DirtyComanche

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?

Yes, dedenbears. They're avaliable for more than just ford - they make chevy/jeep D44, IH D44, and chevy D60 kingpin ones (they fit ford/dodge kingpins too - I think). Several other companies make chevy/jeep D44 ones (part's mike, etc). Crane also might make D44 ones, they definatly make D60 kingpin... Anyways, I don't have a point here.

It's a 3.07~ (3.08, w/e) - unless it isn't stock. A 4.0 and a 5spd ALWAYS got 3.07s.

Take it from the donor. There's dimples in the floor where the holes for it are supposed to be drilled. And a cover where the lever goes. Same if you want to put in a centre console - the floor has the dimples to drill for the screws. Is it an easy swap? Theoretically. Would I bother? Perhaps. If I planned to wheel it I'd not swap any of the stock garbage in. If I planned for it to be a street/DD truck, sure. But I'd probably put a NP242 in then. And a 5-speed.

Yeah, your headliner is too far foreward. It needs to go back about an inch or so looking at the pic.

I'd have to go read Mr N's guide to D44s again, but I know MOST if not all ford D44 knuckles are missing some serious beef on the one side of the casting. Hence they like to crack. I've never seen a ford D44 do this, but I saw a ford D60 do it. And it ain't cool when your knuckle decides to be two peices - each with their own balljoint (well, kingpin). I had a set of F-150 stupid-cab ones and they were definatly the weak casting. I compared them to both the stock waggy and the part's mike knuckles. FWIW - I'd not use a ford knuckle. Oh, and yeah, a E-350 master is apparently a bolt in swap and should fix that. Yes, I haven't fixed my brakes yet - they work fine offroad.