cheap tricks for YJ?

[medicmahem]

Tom Woods is great

I got an atlas heavy duty SYE and tom woods driveshaft this past april. The people at Tom Woods are great and very helpful. Ahter putting the SYE and new driveshaft on I still had a vibration. I called them and they helped me figure out the right degree of shim to run to end the vibration. My experience with them was great.

[assyrianjeep]

yea tom woods is the way to go, but i mean if you want kinda jeep but worth it, i like the lift from rancho, 4.5" you can fit 35s with trimmage and it looks badass PLUS its still spring under and it crawls pretty badass


peace

Justin

[poultry411]

I remember a tec article on petersen's about soa vs sua but couldn't find it again. I think the long and short of it was an soa meant more leverage on the pack allowing axlewrap. Sua left the clearance to be less desirable, but axlewrap under controll. Am I wrong on this?? I've been looking at the option of doing a sua 4" kit w/ my 2" shackle (shackle lift is more like 1.5"). Any oppinions?

Rusty's off road is offering a military wrap kit 4" sua w/ kydex or kevlar pads and yada yada yahh.... anyone have thoughts on a military wrap or rusty for that matter?

[aston]

I remember a tec article on petersen's about soa vs sua but couldn't find it again. I think the long and short of it was an soa meant more leverage on the pack allowing axlewrap. Sua left the clearance to be less desirable, but axlewrap under controll. Am I wrong on this?? I've been looking at the option of doing a sua 4" kit w/ my 2" shackle (shackle lift is more like 1.5"). Any oppinions?

Rusty's off road is offering a military wrap kit 4" sua w/ kydex or kevlar pads and yada yada yahh.... anyone have thoughts on a military wrap or rusty for that matter?

You are essentially correct: SUA less clearance, SOA more axle wrap.

I went SOA and tried to resolve the axle wrap issue. It took a few tries but I think I got it figured out. I still owe you a pic of my ladder bar...

Both solutions can work well

OTOH if I was to do it again I would probably go 4 link - can't believe I said that

[poultry411]

As I was whacking my head on the floor board earlier today from below (tranny's detached and moved) while fidigeting with my clutch, a thought occurred to me... my 2" shackle gives me @ 1.5- 1.75" on my suspension. everything's running fine except for the lacking of gears. The 32" procomps look good in there, but with a sawzall lift... think I could trim enough to stuff a 33" in there for now while I follow the never ending trail of "Incrementalism". I figure I have nothing to loose, I've got a spare fender already, and a new aftermerket would cost nill for me... and a local yard sells tubs for $600. Anyone think I'm nuts?

Here's my preliminary "stage one" plan... what do you think?

4 trxus mt 33x12.5 R15 tires from interco @ $159ea
re gear the ford 8.8 to a 4.56 @ $200
ected or other selectable for 8.8 @ $300- $600
re gear D30 to 4.56 @ $150
sway bar disconects @ $70
Speedo cal for the cops @ $190

I'd like to include staun inner bead locks, but thats $800 more than I already don't have...

Thoughts, suggestions, feelings, knockdowns???

future stages would include a 4-4.5" sua lift or soa conversion, sye, cv driveshaft, same tires in a 35x12.5 R15...

[Old Fart]

Speedo calibration is as simple as changing a $10 gear

[poultry411]

Speedo calibration is as simple as changing a $10 gear

good fyi, the $190 is the electronic fancy dancy unit. I like the idea of saving $180!

[swbooking]

Good luck finding TrXus MTs, apperently theyre on back order till like May from Interco cause they just shut down theyre Mexico plant or something like that. I had to have mine shipped from Utah and the guy at 4 Wheel Parts could only find them in Georgia and Hawaii and they each only had one set and that was in early Dec. And the guy at Discount Tire couldnt get any. But i just got them put on today and theyre bad ass. good luck though
-Allen

[poultry411]

Good luck finding TrXus MTs, apperently theyre on back order till like May from Interco cause they just shut down theyre Mexico plant or something like that. I had to have mine shipped from Utah and the guy at 4 Wheel Parts could only find them in Georgia and Hawaii and they each only had one set and that was in early Dec. And the guy at Discount Tire couldnt get any. But i just got them put on today and theyre bad ass. good luck though
-Allen

Are they as quiet as they say they are? let me know how you like em'!

[swbooking]

Yeah theyre WAY quieter then my MT/Rs. I went on a trail the other day and so far i like them but i havent really tested them out on the rocks aired down. but ill let you know. They do look pretty sweet so thats a plus.

[poultry411]

swbooking- what size did u get and what rim do you run? Lemme know how well they hold the bead. They do look sick eh? Gotta hand it the the company w/ flame pattern side walls tho...

[waynehartwig]

I do 8.8 swaps all the time. My personal reccomendations are to change all of the bearings and seals while you have it out! They are cheap, and every single 8.8 I've done to date has had marginal bearings in it. Exploder owners do not believe in changing their diff fluid....

Also, get someone to weld the housing to the tubes. Do NOT weld completely around tubes, though! This WILL shrink the tube and weaken the area even more. I put a 2" weld on the front and rear of the housing and I do it in 8 passes, each side. ie weld 1" on the front left, then weld 1" on the rear right, then 1" on the left rear, etc. Keep bouncing back and forth, and welding parallel to the last. Do this on all 8 passes on the tube, not quite touching the pumpkin. Then let it all cool for a bit, and do it all again, this time on top of your last pass to the pumpkin. Doing this allows everything too cool and keep from warping. It also gives you a very fat bead for lots of strength, but with a LOT less heat.

Also, while you have the axle apart, you will be stripping it completely down to nothing and pressure washing the entire housing, right? Of course you were planning on it.. Anyway, look inside the pumpkin where the carrier goes. Then look in the areas where the carrier bearings are. On one side you will see one, maybe two drain holes. On the other side you will see none and if you are lucky, two. Make sure each side has an upper and lower drain. Just duplicate the one that is already there with a die grinder. This will allow sufficient lube/cooling to the axle bearings, and at the same time allow air move around inside the housing and breath. Not doing this can cause your wheel seals to leak, especially if you have an air actuated locker! If the drains are already there, make sure they have no cast flashing blocking them.

Do not use the 1" aluminum spacers. I don't care what you read or hear, they are dangerous and WILL break eventually. Plus, they are expensive. My suggestion is get you two sets of 7/16" spacers from Mr. Gasket. That will give you 7/8" on each side, and they will not break up on you. Also, do not use the stock axle studs if you use spacers, get you some 3" ones from ARP and cut them to length.

If you are very talented you can swap out the axle bearings with Ford 9" Torino ones, and ditch the C clips completely (it's still SF). That's a lot more work, and if you have to ask how, then don't attempt it. Just giving you ideas.

Also, if you want a wider stance, you can get an 8.8 out of a older Expedition (newer ones have the 10.25 instead) instead of Exploder, put the Torino ends on it, and have an axle the same width as your present axle.

My Ford 8.8's strength is vary comparible to a SF D60, and I woudl put it up against a SF D60 any day. I have several 8.8's out there running over 40" tires, and believe me, they aren't driving them to the mall! Oh, and obviously I sell everything you need to do your swap - right down to the e brake cables and new speedo gear! Anyway, if you have ANY questions, I will always answer them!

[poultry411]

wanehartewig- not from lack of ability, but from not have examining both parts yet, did you have to mill the race or something comprable to fit the 9" bearings, or is it more involved than that?

Thanks for the overwhelming wealth of knowledge here, it is greatly appreciated!

Also- will the disc package fit an older 8.8?

[waynehartwig]

wanehartewig- not from lack of ability, but from not have examining both parts yet, did you have to mill the race or something comprable to fit the 9" bearings, or is it more involved than that?

Thanks for the overwhelming wealth of knowledge here, it is greatly appreciated!

Also- will the disc package fit an older 8.8?

In short, you just cut off the old ends and weld on the new ones and then have new custom axles made, either in entirety or take some 9" ones and cut/respline them - it all depends on your width and if you use off the shelf stuff or not. Having access to a lathe for all of this is a definate plus! Two RH 74-75 Bronco axle (29.75 long) work great here, and will just about center the diff. FYI TJ axle is 60" wide, mount to mount....See where I'm going here with that info?

IMHO the weak area of the 8.8 is the housing and wheel bearings, more so the bearings than the housing. The housing issues are easy to fix, the wheel bearing issue is more involved. The easiest fix is to put some 1050, or better yet, 1541h axles in. You don't want 4140 or 4340, as they are too soft for the side load that the bearings will create and wear very quickly. The 1541h is very strong, nearly as strong as 4340, but it can handle side loads a lot better, where 4340 handles torsional loads better. Make sense? A pair of Yukon axles are perferct here, and the pair is only $210 (PM me for better pricing )

Explorer 8.8 drum and disc axles are different, so if you have one or the other, you can't switch. However, the housings are the same (I'm 99% sure anyway, I've never done this before or heard of someone that has), so simply swapping the disc brake kit ($379) and disc brake axles into your drum axle is all you need to do.

[swbooking]

I have 33X12.5s and run a 15X10 rim. So far they've held the bead without a problem. But i would have much rather had 15X8s but i got mine on a deal so its all good. They work fine and i havent lost a bead yet.