I know this subject has been beat to death along with many many others, but I would like to revisit for some fresh opinions.

Of course, if anyone has paid attention to my username, I own an XJ. Now that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about buying a TJ, but that's a whole other subject for later. I want an extreme vehicle on a not so extreme budget. Who doesn't? So here we go.

1. I've looked into swapping whole full length Mog 404 axles. Oilpan clearance issues.

2. Narrowing those full length axles was considered. Shorten the front driver by 5 inches and the rear driver by 3 inches. This would bring the front pumkin over enough to clear the oilpan and the rear would be centered. So then I need some custom axles and major steering and suspension work because the tie rod runs behind the axle. In the way of LCA.

3. Custom 9" axles with basics to keep costs down. Junkyard 9" with 31 sp. axles, stock gearing (hopefully @ 2.72 or 3.08), and then add the Mog outers. Steering and suspension would be earier 'cause no tie rod in the way behind pumpkin. But this is still a very custom mod. Might still get up there in $$$. I've done my homework and I realize there are a lot of other things I'll need to do like flip the axles and redo the oil galleys.

Thanks. T.O.

P.S. Rob, your still my #1 guy if I do this. Thanks for all your help so far. You rule!! Good luck TTC.

If you need custom axles made and Rob can't do them? shoot me an email at taradon@uniserve.com and I will get you a price on some chrome moly axles.

Don

for option number 3 you'll have to "flip" the housing so the Pinion is on top. Lee Novikoff did this. Reason is, Mog axles spin the opposite way, and then are corrected with their geared hubs.

Good thing is, it gives you a high pinion 9" inch without the crappy 8.8 gears. Lee did say you'd have to build baffles to help with oiling..

If you want option 3, give me a shout, i can hook you up.

Originally posted by big78bronco
for option number 3 you'll have to "flip" the housing so the Pinion is on top. Lee Novikoff did this. Reason is, Mog axles spin the opposite way, and then are corrected with their geared hubs.

Good thing is, it gives you a high pinion 9" inch without the crappy 8.8 gears. Lee did say you'd have to build baffles to help with oiling..
Thanks big78bronco. I think I already covered this though. Here's a quote from the original post.

"3. Custom 9" axles with basics to keep costs down. Junkyard 9" with 31 sp. axles, stock gearing (hopefully @ 2.72 or 3.08), and then add the Mog outers. Steering and suspension would be earier 'cause no tie rod in the way behind pumpkin. But this is still a very custom mod. Might still get up there in $$$. I've done my homework and I realize there are a lot of other things I'll need to do like flip the axles and redo the oil galleys."

so how does changing the pumpkin to a 9" change where the tierod goes?

I did a Unimog/9'' hybrid on my bronco.
After a lot of research, I had Axle Jack at CTM do the machine work. We both get lots of calls on the subject.
The obstacles you will face are:

The axles are NOT spined on both ends. One end is a trunion, that is, it looks like a connecting rod.
A.J. made the shafts and they'er $$$

Oiling the flipped 9'' is not brain surgery but it takes time to figuer it out.

Also, get ready for brakes, rims and steering.

If you can use the mog axles stock and just do the pinion conversion, it will be much cheaper.
:)

I've actually talked with Jack. Real nice guy and very helpful.
The biggest issue with using the stock Mogs is the near centered front diff. Only @3.75 to driver side. Major oilpan clearance issues. So one way or another I will need a custom shaft for the driver side, when it's cut down or with the 9" centersection.

One thing I didn't consider is the tie rod. I had this crazy notion that if I went to a hybrid axle I could put the tie rod back in front of the axle. Thanks for kick starting my brain MJ. The tie rod connects to the outer hub assembly doesn't it? So even if I went to a 9" centersection and tubes the tie rod would still need to be behind the pumkin right? Someone please verify this.

Hey JR. Here's part of your quote: "The axles are NOT splined on both ends. One end is a trunion, that is, it looks like a connecting rod." So how did AJ get around this for your conversion? Here's another part of the quote: "Get ready for brakes and rims..." Are the stock Mog brakes unable to handle my little Jeep? Or is there some incompatibility issues with the rest of the brake system? About the rims, I think I got a handle on that. I know a guy that is designing 17x10 beadlocked rims with 4.75" BS. Centers are Mog bolt pattern. Very cool. I'm waiting a while cuz he doesn't even know prices yet, but I expect they couldn't be much more than other beadlocks.

Tie rod behind the axle is best, just like the 'mogs did it.
It gets in the way if you use multilink suspensions though.
The stock brakes will be fine for you sence you'er using 17 inch rims, but at 180lbs. (drums and stuff) a little heavy.
The shafts I use started as 3'' solid 4130. One end slined, the other had a hole borred in it and then machined down to mimic the original shaft.
A competent machinist can do this for you.
Good luck! If you can get through the hurdles, you will like the results.