DirtyComanche Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Wheel spacers... Yeah, even with AR-767s I'm not wide enough. That's my final decision as of today. So, you think I'll kill my D30 between 35x12.5s, AR-767s (4" BS) and 1.25 or 1.5" spacers? I'm not worried about the 8.8. And I already know, get the good ones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 The wheel bearings and balljoints in the Dana 30 won't like it too much, but that little of backspacing has been done before. Specifically where do you foresee the tire clearance problems? Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 I'm going to rub in the rear actually, as the 8.8 narrower. But I don't want to have my front narrower than the rear. And I'd like a little more width in general with this height. My bearings are going to hate me anyways, no suprise there. Hmm, I think I'm leaning towards trussing the D30, which I've wanted to do a long time anyways, and just doing it and hoping nothing breaks. If it does, I wasted my money on the spacers. 'Nother question, why are they normally aluminum anyways? Weight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Ease of machining probably. If I had a Dana 30 in my '88, I would have trussed it, even for my smaller tires. Strengthening the Dana 30 is NEVER a bad idea. Have you considered 33s? Does your 30 at least have the bigger U-joints? Normally an inch of width difference hardly justifies the cost of spacers, but the rear body of a Comanche is already wider than the front so it may look worse. Have you put everything together and checked it out? My rear axle is one inch norrower than the front and with the body difference, the front tires needed about 2" more coverage with the flare extensions to match the rear. Personally, I think it looks fine the way it turned out, but I dare not have all that rubber running exposed on the street. The easiest way to get out of a ticket is to not get pulled over in the first place. :D So I added the door flashing to the front and called it a day. Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 Laws here aren't really an issue. Shafts with the new 297X U-Joints are lying around here somewhere. I've not regeared the front yet, they'll go in then. And I'll 'fix' that stupid vac disco then. Hmm, maybe just throw spacers on the rear actually... The D30 is about 2"-3" wider than the D35, and the 8.8 is 2" narrower than the 35. Those are all round numbers based on guessing. :wink: And I don't care about looks, I care that it's going to rub the frame really bad. All the width I wanted was for stability and avoiding the rubbing. And no, I'm too headstrong to run 33s. I got a deal on the 35s, and to pick up new 33s would be aboooout $1153.24 if Kal tire is true to their word. Yes, I could sell the 35s and try to find used 33s. I'm confident I could sell them, but not that I could find 33s. I talked to some locals and looked at their junk. They say I'll get away with 35s and a D30, and I trust them because they do. They run the trails I plan to, so I think I'll be okay. None of them are trussed. However I forgot to ask their opinon on running spacers, so thus this whole thread. And as I've said before, if this whole mess breaks, I'll just go fullwidths. It's what I should have done in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 I am running the 8.8, and I had to use wheel spacers in the rear. I went with spidertrax, cause at the time they were the only game in town. Ihear trail sport makes some nice one for almost 50 bucks less. Make sure you use loc tite on all the bolts, and torque everything to what the instructions recommend. AS for the d30. I am currently wheeling 33x12.5 bfg MT's the old style ones. Up to this last rebuild I could not go on a trail ride w/o busting u-joints. or axle shafts. I ended up buying chromo shafts with 760 joints :roll: Yeah I spent some coin on the d30, and I probrably could have built a d44 or maybe a lowbuck d60 for the front the coin I spent on it. I don't know what your utlimate plans are, but if you wheel your rig hard.. I suggest getting the hub conversion from warn or Mile marker. I would have been money ahead if I don't that. I am on my 3rd set of bearings this yr. But I also wheel my rig frequently. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bounty Hunter Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 You should be fine, it adds the same amount of stress as using wheels with 1.5" less backspacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Hmm, maybe just throw spacers on the rear actually... The D30 is about 2"-3" wider than the D35, and the 8.8 is 2" narrower than the 35. Those are all round numbers based on guessing. :wink: Close, except that from my research the 30 and 35 are the same width and the 8.8 is one inch narrower (.5 per side). Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Actually the 8.8 is almost an 1.5" narrower. On the front wheel bearings, Jeep for what ever reason designed these around 5" of BS. So anything less then this puts an extra load on the bearings. This is why they don't last as long as the older style ones where the load is spread out over a larger area. Add heavier and bigger tires, and they just don't stand the extra stress and sheer load. I have spent over 600 bucks this yr on wheel bearings. The local auto parts store don't honor their warranty cause of "how" I use my rig :evil: So needless to say I found a more off road friendly store to do buisness with. Now I have yet to break anything this one has sold me. Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 I swear this thing tracked wider in the front than the rear when it was stock. I guess that's what you get for measuring with the good ol' eyeball. What the heck, I'll try to find some good spacers for the rear, and we'll just see what happens. I'm not huge on the rocks here for the most part, between being wet, slippery, and sharp I'm not enough of a driver for them yet. If I get into them, that'll be the end of the whole D30 thing. Everything else should be mild enough. And yeah, Patrick's right on the width for the 8.8, I just fudged the numbers on it because it was late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 If you have anymore questions concerning the swap, and what problems I ran into.. just holler. In my area very few ppl lift their MJ... I was the only one at the VA4WDA annual run, and there was 250 vehicles there :shock: I guess that means I am special or just down right crazy for bashing my rig :twisted: Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 8.8 is working out nice, I've almost bothered to fix my brakes and shock mounts. The width was the only problem really. Now if only I could find a 1" hole saw that was deeper than 2"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 What are you cutting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 The unibody... Rusty's LAs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 So you need to go completely through, yes? My hole saws have a hex end to them but I don't own a big enough chuck to accomodate them. My solution was to use a socket and driver bit. It allows me to use my current drill, but also to add ratchet extensions as needed. I cut all my holes for the rocker guards that way. Six 2-1/8" holes completely through the frame and I didn't have to cut from underneath the truck at all. :D That would have been a TON of work moving the exhaust, gas tank, etc. Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Yeah, that's what I'm doing for two of the holes... The others, unfortunatly, have a peice of sheetmetal intersecting them. I have to drill through the long side of the sheet, which means you go 2" then the bit bottoms out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 I assume you're talking about the front section of the frame. I got to put my rocker bars anywhere I wanted so I could avoid the complication. What doe Rusty advise? I know they've done it before so they must have some sort of solution, right? :roll: Jeep on! --Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 They advise using a deeper holesaw... I think only comanches have that peice of sheet there? Not sure. I've bent it over inside the frame and I'll try cutting it off somehow... Hacksaw at worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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