Topic: Outside the box front end

[drunkencityworker]

I had seen that the JK had a larger pinion. But I havnt seen that it had larger shafts. I know its beefier than the tj 44. But havnt heard its tougher than a ford HP 44. Do you have a souce or link for that

[blacknblue]

I just saw some beefy axle trusses at T&T Customs.....http://tntcustoms.com/axletrusses.aspx

[aw12345]

For an HP Dana 44 you can get the fancy CV axle shafts but they do not come cheap.
The stock stuff is about as skimpy as a dana 30, 27 spline axle shaft

See here for comparison



The JK Dana 44's seem to live with 37 and 39" tires if you do not go completely nuts

A friend of mine went through about 4 or 5 warn stub shafts on a Hi Pinion Dana 44 is a period of about 4-5 months on 37" Krawlers with a Chevy 350 in his TJ

[drunkencityworker]

whats the width of a jk front 44

[neale_rs]

The JK D44 has larger u-joints too.  What I've read is that they do have to be gusseted and sleeved and have the ball joints upgraded before any really heavy use.

[Jeffy]

whats the width of a jk front 44

66 and change IIRC.  Keep in mind it's 5 on 5" if you get a Rubicon axle.  The J8 Axles are 5 on 5.5".

*** Looked up the exact, it's 65.375".

[drunkencityworker]

But they do sell them to use dana 30 outers

[Jeffy]

But they do sell them to use dana 30 outers

JK D30 outers.  Not sure if they're the same as TJ/XJ/YJ

[DodgeMudder]

Here's a really out side the box front end build up for you:  Use a '79 Ford HP 44 center cut to waggy width and using Waggy inner shafts (chromo replacements for better strength) Use '74-'80 Dodge outer flat top knuckles they are a flat top knukle with a rebuildable unit bearing, and 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern.  Now if you want to have manual hubs instead of the unit bearings MileMarker makes them and they are cheaper than the Jeep hub conversions.

This is an idea I've been thinking about building for a while.

[Jeffy]

But they do sell them to use dana 30 outers

Did a little poking around.  You will run into issues with the JK U-joints.  The JK uses 1350 u-joints.  I've also heard that the ball-joints are larger as well.

[aw12345]

Or go Dana 44 center housing with dana 60 outer ends.
No matter how you look at it, a good reliable front end that is strong will cost some money.

[drunkencityworker]

can my beads be drilled to fit 5x5.5

[aw12345]

Use spacers makes it a bit wide in front or buy take of JK rims, plenty of those to go around

[Jeffy]

can my beads be drilled to fit 5x5.5

You don't want to be drilling wheels.  Getting them centered is hard enough.  Sell them and get new ones if you have to.  You could also use spacers that have different patterns but that's always not optimal.

BTW: 5.5"?  If you're talking about the JK then it's 5".  J8 stuff is 5.5" which is the same for CJ's as well many others.  5" is just Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, I think.

[sharpxmen]

You don't want to be drilling wheels.  Getting them centered is hard enough.  Sell them and get new ones if you have to.  You could also use spacers that have different patterns but that's always not optimal.

BTW: 5.5"?  If you're talking about the JK then it's 5".  J8 stuff is 5.5" which is the same for CJ's as well many others.  5" is just Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, I think.

he might be able to but depends if it's centered on the hub rather than the lugs and if he has enough meat (or seating if you wish) behind the new locations (I can't remember if he's got humvee recentered wheels or not, if he does probably he can call the guy that sells them he would know for sure). I had redrilled rims but they were cast alloys and were centering on the hub, they worked well with no issues but they were fairly thick and there were only 4 holes rather than 5 so the holes were further apart (you would end up with 10 holes in this case).