Post by jps4jeep on Nov 9, 2005 18:42:45 GMT -3
The easiest way and probably the most cost effective way to get some Dana 44 axles under your YJ is to get them out of a old Wagoneer or J series Jeep truck from the late 70's.
Note: this is not the cheapest way to install these axles, but I wanted to have a very relable set up, so I have not cut any corners on my axles.
Also I would like to note, if you cut something off, Take something off, hold onto it just in case!
First and formost, Tools are key to this installation!
Note this is a quick list off the top of my head
Some of the tools you need are basic wrench and socket set, you will need some lager box wrenchs to loosen the Ball joint nuts, welder with safety equipment, Ball joint seperator, Safety goggles, Tie rod seperator, Ball joint press, arbor press, wd40, Penetrating spray and a grinder with an assortment of wheels.
Regular Grinding wheels are best for stripping the perches and brackets off the axle tubes. also you will need a cutoff wheel (if you use a cutoff wheel on a regular grinder, you will need a backing shim which is shown in the pic.) as well as a feathering wheel which looks like a bunch of sandpaper layered on the wheel. this is used to really smooth out cut surfaces and even to remove paint from the axles tubes to prep for paint.
You will also need a Magnetic Protractor
You will need this to measure the Pinion angle on your old axle (simply aiming the Pinion at the Tcase is not the best method of settin gthe pinion angle, you can risk starving the gears if the angle it too drastic) generally 6-8 degrees increase in pinion angle is best.
When disassemballing the front end you are going to need a Dana 44 spindle nut socket
This can be purchased at any automotive store for $10 but beware, there are two different sockets, one for Dana 44's found in GM's, AMC's, Internationals etc.. and then there is another that is a little different for use with Fords
Now lets move on to the front!
Here is what mine looked like after I cut it out of a 79 Jeep grand wagoneer. I looks real rough, but in turn, I pulled the Diff cover off and the insides look mint! so I disasemballed it ( Get a shop Manual for the year vehicle you took it out of to take it apart. It won't be easy cause lots of the parts are rusted in plac, but take your time and things will eventually come apart.
once you stirp it down, you will need to take a lot of measurements!
Take not of where the Spring perches are, the the center pin holes on the perchase, measurments from the diff, from the outer C's, measure, measure, measure! (old saying, measure twice, weld once! words to live by) the only thing you will not have to measure is the Trac bar mount, for it is not needed. Now it is time to get cutting!
Take off the Trac bar mount, and the passengerside perch (in the Pic it looks like the drivers side, but thats because the axle is upside down to make working on it easier, I also put the diff cover back on (even though there are no gears in there, I did not want any grinding dust to get into there and cause flash rust) I did not remove the shock mounts though. according to all those measurments I took, they should be in the exact location as the ones on the D30. ( I will eventually move them to the top of the axle and run an extended shock mount from tera flex)
After Taking an equally extensive amount of measurments off of my stock D30 axle, I concluded that each lerch had to be move inward 1/2 inch on each side.
note: D30 center pin (CP) to CP measures 30.5" in my case and the D 44 was 31.5" but measure your just incase there are discrepencies in years. To measure this, I used thin pieces of string with larger nuts tied to the end and used them as plum bob and measured below the differential to get the most acurate measurment
Here is the newly welded up Pass. side spring perch
notice that the axle tubes were hit with a grinder, to get a proper weld, you want to remove any and all rust and debris.
To find the location was simply, I used a torpedo level and made sure the Drivers side perch was perfectly level, then I used my measurements and set the pass. side perch where it belonged and made sure it too was perfectly level.
The Drivers side is a little different. the perch is part of the differential housing. so follow allong as I try to detail this best. First thing I needed to do was remove about 5/8 of the cast webbing material toward the center of the axle. (I removed a little more than 1/2 an inch cause I did not want the spring sides to contact the diff housing. Here are some pics to show what it should look like.
Because I needed to move the spring over 1/2 inch I needed to fill the old CP hole, so I used a sand blaster and shot it in there quickly and removed any rust and debris that was in there. here is what it looked like after welding it up
Then I ground it smooth. (as seen in the pics above)
Here is a shot of the front axle stripped clean, masked and ready for paint. After I ground all the rust, grease, old paint of with a number of different wheels, I cleaned the axle with Brake cleaner.
Primed
and painted
I chose to use rustoleum's cracked hammered finish, it is a real tough covering, and will hide any imperfections on the axle so it will look bling bling!
Now I would like to show some of the new part that I will be putting on this axle and what I did to some other old parts.
Instead of running the original steering, I am going with a true Hi-steer setup, this ment time to junk the original Knuckles, I am going to use a part from a 1975 Chevy 1/2 ton K10 here you can see the difference in teh drivers side knuckles. (this showns the chevy knuckles with the steering arm removed and only the studs showing.
The pass. side knuckle will require machining, when you get it back from teh machine shop, this is what is should look like
This knuckle will accept original chevy steering studs, Conicle washers and nuts (if this is the way you are going) this will allow for you to run Hi-steer arms
Here they are primed
and painted
(it is upside down)
For steering arms, I looked at a number of different machine shops as well as larger named companies, I took into consideration the ability to modify, steering linkage parts should something fail (would napa carry the part) and upgradability. I do plan on going spring over in the future when I finish bulding a bigger rear axle (9 inch) which will need longer studs and arm spacers.
I finially chose KOZ offroad, small shop, great price, and they will build my steering linkages with 5/4 ton tie rod ends (which are available at Napa) and use all DOM tubing so it will be bullet proof.
Here is a pic of the arms raw
and primed
Most people are at a lost when it comes to locker selection. I will be running detroits front and rear, so the Auto hubs that came stock are going to go!
For duability and drivability, I opted for Warn Premium manual locking hubs.
My Caliper Brackets were in good shape, but the Dust covers (which are spot welded to the caliper bracket) were completely junk, so I opted to not run dust sheils, so I ripped off what ddin't fall off, and used a grinder to smooth out the mounting area. (these will be getting snadblasted soon and repainted)
As for braking, I used the rotors, calipers, and ball joints (obviously not part of braking) for a 1975 Chevy K10 1/2 ton P/U these all have the same part #s as the jeep units, but the caliper is a bit of an upgrade According to my local brake shop, it is apparently a little better and bigger than the Jeep unit, but is a complete bolt up unit.
More to come!
Time to address the rear.
Here is the rear Dana 44, which is out of a 1977 J truck. and completely disassembled
Next I stripped the axle of all the Brackets, Shock mounts, and perches and cleaned the axle with an assortment of Brush wheels in a drill and feathering wheel in a grinder.
then I taped off the differential opening and the ends of the axle and layed down the paint. I used the rustolyum cracked hammered finish, unfortunatly I can't find a pic so I will post it later.
For brakes I was going to run the original drums, even got the new Drums and cleaned up the backing plates, but I have since decided to go with disc brakes!
Here is a shop of a modified Rodeo caliper mount
They are modified cause I am runnign the disc off a rear 02 chevy 1500 4wd pickup
and the Calipers will be rear Caddy calipers from a 84 eldorado (which has a park brake capability)
Spring perches, I got off ebay for real cheap, I am gonna weld them up and make them into blanks and re-drill them because I am moving the rear axle rear wards 1 inch.
Here are a pic of the gears, lockers, and install kits I chose for the axles. I considered ARB's but I decided that I don't need a selectable locker for a couple of reasons. First being that it is just one more thing to break while on the trail, I have heard horror stories about ARB's having air lines ripped out, or all together failing. Second is the price, I got the detroits for well under $500 each. Lastly, because I am converting the front axle to manual hubs, I won't have to worry about handling issues, cause the axles will be completely disconnected at the knuckles.
Note: this is not the cheapest way to install these axles, but I wanted to have a very relable set up, so I have not cut any corners on my axles.
Also I would like to note, if you cut something off, Take something off, hold onto it just in case!
First and formost, Tools are key to this installation!
Note this is a quick list off the top of my head
Some of the tools you need are basic wrench and socket set, you will need some lager box wrenchs to loosen the Ball joint nuts, welder with safety equipment, Ball joint seperator, Safety goggles, Tie rod seperator, Ball joint press, arbor press, wd40, Penetrating spray and a grinder with an assortment of wheels.
Regular Grinding wheels are best for stripping the perches and brackets off the axle tubes. also you will need a cutoff wheel (if you use a cutoff wheel on a regular grinder, you will need a backing shim which is shown in the pic.) as well as a feathering wheel which looks like a bunch of sandpaper layered on the wheel. this is used to really smooth out cut surfaces and even to remove paint from the axles tubes to prep for paint.
You will also need a Magnetic Protractor
You will need this to measure the Pinion angle on your old axle (simply aiming the Pinion at the Tcase is not the best method of settin gthe pinion angle, you can risk starving the gears if the angle it too drastic) generally 6-8 degrees increase in pinion angle is best.
When disassemballing the front end you are going to need a Dana 44 spindle nut socket
This can be purchased at any automotive store for $10 but beware, there are two different sockets, one for Dana 44's found in GM's, AMC's, Internationals etc.. and then there is another that is a little different for use with Fords
Now lets move on to the front!
Here is what mine looked like after I cut it out of a 79 Jeep grand wagoneer. I looks real rough, but in turn, I pulled the Diff cover off and the insides look mint! so I disasemballed it ( Get a shop Manual for the year vehicle you took it out of to take it apart. It won't be easy cause lots of the parts are rusted in plac, but take your time and things will eventually come apart.
once you stirp it down, you will need to take a lot of measurements!
Take not of where the Spring perches are, the the center pin holes on the perchase, measurments from the diff, from the outer C's, measure, measure, measure! (old saying, measure twice, weld once! words to live by) the only thing you will not have to measure is the Trac bar mount, for it is not needed. Now it is time to get cutting!
Take off the Trac bar mount, and the passengerside perch (in the Pic it looks like the drivers side, but thats because the axle is upside down to make working on it easier, I also put the diff cover back on (even though there are no gears in there, I did not want any grinding dust to get into there and cause flash rust) I did not remove the shock mounts though. according to all those measurments I took, they should be in the exact location as the ones on the D30. ( I will eventually move them to the top of the axle and run an extended shock mount from tera flex)
After Taking an equally extensive amount of measurments off of my stock D30 axle, I concluded that each lerch had to be move inward 1/2 inch on each side.
note: D30 center pin (CP) to CP measures 30.5" in my case and the D 44 was 31.5" but measure your just incase there are discrepencies in years. To measure this, I used thin pieces of string with larger nuts tied to the end and used them as plum bob and measured below the differential to get the most acurate measurment
Here is the newly welded up Pass. side spring perch
notice that the axle tubes were hit with a grinder, to get a proper weld, you want to remove any and all rust and debris.To find the location was simply, I used a torpedo level and made sure the Drivers side perch was perfectly level, then I used my measurements and set the pass. side perch where it belonged and made sure it too was perfectly level.
The Drivers side is a little different. the perch is part of the differential housing. so follow allong as I try to detail this best. First thing I needed to do was remove about 5/8 of the cast webbing material toward the center of the axle. (I removed a little more than 1/2 an inch cause I did not want the spring sides to contact the diff housing. Here are some pics to show what it should look like.
Because I needed to move the spring over 1/2 inch I needed to fill the old CP hole, so I used a sand blaster and shot it in there quickly and removed any rust and debris that was in there. here is what it looked like after welding it up
Then I ground it smooth. (as seen in the pics above)
Here is a shot of the front axle stripped clean, masked and ready for paint. After I ground all the rust, grease, old paint of with a number of different wheels, I cleaned the axle with Brake cleaner.
Primed
and painted
I chose to use rustoleum's cracked hammered finish, it is a real tough covering, and will hide any imperfections on the axle so it will look bling bling!
Now I would like to show some of the new part that I will be putting on this axle and what I did to some other old parts.
Instead of running the original steering, I am going with a true Hi-steer setup, this ment time to junk the original Knuckles, I am going to use a part from a 1975 Chevy 1/2 ton K10 here you can see the difference in teh drivers side knuckles. (this showns the chevy knuckles with the steering arm removed and only the studs showing.
The pass. side knuckle will require machining, when you get it back from teh machine shop, this is what is should look like
This knuckle will accept original chevy steering studs, Conicle washers and nuts (if this is the way you are going) this will allow for you to run Hi-steer arms
Here they are primed
and painted
(it is upside down)
For steering arms, I looked at a number of different machine shops as well as larger named companies, I took into consideration the ability to modify, steering linkage parts should something fail (would napa carry the part) and upgradability. I do plan on going spring over in the future when I finish bulding a bigger rear axle (9 inch) which will need longer studs and arm spacers.
I finially chose KOZ offroad, small shop, great price, and they will build my steering linkages with 5/4 ton tie rod ends (which are available at Napa) and use all DOM tubing so it will be bullet proof.
Here is a pic of the arms raw
and primed
Most people are at a lost when it comes to locker selection. I will be running detroits front and rear, so the Auto hubs that came stock are going to go!
For duability and drivability, I opted for Warn Premium manual locking hubs.
My Caliper Brackets were in good shape, but the Dust covers (which are spot welded to the caliper bracket) were completely junk, so I opted to not run dust sheils, so I ripped off what ddin't fall off, and used a grinder to smooth out the mounting area. (these will be getting snadblasted soon and repainted)
As for braking, I used the rotors, calipers, and ball joints (obviously not part of braking) for a 1975 Chevy K10 1/2 ton P/U these all have the same part #s as the jeep units, but the caliper is a bit of an upgrade According to my local brake shop, it is apparently a little better and bigger than the Jeep unit, but is a complete bolt up unit.
More to come!
Time to address the rear.
Here is the rear Dana 44, which is out of a 1977 J truck. and completely disassembled
Next I stripped the axle of all the Brackets, Shock mounts, and perches and cleaned the axle with an assortment of Brush wheels in a drill and feathering wheel in a grinder.
then I taped off the differential opening and the ends of the axle and layed down the paint. I used the rustolyum cracked hammered finish, unfortunatly I can't find a pic so I will post it later.
For brakes I was going to run the original drums, even got the new Drums and cleaned up the backing plates, but I have since decided to go with disc brakes!
Here is a shop of a modified Rodeo caliper mount
They are modified cause I am runnign the disc off a rear 02 chevy 1500 4wd pickup
and the Calipers will be rear Caddy calipers from a 84 eldorado (which has a park brake capability)
Spring perches, I got off ebay for real cheap, I am gonna weld them up and make them into blanks and re-drill them because I am moving the rear axle rear wards 1 inch.
Here are a pic of the gears, lockers, and install kits I chose for the axles. I considered ARB's but I decided that I don't need a selectable locker for a couple of reasons. First being that it is just one more thing to break while on the trail, I have heard horror stories about ARB's having air lines ripped out, or all together failing. Second is the price, I got the detroits for well under $500 each. Lastly, because I am converting the front axle to manual hubs, I won't have to worry about handling issues, cause the axles will be completely disconnected at the knuckles.
