OK. Here's my thought.

[XJFETISH]

Correct me if this has been covered before. I have an HP Dana 44 with the castings. I own a shop and want to experiment. Since I can't cut the castings off as I have found out now, maybe I can adapt the castings to fit the XJ.

Here's my thought. Using the castings and the bushings I am thinking of building a bolt on adapter to use the 4-link and XJ coils. Has this been done before, if not why not I don't see much of a problem. The bucket can mount easily just offset. I am thinking of using the exposed section of tubing as a clamping area to keep the bracket in place and the castings to keep it from twisting.

Since the castings are used in the ford setup to do both the coil bucket and the control arm mount then I am assuming that they are strong enough to do the job. If anybody thinks this is crazy let me know. I have the axles and have the time to try it.

Simon

 

[Caged94XJ]

Talk to Matt or Bob at TNT. I know they were working on a truss kit for the D44 with the castings.

 

[JeepFreak21]

Correct me if this has been covered before. I have an HP Dana 44 with the castings. I own a shop and want to experiment. Since I can't cut the castings off as I have found out now, maybe I can adapt the castings to fit the XJ.

Here's my thought. Using the castings and the bushings I am thinking of building a bolt on adapter to use the 4-link and XJ coils. Has this been done before, if not why not I don't see much of a problem. The bucket can mount easily just offset. I am thinking of using the exposed section of tubing as a clamping area to keep the bracket in place and the castings to keep it from twisting.

Since the castings are used in the ford setup to do both the coil bucket and the control arm mount then I am assuming that they are strong enough to do the job. If anybody thinks this is crazy let me know. I have the axles and have the time to try it.

Simon

NorCalXJ did exactly that a few years ago. He didn't post much (and isn't active anymore), but here is his Jeep. I can't seach Pirate, but most of the pics are on there (under NorCalXJ or Jason R).
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=1885963

Anyway, it was a pretty simple design, that bolted onto the cast part and then bridged over the top for a nice weld surface.

Good luck,
Billy

 

[TNT]

Just buy the HP D44 with the weld on brackets and sell that one. You get an axle that is easier to build and has 1/2" tubes so it is way stronger also...

 

[XJFETISH]

You got one? I sure will if I could find one.

 

[Roxtar]

Here's how you make a cast HP44 work.

http://www.midwestxj.org/Gallery/Front-HP44-AXZILLA

 

[ZPD]

I had a HP 44 with the castings. I cut them off between the casting and the center section. I then inserted a tube into the existing tube (turned to the right OD so that it was a press fit) and the slid another tube over the smaller one and pressed it up against the stock tube. Checked for alignment, welded it up (around the seam and a few rosettes), cut it length and welded the knuckles back on. Works great.

 

[jaymo]

Dam KId that looks like some nice work. You have some talent. I wished i had the skills to pull that off.

 

[Ghost]

Correct me if this has been covered before. I have an HP Dana 44 with the castings. I own a shop and want to experiment. Since I can't cut the castings off as I have found out now, maybe I can adapt the castings to fit the XJ.

Here's my thought. Using the castings and the bushings I am thinking of building a bolt on adapter to use the 4-link and XJ coils. Has this been done before, if not why not I don't see much of a problem. The bucket can mount easily just offset. I am thinking of using the exposed section of tubing as a clamping area to keep the bracket in place and the castings to keep it from twisting.

Since the castings are used in the ford setup to do both the coil bucket and the control arm mount then I am assuming that they are strong enough to do the job. If anybody thinks this is crazy let me know. I have the axles and have the time to try it.

Simon

Cage off road and James Duff make that part. Well they actually have it made for them. I thought about this too a couple years ago. They both make extended radius arms for the fords. Last time I checked they would not sell the cast adapter piece alone, and there arms were $600+