Building up a 97 Tj and was wondering what is involved in putting a 60 up front and is it worth all the hassles?????

What do you have up front now? How large are your tires and what gearing are you running. Also what kind of terrain do you wheel (rocks, mud, sand etc). It really depends on you. It would be nice, but I think a 44 would do just fine in most situations unless you are running 37 inch or larger tires.

well if you get in alot of off camber angles the unsprung weight of the 60 would be nice. the more weight you have on the axles, the less chance of you rolling as long as you suspension allows it

Well if he is building up I hope he isn't putting 35s on it and asking about a D60. You know some D60s with 38's are a real nice combo... like ham and cheese...

Well if he is building up I hope he isn't putting 35s on it and asking about a D60. You know some D60s with 38's are a real nice combo... like ham and cheese...
hahaha

If you're going through the work/effort of putting new axles under it and thinkg at some point you'll want to run big tires down the road, then save yourself money and time and go with 60s now. Otherwise you'll waste a couple thousand building up inadequate axles and eventually wishing you had 60s, then spend all that money and time over again rebuilding.

Well if he is building up I hope he isn't putting 35s on it and asking about a D60. You know some D60s with 38's are a real nice combo... like ham and cheese...

You got a problem with 60's with 35's?:flipoff2:

hell yea its worth it ... i spent 3200 bucks on my rear 60 ... its the best investment ive made ever! thats with the whole 9!
shortened with chromoly shafts , arb , 5.13 gears and disk brakes not to mention the brackets already welded on and was ready to bolt in!

if u wanna spend the $ get ahold of the guys at fullcurcle 4x4 ....
they can sell u everything or fab nething u need.... i bought just the houseing already shortened with the brackets on it along with the shafts from them and disk brakes for under 1600 . then bought the arb and gears and did the assembly myself..... now u wanted to know if its worth it?!


YEA ITS WORTH IT ......

i have a 97 TJ i just built and went wagoneer axles (dana 44) front n rear the front i built with Alloy Axles cause i dont plan on swapping it out any time soon the front axle of a wagoneer is Perfect width for a wranger yj or tj the rear is alil narrow 58 1/2 ... its stock in the rear and im running 35's ive run the rubicon and fordyce a few times and no problems what so ever the rear is welded too the front is a Power locker ... i dont plan on going bigger then 37's next tire change so ill see how the 44 in the rear holds up i may go 14 bolt or dana 60 in rear but a well built 44 up front is good unless you plan on runnin monster size tires later on .. i know alot of guys think Dana 60 or go home .. i am home the rubicon is practically in my back yard i love my axle combo for the time .. go with a 44 up front but ya might concider a High Pinion out of a ford and have it narrowed and use some alloy shafts it'll handle quit a bit ...

thanks for the advice. just trying to put some kind of plan together for my build up. probably go with a 60 upfront and a 14 bolt full floater in the rear. might as well do it right the first time. probably go with a 350 Chevy injected small block with a turbo 400/ 205 transfercase as well.............

If you are thinking V8, you will probably regret having anything less than a D60/14b if you ever think of stomping on the skinny pedal. I'm smack-dab in the middle of putting this axle combo in my TJ right now. Lots of work, lots of welding, but it's my toy so I enjoy the work! It's a learn as you go, 1 step forward-two steps back process sometimes, but it's satisfying to look at it and know that I did all of it...so far. Huge kudos to those on Pirate, without this site, I wouldn't ever think of tackling the project.

Plan on a two month project at least IMO, to do it right, if you have any kind of life (job, family, any other kind of hobby etc.)

what motor / trans do you run. bought a single rear dana 60 front axle off of ebay for 425.00 yesterday.

If you are thinking V8, you will probably regret having anything less than a D60/14b if you ever think of stomping on the skinny pedal. I'm smack-dab in the middle of putting this axle combo in my TJ right now. Lots of work, lots of welding, but it's my toy so I enjoy the work! It's a learn as you go, 1 step forward-two steps back process sometimes, but it's satisfying to look at it and know that I did all of it...so far. Huge kudos to those on Pirate, without this site, I wouldn't ever think of tackling the project.

Plan on a two month project at least IMO, to do it right, if you have any kind of life (job, family, any other kind of hobby etc.) i enjoy building the rig up as much as i do wheeling!!!!!!!!

You got a problem with 60's with 35's?:flipoff2:


No but your more then welcome to come plow my yard... :flipoff2: Kinda reminds me of bolt on overkill but hey thats fine with me, wish I had D60s and 35s!. My freind was asking about putting some D60s on his mazda and wanted to run 33s, I promptly backhanded the guy and showed him what a D44 and Ford 9in looked like.


He learned the easy way. :laughing:

The short range plan is to get the thing back in one piece right now using 5.13 gears, stock 4.0, NV3550 with a doubled np231/d300 combo. Passenger side drop D60. This winter I'll stroke the 4.0 to 4.6...already collecting parts for that! With any encouragement, I'de consider posting a biuldup thread on the newb forum.