DirtyComanche

I need a vendor too if nothing else. PORC only had expensie stuff... I'm leaning towards cheap. My $30 rusty's shocks dampened really well. When you've got front leafs ride is really quite irrelevent anyways.

Well, the catch is they need to be 12" travel minimum. 14-16" would be great.

Bad.

Sure? I thought they converted later? Maybe not? Anyways, one way or another I think this is a bad idea.

Need ideas. I had a little clearance problem with my rusty's and the front leaf springs. I noticed things were riding a little funny, then I went and looked and realized they were getting kinda '>' shaped. Stiff as hell works for me. I'm probably going to get creative with the upper mounts.

If I wasn't lazy I'd throw the 37s on mine to show you...

I'd look in Eagle's yard/driveway. Bound to find one or two there :brows:

Mmm... 9/16th Gr8 SAE will be close I think. Providing those bolts are 10.9s - not 12.9s. If they're 12.9s, go to junkyard and get 'new' ones. But, that's going by memory.

What warn bumper/winch? They don't weight THAT much. I've been through this before but... If you have 150lb/in coils, you'd need to put 300lbs on the front end to compress the coils 1"! A lot of the aftermarket ones are of an even higher rate than that (upwards of 180). My front bumper on the XJ only weighs about 35lbs. It's not 'light-duty' either, as it's all .250 or .500. My 8k winch (100' of cable) weighs maybe 60lbs. You shouldn't need to add a 1.5" spacer to the front! Measure from hub to fender flares to see where you're at. Smart people on this site know what stock measures.

It's not the rust that bothers me, it's the major PITA that it brings. I changed the oil on the XJ, and that ment bringing it into the garage. Since it is 18*C in there the snow melted off of it... Lying under it with dirty water dripping on you. Very fun. (Which also brings me to the tangent of jeep's vertically mounted oil filters. WTF is up with that?) I should have just left it outside and done it.

Actually, depending on how bad it is, they can... But, it is NOT FUN!

He's only 61" - If that front axle is the same as mine (it should be).

I always weld with the battery hooked up. The only time it will cause a problem is if there is already a problem (short), or you put the ground in a bad spot.

Is the cage in the front portion going to be endo or exo? I'm looking around for people with exos that are narrow. I'm the same width as you, and I've found the exo'd XJ guys get caught up on everything. I figured mine isn't going to be doing the best job of saving the sheetmetal. But that's okay. As far as your axle strength goes... I think the 8.8 will do alright; depending on what your final weight comes in at. That tube bed doesn't look the lighest (did you say what wall size it is?). I know of many 8.8s in relatively light jeeps running 37s and 38s that are successful. I think if you're going to be really worried about the 8.8 you should start worrying about the D44.

You take it to one of those autoparts stores and ask them to test it... But, I just go by looking at the gauges with it running. Tunr the key to on and you should have about 12V, start it and it should go up to 14-18V.

A 40 of crown. I can fix anyyyyyyyyyythiun'.

I got a bunch of hole saws... Well, the good ones are like $10 each, so considering I got about 15 of them I can't complain. But, to celebrate I went out and bought a hydraulic ram, and had some hoses made. Hydro-assist is now in the works...

Well, ARBs don't like being subjected to extreme cold. Otherwise I think they're fine.

I think they sell bigelows... They're for tractors - 42* of joint operation or something. Problem - $1600 for a rear driveshaft. I'm sure he'll deal with it though! He's got sponsers; the lucky bastard.

Jeep cheaped out and went back to a LP front axle for unknown reasons. Yeah, TJs have driveline angle problems. But, the front is actually better than the rear normally... My buddy's YJ now has a front driveshaft length of 48", and a rear length of 18". I think he's going to have to run a bigelow shaft in the rear.

I know it sounds weird, but, they're actually wrong. Yes, in foreward motion a HP gearset in a front axle is stronger - as the gears are meshing on the drive side. BUT - how do you break a front axle in foreward motion? Well, you can, I'm not saying it is impossible, but about 75% of the vehicles weight will be being pushed by the rear axle. Hence, if your axles are of reasonably matched strengths the rear will give long before the front. Also, typically you climb over obstaces while on the throttle in a foreward motion. Now even more weight has transfered to the rear gearset - the front is pulling somewhat but it is seeing far less force than the rear. When is the load on the front axle the greatest? Well, do you compression brake down hills for all your worth? (I do, brakes are iffy) Now the HP front axle is driving on the coast side of the gears - the weak side. And the majority of your vehicles weight has transfered to the front axle as you are probably going downhill in a forewards direction. Now, as another scenario I get into sometimes, what if you have to back up while going uphill, or while bound up? Now that front R&P is on the coast side, and again the majority of the vehicles weight is on it. If you're bound up it can be even worse... Then you get in a situation called 'Pop goes the thirdy'. Oh, and FWIW, the difference in strength between the coast and drive sides of the gears is about 5%. Not much. Enough to matter? Sometimes. If you're a monster mudder or something, no, never. But, for the most part it is moot. However, I NEVER want to hear somebody say the HPD30 R&P is as strong as the LPD44 in a front application. Remember, the D30 R&P is the same size as a D35... And that ain't good thing! (But, do not in any way mistake this for endorsing the rubi-CON D44. Also bear in mind I read very little of the thread, I just saw something that irked me) :cheers:

so a d30 high pinion is just as strong as a d44 low pinion? i know a high pinion would be better, but i didn't think that would be stronger. now if i added an axle truss of somekind would that give a d30 or d44 a lot more strength and make it worth it? Uh, a LPD44 is WAY WAY WAY stronger than a HPD30. Even in a front application. A HP axle being stronger in the front is a myth, based on a poor understanding of physics.

Well, I've got another PS box to go in (tapped for hydro-assist) so I was going to have to pull the lines off anyways. With a little luck I just ruptured a line and the pump will still be operable. Keeping my fingers crossed on that. Whatever went it was major - I lost all of the fluid in about 3 seconds. It was the pump that was producing the white smoke - it was underhood. I figured 'oh $#!&, I already used up my fire exstiquisher' when I saw it. Either way it's a PITA because now my entire engine bay has PS fluid in it.

So, I went outside to put new studs in my front axle. To replace the ones that broke. And yes, the parts stores had to order them in for me. Of course, I'm sick, and it's BFing cold out. Luckily we left a block under the axle so I didn't have to piss around with the floor jack anymore than necessary. But, then I realized that with a spool I can't just turn the hub/rotor to get access to the studs that are behind the caliper. Unless I lift the other tire up. Which, when you're parked on sloped ice didnt seem like a lot of fun. So, I got three of six studs in, put the tire back on and let her back down. Fired up after a little cranking... White smoke. Just a little, but a bad sign. Pop the hood; power steering fluid all over the f'ing place. I figured I had better just get it in the garage at that point. Easier said than done with a spooled front and no PS. Took me maybe 10 minutes to get it in. And that was with driving it in the wrong direction to save turns. Pop the hood again and start looking for what blew in the PS. Then I notice a PCV line is undone from the intake... The bung is missing. It's not in the intake - it's gone through the engine. Luckily it was just rubber... Figured I had better quit at this point. So I left it. But, I got my new 37s and chromos. Maybe I should go mount 'em up seeing as how I probably won't destroy anything doing that.

Nice truss. Wish I had put more time into mine.