Incommando

Rear = SOA with factory 2wd springs & shackles. Front =RE 5.5" springs with bent fixed lower & adjustable upper CA's. on 265/75/16's (32's)

The jump from 33's to 35's actually only increases your ground clearance by 1" not two. Then there is the conventional wisdom that a HP D30 witht he big u-joints but otherwise stock will handle 33's but will struggle with 35's. A HP D30 with either internal or external trussing & chromo axles can handle 35'soff-road. So I guess you need to decide if the extra tire is worth the expense of upgrading based on what you want (looks only) and what you will actually do with your truck (functionality.) A mall crawler could probably handle 35's just fine stock but keep your new gearing issues in mind as well.

The D44a is not a desired piece and has limited aftermarket support. I have read of guys replacing them with 8.25's....

The dual diaphragm upgrade is worth its weight in gold

Not a bad price at all considering that they are LED and serve all 4 (S/T/T & back up) rear functions

The bsfab link has some good info on this mod.

Shipped. Pretty fast, too.

There are many threads here and elsewhere detailing their business practices. Often you hear " yeah but when they screw ya they give ya free stuff." My experience: ordered 4.5" kit through an authorized dealer Hells Creek. The RC website and ads stated it included extended sway bar links. Mine were missing. Hells Creek tried to help and RC told them sorry about my luck but even though they are listed on the website and my PACKING SLIP that they are no longer included in the kit. I made my own. I contacted them directly several times. To this day those shysters have never changed the website description nor honored my order. I am hardly alone on this. For someone to claim both inside information and ignorance of any such experiences despite the numerous examples in this forum alone is surprising. To have to be "in the know" to ask for a certain guy to keep them from screwing you is on its own a reason to avoid them. On top of that as many will attest Rough Country lift kit quality is crap and their ride is no doubt how they got the name of the company.

Yep. EBay

I would not forgive getting taken like that. Why do you think you need a 44? A little work and the 30 will be up to the tires size you are interested in.

About $70/pair

I will let ya know. 937 in da house!

I was thinking that as well. If the pic shows the provided all thread at its shortest there may be also some adjustment available there. Between that and the multiple mounting holes on the range lever I think I can make this work. There was a write-up on another forum where they installed this on an XJ AW4/231 combo with no issues and this is an XJ specialty shop. And as you pointed out if there is a length issue all thread is cheap...

To heck with it. Ordered one. My current linkage is a hodge-podge of parts and for whatever reason it is a pain to use. I think some of the pieces I bought as XJ may have been TJ. I even installed a crown rebuild kit for it. I was going to follow these http://www.bsfab.net/?p=26 fab instructions but the little rod ends needed are $12 a piece and then there is the trip to the PnP to find the right S10 range lever and the welding/drilling/fab. Getting rod ends like the ones in this kit = $17 each or $34 just for those two pieces. $38 shipped for this kit seems like a bargain. I will post when I get it installed.

Great idea. This appears to be based off of a popular DIY fix from (IIRC) bsfab. The stock shifter linkage is a pain.

Some hints: the shifter linkage can be a major pain. In the rust belt the part that attaches to the tunnel can be a pain in the butt to deal with. There is a hole for the t case shifter already in the floor. Just unbolt the plate that covers it. The locations for the mounting holes for the aforementioned tunnel piece are dimpled and just need drilled out. If I had to donit over again I would dump the factory linkage for something like the BSFab (Google it) one. The top two bell housing bolts on an AW4 are an inverted torx and can also be a pain without the correct socket. It will be much easier to attach the tranny and t case breather tubes before you install those components if you are going to run extended breathers. Now is a good time for new driveshaft u joints. Your 2wd shaft will also be too long. They can be a pain to shorten and rebalance due to an internal rubber dampner. I bought a junkyard shaft that used the same 297 u joints and had it shortened. There is a chart on here somewhere for the correct length depending on your drive train combo. The tranny mount on the crossmember can be installed 180* out and it does make a difference. Trust me on this....lol.

My mistake. I read that you bought an XJ and missed the fact that they are Commanche axles. Yes they should bolt in. A rebuild kit = master install kit. "Thick" gears enable you to keep your stock rear carrier which in this case is a traclock LSD. You will need either 1. Thick gears and your factory LSD carrier or 2. Standard gears and a new carrier. For 95% of us an LSD is all that is needed so I personally would go with #1. If you do go with option two you can get an open carrier for about $100 or use it as an opportunity to upgrade to an aftermarket carrier like a TrueTrac or Detroit for $400 and up. You will need a new carrier for the front either way. You have the same carrier options for the front and at roughly the same prices as the rear. Cheap gear sets are more prone to making a whinning noise when moving. USA Standard is an example of this. More expensive sets like Yukon ( a more expensive line from the same supplier) do not. Your tolerance for such things should be your guide. My last cheapies were Motive Gear who also offers two levels of quality/price. I was probably lucky in that they were quiet.

3.54's are only adequate with 32's...but just barely. I am on my second Comanche with 3.54's and either 32x11.5x15's or 265/75/16's and 3.54's .They are livable both on road and off depending on your terrain. If you wheeled mostly rocks I would re-gear for sure. On the road you will not be the fastest thing out there but you can get up to speed to merge onto the highway and keep from getting killed. You can take a clapped-out ricer Civic from light to light as well. :brows: A re-gear is on my to-do list, though. Thick gears will save the cost of the rear carrier and may be the way to go to preserve your LSD assuming it is still working. For the front you will still need a new carrier to change ratio to match. I would go 4.10's for a street truck but 4.56's if you will do a good amount of off-roading. So as to do it yourself.... it requires specialized tools to do it yourself and experience helps. If you are in with a local 4x4 group you can usually find someone with both to do it for you for a few bucks. Around here the going rate is around $100/axle. Limited slip is good. It is not the same as a locker though. They have a bias determined by clutch strength and condition. When the bias is overcome they act just like an open diff. A good LSD can probably stay locked about 80% of the time that a locker does. The LSD is better in snow, wet pavement, and general street driving. So for re-gear parts: Rear = ring & pinion set, new carrier if you do not use the D44-specific "thick" gear set, rebuild kit, and lube. If you use the thick set and retain your LSD you need the additive as well. Front = ring & pinion set, new carrier, rebuild kit, and lube. Some people use gaskets on diff covers, some use RTV. Some rebuild kits come with a tube of RTV. Remember that you will also need at a minimum new spring perches, u-bolts, and welding skills to adapt the XJ axle to an MJ. This might make doing an SOA instead of a add-a-leaf or spring pack lift easier. You will get about 5.5-6" of lift out of it. There are some how-to threads including one in my sig and another on-road oriented one pinned in the ( IIRC) DIY section.

They have a very long history of poor customer service. Although this instance may not be entirely beyond reason I would not be surprised if it wasn't as much the manner in which you were treated as the message. You can order custom bumper mounts that reinforce both sides of the frame rails for about $80 and adapt them to that bumper. That saves you some $$$ and avoids giving cash to those shysters.

Bad advise? Think not. He's running a 12" tire, he did not say what wheel or wheel width they are mounted to. *A 12" tire should be mounted to a 10" wheel*, otherwise at full pressure you pull up the tread as the sidewall expands out. To correct this, you guys reduce tire pressure. This causes lateral movement of the wheel inside the tire, IOWs the wheel is allowed to travel left to right inside the tire. Also causes some real slop and sway in turns. What width wheel are you using? That 12/10 thing is way over simplified. It does not begin to consider sidewall aspect ratio for example. A quick check of tire sites lists a range of rim sizes for a given tire size not a " if the cross section is X then run only rim width Y " answer especially when looking at P-metric sizes. Even mentioning sidewall motion disproves that this "conventional wisdom" nugget applies equally to a 33-12.5-15 and a 315/45/20 despite their similar "widths."

I love the use of copious amounts of bedliner in attempt to cover up the no doubt amazing fab work and welds.

Many many people discard them entirely. it does effect your handling. Stay aware of it and it is not an issue. The manufacturer set the factory ride height for a reason. To alter it is unsafe? The manufacturer chose a tire size and tread type for a reason. To alter it is unsafe? Any modifications from factory must be inherently unsafe? Many vehicles were never equipped with anti-sway bars from the factory. To add them is unsafe?

My SOA with 2wd springs netted me 5" of lift measured the "correct" way. That is with well worn 2wd springs and Barnes spring perches. I used 5.5" RE springs for the front to get rid of some of the rake. Front RE 5.5" Springs $87 http://mudflaps.com/...-zj-4-pair.html

I would not be surprised if the answer was 1963-1991.... :rotf:

Still D-bagging: DandoMember Since 28 Jan 2014 OFFLINE Last Active Today, 07:49 AM