XJsportG's "How'd I get here" build

[XJsportG]

Figured it's about time to start doing something with these pictures i've been taking. Plus maybe this will get me to start taking more pictures of stuff I am doing. There's alot of gaps and stuff I never took photos of.

To start it all off, lets kick it back to Sept. 2010 when I picked up this beauty (2001 Cherokee Sport) my senior year of High School

It stayed stock for awhile (minus some sweet stickers), and got me around town and up to mountains.

Sometime in early 2011 I installed 3" Rough Country lift (springs & AAL w/ shocks) and around May 2011 I picked up some used TJ Rubicon take-offs.

About a year later, finally upgraded to some proper 31" MTRs and Crager V-5s.

Spring of 2012 I went on my first official wheeling trip to Wheelin' 4 Hope at Oak Ridge Estate. Got a little squirrely through "puddle" and slid off the trail into a tree. Blew out the headlight and put a branch through header panel, 1" away from going in the radiator.

At spome point during 2012-2013 I went through a few lift changes. Added Clayton 4.5" coils, IRO adj. upper & lowers, IRO Double-Shear track bar, IRO 3.5" Leafs, 1" JKS Shackle, JKS, Sway-bar disconnects, Serious Offroad 1-ton UTK, SkidRow engine/trans skid, JCR Offroad Rock Sliders, and a stock XJ gas tank skid. The only pictures I managed to find from this time was from around mid-2013 and I added some RunCool XJ hood vents.

 

[XJsportG]

After a couple months of having nothing but issues with the adj. short arms, I bit the bullet and order the Rock Krawler 3-link upgrade. The whole "bolt-on kit" wasn't really bolt on.

Pulled the stock Low Pinion Dana 30 and replaced with a High Pinion 30 I rebuilt.

New axle, calls for bigger tires! Move to 33s, Toyo MTs 33x10.5"

DetoursUSA Tailbone installed, after 5 months of waiting for it to arrive.

Added an add-a-leaf into the IRO 3.5" leafs i'd been running.

Here's just some pictures from 2015.

2016 rolled around and I cut and folded the rear fenders.

35s were inevitable. Wasn't a huge fan of the Toyo's and decided to go back to the MTRs 35x12.5".

Got them installed just in-time for our annual Uwharrie trip.

 

[XJsportG]

And afterwards I realized how much I needed to re-gear. Found another HP 30 and a friend had a XJ 44 trade me for my 8.25" that was coming out. Trussed the new Dana 30 with the IRO Dana 30 truss, installed Yukokn 4.56s and a Grizzly in the rear. Did all this 3 days before leaving for VA4WDA Annual trip at Oak Ridge.

Was feeling pretty happy with it on that trip, and the what a different a locker makes and new gears.

One thing I discover once I got on the trails was this awful screech/squel. Turned out when we installed the rear axle, the brake dust sheild must have gotten bent and was make some good contact with the rotor.

Towards the end of 2016 I installed a Ironman4x4 Fab Steering box brace, and this is how the front end look around that time. I never really cleaned & prepped the axle well when we installed it.

I wasn't very happy with how tall the frontend was with the 4.5" coils and truss (added like 1"-1.5"). Decided to try out the MetalCloak Tue Dual Rate 3.5" coisl. Looked very promising, but once I got them installed, I wasn't happy with them. The coil was larger in dia. than other XJ coils and they rubbed the frame/trac-bar bracket.

 

[XJsportG]

Another thing showed up from the axle swap, the driver shaft had a bum u-joint so we used a space my friend laying around. Well this one had a bum u-joint too and after driving on the interstate for awhile the friction from it heated the shaft up enough the inner seal blew and ovaled out the outer tube seal. Pulled the shaft and remembered this thing was funky when we put it in. The shaft is splined and has the yoke pressed on to it. Never seen that before.

After I pulled the shaft, these showed up!

And then this happened.

Since the front end was apart and ever since I put the steering brace on I wasn't running a sway-bar. Didn't like this so much. Went to over to new local 4WP and got a sweat deal on a Anti-Rock.

Decided to drive it Christmas parade with the Club.

 

[XJsportG]

After entering the real world, the Jeep has been parked for awhile since it's not the DD anymore. Decided to tackle the rust that been eating at the frame where the bumpstops in the rear went.

And while i'm here... might as well pull the axle out and give them a nice clean-up.

Got the rear frame fixed up and then got the axle back in.

Next up was a winch & winch bumper. Went with the Dirtbound DIY bumper.

T-Case started to leak, and I picked up a used NP231 with a Tera-2low installed already to rebuild.

Went down to Uwharrie this past summer.

My buddies XJ didn't fair so well going up the lower ledge on Daniel trail this year.

 

[XJsportG]

Got home from Uwharrie and gave it a nice bath. Then I started to think about the future. I'd really like to lock the front, and jump up to 37s but I'm having a hard time justifying it with the Dana 30 and throwing more money at it. I've already dumpped a stupid amount into it.

While I thought about that more, I order a t-case skid since my stock cross-member had gotten pretty beat up over the years and went with the Hooligan Offroad skid plate. This thing is nice, but I had to make some modifications to get it to work with the Rock-Krawler 3-link mounts and get an off-set transmission mount since the 00-01 mounts are centered.

Entered a local Show & Shine at the Old Dominion Jeep Fest, won 2nd place.

Went back to Oak Ridge and had my first "major" breaks I would say. Ripped the exhaust off cat-back trying to clib over a downed tree. I was trail-guding and some asked "Do you think we can make it over, or should we turn back?" and of course I responded "lets find out". Well we found out, and I was a see-saw in the woods. Later in the day coming down coming down a step drop into "Z-ditch" my tire carrier caught the slope and pushed into my back window shattering it. Right after I did that, the person behind me cut to hard and flopped at the bottom. Overall, it was a good last trip of season, before some big changes.

Now that we are caught up to the past few months, hopefully tomorrow I can get to posting about my recents projects and what the off-season has in store for the jeep.

Stay Tunned!

 

[XJsportG]

For anyone who is interest in the free-spin/Reid Racing knuckle swap, this is the part list I gathered when I did mine. It's definitely alot cheaper if you can source some used parts, but some stuff you just may have to go new on.

---RockAuto---
PN 484200 7/16-inch banjo bolt (qty. 2)
PN LM501349 Outer hub bearing (qty. 2)
PN LM603049 Inner hub bearing (qty. 2)
PN 66297R Ford hub/rotor assembly with races and studs, assembled (qty. 2)
PN 618-040 Axle spindle nut retainer (qty. 2)

---Ebay---
PN 615-121 (14034413) Axle spindle nut outer (qty. 2)

---Morris 4x4---
PN 615-120 or 21588X Axle spindle nut inner (qty. 2)

---Parts Mike---
PN CB66075-R Heavy-duty Dana 44 backing plates (qty. 2)

---ECGS---
PN D30001JL Reid Racing Dana 30/Dana 44 conversion knuckle, left
PN D30001JR Reid Racing Dana 30/Dana 44 conversion knuckle, right

---Reid Racing---
PN D44101K Dana 44 spindle stud kit (qty. 2)

---4WheelParts---
PN G/299-2033-4 G2 '74-'76 Jeep/'73-'76 Chevy small-bearing spindle (qty. 2)
PN WARN 20990 WARN 20990 Premium Manual Hubs

---Randy's R&P---
PN YA D41677 Dana 44 And GM 8.5" Outer Stub Axle replacement (qty. 2)

---Advance Auto---
PN 4250 Ford inner grease seal (qty. 2)

---Amazon---
PN 5-760-X Spicer U-joint (qty. 2)
PN 36364 Axle stub shaft grease slingers (qty. 2)
PN 706527X Spicer spindle bearing and seal kit (qty. 2)
PN RC4071 Loaded caliper (plus core)
PN RC4072 Loaded caliper (plus core)




Looking back on it, I may or may not have done it again. After getting everything installed, it was still a 30 just with select-able hubs at this point. But I will say it is very nice to be able to do 70 mph down the interstate and not have the front end spinning. All of this lead me into my next bad decision of pulling this axle out and doing a 44 swap or maybe something bigger.

 

[twinhauler]

Great build.. that's a nice parts brake down for the no spin hub setup. I still have my hp30. So hard to put more money in that little guy. You have a tough decision if you want to run 37s, good luck

 

[XJsportG]

Great build.. that's a nice parts brake down for the no spin hub setup. I still have my hp30. So hard to put more money in that little guy. You have a tough decision if you want to run 37s, good luck

I felt your pain, and still do haha. I have a good idea on what i'm doing to run the 37s, the info will be coming soon.

-----------------------------------

So here is where my mind started turning. It was time to move on from the HP 30 and go to something bigger, as I wanted to lock the front and go up to 37s. I couldn’t justify making the HP 30 work and putting more money into it, than I already had. I thought about picking up a Rubicon 44 and that way all the Reid knuckle stuff would swap, but realized I wasn’t gaining a lot.


Pros:
- Slightly larger Ring & Pinion
- Factory locked
- Reid Knuckles swapped (keep lockouts)


Cons:
- Low-pinion design
- Same u-joint & ball-joints as HP 30
- Possibly weaker tubes/housing
- Couldn’t find one for under $2k


So I decided to look for a real 44. It’ll have the same u-joints as the HP 30, but figured everything else was an update. I knew I was looking for a High Pinion Dana 44 from an early 70s Ford with the welded wedges, or leaf perches; I didn't want to mess with the 78/79 cast wedges or a Waggy 44 as those are low pinion and some had the 6x5.5” bolt pattern and I was already running 5x5.5”.



I found someone locally, who was selling a HP Dana 44 from a 79 F150, but it head leaf perches and 5x5.5”. This was interesting as I didn’t know this existed. Turned out it was from a 1979 F-150 Super Cab. These were leaf sprung, not coil sprung, and had the 5x5.5” bolt pattern, even though the axle from the C’s inward are the same as the F-250 leaf sprung 44s from the same year. That being said, these have a wider WMS than regular F-150/Bronco 44’s from pre-77 and actually measure the almost same as the 78-79 Snowfighter Dana 60s. They are little short due to the different length in stubs/hub, but the inner axle lengths are almost identical. Tubes are 3” in diameter and 0.50” thick. The BOM for my Super Cab 44 is 610068-2.


Truck-----------F-150-----------F-250/350
Model--------Super Cab-----Snowfighter
Axle------------Dana 44----------Dana 60
Left Inner------18.62”------------18.70”
Right Inner----34.75”------------34.56”
Stub shaft------9.94”-------------11.40”
Tube-------------3”x0.5”---------3.125”x0.5”
WMS------------~66-67”-----------69.25”

Got it home, started to clean it up, take it apart, and figure out what I am going to do now. The Reid knuckles won’t swap, but everything from the hub & brakes would, including the stubs. I would just sell the Reid knuckles and the Chevy spindles from the 30/44 setup. Since this is much wider and almost full-width, the rear axle would need some decent spacers or I’d have to swap something else in. I decided I’d wait on this and figure out what I’m doing with the front first, maybe I’ll shorten it.

 

[XJsportG]

Here's a good chart breaking down all the Ford Dana 44 front axles: http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/images/Dana44axleshafts_Ford.gif

Thanks to my friends, I narrowed down what I was going to do to 4 options, in short they were:

1. Build the 44 as is, and swap some of my parts over
2. Shorten the 44 down to a narrow track Waggy 44
3. Build a Hybrid 44/60 (44 Center, 60 Outers)
4. Sell what I got and go 1-tons (lol)

Also, in the meantime I had picked up a Yukon Zip locker that was brand new for a steal from a Facebook group, so that'll be going in. Now let me go into the details I had of the 4 options.

1. Build the 44 as is

This would have be the cheapest and easiest option. Clean up the housing, new ball-joints, new seals, bearings all around, re-gear to match the rear, and throw in an air locker. I'd then swap over everything from the hubs, brakes and stub shafts since I had all that already. Possibly upgrade to chromo shafts just to be safe. Would most likely use a TnT Dana 44 truss as it make it a direct bolt in to the XJ, or go cheaper and buy all the mounts seperaly from Clayton or Artec.

2. Shorten the 44.

I got this idea while researching the 44 from D44Tech (http://d44tech.com/HP_Jeep_TJ.html). This guy a F250 verison of the same axle and narrowed it down to use Waggy 44 shafts and also customized a TnT Truss to work with it narrowed. I like this option more than 1 becuase it gave me a narrower track and I wouldn't have to do a whole lot or anything to the rear axle.

Given the two options above, I was pretty set on going with one of the two. But as a lot of keyboard warriors argued, the 44 still uses the same u-joint as the 30 and is the weak link; I saw this first hand when we were at Uwharrie this past summer. My buddies XJ with 4.88s, Zip locker, & 37s blew his whole driver knuckle apart climbing a ledge. This could easily be solved with some CTMs or Superjoints but that just moves the fuse to some other spot in the axle. I know the 44 could hand 37s with it being built right and wheeling it right, but still worried. Also, when comparing axle shafts between a 30, 44, & 60; the 30 shafts almost look beefer around the yokes.

And this is where option 3 came in.

3. 44/60 Hybrid

Now this was crazy, but I like crazy; and since the axle shafts are almost same length as the 60 shafts, it made this a bit simpler. I could cut the C's off, get aftermarkert Dana 60 C's, king pin knuckles, 60 inner/outer shafts, and a 35 spline locker to accept the bigger shafts. A few people that have done this had issues finding an inner axle seals that would fit in the tubes, but also accept the larger dia. shafts. I found answer to this after some decent googling:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/4285586-post26.html
http://forums.ihpartsamerica.com/showthread.php?t=8183

A lot of the smaller stuff could be bought used or from a YJ. Short part list I put together of the major components.

Inner seal: Napa #15292
Inner C: SA0460FGKP - Solid D60 Kingpin Inner Knuckles
Knuckles: D60001F - Reid Outer Knuckle
Left Inner: YA W48206
Right Inner: YA W48216
Stub Shaft: YA W46101
Spindle: Spicer 700022 (Ford)
Locker: ARB RD109


4. 1-tons

Of course this is always an option and obviously this would be the most work/most exspensive route. 60/60 or 60/14b, thought about a TruHi 9" but ruled that out pretty quick.


----End of Options----

So where did that leave me? I have no idea, but I ended up with a 79 Supercab Dana 44, 2x 79 Snowfighter Dana 60s (1 complete, 1 housing only), and a complete 14bolt(10.5" AAM) from a 04 2500HD pickup.

 

[Heavyopp]

Great thread -- just posting up so you know someone is reading

You know if you don't put the 1 tons in you'll always wish you did...

Thanks for being so thorough with the part numbers -- nice to have everything in 1 place

subscribed

 

[XJsportG]

Great thread -- just posting up so you know someone is reading

You know if you don't put the 1 tons in you'll always wish you did...

Thanks for being so thorough with the part numbers -- nice to have everything in 1 place

subscribed

Thanks! I plan to add more parts numbers in a bit of the different options I had in detail.

-------------------------------------

Which option did I decide to commit to? If you guessed anything other than option 4, you're wrong. Of course I ended up with 1-tons... Who would have thouhgt I'd end up here?

First up, I sold off the Supercab 44. Really wish I held on to it for another project; just thought it was a cool axle. Next I would pull some parts from the complete D60 to use with the empty housing as it's already cleaned up and brackets were cut off. The empty housing came with a set of ECGS chromo 35 spline inner & outer shafts, with a set of Yukon Superjoints.

I was pretty stoked on this as I picked that combo up for a steal, and figured I could get some money back from complete axle when I sell it after taking:

* Hubs & Rotors (came with new rotors)
* Spindles
* Knuckles
* Caliper Mounting Bracket
* Calipers & Pads (new)

Going this route to save some money, instead of trying to source some parts new. This doesn't go as planned as I was only able to get the hubs, rotors, and brake components. Cleaned & painted the hubs, brackets and shafts. ** BTW, Rustoleum Professional High Performance Enamel is awesome, glossy is super glossy and not normall my style but figured it would make cleaning a bit eaiser. May go with a semi-gloss if I can find out.

Getting the spindles & knuckles didn't go as planned. One hub was already off and the PO had wrapped the spindle with a plastic bag and then with duct tape... This wasn't air tight and moisture had gotten in between the bag and spindle, which cause some serious pitting and marking into the metal. I tried cleaning it up, but it was shot.

This left me with one bad spindle and a good spindle, since the other side still had the hub on with grease. I tried to get the knuckles off but the lower Kingpin bearing cap would not come out on either side. In fear of totally destorying them, I decided to look for alternatives. At this point I was already ordering a KP rebuilt kit, might as well order new caps. To retain more value in the axle, I decided to the leave the inner shafts instead of keeping them as spares.

And off the 60 went:

Ended up breaking even with axle after factoring what I sold it for and what it would have cost to buy the hubs, rotors, and all the brake components seperatly.

 

[XJsportG]

------Part 5-------

Now that I decided on sticking with 1-tons it was game time to get a list and start buying stuff, or I may change my mind again...

So I ordered a few things... and some smaller stuff not pictured.

What i'm working with:

--Front Axle--
1979 Snowfight Ford HP Dana 60 (Rev.) from a F-250

Parts:

PN D60001F Reid Racing Dana 60 Knuckles
PN 610023-6 Snowfighter Ford HP Dana 60
PN AX: D60-18.68 ECGS 35 Spl Chromo Inner (Short)
PN AX: D60-34.56 ECGS 35 Spl Chromo Inner (Long)
PN AX: D60-11.40-35 ECGS 35 Spl Chromo Stub
PN YP SJ-733X-732 Yukon Chrome Moly Superjoints
PN YG D60R-513R-T Yukon Thickcut 5.13 Reverse
PN YK D60-F Yukon Dana 60 Master Rebuild
PN YZLD60-3-35 Yukon Zip Air Locker 35 spl
PN FTD60F TnT Customs Front Dana 60 Truss 78-79 (with addons)
PN 415960 Timken Hub Oil Seal
PN 387A Timken Inner Wheel Bearing
PN LM104949 Timken Outer Wheel Bearing
PN 37759 Spicer Spindle Studs (ECGS: D60-SPINDLE-STUD-FORD)
PN 621027 Spicer Outer Spindle Nut (Kit ECGS: D60-SPINDLE-NUT)
PN 621028 Spicer Spindle Washer (Kit ECGS: D60-SPINDLE-NUT)
PN 660568 Spicer Inner Spindle Nut (Kit ECGS: D60-SPINDLE-NUT)
PN 37299 Spicer Lower Kingpin Bearing Cap (ECGS: D60-KP-CAP-LOW)
PN 700022 Dana Spicer Spindle (ECGS: D60-SPINDLE-F-E)
PN DS 706395-R Kingpin Rebuild (D60-KP-REBUILD)
PN AST-D60-TUBE Outer Axle Tub Seals
PN 716293-KIT 1350 U-Bolt Yoke
PN DS 37308 Axle Oil/Grease Slinger
PN YHC70001 Yukon Hardcore Locking Hubs
PN 48632-1 Spicer Bearing Cap Bolts
PN YHCC-D60 Yukon Hardcore Dana 60 Diff Cover

Other:
Hubs/Rotors/Brakes Stock 79 Dana 60

Things to figure out:
* High Steer Arms
* Upgrade Disc to 3/4 ton?
* Missing 2 wheel studs, stay with 1/2" or upgrade all to 9/16"?
* Brake lines


--Rear Axle--
2004 Full-Float AAM 10.5"(14bolt) from a 2500HD

Parts:
PN N/A GM 10.5" AAM (14 Bolt) w/ disc brakes
PN YG GM14T-513T Yukon Thickcut 5.13
PN YK GM14T-C Yukon Master Rebuild
PN YGLGM14T-30 Yukon Grizzly Locker
PN 716299-KIT 1350 U-Bolt Yoke

Other:
Shafts Stock 10.5" AAM Shafts
Hubs/Rotors/Brakes Stock 10.5" AAM Parts
Diff Cover Stock 10.5" AAM Cover

Things to figure out:
* Leaf Perches
* Truss?
* Diff Cover
* Shave/Shave Kit
* E-Brake Cables
* Chromo Shafts?
* Axle Seals at hubs
* Pinion Guard
* Shock Brackets

 

[Exxon Valdez Jeep]

If you do any kind of high steer, you'll want to raise the trac bar mount on the TnT truss. Nice stuff, keep it up!

 

[Heavyopp]

so what are you thinking with the dana 30 your taking out?

I could be interested if your going to sell it -- I'm in Jersey, driving down to get it wouldn't be unrealistic

 

[themauler]

Entertaining thread. I will be following down your path shortly. Starting to plan the axle parts gathering, build them, and throw them under and weld them in. I'll have to add steering assist and take care of brakes but I will be closely watching this.

I am looking for a pre super duty dana 60 axle with Ball joints to keep the maintenance simple. The rear axle is still a question mark!

 

[XJsportG]

If you do any kind of high steer, you'll want to raise the trac bar mount on the TnT truss. Nice stuff, keep it up!

That's plan. I figure I would do the OTK mount to start and go to a High-Steer mount if needed, which I probably will.

so what are you thinking with the dana 30 your taking out?

I could be interested if your going to sell it -- I'm in Jersey, driving down to get it wouldn't be unrealistic

Currently, I have a friend lined up to but the housing and gears. I am going to be keeping the Reids and outers for now.

Entertaining thread. I will be following down your path shortly. Starting to plan the axle parts gathering, build them, and throw them under and weld them in. I'll have to add steering assist and take care of brakes but I will be closely watching this.

I am looking for a pre super duty dana 60 axle with Ball joints to keep the maintenance simple. The rear axle is still a question mark!

Thanks, the BJ 60 would be a good axle, only downside I think there is limited options for aftermarket knuckles. I have a PSC steering box and hydro assist kit that'll go in once I get the axle in.

If I could do the rear axle again, I may have gone with a Dana 60 from a E350 with disc brakes. The spindles would fit the 35 spline shaft so you don't have bore them out.

 

[themauler]

Thanks, the BJ 60 would be a good axle, only downside I think there is limited options for aftermarket knuckles. I have a PSC steering box and hydro assist kit that'll go in once I get the axle in.



If I could do the rear axle again, I may have gone with a Dana 60 from a E350 with disc brakes. The spindles would fit the 35 spline shaft so you don't have bore them out.

4wheelsupply here in VA will machine and install a hi steer arm on your knuckle for under $200 I believe. They look beef. I am aware those knuckles aren’t the strongest but there are kits with a little bit of welding you can make them beef for cheap.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[XJsportG]

Not a bad deal when you can get the BJ 60s a bit cheaper.

Hindsight 20/20 I may have gone with a 05+ Superduty 60 if it was the right price.

 

[freerider15]

Looks like a good list, and good start!