I'll update it as the project goes along throughout this fall and winter.
Going to include lots of pictures for your consumption as the project progresses.
Maybe 1 or 2 will appear in upcoming issues of Tracks.
My YJ has grown as big as it can be with it's current suspension and axles.
I'd be pushing my luck if I put tires larger than the 35's currently on the front HP Dana 30.
I already push the poor POS pretty hard.
I don't want to be "that guy" and be busting stuff on the trail because I'm running tires too big for the drivetrain.
Been thinking about this project for about a year now and now I finally got the ball rolling.
So... the basic plan is:
- Yank the Dana 30 and the 8.8 axles out
- Remove the 35" LTB's
- Remove the rear leaf springs
Changes:
- Dana 60's front & rear. Full floater in the rear.
- 5.38 gears, lockers, 35 spline chromoloy's throughout, drive slugs.
- Frame/body stretch and/or axle relocations
- 4 linked rear suspension with coilovers
- Hydro Assist Steering
- Additional body armor
- Taller tires with beadlocks
The first step was to score a set of Dana 60's out of a 1978-1979 F350. Very desireable as the front is high pinion AND the spring perch's line up with the YJ front springs. Found a guy in Londonderry with a pair for sale. Score!
As they were when I got them home. Luckily they came with usable 33" rollers.
Seller had a few driveshafts he tossed in too.
First step was to break them down, sand blast them and check'm over for any issues.
Rear drum brakes badly rusted. Didn't matter.... doing a disc brake conversion
Front Knuckle emptied
Fortunately everything else was is great condition, bearings, kingpins, hubs, etc.
Only PITA was getting the nuts and studs out of the drivers knuckle. Had to weld nuts to the studs to get them to come out.
Decided to go with 5.38's as they were the steepest gear I could stuff into the high pinion front 60.
Contacted East Coast Gear Supply (ECGS) and placed my order. Bonus was the shipping was free on the over 200 lbs of goodies plus a nice discount.
A couple of days later my goodies showed via UPS.
After shattering a chromo stub shaft at Rausch and a u-joint and Gretchens I certainly hope these will be a bit more stout.
27 spline vs 35 spline
D30 vs D60 (after some assembly)
Spicer 760 u-joint vs Yukon Superjoint
Dana 60 ring & Carrier vs the Dana 30 ring and carrier.
Dana 60 pinion vs Dana 30 pinion.
After inspecting and tearing down the axles the first step was to bore out the spindles on the full float rear Dana 60. Stock they had 30 spline shafts and the spindles need to be bored out to accomodate the bigger 35 spline chromo shafts. I rented the spindle boring tool from ECGS.
What a tedious job boring them out! It was a two step process on each spindle. First boring them to 1.5" and then to about 1.535". All in all it took and entire Saturday to do the boring. Lot's of cutting oil, cleaning out shavings and letting the 1/2" drill cool off.
Once bored out and test fitting the shafts I moved onto re-gearing the axles. As picked up they had the stock 3.54's. Found out that the rear carrier had spun a bearing when I pulled it out. Not a problem as the carrier was getting replaced with a Detroit and new bearings.
Took my time doing the re-gear as it was my first time at it.
Here is the assortment of pinion and carrier shims from one of the master setup kits.
Shims all measured & labeled
After several nights and a Saturday I finally completed the gear setups. ECGS kindly offered to review the gear pattern pictures to be sure all was good. Just had to tweek the front pinion by .002" based on their feedback.
Once done the front housing was complete I gave it a coat of primer and a top coat of paint.
Next up was to put in the new front brake calipers and pads.
Final step was to install the 35 spline slugs to replace the stock 30 spline lockouts.
Slug kit parts...
Hub before slug install.
Hub with slug installed.
All buttoned up.
And finally a soild diff cover to replace the flimsy stock cover.
The finished axle - Phew!
Did a litle work on the rear axle too. Had to cut down the new axle shafts to the correct length to fit the housing.
Marking the new shafts using the old ones for comparison.
That it as of 9-23-12.
The real fun begins once the last run at F&F is over when the YJ starts it's transformation
More to come as the project rolls along this fall
