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Post by auburnaviator on Jan 3, 2011 18:14:25 GMT -5
Slowly getting back into wheeling with my TJ. Had a built 75 CJ5 up in Washington on tons and 42's but unfortunatly I had to make a choice to tow it or my boat down here. Since the military would pay for the boat to be moved it won out. I wanted to get back into it so I picked up a 98 TJ for cheap. It had a 4.5 RE lift on it and some offbrand 33" AT's. Not going as big this time, I want to keep this one street legal. So far I've got an explorer 8.8 w/ 4.10's and a built hp D44 with an ARB, cromo's and 5.13's put up in my garage. Put new front bumper and Warn 9.5HSi on it along with a new clutch.
Finally got started on the axle part of it yesterday by welding the axle tubes to the center on the 8.8 (I've heard they have a bad tendency to spin the tubes).
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Post by dan99tj1 on Jan 3, 2011 22:21:09 GMT -5
Glad to see you started working on it, I'm guessing you found a place to use the welder, let me know if you need a hand and I will help if I can.
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Post by auburnaviator on Jan 3, 2011 22:31:12 GMT -5
Yeah Dan,
I just closed the garage door here at the house and went at it. Looked like a smoke machine had been going once I got done and finally opened the garage door. Probably not good for me but I'm not welding galvanized or anything toxic so it won't be the end of the world. I will definatly need a hand getting those D44's out of the back of the truck sometime and maybe getting the brackets lined up on the 8.8. We'll just have to wait and see. I want to get the back finished up before I start on the front. My garage is so cluttered I don't have enough room to work on more than one axle at time.
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Post by rccolacc on Jan 4, 2011 14:33:10 GMT -5
Are you regearing the 44? I learned some stuff regearing mine and would be glad to help if you need it.
-RC
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Post by rsmith on Jan 4, 2011 17:39:38 GMT -5
Are you fabbing your own brackets or did you find a kit? I am thinking about making my 98 TJ a bit more trail worthy. I have the wonderful Dana 35 in the rear and I refuse to spend money on it. I can't decide on looking for a dana 44 for a TJ or something different like yourself. Are your bolt patterns going to match from the front to rear? Is your lift a long arm suspension? I am sorry for all of the questions, but it seems as if we have similar goals in mind. Holler at me if I can help in any way.
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Post by auburnaviator on Jan 4, 2011 19:39:03 GMT -5
I am leaving the D44 geared to 5.13's and will change the 8.8 over to 5.13's at some point. As far as brackets I have Mad4wd brackets. For under 200 bucks it was the cheapest out there w/o reusing the old brackets which I heard was a no-no. The good thing about the explorer 8.8 is it's a 5x4.5 bolt pattern and is stock TJ width (within 1/2" or so) and are easy to find for cheap with lots of different gear ratio's. That was when I was planning on running a cherokee hp D30. But since I found that built front hp D44 for a steal the 8.8 isn't the best deal. I have a couple of options though which I haven't decided which route I'm going to take. I'll either cut down the d44 so I'm no longer full width and run some small spacers on the 8.8 to swap from 5x4.5 to 5x5.5 to match the front axle. Or I can try to find a super 88 kit which comes drilled for 5x5.5.
As far as current suspension, it's a RE 4.5 short arm kit (non-adjustable arms). That's not what I want so I'll be looking into making my own mid/long arm kit (atleast the link portion of it) or buying a pre made kit depending on price.
If I had a way to fab my own brackets I would but my garage isn't that advanced yet.
I'm for sure going to need some help with the regearing of the 8.8 if anyone has experience with differentials.
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Post by auburnaviator on Nov 5, 2011 11:08:26 GMT -5
Finally got the jeep finished. HP D44 in front, Explorer 8.8 in the rear. Both with ARB's and 5.13's. 4 link in the rear and 3 link up front. Stretched 5" in back and 2" up front. Rubicon 4/1 transfer case. 36" Bias Iroks on beadlocks. Now that it's finally finished, I just have to find time to wheel it.....
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Post by rccolacc on Nov 7, 2011 11:03:01 GMT -5
PICTURES!!!
How are the gears? They making any noise or anything, or did we do a sufficient job?
-RC
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Post by dan99tj1 on Nov 7, 2011 20:29:57 GMT -5
Pics or it didn't happen.
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Post by auburnaviator on Nov 18, 2011 21:24:47 GMT -5
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