My Jeep Grows Up

[Begster]

Well, I got bored and decided I would make a thread to show what I've been doing to my Jeep for a couple of months now.


I got my Jeep to the point were I liked its looks, and thought it was a pretty good looking Jeep. But I figured something was missing, and it was time to do gears and lockers, and upgrade the axles. Plus, the front steering was getting a little too old, and the holes in the frame side trackbar bracket had opened themselves up some, leaving me with a Jeep that didn't drive straight, and just became a little too unsafe.

I started by picking up a used already built rear D44. It has OX Locker, 4.56 gears, Superior axle shafts which worked out well because they had a 5x5.5 bolt pattern, and RuffStuff truss and raised shock mounts that needed to be welded on.


So, since my garage was a mess, I was once again forced to work outside in my rock driveway. It was a fairly straightforward swap.

I love how rusty everything gets in such a short period of time.

Now for the front axle, I came across Cruisin Illusion's "Custom Width HP44 Build and Tech" thread, and figured that I could handle it. So I picked up a HP44 from a '77 F150. It was dirty, and had a leaky axle seal, but it was in good shape and the guy said the brakes were pretty new.

So I stripped it down.

Cut of all the brackets and Inner C's.

Ordered up the TNT truss, rotated the C's for 5.5* of caster.

It was TIG welded using the Miller welder thats up at my school's machine shop. I did all the welding.

OX and Yukon 4.56 to match the rear. I read a few write ups on installing gears, and figured I would give it a shot. It wasn't too bad after I started to understand what was going on.

Got a coat of POR15.

Got some motivation, cleaned out my garage, and parked my Jeep in there before my dad had a chance to dirty it up again. Stripped the front.

I decided I wanted to do high steer, so I picked up some flattop knuckles, spindles and caliper brackets from a '75 Jeep Wagoneer. I got in touch with John from John Nutter Enterprises, and he was extremely helpful with everything. Great customer service. I highly recommend his services.

Knuckles with Parts Mike high steer arms. The machine work looked excellent, everything fit perfectly.

I purchased Ballistic Fab's inverted T steering kit. Came with Chevy 1 ton TRE's, two pieces of 1.5" OD x .25" wall DOM tubing, and threaded tube inserts so I could make the steering I needed.

Test fitting the axle to measure for the steering. Old coil springs were getting a little tired, and one was bowed pretty good due to driving with poorly repaired CA mounts for a while after they had been bent. So new 7.5 coil springs were used.

 

[Begster]

Ordered some extra DOM, a small RE superflex joint, 1'' threaded rod, and an RE threaded coupler with superflex joint, and now I have my new trackbar, to go with the RE heavy duty bracket.

When I test fitted the axle, I found that it was pretty far forward with the inch that the drop brackets move the axle forward, and the new brackets also pushing the axle forward some. To move the axle back, I already had adjustable lower control arms, and I didn't want to shell out another $250 for uppers since I have been spending way to much on the axle itself. My fix was to order up some 1" threaded rod, and a weld on coupler. I'll cut the old UCA in half, weld the rod into the tube, and weld the threaded coupler to the bushing tube, and thus have adjustable UCA for a total of $50 in parts.

Called Rieder Racing for custom length inner shafts, and new outer shafts as well. They got me the custom inners in a pretty good amount of time, but 3 months after I had ordered the shafts, I found I still hadn't received the outer shafts. I called them up, they said they had a 30-45 day waiting period due to a chromoly shortage. So I waited that time, called them again, only to have them say that it would be atleast another 30 days. Called up Moser and had the shafts I needed the next week.

Got the axle under the Jeep, and started assembling it. I could only attach 1 UCA as the TNT truss was tweaked when I got it, and I haven't had access to a welder yet to make the UCA adjustable yet.

Nice tight fit between the caliper and rim. I don't think its going to be a problem unless a big rock or something somehow gets wedged in there.

And this is where it is at today. Axle internals and hubs are all back in. I can't put the Jeep on its tires yet as I need to wait until Monday to weld the UCA's, ream the Wagoneer pitman arm out some more, and do a little adjustment on the steering linkages.

 

[MufflerBearing]

how much work was it to narrow that 44?? looks awesome

 

[Andy in Pa.]

LOOKS GREAT!!! Very clean!!! I run Moser shafts in my front 44, definitely beefy.

Two questions though, what is the truss for on the rear? And, it looks like both high steer arms only have one hole. Are you running and inverted Y type of steering? Many high steer kits run a pass side high steer arm with two (TRE or heim) holes, then the drag link runs to that arm, and the tie rod ties into that arm as well and runs to the drivers side high steer arm.

A.

 

[creeperjeep]

Nice to see someone else around here did it big.

I have the parts mike arms and they only have 1 hole too, I have this setup to steer;

Its a "T" none of that "Y" crap

 

[asp]

the build looks awesome. can't wait to see the final product. rust sucks. por-15 is indeed the solution.

 

[Begster]

Thanks guys.

Ya I'll be running the same inverted "T" setup as pictured above, so the draglink attaches to the TRE, rather than crossover steering and having it attach to the steering arm. I read in a few places people having clearance problems running the crossover steering and coils, so I decided it wasn't really worth the hassle.

I'm definitely impressed with the Moser shafts. They are a lot better quality than the Alloy USA ones that Rieder Racing sent me. I unfortunately forgot about Moser when the time came to initially order the shafts.

The truss on the rear is there just because it came with the rear axle. I figured why not truss it, I have to weld the shock mounts on anyways. There are holes there so that I can make a plate to attach to the truss and diff cover to stiffen it up a little more.

mufflerbearing - It was a good amount of work to narrow the 44. I think the biggest pain, other than the 31 years of rust that fused a lot of things together, was getting the pieces of axle tube out of the inner c's. No matter how much I ground, I just couldn't get the line that separated the tube from the C. Look up Cruisin Illusion's thread to get a better idea of most of the smaller steps.

 

[Andy in Pa.]

Thanks guys.

Ya I'll be running the same inverted "T" setup as pictured above, so the draglink attaches to the TRE, rather than crossover steering and having it attach to the steering arm. I read in a few places people having clearance problems running the crossover steering and coils, so I decided it wasn't really worth the hassle.

I'm definitely impressed with the Moser shafts. They are a lot better quality than the Alloy USA ones that Rieder Racing sent me. I unfortunately forgot about Moser when the time came to initially order the shafts.

The truss on the rear is there just because it came with the rear axle. I figured why not truss it, I have to weld the shock mounts on anyways. There are holes there so that I can make a plate to attach to the truss and diff cover to stiffen it up a little more.

mufflerbearing - It was a good amount of work to narrow the 44. I think the biggest pain, other than the 31 years of rust that fused a lot of things together, was getting the pieces of axle tube out of the inner c's. No matter how much I ground, I just couldn't get the line that separated the tube from the C. Look up Cruisin Illusion's thread to get a better idea of most of the smaller steps.

Thats what I figured with the steering. Did you have to go completely custom for axleshafts? When I did my HPD44, I cut it down to Waggy width, so I could use waggy inner shafts. That way if I ever do break one, most companies who make alloy shafts have these widths on the shelf.

The Moser shafts I have I got as "blanks" that I had to have cut/splined. Luckily there is a local shop near me that can do this kind of work.

Nice Jeep, when are you coming down to RC??

A.

 

[billyjp2]

ROLL OF DIMES, nice weld

 

[mjma]

Looking good man! Wanna help me build a HP 44??? haha!


What kinda clearance do you have in the rear with that Ruff Stuff truss?? Does it want to hit the floor when you stuff the axle??

 

[MoparManiac]

Nice build man!

I promise I'll buy your no-slip soon!

Paying off school blows :rattle:

 

[RCman]

Looks real good! :thumbup:
At least you'll be able to drive yours on the road after this is all done.
I won't. :tear:

 

[asp]

Looks real good! :thumbup:
At least you'll be able to drive yours on the road after this is all done.
I won't. :tear:

sure you will, it just won't even be close to legal :cheers:

 

[RCman]

sure you will, it just won't even be close to legal :cheers:

I will be able to, but legally and registered? Not a chance.
Oh well...

I really wish I hadn't gotten rear ended then I would have been able to do something like Begster.

 

[asp]

i really like what begster has done, but i also give you a lot of credit for not just ditching the wrecked jeep and getting another one and starting over.

 

[mjma]

I will be able to, but legally and registered? Not a chance.
Oh well...

I really wish I hadn't gotten rear ended then I would have been able to do something like Begster.

Don't worry......we can take care of the 'legal' part! Build it right (safe) and make it so the check engine light isn't on. You'll be all set.

 

[Begster]

Andy - Ya I had to go custom length inners. I'm not too worried if I do break them though, as I got them in a pretty decent amount of time. I got the Moser shafts already splined and everything. I'll hopefully eventually get down to RC, I have to get the Jeep driving first, then I go back to school in Sept.

mjma - Sorry, I would offer to help, but I don't want to build another axle again for a long time. As for the rear truss, I don't think it will hit the floor. The truss was cut down some, so that it fit closer to the axle. I still have to bumpstop the rear so I don't over extend the springs, but it looks like it won't interfere with anything.

RCman- Thanks, I've been following your build, it looks great, can't wait to see the final stage of it. I've always thought that if I do crash mine, I'd chop it and build it similar to yours. I just can't do that to mine at the moment.

 

[Begster]

Well, I got the toggle levers mounted for the OX. This was a bit of a pain in the ass because the cable doesn't like to bend, and the directions say they need to stay straight for a certain lenght after the lever. The console is a little hacked, but I don't care, I'll clean it up later.

Front

I still have to attach the mounting bracket for the rear lever, which is why there is so much space between the console and lever.

What it looks like with the tires on. Don't mind the axle being twisted, there are no UCA holding it, so the pinion is resting on that jackstand for time being.

Everything on the axle is bolted on, with the exception of the steering and trackbar. I need to head to Napa to get some new banjo bolts, as the stock XJ ones are too small for the '74 wagoneer calipers. Autozone didn't know what I was talking about when I asked if they sold banjo bolts.

Heres a bit of irony, at this same time last year when I put the drop brackets on, I needed to get my front driveshaft lengthened (it needed a rebuild anyway) because it was just short of the pinion. Now I just bolted the D44 on, and I need to get my driveshaft shortened, as its too long due to the increased side of the D44.

I'm heading up to Boston in a little bit so I can use my school's machine shop. I'll get the UCA's welded together, ream the pitman arm out a little more, then make new tube inserts for the tie rod and draglink, then weld those together. My plan is to hopefully have it driving by Wednesday.

 

[MoparManiac]

Who needs a console...?

lol looks great man!

 

[Begster]

Thanks Colin. Once I get this thing done and need to break the gears in, I plan on taking it up to Jeff's place in Canton. I told him I'd stop by once I got it done. I'll let you know when I plan on going up.