DirtyComanche

Behind a stock 4.0 and stock tires on the street they're on borrowed time... I've seen it happen. But, only with the c-clip axles. Which are hilarious when they break on the street (or the trail...) :roll: .

Pinion angle... It just has to be close. Buuuuuut the closer the better... And shock mounts... Put them somewhere smart and it'll work better.

5%~. Which isn't bad considering it isn't accurate to 5% anyways. Lots of stockers run those LT235s (they're listed as being the largest tire that can be put on stock by most tire shop books).

The funny thing is, I could do that... I have no interest in it, but other than the curved corners at the back of the bed there's nothing difficult about bending them up (the curves at the back are pretty much impossible without the right roller and a lot of time). Depending how tall the bed is (I don't remember - 40"?) I could do one side out of a single sheet. The main problem is that I'd use aluminum, and while it doesn't rust it does corrode. And it isn't very tough. And you'd have to rivet it on which will cause a massive dissimilar metal thing. My advice... Find an aircraft sheetmetal shop that isn't busy, and ask them to do it... My shop does all sorts of crap on the side because our specific business is seasonal (floats). It's cost you about $60 plus materials if we were to do it - based on my rough estimate of how much work it is... That would be, if you lay it out and ask them to bend it. Although, thinking about it, getting them to bend up satin coat would be even easier... I don't know about stainless - it might crack it the brake? Or need an air/hydro brake - which isn't something you'll find in many places other than a serious machine shop. Which will cost $. Lots.

Curtis at some comp... Image Not Found I got a really cheap set of tires off him after that because that pretty much totalled his whole rig. :roll: But now he's got 1-tons and an aluminum body... :Canadaflag:

I think he's knocking his chrome.

Aren't their chassis stiffeners just a peice of 3x4 angle with some holes in it that you weld to the outside of the uniframe? Or is that somebody else?

Hmm, I've never driven backwards in the fog fast enough to need one of those. Maybe if I had one...

You need an overview on traction aids... Not trying to sound like an a-hole saying that. A limited slip, aka; LSD, POSI, posi-trac, trac-lok, etc, allows for the tires to have different wheelspeeds within reason. Hence, you will normally not notice them on the street at all - other than when you hammer the throttle instead of a one tire fire you'll have two. They will not cause the tires to bind, chatter, scream, etc. A locker, aka; detroit locker, ARB air locker, OX, eaton, etc, when locked do not allow any difference in wheelspeed. They will cause hopping, binding, screaming tires, etc - but ONLY when locked. Otherwise they are eather limited slips or open differentials. The main difference between them is when they lock, with ARB/OX being slectable and detroits being automatic, etc... For your application I would recommend a Detroit Truetrac. It is a limited slip. However, it is torsion gear based (no clutch packs to fry) and works quite a bit better than a typical LSD. You won't notice them on the street at all - I had one in my front end for a while. But they do a very good job of providing traction. I think only track cars run full lockers ever. They just aren't realistically needed on the street. On the street suspension design is more relevent to traction than a traction aid.

YJ wrangler or TJ wrangler... YJ no, probably not. TJ yes.

Try to going to a place like Fastenal or another fastener distributor and look for whatever Grade 8 (SAE) or Class 10.9 bolt (metric) that fits. You'll have brand new fasteners and they shouldn't be anywhere near $14 a pop. Brent Not quite. They're a metric 'close tolerance' 12.9. DO NOT USE A 10.9! Although it might work in the short term it's not worth it in the long term. I want to say they're M8 x 1.25. But I really don't think so for sure. If I had one lying around I'd put a gauge on it and see. I bought them new when I did mine. Cursed it for all it was worth. But it got the job done. You could ask them for the thread/size of them - but I doubt they know without ordering them in... Oh, if you do use the factory ones - they put red loc-tite on them and it is REAL effective. I had to cut them off later...

Ya might as well. Make a build-up thread so we can see and comment on your progress as you go. It helps with idea sharing. I mean, I'm sure there's at least a couple guys on here that read BrettM's build on pirate4x4 and were inspired by it.

NP = NPG = New Process Gear = NV = NVG = New Venture Gear. They're the same company, but like the whole Dana/Spicer thing they decided to change their name so now they get to be called both. Although, one should refer to what the gearbox is tagged as.

Drive flanges are simple and bulletproof - which makes them useful to carry as trail spares. Anyways, a set of warn standards or premiums will slip right in place of the drive flanges. Or who-ever's hubs you want to use. You can nab them off a solid axle 1/2 ton chevy out of the junkyard if you're cheap. Or an older ford with a solid front axle.

4-links are a tossup for usage on a trail truck... Basically you have to build a double triangulated one if you want it to work at all correct - unless you only run mud :roll: . The major disadvantage to them is that you need 8 joints - which at $40-160 a peice adds up in a hurry. Also, they really take up a lot of space in the rear - say goodbye to the stock gas tank location. Wishbone 3-links are often a better choice. You only need 5 good joints (and 2 ugh ones) to build one correctly. And you can build an offset setup to retain the stock tank location, etc... It's something to consider if you really want to change the rear end. If you just want to throw a flatbed and a mild lift on it - most people just us AALs/shackles or SOA.

I'm keeping the 37x12.5x15 MT/Rs. Another set of tires is out of the budget for a while... Okay, maybe for the second time in my life I could buy a set of tires new. Or not. Oh, hummers aren't easy to find up here... Our military still hasn't surplused most of the stuff from the 50's - and we never owned any hummers (that I know of). Which I guess isn't a big deal as most of the places that recentre them have ones they can sell. Anyways... But, I want to build another set of axles anyways... Maybe I'll just hold off on ordering locks for a while again.

The AW4s with the right bellhousing are rare... But that 4.56 geared cherokee would have one, methinks!

Yeah, BFG tires don't like that. You will rip them left right and centre. A friend ripped 5 BFG M/Ts in two days! Thankfully they were all used tires. Other than the crawlers I guess. IIRC they actually put a sidewall on them that's tough enough to be useful. They'd actually probably do what you want - other than I think they're still only avaliable in a 35 and a 37.

Okay... BFG A/Ts are good, barring they're an A/T. If you hate mud and want a tire that's actually good off-road... Get some MT/Rs. They SUCK in mud, but are awesome at everything else. And are tough. They probably make some noise on the road... BFG tires are really weak.

It's lug centric... 6 bolt 15x8. Some aftermarket (american wheel or something). It still centres as the lugs are still tapered. I checked that. I wanted to use the set to make beadlocks, but I really don't want to use it. It's just annoying. I think I'll just save myself the bother and try to track down another. Or a different set. It's a shame few aftermarket wheels come with less than 3.5" BS.

I've got a set of rims that are mint, other than 1. The tapers for the lugs to seat on is kinda messed, and one or two of the holes are oblonged slightly. It was a victom of walking lug nuts. I dunno if I should try using it or not. I threw it on an axle and torqued down a set of lugs on it and it looked alright then. If it had a tire on it and I actually had a driveable vehicle with that bolt pattern, I'd take it for a spin and see if it comes loose or vibrates... I know I should probably just take it in for scrap steel. But it's kinda a bish to break up a set for it. Worth a shot? I'll get pics... Unless everyone just tells me to throw it out. And actually aren't being totally anal.

what, you don't like mounting/de-mounting tires on the side of the road when you're late for somewhere? :nuts: (its gettin late sorry guys. :chillin: ill go to bed now.) When I'm late I just drive on it. As long as you go fast enough the centrifugal force causes the tire to expand like there's air in it. Barring this speed is well above what the 4.0 can muster with a long downhill and a few JETO (jet assisted take-off) packs, I can happily drive until the tire comes apart. Actually, I hate dealing with flats or dismounting tires, etc. If it goes flat - I put air into it and drive on it. If it won't take air, I put the spare on. OR I drive it to where I need to be (if it's close... I drove 4k with 2 blown beads... Not enough air to seat them). It is tempting to ditch my full-size spare in favour of a tube (or 6) though - just because the thing is such a PITA to have around. Other than then you have to debead the tire, which isn't too hard if it is in bad enough shape to be putting a tube in it. But, I know if I do this I'll put a nice 1.5' sidewall gash in a tire and render the tube fix useless. Anyways, I still think it's hack to run different rims. Unless you're talking a street vehicle. Or a vehicle that is, without a doubt, totally hack and proud of it.

could run different rims front to back :brows: :D Yeah, and two spares... Actually, if you just carry tubes it would work alright. It's still hack.

Stock rears are like, umm, 60". What's it out of to be 63"? F-150? Typically a hair narrower is a LOT easier to deal with than too wide. You can throw spacers on a narrow rear, or leave it narrow to decrease turning radius. Too wide means running spacers on the front (your unitized hubs will HATE you) or swapping in a new front axle; a PITA.

:cheers: too much?