cocco78

getting ready for winter...

stock xj/mj yoke on right, stock YJ yoke on left. The YJ yoke is also advertised as an extended length high angle upgrade for XJ/MJ applications. Here is the stock yoke, you can see how this just won't work. I had a bunch of pictures on my phone comparing the 2 yokes and how much better the YJ joke works but they vanished off my phone??? Kinda pissed me off, junk phone.

New rear driveshaft from Trattons for $200. But even after all my measuring its at least an inch to short for comfort. It didn't come with a slip yoke end, so I reused my stock one. But it turns out the xj/mj yoke is pretty square and binds against the driveshaft at about a 5 degee angle. From a little google work people are selling these extended length high angle slip yokes for XJ's that are 5/8" longer and are moure U shapped. Turns out they are stock YJ yokes and people are sellling them for $75 and up. I'll post up some pics of the new yoke I bought off ebay for next to nothing. But that extra 5/8" isn't enough, luckily I have the anti wrap spring perches that I can move the axle forward or back 3/4". So with that I should have enough spline action at the slip yoke Well :roll: I received my new high angle yoke today, works great but its less than 1/4" longer than the original. With everything together I had just under 1" of spline engagement at the t-case. So for the 1,753rd time I removed the rear axle... Luckily I used a set of those long anti wrap spring perches with the extra holes in them :D I just had to drill out the hole slightly larger to fit over the center pin on the springs and slid the axle back up and now 1" further forward... I now have just under 2" of spline engagement at the t-case. Everything is good to go. Next step is to bleed the brakes, torque down both pinion nuts, gear oil front and rear, finish installing new radiator, new hoses, relocate battery to the bed, make new cables, attach crossmember to "frame better, build rock sliders, exo cage, vortec 6.0L, 4L80, atlas... :o Whoop's, some of those might be on my wish list and not my to do list :mrgreen: More pics to follow...

37's 38's

OK, back on tract here! I was out of work for a while and wandered the country randomly for few months, got a new Job last fall, and have been busy working! I haven't touched my TJ or the MJ in a while now so its time to get back to work. Bolt and weld. I made it myself, but it is a copy of the Clayton xmember, why try to reinvent something that works? I have a TJ setup the same way, Currie JJ on one end of the lower arm and a stock Jeep bushing on the axle end. The short upper gets a JJ on the axle end and a heim where it attaches to the LCA. Yes, radius arms bind and limit flex, but I have 14" bilstiens on my TJ with this setup and use almost the whole shock. I do go through the stock Jeep bushings about once a season. I don't think I would ever do a 3 link on something that is driven on the road, but thats just me. Of course, your not seeing the finished product yet just slow progress of a build here...

Minor setback... The U-joints were welded in the axle shafts. I've heard of tacking a cap, but not laying a bead of weld around the damn cap. So these shafts are pretty much junk, I managed to save the short side inner but the stub is toast... On the lookout for 35 spline stubs and hubs or drive flanges now.

Not much progress right now, I'm doing some rust repair on the frame and getting the transmission crossmember bolted/welded on. Also re-gearing the front to 4.10's to match the rear with some used gears. I need to get this out of the garage and pushing snow soon!

Nitto terra grapplers are pretty nice and decently priced I run them on my tow rig and they do great in the snow and outdo my what my truck can do in the woods. They are also wearing great, shouldn't have any problem getting 50k out of them, got 35k on them now and they look pretty good yet. Pretty much all at tires will perform the same in the mud, clog up and turn into slicks. I've found I can get better prices with shipping from tirerack or discounttire than I can in town. And btw, 285 would be the width of the tire, the next number would be the aspect ratio or the ratio of the height of the sidewall to the width of the tread...

4 good options here. Option 1 would require you to get the vacuum harness to make it all functional, probably the most involved of the 4... Does your t-case have the vacuum switch on it? Option 2 - 4x4 Posi-Lok is a mechanical means to shift the cad, which is pretty neat. Option 3 - Drill and Pin Fork is just another of many methods to permenantly lock the fork over. Option 4 - Superior One-Piece Shaft Upgrade is by far the best choice. http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/ ... index.html

Hope it has a nice size garage for many MJ projects!

On a high pinion the pinion, that the driveshaft is connected to, enters the diff above the center line of the axle. A low pinion the driveshaft enters the diff below the center line of the axle. All Cherokees up to 99 and all MJ's used a high pinion D30.

Yeah the wheels in the first post are JK wheels and are a different bolt pattern...

This will not end well... I would seriously reconsider your plans and just find an XJ or MJ D30 to put under for now until you do more research. Did you know that a Wagoneer D44 is a low pinion axle while you can get a HP D30 from an XJ or MJ that is just as strong and bolts in with no mods and can pretty easily be found with the 4.10 gears you'll need for 33" tires? Same size U-joints as well? You do gain a little bit with the size of the axle tubes and larger ball joints and brakes tho. Your not going to find a Waggy D44 with 4.10's in it, they usually had very high gears like 2.73's, so factor in roughly $1000 to change the gears, and another couple hundred to rebuild the rest of it, wheel bearings, hubs, brakes, ect, and the cost of the truss, and labor to weld it on, ect.... Then you still need to get a rear axle that matches, buy adjustable control arms so you can dial it all in. I personally feel for 33" tires, the most cost effective thing would be a D30/8.8 combo. Both axles can commonly be found with 4.10's anywhere from free to maybe $250-$300 a piece. Slap on some new brake pads, maybe callipers, some new u-joints, roughly a 4.5" lift to clear the 33"s with minor trimming. BTW, a 4.5" lift up front and SOA in the rear with stock springs comes out pretty damn nice as far as height goes. And really the only fabrication you'll have to do is welding on new spring perches and shock mounts on the rear axle. Done! You could probably do all this in your driveway with basic tools, floor jack, and some jack stands for probably a grand. And if your looking for F250 axles, HP44/D60, you better be running at least a 36" tire or you'll have a huge @$$ D60 diff dragging around everywhere you go. And these axles just make it more expensive as well! You'll probably have to have drive shafts built, swap in a brake booster and master cylinder that will work with 3/4ton brakes, and on and on.. Its way more involved than just bolting in some new axles! Take a look at the last few pages of my build, feel free to ask questions. Axles are front and rear D60's from a Ford F350. I'm not saying this is the correct way to do it, and i'm not saying you need D60's, but i've done hours and hours of research on axles, suspensions, gear ratio's, ect... I'm doing 100% of the work myself, i'm building all the brackets, welding, painting, ect. I dropped $600 on a front D60, $250 on building the steering, $75 to build the track bar, roughly $400-$500 for everything I needed to build the control arms, and it goes on and on. I'm thinking with doing all the work myself when its all said and done i'll be pushing $3000 into this, and thats just a guess. And that is with already having tires, rims, and axle gears from another project... viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4375&start=120

Now we need cab corners!

It sounds like you need to do alot more research to even consider taking on something like this! Any particular reason you are swapping axles if you only plan on 33" tires??

Didn't really plan on it, the 60 is pretty stout, and I don't plan on rock racing or anything... I do have alot of gussets cut out that I will be adding that are not pictured.

Its back in the garage for final tear down, welding, and paint... Image Not Found I'm not proud of this, but I bought a bracket. I've been sick and lazy lately :| Part of my axle collection...

we'll see how it goes, I just might redo it with some 1/4" plate I have laying around...

Go for it, they handle small plows just great. I have done all kinds of plowing with my 88. Putting in in 4 low does not put more stress on the motor, it makes the motor and transmission not have to work as hard. I always plow in low range to help save the trans, that it what its there for, low traction situations that demand more torque... The owner probably blew the trans from rapidly shifting back and forth trying to get unstuck, yeah good way to Blow ANY trans. The 2.8 has a bad rep, they are underpowered and run forever, I had a s-10 blazer with the 2.8L V6 and had nearly 300k on it when I sold it, still going strong...

This is it, suspension is in and its sitting on its own... This is the ride height I was going for and it came out almost perfect, low and mean, 6'8" to the top of the cab. 4.5" coils up front and SOA on stock MJ leaves is all you need for 38" tires.... :cheers:

Rolled out of the garage, no steering, ratchet strap trac bar, no shocks, and no d-shafts... I love the stance tho...

Yep, its 3-4 inches forward. The only way you can keep the truck low and run big tires is to push the axle forward or cut a hell of alot of metal out of the way.. Its easier to trip away the stuff near the front of the fender, which I didn't do yet. With the axle in the stock location the tire would be into the floorpans just sitting there in the garage. I am only running 4.5" coils with the 38's.

Burnt some brackets out for my radius arms... Slow but sure...