So this is where I'm at now. Basic chassis is there, motor/transmission/tcase are where I want them. Link mounts on the chassis and axles are set. Last week I made up some temporary 4-links and mock coilovers. Then cycled the suspension to verify that my plans would work and where my mounts need to be. Feel pretty good about moving forward with 16" coilovers and have a good idea how the mounts are going to work.

Tie rod is made of wood....real strong :sonicjay:

Just a temporary driveshaft thrown in there to check clearances

 

One of the next big decisions/projects I need to tackle is what knuckle setup I'm going to run on my front 60. My original plan was to run everything from a Dodge BJ 60 from the outer knuckles out. I was going this route because early in the build I was able to purchase a Dodge axle for cheap. I'm no longer sure I want to go this route because I'm not sure the outer shafts can be upgraded if I start breaking parts and the lack of locking hubs. My second option is to cannibalize a D50 that I have, use everything from the inner knuckles out. Not sure if the outer axle shafts on a D50 are upgradable and not sure if there is u-joint compatibility between a Ford 92-99 inner shaft and a D50 outer shaft.

Other things I'm working on. Now that I have an idea of where the coilovers are going I can start adding tubing to the front and rear of the chassis to mount those as well as other necessary tubes. I also purchased one of the Corbeau seats so I can start mounts for those as well as other areas of the interior.

 

One of the next big decisions/projects I need to tackle is what knuckle setup I'm going to run on my front 60. My original plan was to run everything from a Dodge BJ 60 from the outer knuckles out. I was going this route because early in the build I was able to purchase a Dodge axle for cheap. I'm no longer sure I want to go this route because I'm not sure the outer shafts can be upgraded if I start breaking parts and the lack of locking hubs. My second option is to cannibalize a D50 that I have, use everything from the inner knuckles out. Not sure if the outer axle shafts on a D50 are upgradable and not sure if there is u-joint compatibility between a Ford 92-99 inner shaft and a D50 outer shaft.

Other things I'm working on. Now that I have an idea of where the coilovers are going I can start adding tubing to the front and rear of the chassis to mount those as well as other necessary tubes. I also purchased one of the Corbeau seats so I can start mounts for those as well as other areas of the interior.

Well I added another variable into the front axle equation yesterday. Picked up a complete 2005+ D60....it was a deal and I like to hoard axles So I'm 99% sure I'm not going to go the Dodge outer knuckle route any more. Dodge outer knuckle seems pretty weak and they wouldn't leave me many options for upgrades in the future if I start breaking things. So as of today I'm 50/50 on whether to run the D50 outers or start from scratch and run the 2005+ D60. Either way I can run 35spline outers in the future. 2005+ inner knuckle seems beefier than the older 60s, outer knuckle seems comparable to the D50. Both unit bearings would need to be redrilled to 8on6.5, D50 wheel bearing would also need to be bored out for 35spline. Pretty sure the pumpkin location on the 2005+ works with my driveline and chassis. Both would give me a WMS a few inches wider than the 14bolt. Dont need to make a decision right away, just need to make sure that decision making process doesn't slow me down.

 

Nice :woot: Just keep plugging away there will be a day when Dad can take the little ones for a ride :thumb:



RBB:beerbang:

 

Nice :woot: Just keep plugging away there will be a day when Dad can take the little ones for a ride :thumb:

RBB:beerbang:

Thanks! :d: Plugging away is all I can do. Wish I could speed it up but it is what it is. The pay off in the end will make it all worth it.

So your midlife crisis makes my midlife crisis wet its pants.

:sonicjay: But you have gotten to build a lot of cool things over the years too :rock:

 

So your midlife crisis makes my midlife crisis wet its pants.

 

Nice. Keep going.

FWIW, if you decide to regear, I have a D60 4.88 gearset that I just took out. Gears are decent and I would sell cheap. However, most likely you will go lower than that if you change gears.

 

Thanks for the support! :d: When I go to regear I'll keep that in mind :thumb:

 

With a 4:1 case, weld those diffs and wheel it on 4:10's for a while. Gears are still deeper than a 2.62 x 5.38 that I had in the Jeep with the 4.0 and it was honestly fine. Boom, just saved you tons of time and money. Done yet? Also, everybody and their grandma runs 14" 2.0 coilovers making springs and stuff cheap AF. If you go up to 16's, you limit your used parts availability. Thought I'd mention it knowing the budget is month to month. Use that 2" for uptravel and setup close to 50% on the shock instead.

 

With a 4:1 case, weld those diffs and wheel it on 4:10's for a while. Gears are still deeper than a 2.62 x 5.38 that I had in the Jeep with the 4.0 and it was honestly fine. Boom, just saved you tons of time and money. Done yet? Also, everybody and their grandma runs 14" 2.0 coilovers making springs and stuff cheap AF. If you go up to 16's, you limit your used parts availability. Thought I'd mention it knowing the budget is month to month.

Welding the diffs is definitely an option. Wheeling with the 4.10s is the plan for now. Its not ideal but its what I got so might as well see how it goes. And sticking with 4.10s gets me out on the trail sooner than later :sonicjay:

I looked at running 14" coilovers and I've got the room for more travel so I figured I'd rather get 16's and not regret getting 14's. Plan on getting the shocks thru Accutune and hope that they can get the coil rates right.

 

Looks great!!

Why are you thinking of swapping away from the Ford BJ60 knuckles and outers? That seems like the best option and strongest aftermarket support of any you listed. And I assume you already have the parts. If you do use Dodge parts, are you talking the mid to late 90s unit bearing style? Those shafts are upgradeable, @TOPTRUK has done it on his build.

Hit me up once you're ready for tires. I may be able to give you a deal on the 40" Toyos currently on my Jeep. I've got another set with more tread sitting in my shed, so I'll swap them sooner or later. Currently around 40% or so left on them, I'll probably pull them after this summer. Not great, but will be a cheap way to get you on the trail.

 

Should have mentioned that the Ford D60 that I picked up was only the the housing, carrier/gears, and full set of shafts. Didnt have anything outside of the inner knuckles. I've got I think $300 in the Ford housing and full Dodge axle all together. At the time it was cheaper than finding a full Ford D60. And yes it is the mid to late 90s unit bearing style Dodge D60. If the Dodge outers are upgradable I'd be tempted to keep them and see happens. It would be a lot less work at this point to just run them.

When its tire time I'll hit you up and see if you have any of those left :thumb:

 

I was trying to save the D50 stuff for a low cost 14 bolt front axle build some day :d:

 

Nice project. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

 

The Dodge D60 outers are in fact upgradable. Yukon makes a chromoly shaft for all the shafts in a CAD D60 now. Outer P/N is YA W46107.

I've been very impressed how well the CAD D60 has held up to the abuse. Only downside is there are no hubs to unlock if your doing any street driving with a welded diff.



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Thanks for that info! Definitely gives me options and things to think about :thumb:

 

I can vouch for the durability of that thing. Even before he upgraded to chromoly it stood up to an impressive amount of abuse. Just keep oil in it.....

 

Looks good sir, glad to see you coming out of Jeep retirement! I need to follow suit as well.

 

Thanks buddy! :d: Slowly but surely I'm getting there. I think you should pick something up too :rock:

 

The hotrod is keeping me plenty busy. Hoping to get it out of the garage in the next week or so!

 

:thumb: subscribed

 

X2

Hell yeah, looking good. Keep at it!

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Thanks guys! Really appreciate the support :rock:

 

X2

 

Hell yeah, looking good. Keep at it!

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Really glad you guys brought up driveshaft angles. Spent the last few days checking driveshaft angles at several scenarios and this is what I found.

Originally took measurements based on the axles at full droop, both shocks being fully extended:

Front Driveshaft (two piece shaft, only way to clear lower suspension mounts)
@ 16": 25deg
@ 15": 22.5deg
@ 14": 20deg

Rear Driveshaft
@ 16": 30deg
@ 15": 27.5deg
@ 14": 25deg

Those numbers concerned me based on what the interwebs says for u-joint maximum angles: 1310's are good to 30deg, 1350's to 20deg, and 1410's are 35-37deg. My D300 has stock 1310 yokes front and rear. My 14 bolt currently has a 1350 yoke and my D60 currently has a 1310 yoke. Wasn't able to find good info on what the various series CV joints can handle. I did come across this info on the JE Reel website in regards to their 1350 CV joint, "Stronger than our 1310 style shaft and takes you from a 26* C.V. angle to a 32* C.V. angle. So are 1310 CV's good to 26deg and 1350 CV's good to 32deg?

Then I decided to look at the numbers if I were to add a center limiting strap, so driveshaft angles if one side of the axle was at full droop and the other was at full stuff.

Front driveshaft @ 16": 22deg
Rear driveshaft @ 16": 15deg

Also how much full, even axle droop I could get before hitting the 20deg mark (assuming I was going to upgrade to 1350's).

Front driveshaft: 5.5" of droop
Rear driveshaft: 4" of droop
...Not real excited about those numbers.


Options I see at this time...1) Run 1310's every where and limit axle movement. Least cost option as I dont have to upgrade the D300 at all. 2) Looks like maybe I can upgrade the D300 output yokes to run 1350's without upgrading the output shafts (yes the output shaft would be my "fuse"). Run a 1310 front and 1350 rear, or 1350 front and rear. Limit axle movement 3) Upgrade the rear output to the heavy duty 32 spline, 1350 yokes, and 1350 driveshafts. Is it worth it to run 1350's at all? Simple answer is yes for the strength but is it worth it? Also when its it recommended to use CV joints in driveshafts?

That's where I'm at with suspensions and driveshafts

 

Just an FYI, they do make conversion joints that are 1310 on two sides and 1350 on the others. I've been running them in my tj with no issues.

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:thumb:

Another fyi, stock superduty front dana 50 yoke will fit the stock dana 300 output shafts and have 1350.

Nice! I'll snag that off my D50 if I end up going that route. I'd hate to risk grenading a D300 output but maybe it makes sense to swap that to the output, run a 1350 rear shaft, and then upgrade the output in the future.

Or use that D50 yoke on the d300 front output so the front can be 1350 as well.

 

Another fyi, stock superduty front dana 50 yoke will fit the stock dana 300 output shafts and have 1350.

 

After double, triple, quadruple checking things, mocking things up, cycling the suspension more times that I can remember, I've got a couple of updates...

Shock lengths. I think I'm going to stick with 14" coilovers. I was able to make room for a little more up travel so I'll plan on running them 6" of up travel and 8" of droop. While mocking up the rear I realized one of my chassis tubes is in a bad spot to package the coilovers so the chassis will be going under the knife here in a little bit for minor tweakage :sonicjay:

Driveshafts. Plan is to run a 1350 double cardan rear shaft for the extra angles the double joint allows. Also just makes sense to run something larger than 1310's with all that I'm doing with this build. I'm going to run the stock D300 output shaft for the time being, until I can justify (and afford) upgrading the D300. Front driveshaft is going to be a two piece 1410 with single joints. I couldn't find an "off the shelf" way to run a 2 piece with a 1350 double cardan joint in the middle so the 1410 single joint shaft will give me the angular movement I need.

I also took final measurements of where the 4-links ended up and I'm at about 95% anti-squat in the rear, 75% in the front. Not sure how I feel about that 95% in the rear. Easy solution would be to lengthen my lowers but I'm tempted to just run it as is and see what happens. From what little I know 95% isn't ideal but maybe it will be for me :sonicjay: And if it ain't broke don't fix it :d:

Immediate plan is to rework some tubes on the rear of the chassis, get at least the rear driveshaft on order, add more tubing for the coilover mounts and other areas, and figure out how I'm going to mount the seats.

 

I've broken 2 1310 cv rear driveshafts without having to replace the D300 transfer case. I'm still on the original 1310-1350 conversion joint. Might be something to consider. Both times it wouldn't have mattered what size they were, they would have been broken. I twisted the shaft itself right off from torque on the last break. I was back up and wheeling an hour later (the next morning to clarify). Try that with a broken tail shaft in the t-case.........

 

You think the upgraded 300 output(s) aren't worth it?

 

I'm not sure what you're getting at. You said you were going to run the stock rear output, so I suggested you use 1310 cv (xj front driveshaft) instead. At least when you break something, it's the driveshaft instead of the output. That's all I'm saying.

 

Years ago after messing around with 1310cv and breaking them, and moving to combo joints and busting them, and after getting made fun of by the misfits I followed their advice and built 1410 non-cv shafts.

They have held up so much better. The angles aren't an issue. Easier to sleeve the rear shaft to make it heavy wall and a battering ram.

 

What transfer case were you running?

 

Cage question. Way back in the early stages I made a decision on the cross bracing on my b-pillar to not bring them to a single node. Regret that now No good way to redo things so trying to figure out a good way to move forward. I was thinking of placing the upper tubes in red, adding an additional tube below to strengthen the joint (the blue tube), and then could even fill in the area between the horizontal cross tube with plate steel (green). Thoughts?

 

a zoomed out pic would be good