So I should be coming into a good sum of money here soon, as soon as I found out, like any other mudder, the first thing that came to mind "New Stuff!!"

But like always, my father has to bring up points to things that make it not as much.

I have a 1989 F-150, with a I6 4.9L.

I would like to have a 6in lift, and 35s. But can the 8.8 rear handle this? And the front end. I don't want to be snapping stuff. (i.e. axles.)

Would that engine be able to handle this? As we all know, inline 6s are known for lowend tourqe, but do I need a 302? This is daily driver mind you. And doing that, putting 35s, wouldn't I need to change my gear ratios? to 4.10. How difficult is that, would I be better off having someone else do it for me?

Can my truck handle this stuff? Or should I just stick with getting some 31s and wait to get a new truck?

In all honesty I would stick with the 300. It's there. If your gonna swap for something, atleast a 351, big block ford, diesel, etc.. in my opinion the 302 really only has the aftermarket support over the 4.9, but the 4.9 can run decent.

Try lifting it and gearing it. With 35's and not going too crazy you should be fine durability wise but anything over 35's I would start looking seriously into some upgrades. Try boosting the power the i6 has a little, and if you find it doesnt perform even with the gearing and a few boltons you may want to think about going to another motor unless you have a thing for the i6...it does have capability.

this combo works great. i used to have a 87 bronco with the 4.9 with 2 inches of lift, 35's. locked front and rear. i actually welded the 8.8 rear and ran a ez locker in the front. i couldnt have asked for more power off road. on road is had enough to pull passing on the freeway, so i didnt feel the need for more. you will want to regear it to 4.56. then just make sure you get it aligned well after you lift it. i never broke any axles but i would have liked to carry a rear spare incase i did end up breaking one. the rear is a c-clip design so you will want a spare anyways.

Spare axle?!? Do you mean, like an entire axle?!? That's alot to just carry around.

axle as the shaft inside the rear end housing.

Oh, that would be kinda difficult to change while mudding...

I wouldn't worry too much about the rear axleshafts unless you're running a Detroit Locker maybe. They're pretty sturdy. The stock diff carrier (what a Detroit replaces) on a 8.8" tends to be the weak spot, not the shafts.

I would probably carry shafts for the front D44 if you plan to take an extended trip somewhere away from home maybe (or if you play pretty hard on the throttle). Shaft replacement is not difficult at all if you have the tools with you (I've done it a few times myself already). Mud would add in having to try to clean things up before dissassembly though.

You can greatly increase the strength of stock D44 shafts by simply replacing the weaker factory U-joints with SPICER 5-760X joints, and either clearancing the yokes for full-circle retainer clips, or welding the u-joint caps to the axle yokes (commonly, the little half-circle cap clips fall out, allowing the cap to walk out, resulting in torn/wasted axle yokes).

You can change axles pretty easily on the trail, just basic hand tools, and you need replacement gear oil cuz you need to pull the diff covers, if you've never done gear before they are kinda tricky, find someone to help/show you or just jump into it, if you f*** it up then pay someone to fix it


Brendan

I was thinking about getting a ARB locker for the front, or something. Still a little confused on what you are talking about walking out. I mean is there a way you can send me some pictures? Sorry, really kinda new to it all.

Thanks a ton. This forum is the best!!

The stock u-joint bearing caps are retained by a c-clip that's only a half-circle. Under very high stress/torque, the u-joint caps can actually spin around some in the yoke. As they spin, it spits off the c-clip and then out comes the cap.

With full-circle (snapring) clips holding it, the caps can spin around in the yoke all it wants, and will never come out. Welded caps obviously won't spin around at all, so that also solves the problem (although makes future replacements rather difficult).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/sfr4x4/yokeclip2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/sfr4x4/yokeclip3.jpg

The shoulder that the ends of the stock clip butt up against on the yoke needs to be cleared away with a grinder so the snaprings sit perfectly flat.

Since this is the newbie section, I am going to ask...

The u-joints, are nothing like the drive lines. So how you you take them out? Is there a grove for the clip to fit in already? Can I pick the clip up at a hardware store, or do I need to just go to autozone or something and ask them for some.

Take those out to change the u-joints, the axles that is, how difficult is that, talking almost disassembling the front end?

I wouldn't worry too much about the rear axleshafts unless you're running a Detroit Locker maybe. They're pretty sturdy. The stock diff carrier (what a Detroit replaces) on a 8.8" tends to be the weak spot, not the shafts.

I would probably carry shafts for the front D44 if you plan to take an extended trip somewhere away from home maybe (or if you play pretty hard on the throttle). Shaft replacement is not difficult at all if you have the tools with you (I've done it a few times myself already). Mud would add in having to try to clean things up before dissassembly though.

You can greatly increase the strength of stock D44 shafts by simply replacing the weaker factory U-joints with SPICER 5-760X joints, and either clearancing the yokes for full-circle retainer clips, or welding the u-joint caps to the axle yokes (commonly, the little half-circle cap clips fall out, allowing the cap to walk out, resulting in torn/wasted axle yokes).

i ran welded. thats why i wanted to carry replacement shafts. if you break a front, oh well. you can still get home on that. but if you break a rear, then you need to fix it before your wheel falls off.

So if I ran ARB you don't think I would have to worry about it as much???

I want to off road pretty hard and not worry about the bigger tires snapping my axles.

So if I ran ARB you don't think I would have to worry about it as much???

I want to off road pretty hard and not worry about the bigger tires snapping my axles.
Well, there is a limit as to how much abuse half-ton hardware can handle. if you really want to play hard, I'd seriously think about a D60/10.25" axle swap.
If you exercise some restraint by not standing on the throttle while bouncing around all over the place trying to get over (or through) something, then your stock stuff should stay together well enough.

The ARB will lesssen the amount of load & fatigue on the shafts, as you'd only be using it when you need it.

As for the joints, maybe you probably should go out and take a good look at them (take a flashlight if needed).
The clips fit into a groove on the inside of the yoke. You remove the clip, then press the joint out.
When installing the new 760X joints, place a 1-3/16" external-type snapring clip over the cross, then press it into the yoke as normal. Use snapring pliers to seat the snapring.

A Home Depot has that size snaprings in their small-parts drawer display. Outside of that, they have proven somewhat tough to find (many places skip past from 1-1/8 to 1-1/4"). I think Napa may stock them, but not sure.


To get the shafts out, you remove the rotors & spindles. The driverside shaft and passengerside-outer shaft can then be pulled out.
To remove the passengerside inner stub & slipyoke, remove the 12 bolts holding the diff housing to the suspension beam, and remove the retainer clip from the axle end between the spider gears (Do you have a manual for your truck?).

Yeah, guessing that would be my best bet for seeing how...haha. thanks.

Anyother little tips to make it tougher?

what tranny are you running, if you have one with no OD don't go too high on the gears or you won't be cruising too fast down the highway. I have the 435 and run 4.10's and cruise 3k at 65. If you have the Auto tranny make sure to put in a cooler as any offroading is goign to help it run warmer.

Also when you do the gear swap, leave out the retaing c-clip on the pass side front axle shaft, then measue a spring to fit in the slip shaft (should have a rubber boot around it) to just keep a little pressure on teh axle shafts. This way when you snap the outer stub or slip shaft you won't have to remove the diff to change it, alot easier.

I didn't quite understand what you said???

I have a T-18 4 speed, so I am going to 4.56 RPs.

Its a way to eliminate that clip inside the diff. Should you break that shaft, you don't have to pull the diff housing apart to get to the clip.

Put a spring around the slipyoke on the passengerside shaft. This will keep the shaft seated in the differential by keeping constant pressure on it (this is required to run some types of lockers anyway, as they don't have a slot to allow reinserting that clip).

Picture showing with the rubber boot removed:
http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Fall2003/no_boing.jpg
The boot goes over it.
Spring needs to be 1 3/8" ID, about 3" long, with a 20-30 PPI (pounds per inch) rating.(you may also be able to use a spring INSIDE the yoke, although in some cases, I've seen them bust through due to not being enough room inside there).

4.56 sounds a tad deep with no OD, I'd go 4.10 (especially with the I6)

...you will want to regear it to 4.56...

when i told you this i assumed you had a 5 speed or auto w/OD because the T-18 was discontinued in 87 as far as i even knew. but knowing that, you will want 4.10 with 35's. i ran 35's with a T-18 in my bronco decribed above. it always felt really wound out, especially since it was the inline 6. my truck had 3.55's stock and i ran 35's with that for a while. then i came across a set of 4.56's so i ran them. but they were really too low for the highway. they would be better mathmatically for a 38" tire.

I was just going off this chart

http://www.4wheelparts.com/4wp/images/icons/chart_gear-ratio.gif

Since mine is a four speed, and 4th gear is a 1:1 ratio, it already runs about almost 3 grand at 65.