I think they are Dodge. I can't find a good pic anywhere, is this the correct orientation for the parts? I can only find pics of style that uses the spring behind the puck.

 

[Smash Hole]

Looks like it goes together in the order left to right. I've always used the wagoneer slugs since I always seem to have them laying around. They're thicker and don't use that spacer

 

[John D]

Always seem to have them laying around?!?! Where were you three days ago? Lol

 

[BRIANHO13]

Heck, I think I have 2 sets and I have not run a 44 in 7 years.

 

[shortxjdoug]

Why not just sling a set of solid slugs in it? Im all about cheap but tossing in whats now a 30+ year old slug sounds like a recipe for disaster...

 

[John D]

I really did consider this, but I don't plan to keep the D44. I have been gathering parts little by little for my D60 and I'm hoping to have two or less runs left on this axle. One snow trip next month and Winterfest in March. When I sell it, I'm already going to be giving this axle away compared to what I have into it. I really don't want to throw another $200 at it.

 

[Smash Hole]

I really did consider this, but I don't plan to keep the D44. I have been gathering parts little by little for my D60 and I'm hoping to have two or less runs left on this axle. One snow trip next month and Winterfest in March. When I sell it, I'm already going to be giving this axle away compared to what I have into it. I really don't want to throw another $200 at it.

What's the 60 out of?

 

[John D]

'88 Ford - 65" and 5x5.5

 

[John D]

Been fiddling around with this for a couple years and it’s starting to get to a point that I believe it may actually happen, LOL. After looking for quite a while I picked up this hunk of junk from Craig’s List for $175. It is an ’88 Ford F350 dual rear wheel. 69.25” wide, but I am narrowing the long side to make overall width 65”. It came with everything in the pic including the single wheel hubs.



Started collecting parts piece by piece as deals came along and decided for now at least, I would just weld the carrier up. Hoping it holds up for a while like this.



I’m staying with the 5x5.5 wheel pattern since my 9” is already setup with 35 spline Detroit, shaved and trussed so I picked up these brackets from Blackbird Customs which allow running the F150 rotors and Chevy calipers.



Then I took my hubs over to Rock Solid Performance in Cedar Springs so they could turn them down and drill the 5x5.5 wheel pattern.



A little protection so the grease zerk doesn’t get torn off immediately.



Picked up some Ruff Stuff 10* lower link mounts with coil buckets and cut into the cast section a little to make room. And then tapped some bolts into the old spring pad to help with securing the truss on the short side.

 

[John D]

I am sticking with the radius arm set-up for this axle too. It allows me to keep a decent flowing exhaust behind the 5.3L and when I remove the passenger side upper link it works very well on the trail. So, I started building the truss to mount the uppers to.











That’s where it sits now. I’m waiting to hear back from a couple places. I really want to get a diff cover that is designed to tie into the truss. Ballistic as well as BTF has them but they are part of their truss/cover kit. Worse case I can get a cover from Ruff Stuff and weld a bracket to it to tie into the truss.

 

[John D]

Got ahold of them at BTF and they said no problem on buying just the cover. Should work out nicely for tying into the truss and they shipped fast.

 

[John D]

I had planned to work on my D60 today, and then this appeared arty:
Atlas 3.8 and the price was way too good to pass. I got it in today, but I need to do a little shaping on the floor under the driver's seat. I had to drop the rear of the trans about an inch to get it in and I would like to push it back up.

 

[Jbh97009]

Sweet! I can't wait to swing one of those under mine! I just missed a killer deal on a 4spd but they always seem to pop up when I can least afford it!

I like where this is going!

 

[John D]

I like where this is going!

Thanks

I finished up the Atlas install and I'm VERY happy with the way it turned out. I spent a lot more time on the floor and the shifters than I anticipated, but it was worth it. Took it out for about a 20 test and everything is working great. I also bought a tire groover and did a little work to my Swampers. They are about 1,000,000x better on the road than before. I had been considering selling them, but now I think I will keep them.

 

[John D]

I picked up a set of Warn lockouts to replace my blown Mile Marker's for road and dune trips. When I installed them I am unable to put the small snap ring on the end of the axle. The lockout is right up against the end of the spindle. I did some research and it seems lots of people have run into this issue due to the Warn's being thicker. A couple people shorten the spindle by 1/8" to get the snap ring on but most people just run it without the snap ring. I am running it without the snap ring now but I haven't run it in the locked position. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Luke95]

Try pushing the stub shaft out farther it is what I have to do on mine.

 

[John D]

Not sure why it was being difficult, but I took everything apart to re-grease the bearings and the c-clips fit on the ends of the stubs afterward.

Took the family up to the dunes yesterday and everything worked perfectly. Engine was running really well and cool, trans stayed cool and was shifting awesome and there were a few good jumps. Very happy with how everything was working, it was a good day.

 

[616_97xj]

Awesome (re)build man! Nice rig! :worship:

 

[John D]

It’s been a little while since I updated. After the dunes in April we used the Jeep to get a lot of ice cream, putting about 1000 miles on it this summer. I did a lot of work with the tuner and it’s running very well and strong. I can lay down a 4-5’ patch on my 1/2 shift now with the 38” tires :clap:

We did make a trip to Rocks and Valleys a few weeks ago with my boys and my 16YO did some driving, it was a good day. By the way. the Atlas is SUPER awesome to have.

Winter plans did include building my D60 front with a 5x5.5 wheel pattern to match my 9" rear, but I changed directions. I picked up a 14B FF and will now be going that route. I will be selling both the D44 and 9" in early November.

Here are some pics from R&V. Everything worked really well except I popped out a front spring and a brake line loosened up. Doing the parking lot crawl is interesting with no brakes, LOL.







My 16YO – Happy boy

 

[John D]

Okay, I need some opinions on this 14B I picked up. Once I got it all cleaned up I noticed there is significant pitting around where the u-bolts and plates were sitting against the axle. The pitting is a good 1/8" deep and on both sides about the same amount. I've been doing some research but can't a lot of info it. The little bit I did find said to fill in the area with weld and grind it smooth. I realize the tubes are 1/2" thick and my mind says this method would be satisfactory.

I just want some other opinions to help me decide what to do with it. Here are a couple pics of the area. What do you guys think?