Harry's thread to organize all his Jeep thoughts

[Harry]

Well now that I've wheeled with you guys and have a bunch of other stuff I should be doing, I figure I will sit down and make a build thread.

Here is the thread I started back home
http://www.fingerlakes4x4.org/module...p?topic=2204.0

Ignore the parts where I whine about not having a garage and whatnot. I've come a long way since then. That's not to say I don't still have a long way to go, of course.

Cliff notes on that whole boring thread:




Specs:
About 4.5" lift or so
Midarm 3 link, driver's side upper
HD Offroad Mid stiffeners
33x12.50r15 grooved TSLs
3.55 gears (puke)
SYE using junkyard front shaft
OTK steering using weld in inserts and RHD drag link
Ballistic truss
LCA mounts flush with axle tubes
Teraflex trackbar shortened for OTA and bastardized with a 2" Ballistic Joint for double shear frame end
Aussie front
8.8 welded
3x5x3/16 tube rockers
Homemade bumpers

Rust
Dents
Rear bucket seats I forget about until people look back there

Not much has changed since the three link build I finished in the fall. It works great, I love it. Overall, I am very happy with the way it performs in 95% of all situations. But in my opinion, if it's not growing, it's dying. So for the short term (in between wheeling trips this summer/fall) I plan to:

Finish plating the unibody
Install the braided SS brake hoses I have for the front
Rear shocks through floor
Install larger tranny cooler

[Burton58]

White cherokee's are shit. This thing need a 60/14 bolt

[Harry]

To me, this hobby is more about building cool stuff and using it rather than emptying my bank account. I'd say it's pretty obvious I don't have a ton of money into it and I plan to continue that theme.

For that reason, I had convinced myself that a 44 front could work for me on 35-36" tires. I settled on using a Waggy 44. I didn't like the idea of a 44 rear or converting the front to the wrong 5 lug pattern only to then run adapters on an 8.8. So I did some research, and bought this:



Isuzu 12 bolt
Specs:
58" wms-wms
6x5.5 lug pattern, matches Waggy
8.66" ring gear (larger than 44)
1.32" shafts (larger than 44)
4.56 gears stock
Factory discs
Drop out 3rd (no c-clips)
Cheap at junk yards

I was super excited about this. My plan was to weld it up, regear the Waggy to 4.56, weld some brackets on and run 35's. I even bought a 44 Powertrax off Craigslist in anticipation.

I proceeded to wheel Rausch a few times and headed down to VA for Big Dog's Icebreaker. Up to this point, I was fairly confident in running 33's on stock axles. I purposely went no larger with tires thinking it was a good match strengthwise.

I got on the first hard trail, and this:



And this:



Also took out the seal, so I did this for a day.



Pounded it back together after I fished the broken piece out. Ran it for a day till I got a new bearing and seal.

The next day I managed to break the welds in my 8.8 making it open again. I bought it setup for XJ already welded, so not my welding. Proceeded to re-weld them and finally had an uneventful day on the trail.

Moral of that story, building and wrenching is fun. And I'm OK with the occasional campsite/trail fix, but after a day of wheeling I'd rather drink beer and help someone else fix their pile than fix my own pile. I realized (with some encouragement from the buggy builders I was down there with) that it was time for tons. Yes, the 44/12 bolt would be an upgrade, and probably not cost as much. But Cryder looks like he has too much fun beating on his Bronco with a front 60 knowing it would take an act of god to break it on 35s. Even if it hangs on everything.

[Ruepart Hoaxley]

Interested to see how the Isuzu holds up. I've read a lot about them but never actually seen them run firsthand.

[justtorchit]

White cherokee's are shit. This thing need a 60/14 bolt

ZIZ triplets..... fo lyfe

[Harry]

time for tons.

Interested to see how the Isuzu holds up. I've read a lot about them but never actually seen them run firsthand.

Wanna buy it? I'll cut you a deal on it and lunchbox for a 44! I was interested in seeing how it help up too. But I decided it was too much time and money to spend on an experiment when I'm breaking stock shit on 33s.

It's still in the planning phases, but my plan is to narrow a Ford 60 and run 36-37" tires. That's about it so far. I'd gladly take some input here. I don't really want to spend $1k on a 78-79 HP60 with little shafts and I don't really want to be FULL full width either. It looks like the 80s and 90s Ford 60s are much cheaper and also good candidates for narrowing the passenger side.

Is it worth it to hold out for an 80s kingpin 60 or would a run of the mill ball joint 60 work? I know the Pirate bandwagon says kingpins are the only way. Looking for some real world experience.

For the rear, I was considering either an E350 D60 depending on how wide they actually are. 32 spline shafts and factory discs. Weld it up and go.

Or a 14 bolt. Either C&C or standard with dually hubs to bring the width a little under the 65" or so I'm planning to have in the front. Shaved and welded.

[Zullock Holmes]

for the rear that semifloat 60 is the way to go. plenty of beef and you'll never blow it up with a 4.0L.

A 14b is a boat anchor, and with only 36-37's it will be more of a pain in the ass than it will be good.

Get a cheaper high pinion 60 (non desirable years) and just re-tube it. Custom length chromolly inners can be had for $200 per side. My front axle is a ford HP 60 centersection with Chevy outers. I paid $200 for the lp chevy 60 complete and $150 for a high pinion housing. If i kept all the stock internals and what not, i basically got a HP 60 front axle for $350. It's an option

[Harry]

I was planning to use an E-350 full floater rear. Stock 32 spline vs. the typical 30 spline. Looks like they are 67 3/8" wide so I would need to narrow it in order to run it. I've read that the diff is not centered, by about 3", so I could just cut the long side down 3" and make it the same length on both sides. That would put me at about perfect for a 65" wide front.

Anybody ever narrow a rear axle themselves?

[justtorchit]

A 14b is a boat anchor, and with only 36-37's it will be more of a pain in the ass than it will be good.

Your a boat anchor..... ZINGGGGG

no but really, if your going tons.... dont even think of running a 35. go strait to atleast 38. From real world experience. i had 36's and hit every fucking thing possible with my front center section and knuckles.

the rear end i still support 14 bolts. (have one sitting behind my garage that im sure is for sale if you want one.) shave the fucker, gear it, weld it, and forget about everything. as much of a boat anchor as it is, shave with a diff cover is a pretty cheap combo. i dont like the semi float 60's cuz i know it is possible to snap them with a 4.0 and you cant just pull the shaft in 2 minutes and keep wheeling.

the 78-79 is nice because it gives you plenty of room to work with, makes a nice easy swap. (they can be found for cheap if your patient. got mine for 200)
I would run any HP kingpin ford though. its not hard to upgrade to 35 spline outers down the road.

[Harry]

Def not going semi-float in the rear whatever I do. 99+ E350s are FF, disc braked, and 32 spline. 14b vs 60... gonna have to think about that one.

I don't want to be 69" wms width, so I don't really want a 78-79 anyway. I've seen builds where people narrow the newer ones on the pass side which pulls the pumpkin over so the coil bucket lands right in the perfect spot. Do I really need king pins? Am I really going to have problems with ball joints with 37s and 4k lb. Jeep?

[justtorchit]

You wont have a problem with ball joints. but you could more than likely pick up a kingpin one from teh 80's for the same price. then youll have the option to run hi-steer if you ever want to.

i helped Kappy build a 60 front like you want to, the C was a bitch to get off, but once that was done it was really easy to cut the passanger tube and weld the C back on. worked out really nice, and i think we just cut a little bit of the center chunk to get the perch to sit nicely.

The c&c 14 bolt would be a nice canidate for the rear so you wouldnt have to cut and narrow a 60. if your worried about disk brakes your looking at $150 for brackets and loaded calipers. ive never seen the E350 shafts but i know the 30 spline ones are less than impressive.

[Harry]

How hard are the C&C 14b to come by? I read that the only difference between C&C and regular SRW 14b were that the C&C used DRW hubs to become narrower. If that's the case, a shaved /disc'd 14b probably is the simpler solution.

[Harry]

Idk why I don't just come upstairs and find you to pick you brain about this haha

[Hydra]

[QUOTE=justtorchit;287191]Your a boat anchor..... /QUOTE]

His a boat anchor?

[Harry]

http://neow.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=105233

Fuck tons