If you had the bucks to buy a pair hp 60's which of the above would you choose? How would you build them? What would you base your choices on?

Im looking at selling my current axles which would pay for a rear 60. The front I'd be on my own.

Being up north, I've never even seen either one of these axle brands, so havent the slightest experience with either one.

I like the lower weight and slightly lower cost of the currie axles, but would that cause issues, or sacrifice durability?

I like that pro fronts seem to use more generic parts, rather then doing a currie one that requires their specially machined and redrilled F450 unit bearings.

Im not to concerned with steering. Hi, low, flat. Im doing my own full hydro on whatever I get, so generic would be fine.

Anyone know which brand has more clearence under the center section, or are they pretty much equal?

This build is on 37's, the biggest I see going would be maybe 39's.

Im thinking semi float in the rear to keep cost down, and it should be more then strong enough.

Wheeling application is mostly mud, cutline, some rock, and a few trips a year down south to play on rocks is in the near future.

So, what would you go with and how would you build them?

Thanks.

Kingpin > ball joint

spindal > unit bearing

If I was droppin' serious cash on axles I would definantly buid my own...


*Spyder 9 centers, 9 inch center > D60 center

*Dedenbear 60 inner C's

* 60 Outers are a toss up between Deadenbear and Welderbuilt

609 :smokin:

I actually dont mind balljoints and unit bearings. I like the ease of working on them compared to KP's and spindles. I dont think you'd be losing alot of strength with a F450 BJ compared to a king pin. But I dont really know, so wont say. As for unit bearings, they are pricy, but it beats having to tear aprt wheel bearings every time you get home because you wheel in wet muddy areas the majority of the time.

Kind of location thing on the unit bearings.

But if I went unit bearing, I'd prefer something more like a stock dodge one, that I can get anywhere, rather then special order.



I see this 609 thrown around here a lot, and it seems to be the new thing. What makes these a better axle? Only thing I know is that gearing options are pretty much unlimited with 9" centers. What else makes them better then a hp 60?

the gears themselves...

the gears themselves...

wow Jo, thats really informative................. (look, more periods then you)


What about the gears? 3rd pinion bearing? Larger? Stronger? Easier setup? Cheaper?

All of the above?

I asked to compare some 60's, and get one liners on 609's. If you think the 609 would be a better axle to go with, thats cool. But why not actually describe why you think its a better axle.

One liners dont really help get your point across.

Maybe eloborate on the 609 a bit?

From what I understand the 4.88 gears and 5.38 gears from true hi9 have better mesh than their HP60 counterparts, I believe the teeth are a little bigger.

From what I understand the 4.88 gears and 5.38 gears from true hi9 have better mesh than their HP60 counterparts, I believe the teeth are a little bigger.

Thanks man, good to know.
:beer:

Thanks man, good to know.
:beer:

Thier are a few things that make the 9 a better center section than the 60...

First, the 9 inch gearr sets have a larger contact area compared to the 60 due to a wider ring gear.

Second, the 9 inch has a third pinion bearing on the end of the pinion to conteract gear deflection.

Third, the 9 inch center section in 3rd member style and does not use shims to set the ring gear... very easy bench top gear installs.


Lastly, most (maby all) 9 inch housing are ferrous steel ( not cast), making it easier to fabricate brackets that attach to the center section...


All the reasons and I still run 60's :shaking:

I would have 609's If I could afford it :flipoff2:

There is a wealth of info here http://www.truehi9.com/gears2.html if your up to some reading. Yes it is from my site but all the info is factual. :) It's basically only about the gears though. :)

I found that spidertrax housing thread and read through it.

I didnt know about these axles but am definately interested now that I've seen them.

The housing look to be a around 400 a peice, then you need all the ingredients to finish them off.

What do think they would come out price like at the end of the day compared to pro rocks or rock jocks?

Seen any good write ups on spider 9 builds?

There is a wealth of info here http://www.truehi9.com/gears2.html if your up to some reading. Yes it is from my site but all the info is factual. :) It's basically only about the gears though. :)

Thanks True

This fella may be a good guy to ask about them.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500369

Again thanks.

The more I read on these 609's, the more I see why people are doing them.

Few questions.

If I built a front similar to CA YJ's, using dodge unit bearings, can you use stock dodge outers as spares?

What is the bolt pattern on dodge bearings, same as other 1 ton stuff, 8 x 6.5?

Using that 64.5 wms on the front, would 65 on the rear allow you to use stock length 35 splines on the rear?

Truhi, your 3rd's fit in these spider housings no problem right?

On the rear, do you just cut, weld, and drill some plate for backing plates? What do you for rear wheel bearings, do stockers fit in the 3 x 1/4 inch tubes?


What is the clearence difference between the pro rocks, spider housings, and rock jocks? Anyone know?

Strongly considering buyin a set of spider housings and start from there. Just have a few questions before I do.

Thanks all.

If you must have the pricey axles look at Rockcrusher also. They build some beefy products!

teraflex also makes 60 center sections. they have the crd 60 which has more clearance than and normal 60 as well as a shaved 60 housing. rockcrusher makes a housing but i'm not sure about them. i'm on the east coast and there a plenty and off road shops around here that make custom rears from all kinds of rears. they can also use junkyard housing as well. the one shop i used build a hp 44 from an f-250. he took the rear that he had. pressed out the tubes. installed thicker axles tubes. welded on new knuckles and perches and set the rears up. when i got my 60 built. i used tera shaved 60 in the front with crane knuckles 1/2" wall tubes the knuckles were king pins. the back got a crd60 with 1/2" wall tubes and disc brakes. it is also a full floater with drive flanges. you can almost build what ever you want. it only takes time and money

Our third member will fit anywhere a standard 3rd member will fit. I would call Brian at Twisted Customs 605-923-7288. They are buying the parts from Spidertrax and finishing complete axles from there.

I'm curious what axles you have under your rig that will finance a built Prorock, Rockjock, Rockcrusher, 9 ect?

Not trying to be snide or anything but bying one of the above built to width, gears, lockers, brackets, ect = $$$

fwiw I went with Prorocks. To do it again I might go a different route. Nothing negative to say about the Prorocks but there are other options out there.

I just had Rockcrusher build me a front D60. Their product is topnotch and customer service is fantastic. They can build with a variety of option's and build the best axle on the market IMO. I will be getting rid of my Pro Rock 60 in the rear and replacing it with a Rockcrusher D60 in 3 year's, as I like their stuff better....they use only the best in their build....Call and talk to Matt or John...

We just replaced a Rock Jock in a rear application with a Tera CRD because the RJ spun the aluminum housing on the steel tubes. Sheered all of the little set screws right off. That makes me super leery. The rig is a Stock class comp Jeep running 35" Krawlers so it was nothing crazy. Currie does not seem to get what strength is needed. They also spec'd out a front axle with stock D30 outers even after my customer told them it was for competition and price was not a limiting factor. We replaced that front with a Rock Crusher last year.

I liked the CRD housing over the Rock Crusher for some added features. I would say the CRD would be the way to go if weight is not a huge issue and you want to stay with a 60-type housing.

If weight is an issue, I would really recommend the Spidertrax stuff with some 60 outers. Some guys have been running these with great results and they are LIGHT. I think the strength is there if done right and I am leery about unit bearings, but apparently they are working right for people.

For the build of whatever you decide I would contact Doug at Extreme Axle Sales. He can get whatever you want done and is real tough to beat on prices and definitely not beatable on service.

I recently built a Spydertrax 609 using a hi9 center section in conjunction with Twisted Customs. I cannot post pics but have a few that I could email someone if they are willing to post them.

I'm curious what axles you have under your rig that will finance a built Prorock, Rockjock, Rockcrusher, 9 ect?

Not trying to be snide or anything but bying one of the above built to width, gears, lockers, brackets, ect = $$$

fwiw I went with Prorocks. To do it again I might go a different route. Nothing negative to say about the Prorocks but there are other options out there.

Pair of complete, rubi 44's with alloys, all the stock spares, 5.13's, alloy seals, warn front cover, dynatrac rear, front lca skids, rear truss/link mount, and a full set of spidertrax 1.25 spacers.

If weight is an issue, I would really recommend the Spidertrax stuff with some 60 outers. Some guys have been running these with great results and they are LIGHT. I think the strength is there if done right and I am leery about unit bearings, but apparently they are working right for people.



Pretty sure this is the route Im going to take. Im going to start with the housings and build from there.

Im going to build myself. Just take my time, ask a lot of questions and do it right.

Weight is an issue, but strength is a must. I saw a few really good trusses on the spider 9 thread, and will probably mimic one of those.

A lot of mud around here, boat anchor axles really kill your performance on the trail unless you want to run monster truck rubber.

I have my own miller 210, plasma cutter and bender. As well as access to a tig across the street. No pro with fabbing, but getting better.

Thanks all for the help. I'll post another thread once I start building.

This is just my own speculation and observation, but from what I've seen out of 9's, I've seen a lot of blown cases caused by the increased gear deflection because of the angle of the pinion gear to the ring gear. Now maybe this is just with a stock case, but this has been the predominate failure that I've noted while being on this board and while browsing other places. Keep that in mind if you do go towards a 609, there's going to be money thrown into strengthening the case/pinion support, whatever.

How many 60 gearsets do we see blown to pieces here? Even stock ones? IMHO the 60 is the way to go. I truly believe that it is far more reliable and has more pure beef than a 9. The 9 IMHO, of course, is a great axle, but seems to be tempermental, kind of like a rich 19 year old girl. Great to do when she's thinking the same thing you are, but a PITA when she's not and you want some. :smokin:

Edit: Too late, you got a reply in before me. Good luck, let us know how it works out.

IMO, I find building the axles yourself is half the fun, especially if you have the right tools, do your research and you can build a pretty much bullet proof set up.

This is just my own speculation and observation, but from what I've seen out of 9's, I've seen a lot of blown cases caused by the increased gear deflection because of the angle of the pinion gear to the ring gear. Now maybe this is just with a stock case, but this has been the predominate failure that I've noted while being on this board and while browsing other places. Keep that in mind if you do go towards a 609, there's going to be money thrown into strengthening the case/pinion support, whatever.

How many 60 gearsets do we see blown to pieces here? Even stock ones? IMHO the 60 is the way to go. I truly believe that it is far more reliable and has more pure beef than a 9. The 9 IMHO, of course, is a great axle, but seems to be tempermental, kind of like a rich 19 year old girl. Great to do when she's thinking the same thing you are, but a PITA when she's not and you want some. :smokin:

Edit: Too late, you got a reply in before me. Good luck, let us know how it works out.


I have also seen 9" centers fail. What I have noticed is that they are stock non "N" cases. I have never heard of a Hi9 fail.

I have also seen 9" centers fail. What I have noticed is that they are stock non "N" cases. I have never heard of a Hi9 fail.

Thanks for the vote of confidence and I know I should be quiet but we have had a couple failures.

We went 150 Hi9's and 2 years without a failure. At that point we purposely let a comp team run 4 aluminum cases. Two in each of their two rigs to see if they could be broken. One aluminum case got ran into a rock and broke and another aluminum case cracked from a bad landing. It turned out to be a good thing since now we knew were one would break which allowed us to make the iron case (which we have never had a case failure with) even better.

We had 2 5.14 gear failures. One that we didn't know where it was going or assemble so we couldn't recommend a better (stronger) ratio and one that had the markings of being ran very low on oil.

If the bottom of the gears page link http://www.truehi9.com/gears2.html is studied one can see the differences in all our gears and the D60 gears and make his choice on gear strength from there.

Before all the D60 guys jump in and feed off the failures I mentioned just remember that most of the guys switching to our stuff are doing so because they were tired off replacing cracked or broken D60 ring and pinions and have not had to do so with the Hi9 when running our recommended stuff.

Well that sure helps a guy decide on which case material to use :D

Thanks hi9.

Probably not a huge weight difference anyways.

Hi9 where are you guys at as far as the aluminum housings are concerned? Redesign, dropped? If they are still in the picture how much lighter are they than the steel cases?

They are about 16 pounds lighter.

I emotionally don't take any failures very well so I really don't want to sell any to people on the Pirate since most of the people here need lots of strength. We still sell them but only to the daily driver/occasional offroader crowd and the helicoptor guy.

We are using the same mold for both the aluminum and iron cases so when the aluminum case broke we found that we could change the mold (thicken the castings) to make the iron ones even better as a proactive measure.

We haven't poured any more aluminum ones since because we are having a hard time keeping iron cases in stock (read, sales are good). :)

We will be pouring more aluminum ones down the road that will be thicker and we will be using a different alloy. When we had the aluminum ones poured we trusted the engineers at the foundry to choose the aluminum. Bad on our part. We feel we are in pretty good with Strange since we are using their main caps on all our cases and we are going to use the same alloy that they use in their aluminum cases. So the next aluminum cases will be quite a bit stronger but until they are tested we will be very cautious and they will initially be sold on a test R&D basis like the others. Meaning, if they break let us replace them with an iron case and no public bashing.:D

Thats a good answer.

Whats the lead time right now on getting a iron 3rd from you guys Hi9?

538's, detroit, 35 spline.

Thanks

Another good option for 9s that nobody has mentioned is www.sunrayengineering.com They have some good infor in their site, as well. 9 advantages are weight, all steel house, clearance, gear strength, removable 3rd........

Truehi9 looks like the center to go with, though.

We have the castings, caps, and bolts waiting to be machined. Unfortunatly the computer that runs the machining head went down a couple weeks ago and is at the computer shop getting repaired. Mike, the other fella here at Hi9, left at 5:00 am this morning to pick it up from Minneapolis. The repair shop is pretty sure they have it in working order but until we put it back on the machine we won't know 100% for sure. The machinist is coming at 5:00 pm tonight to reinstall the computer and if all works well we will be machining all weekend and filling back orders by Monday. So, long story short, hopefully by the end of next week. It will be listed on the website when we are stocked up again. If anybody is in a hurry for one they should call and get on the list.

Thanks for your patience
Chris

Cool, good to know.

No big rush for me atm. I'll probably start with housing so I can get building then add piece by piece from there.

Be looking to get my first 3rd member early into the new year.

My spyder9 housing are coming up next week.

They are 3 inch 1/4 wall tube. I was thinking that for a jig, as I weld my trussing and link mounts in I'd pick up a peice of 2.5 inch 1/4 wall DOM and push it through.

Would that be enough to keeps things true when Im welding on these things?

Also, I wont be getting 3rds until sometime around feb. I should be able to grab a boneyard 9" 3rd, flip it, and use for mawk up right?

Apparently 9 inch pinions are offset 2 inches. If I cut the one tube in the rear shorter then the other, I can center the pinion, and run equal length rear shafts.

I went with spyders knuckles, f450 unit bearings on the front, and rock crusher d60 spindles for the rear.

Anyone one think I'll be able to fit 15" rims with 3.5 backspace on these? Got brand new 37's I wanted to run, but now Im wondering if they are going to work or not.

I'll post some pictures when all my shiat gets here.

My spyder9 housing are coming up next week.

Also, I wont be getting 3rds until sometime around feb. I should be able to grab a boneyard 9" 3rd, flip it, and use for mawk up right?


?

?

I think he ius just talking about mocking up driveshafts/links/etc.

I think he ius just talking about mocking up driveshafts/links/etc.

Exactly, or does that not work? I dont know if the bolt pattern is symetrical or not. I've never worked on nines other then swaps on trucks, so thought I would ask.

Ahh. As far as pinion height goes, yes, everything else, no. Leave the low pinion in normal for side to side housing and axle length measurements. If flipped the pinion is on the wrong side. Also, the bolt pattern is not symetrical. Hope that helps.

This is just my own speculation and observation, but from what I've seen out of 9's, I've seen a lot of blown cases caused by the increased gear deflection because of the angle of the pinion gear to the ring gear. Now maybe this is just with a stock case, but this has been the predominate failure that I've noted while being on this board and while browsing other places. Keep that in mind if you do go towards a 609, there's going to be money thrown into strengthening the case/pinion support, whatever.

How many 60 gearsets do we see blown to pieces here? Even stock ones? IMHO the 60 is the way to go. I truly believe that it is far more reliable and has more pure beef than a 9. The 9 IMHO, of course, is a great axle, but seems to be tempermental, kind of like a rich 19 year old girl. Great to do when she's thinking the same thing you are, but a PITA when she's not and you want some. :smokin:



That's why the drop out third member is a plus, cause the gears are gonna blow up, and when they do, it makes for easy gear set-ups:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

Seriously though, with that size of tire, you can't go wrong with any of the above choices IMO. I would just stay away from high pinion rear axles if you ever think of going bigger than 39's or some V8 power. Few guys in AZ here ran HP rears with their 4.0 I6's and 37's to 39's and then went V8's or 42's and they were soon buying low-pinion rears.

Thanks for the vote of confidence and I know I should be quiet but we have had a couple failures.

We went 150 Hi9's and 2 years without a failure. At that point we purposely let a comp team run 4 aluminum cases. Two in each of their two rigs to see if they could be broken. One aluminum case got ran into a rock and broke and another aluminum case cracked from a bad landing. It turned out to be a good thing since now we knew were one would break which allowed us to make the iron case (which we have never had a case failure with) even better.

We had 2 5.14 gear failures. One that we didn't know where it was going or assemble so we couldn't recommend a better (stronger) ratio and one that had the markings of being ran very low on oil.



Your honesty continues to impress me. With it, your product will continue to get better & better.

That's why the drop out third member is a plus, cause the gears are gonna blow up, and when they do, it makes for easy gear set-ups:flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

Seriously though, with that size of tire, you can't go wrong with any of the above choices IMO. I would just stay away from high pinion rear axles if you ever think of going bigger than 39's or some V8 power. Few guys in AZ here ran HP rears with their 4.0 I6's and 37's to 39's and then went V8's or 42's and they were soon buying low-pinion rears.



HP60's or Truehi9s?

I think there is little strength difference between a high pinion 60 and a true hi 9. A friend of mine runs a HP dana 60 in the front and a True hi 9 in the rear of his buggy with a 400hp LS1 and 39" red label krawlers. He has taken teeth off the ring gear in the 60 and also toasted two 5.14 gear sets in the true hi 9. WOT bouncing off the rev limiter as the tranny shifts into second and then climbs to redline again doesnt help the life of drivetrain parts :D The difference between the two is going to be weight and cost. I would buy a true hi 9 over a 60 after seeing the abuse its held up to plus the lighter weight and clearance favor the 9. I have also seen another guy blow up the ring gear in his Dynatrac high pinion 60 in the rear of his YJ with a 383. Once the 44" boggers finally caught traction clunk clunk clunk was heard through the tire smoke.

AARON

Ahh. As far as pinion height goes, yes, everything else, no. Leave the low pinion in normal for side to side housing and axle length measurements. If flipped the pinion is on the wrong side. Also, the bolt pattern is not symetrical. Hope that helps.



Thanks Truhi. I dont think I'll bother with the boneyard 3rd then. I'll put some overtime in instead and get those tru9's up here sooner.

Thanks again.

MrShoeBoy, that is good info for us and others to have. Check this out.

Gear strength numbers from measurements and applied stresses found on the bottom of this http://www.truehi9.com/gears2.html page.

Strength factors:

Hi9
1 5.38 1.1997
2 4.11 1.020
3 4.86 .9968
4 4.57 .9783
5 5.14 .5430


D60
6 5.13 .5205
7 4.88 .3937

I guess its easy to see why the only Hi9 gears to have broken so far are the 5.14s.

HP60's or Truehi9s?

Didn't want to say cause I wasn't sure and am not gonna spread the muck. I've heard some good stuff about the truehi9's though from the people running them. I know there was atleast 3 of them, 2 were 60's(brand unknown), the other was a 9(brand unknown).

Bought a truehi9 for the rear axle of my YJ running 40" MTR's last spring...it doesn't see the kind of hard comp work that some of these folks are talking about, but we did run it multiple trips in the con and at Moab. We have cracked the stock trussed housing (twice, just welded it up) and will be switching to a spidertrax housing this year.

As far as the product and the vendor...ordering and shipping a custom unit (ARB, gear change, etc.) last spring put the product on my doorstep (across the country) in 4 days. It worked perfectly the first time and continues to work well. The guys answer (often even after hours) the phone and return calls promptly. They support their product and are interested in improving.

My next axle: a spydertrax 609 hybrid with a truehi9, wouldn't have it any other way.

Has anyone ever priced out a Dynatrac Dana 80?? Just wondering what the price was compared to the pro-rock and rock-jock. I think a beefy 9 inch housing trussed with the 40 spline Hi9 center section and some aftermarket 60 C's/Knuckles would be pimp......

No clue on the dana 80.

I have a couple more questions. Im going to hit the junkyard pretty quick here and look for some hubs and shafts.

On the front Im shooting for 65" wms. Anyone know what d60 fronts I should be looking for as donors for my inner shafts?

On the rear. Does it matter matter if I get the hubs off a ff 60, versus a ff 70, or was it just the shafts and spindle bore that changed.

Anyone know of a 64.5, or 65 inch wms 35spline FF d70 to look for?

On the rear, I'll be pounding out the studs and doing chev 3/4 ton disks. Is there a difference between SRW and DRW hubs.

Last one, how far back can I go trying to source F450 stubs to use in the unit bearings I got from spidertrax?

Thanks

Well I got the ball rolling. Even if I am posting to myself it seems, I'll carry this thread through to the end of the builds. Since there seems to be SFA for info on these axles around here.

This is what I've collected so far.............

Below is a shot of 2 spidertrax 3 inch 1/4 wall housings, 1 set of spidertrax V2knuckles and F450 unit bearings drilled for 8 x 6.5, 4 inner seals, and two rockcrusher d60 spindles.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03154.jpg

Spindle close up

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Spindle.jpg

Some of spidertrax's shops welds on the knuckles. Top notch workmanship from these guys

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03161.jpg

The custom inner seal used on these axles.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03158.jpg

Next month I'll bring up the rear hub/slug kit, rear axles, and 1 truhi 3rd w/detroit and 538's.

Then its back to work to save enough to finish off the front. I decided to take my time and build everything from good parts, even though the front will be the right width to accept some inners.

Continue to post the build, please. Very interested (as I noted above) in this exact fronj axle setup. In my near future, for sure.

Yeah, I love the Spider 9s and am suscribed to this thread, so keep it going. I don't have any tech to add, but I would love to build one of these front axles for my TJ.

I have ProRock 60s under my TJ and love them. I used to have a Currie Hi Pinion 9" under the front. Obviouisly the Currie Rock Jock 60 uses an aluminum dif. housing. Most people agree that nodular iron is much stonger especially when the aluminum gets hot. I have heard of people breaking those aluminum center sections quite a bit. Bare in mind that with Curries standard hi9, they use 3" diameter .188 wall tubes. Think about that !. A dana 35 housing and a dana 30 housing use 2.5" diameter, .25 thick wall tubes but the Currie axle uses .188 thick wall tubes which is obviously about 25% thinner walls then the factory axles tubes. Granted, the 3" diameter of the Currie 9" provides about 50% more stifness or resistence to bending as compared to the Dana 30 or 35, but what happens if you slam that .188 wall tubing on a big rock......good chance you will dent it and then you have a weak stop that could bend. .188 tubing is probably fine for hot rods, but way to thin for playing in the rocks IMO. Currie will build the 9" with thicker wall tubing, but its not their standard package and I think you can only go as high as .375 wall tubing. ProRock 60 is 3.5" diameter .50 wall tubing. Also, Currie just recently come out with what they call their "Iron Jock" which is nodular iron. So, is this an admission that the aluminum center section is weaker? If the Aluminum Rock Jock is as strong as say a ProRock 60, then why do they need the new "Iron Jock"? Plus, the front Rock Jock is close to $8000 and you can get a front ProRock for about $6400 with a detroit but that is with alloy shafts not 4340 chromoly. The Tera Flex CDR 60 is good value IMO, a little over $5000 for front and close to same price for the rear with detroit and I think you get Chromoly shafts. I am running 37" Iroks with 5.13 gears and I am glad I went with more gear instead of say 4.88 gears.

Just my thoughts

Rock On

Ted

Wish i had a limitless supply of cash!:D

Keep posting on the buildup, its allways good to see what other people are doing.

How much were those rockcrusher spindles? Would they take standard front 60 hubs or just rear hubs?

Kevo

I would build some Rockcrushers (Solid Axle now). Lots of them around here and they work well

Wish i had a limitless supply of cash!:D

Me too. That way I wouldnt have had to build 5 rigs this year to pay for my junk :) :) But Im patient. I just want to build the last big parts I'll ever need for my rig.


How much were those rockcrusher spindles? Would they take standard front 60 hubs or just rear hubs?

Kevo

The spindles are really resonable at 92$ a pop. They except front chev 60 hubs, or rear 14bolts. I was going to junkyard some of that stuff, but changed my mind and am now savin up for RockCrusher rear hub kit. For 750, you get spindles, hubs, slugs, brake brackets, and a few other odds an ends.

You can really do the hubs cheap with boneyard 14b's, but then you shafts get a little more pricy and hard to get due to custom cuttin 35 spline on one end, and 14b on the other.

Doing it yourself, these things actually work out to be pretty cheap compared to a lot of crate axles out there.

After selling my original axles for 4k Canadian, I'll be spending less then 5k Canadian to build both axles with all aftermarket parts.

Not that bad IMO.

I have ProRock 60s under my TJ and love them. I used to have a Currie Hi Pinion 9" under the front. Obviouisly the Currie Rock Jock 60 uses an aluminum dif. housing. Most people agree that nodular iron is much stonger especially when the aluminum gets hot. I have heard of people breaking those aluminum center sections quite a bit. Bare in mind that with Curries standard hi9, they use 3" diameter .188 wall tubes. Think about that !. A dana 35 housing and a dana 30 housing use 2.5" diameter, .25 thick wall tubes but the Currie axle uses .188 thick wall tubes which is obviously about 25% thinner walls then the factory axles tubes. Granted, the 3" diameter of the Currie 9" provides about 50% more stifness or resistence to bending as compared to the Dana 30 or 35, but what happens if you slam that .188 wall tubing on a big rock......good chance you will dent it and then you have a weak stop that could bend. .188 tubing is probably fine for hot rods, but way to thin for playing in the rocks IMO. Currie will build the 9" with thicker wall tubing, but its not their standard package and I think you can only go as high as .375 wall tubing. ProRock 60 is 3.5" diameter .50 wall tubing. Also, Currie just recently come out with what they call their "Iron Jock" which is nodular iron. So, is this an admission that the aluminum center section is weaker? If the Aluminum Rock Jock is as strong as say a ProRock 60, then why do they need the new "Iron Jock"? Plus, the front Rock Jock is close to $8000 and you can get a front ProRock for about $6400 with a detroit but that is with alloy shafts not 4340 chromoly. The Tera Flex CDR 60 is good value IMO, a little over $5000 for front and close to same price for the rear with detroit and I think you get Chromoly shafts. I am running 37" Iroks with 5.13 gears and I am glad I went with more gear instead of say 4.88 gears.

Just my thoughts

Rock On

Ted



Ted, As far as the Currie Rock Jock weaker than a ProRock well...... everyone has their own opinion. As far as Rock Jocks breaking "quite a bit" I like to see a picture of a broke one. As far as I know the Rock Jock is not recommended for really heavy rigs (4k +), it was design and build with lighter weight rigs in mind. As far as the Iron Jock goes I think is a big assuption to say that their is something wrong with the aluminum center section that is why the have an iron one. Some people will not buy the Rock Jock just because it is aluminum even if they like the design. So why not offer another product for the people that have a heavy rig and do not like aluminum. If you were building a light weight rig how would you like to save 50 lbs on a center cention alone!!!! Rock Jock 35 lbs VS Pro Rock 85 lbs.
I believe this is more a case of using the right part for the propper application.

awsome axles keep the pictures coming.

Another qucik question. Just to confirm, there is no crosspin in a 9" detroit right?

Be nice to be able to pound a busted shaft out from the other end if a guy where ever in that predicament.

Ted, As far as the Currie Rock Jock weaker than a ProRock well...... everyone has their own opinion. As far as Rock Jocks breaking "quite a bit" I like to see a picture of a broke one. As far as I know the Rock Jock is not recommended for really heavy rigs (4k +), it was design and build with lighter weight rigs in mind. As far as the Iron Jock goes I think is a big assuption to say that their is something wrong with the aluminum center section that is why the have an iron one. Some people will not buy the Rock Jock just because it is aluminum even if they like the design. So why not offer another product for the people that have a heavy rig and do not like aluminum. If you were building a light weight rig how would you like to save 50 lbs on a center cention alone!!!! Rock Jock 35 lbs VS Pro Rock 85 lbs.
I believe this is more a case of using the right part for the propper application.


Granted, coming out with the "Iron Jock" is probably not an admission on the part of Currie that nodular iron is stonger..........that would be a stretch, but rather most likely an effort to be competitive with the other nodular 60's available. However, IMO the .188 wall tubing on the Hi 9" is a poor choice as their standard tubing for their 9". The 9" I purchased was $5000. How much more would it have cost Currie to use say .375 wall tube or maybe even .25 wall tubing? Probably not but a couple of bucks cost to them. Also do you really want to start welding on that .188 wall tubeing? What if you want switch the axle from a TJ to a YJ and you have to cut off all the pirches and brackets and weld on new ones. .188 wall tube is not much material to work with. A Currie management representative relayed a story to me in which a jeep was running one if their 9" axle in a front application of a mud racing vehicle. The vehicle got extremely stuck so they took a chain rapped it around the axle tube and hooked it up to a Front End Loader and pulled the vehicle out. In doing so, they bent the 9" .188 inch tube. Granted, they should have hooked up to the frame, but had that been a tube from a 60 most likely they would have pealed off a control arm bracket way before they bent the tube. Why not make it stupid strong when it doesn't cost anymore or take more time? After all, when it comes to breaking stuff, few sub-cultures are more creative than hardcore offroaders. IMO, Currie just doesn't build their stuff strong enough.

Ted

Great story Ted.

Any chance you ran a detroit in that 9", and did it have a center pin ???:laughing: :laughing:

Hey Bnine, are you wondering if a detroit for a 9" has a center pin, because I thought I read that you were? :D :D

The 35 spline 9" Detroit is open inside. So yes, pushing an axle out should be easy. :)

On the left side, of the second pic up from the bottom of this http://www.truehi9.com/thrustblock2.html page, is a 35 spline 9" Detroit.

Bnine,
This is bellocchi. :flipoff2:
anyways, have you checked out the iron jock? or are you looking for weight savings by going with the rock jock....? is this going in the rubi?

edit: excuse my ignorance, i didnt read the whole thread.

TrueHi9: It occurs to me that if all vendors were as honest, open, and forthcoming about the perceived defects in their products, then I and (how many?) others wouldn't be heading to Dothan, AL at the end of this month. I look forward to dealing with you when it's time to go HP on my Currie 9s. ('Happy to do that testing for you on your improved aluminum centers in my DD TJ, BTW. :wink:)

In my opinion currie makes ambitious products that don,t hold up well over time and the parts for repair are proprietary. I have run lots of axles that I pieced together thinking of the money and it never paid off till I scrapped up enough for my rear tera cdr60 I've been running it real hard for almost two years with minimal service and no problems I will definitely be upgrading the front to the same btw I am running 39.5s and 4.88s

I would build some Rockcrushers (Solid Axle now). Lots of them around here and they work well

I went through that. It would cost me almost as much for the front axle as it does for two 609's, and, a well built rockcrusher front weighs in at 700lbs.

My 609 will be lucky to break 350.

I weighed my knuckles with the unit bearings attached last night.

50lbs per side, for 100 total
Housing will be 50lbs once its cut
According to Truhi, 9" 3rd with detroit, 70lbs on the hi side
brakes, 50lbs
axles, 40lbs, call it 50 with slugs?

Thats 310lbs, another 40lbs in some light trussing and link tabs is generous.

A 609 on 37's has the pumkin clearence of a 60 on 40's. Half the weight. About 2 3rds the cost.

Once these guys showed me the 609's and I started researching, the decision was pretty easy.

The 35 spline 9" Detroit is open inside. So yes, pushing an axle out should be easy. :)

On the left side, of the second pic up from the bottom of this http://www.truehi9.com/thrustblock2.html page, is a 35 9" spline Detroit.

Thanks Truhi, as usual.

First order for a 3rd is coming next week.

Ordered my rear axles, hubs, and 3rd member yesterday. The rar should be going together by the end of the month.

In the mean time, anyone want to drop some tips on welding the Chromo spindles into the non chromo steel tubes?

Anyone here ever do these? How much interference did you use? 5 thou sound good? We are going to turn the inside of the axle tubes a few thou to true them up a bit, then turn the spindles down to match. Just wondering what a good interference fit would be to go with.

Also, another qucik question. How much play do I want in a full float shaft? 1/4" ok?

In my opinion currie makes ambitious products that don,t hold up well over time and the parts for repair are proprietary. I have run lots of axles that I pieced together thinking of the money and it never paid off till I scrapped up enough for my rear tera cdr60 I've been running it real hard for almost two years with minimal service and no problems I will definitely be upgrading the front to the same btw I am running 39.5s and 4.88s

That's a great opinion, why don't you get back to me when you actually run some of their stuff?

I've been running an aluminum Rock Jock in the rear with 4:88's and Red Label Krawlers in the 39" flavor in JV exclusively for the last two years plus and have had exactly zero issues with it.

As far as proprietary goes. That is in response to the majority of their customers requesting the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern on most of their "proprietary" junk. I know I have no interest in running 8 lug stuff when I already own two sets of 5 hole beadlocks.

I've also been running one of the 609's in the front with it's poor pathetic little .188 wall tubes that I welded brackets onto and have had exactly the same service out of it. Flawless.

Almost forgot, I'm also running their aluminum knuckles.

BTW Zach, I'd like to see a picture of what happened to the truss on that axle that stripped out the tubes. The one that goes from side to side that bolts up to the welded lugs to slow the tube spin down.

Ordered my rear axles, hubs, and 3rd member yesterday. The rar should be going together by the end of the month.

In the mean time, anyone want to drop some tips on welding the Chromo spindles into the non chromo steel tubes?

Anyone here ever do these? How much interference did you use? 5 thou sound good? We are going to turn the inside of the axle tubes a few thou to true them up a bit, then turn the spindles down to match. Just wondering what a good interference fit would be to go with.

Also, another qucik question. How much play do I want in a full float shaft? 1/4" ok?

If you tig it, don't use Chromolly tig rod. Use whatever you would use for mild steel. We've found that the tig has a tendency to crack down the middle of the weld if you mix metals. The normal tig rod and normal mig wire seem to do much better.

On that diameter of stuff, it's going to be pretty hard to press in with that much interference fit. Back it down to about .003 or so. You might get by with .005 if you heat the tube. Your weld will take care of holding it in, the fit is just for alignment.

Thanks for popping in, and for the advice Blaine.

Good point on the alignment, no point in bustin our nuts on that if we dont need to.

So I was over at Bnine's house last night and those housings and knuckles are freakin' AWESOME and they have a very nice bling factor to them too. I can't wait to see the 3rd members

Have have two buddies one with rock jocks front and rear and the other has pro rocks front and rear. neither have had a problem with either. I have seen rock jocks have sealing problems. when currie was pressing the tube in they made a deep score on the aluminum which allowed the gear oil just to leak out at a good rate. I personally like rock jocks and prorocks but if i was going to put one under my rig it would definitely be the pro rocks just for strength of the housing

if you want a super stout axle that will "never" break get a front dana 80 from dynatrac that would be nuts

Last big decision I need to make.

A hi 9 rear pinion is 2 an 1/8" offset. If I run equal length shafts, that mean my pinion will not be center and I will be compounding two angles.

If I center my pinion, I cant run equal length shafts, which would be a nice plus for shit like carrying spares.

Not having anyexperience with a pinion offset that far, I dont know how bad it would be.

Vertical angle will be a minimum because of ride and driveshaft height. With my wheelbase stretched 6 inches, and a yoke conversion on my t-case, I should get about 20-22 inches of driveshaft.

My rig wont see a lot of road duty, but a little here and there wont be out of the question either.

Anyone run this much offset on a pinion and get away with it?

I've gotten away with .5- maybe 1 inch on 44's and 8.8's I've set up on short shafts around 16 inches long, but never pushed it this far.

If anyone can shed some light on this one, it would be greatly appreciated.

The ability to run equal lengths would be nice. Also cheaper since I can get them off the shelf in the width Im shooting for. No special request.

Thanks

Maybe an answer (3rd item down in the link):

http://www.oramagazine.com/pastIssues/0806-issue/index.asp?article=drivetrainbg

Universal Cut-To-Fit Axles From Currie
Currie has developed a universal axle that fabrication shops can easily cut to the proper length to fit most popular applications. Called the Currie 9+ Universal Cut-To-Fit (CTF), the axles are made from 1541 forged induction heat-treated alloy. The secret is an exclusive “long-spline” design that allows the tips to be cut to the desired length. The outside end of each axle has a multi-pattern design. Just press the studs into the correct bolt-circle pattern and the axle is ready to be installed. For more information, call Currie at 714-528-6957 or go to www.currieenterprises.com.

My dad had a 61 Scout with an offset xfer case and centered rear diff. If memory serves me right the offset was 6" or better. He did go through a few u joints but it was a heavy pig with a worked over 327.

Perhaps give Jesse a call at high angel driveline and see what he thinks.

Thanks guys.

My local driveline shop guys gave me the vodoo sign then started mumbling about bad juju an shit like I was cursed, but I do know guys have done.

Would just like to get an idea how bad it will really be.

Maybe I'll call Jesse.

Hey Bnine, I am running a couple inches with my 8.8 in the rear and no problems what so ever. I would say as long as you are within a couple inches you will be okay because that is only about 6* offset, especially since you will be running larger u-joints

Thanks mang, sounds promising.

I'm not saying it will or won't work but here's I few things I've seen.

I've have seen lots of 4 cyl. circle track cars running about a 20 to 24 inch driveshaft with approximately 2 inches up and down and 6 inches side to side offset at 7000 to 8000 rpm without having any problems.

I've seen people run steering shaft u-joints at some crazy angles and if phased right it seems fine, no speed or power involved but still a u-joint system.

I'm trying to imagine in my head the vehicle on a big rotissere(sp?) like used in a paint booth, put the driveshaft in offset up and down and side to side, rotate the vehicle so the shafts angle is only up and down, are the u-joints "seeing" anything different. I'm not 100% sure.

I am pretty sure you wouldn't want to be running any type of cv though.

Both driveshaft shops where I'm at are not very sharp at all so I'd second giving Jess a call or Jim at J.E.Reel.

Thanks Truehi. My 3rd member go out the door yet? :) :) :)

Talked to Jess, got the answers I pretty much expected. If I dont mind a bit of vibes, and my rig is a trailor queen for the most part, it will likely be livable.

I dont know if I'd get away without a CV. Even with the hi pinion.

Looks like it is in Spokane Washington.

Nice !!!

Thanks :bounce2: :bounce2: :bounce2:

I went through this driveline issue with a scout 44 in a CJ7. Jess told me that u-joints are designed to offset only in one direction at a time (up and down in the usual configuration, right?), but that they can offset about 1" in the other direction for each 20" of driveshaft length.

The CJ is running 1 1/4" of offset with a 26" driveshaft and has no problems that I can detect.

Nice. I know I'll be pushing, but she wont be on the road much anyways. Just the odd cruise in the summer.

Where are you guys ordering custom front inner shafts for these Spider9/Hi9/D60 deals?

Where are you guys ordering custom front inner shafts for these Spider9/Hi9/D60 deals?

Dutchman, using Superior domestic shafts.

www.dutchmanms.com (http://www.dutchmanms.com)

Probably superior for me.

You can save some dollars with Alloy if you want to go that route.

If you can build the right width, and offset, you dont need custom jobbies. Just d60 35 spline inners for the proper application.

Im hoping to go that route so I can use stock outers for all my mawk up, then throw them in the trailer box for spares if I ever need them.

d60 inners are a dime a dozen here at the truck pnp, only hard one will be if I need the shorty 78 ford inner. We'll see.

Seeings how this thread has alot of 609 talk in it, heres a link to a pair I bought for my wifes buggy.... I was planning on building them but found a set for sale and jumped on them...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=274192&stc=1&d=1168742374

Link to thread..

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=530114

Link to another 60 vs. 9" article..

http://performanceunlimited.com/illustrations/gears.html

Link to the buildup of the axles I bought..

http://www.geocities.com/bbuiltparts/Front_hybridAxle_Article.html?999474575816

Nice build so far Bnine.... Hows the winter up there right now?

Chris:cool2:

Having seen that particular brand of gear case in person I can tell you that it is killer stout.

Kool man :smokin:

Seeings how this thread has alot of 609 talk in it, heres a link to a pair I bought for my wifes buggy.... I was planning on building them but found a set for sale and jumped on them...

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=274192&stc=1&d=1168742374

Link to thread..

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=530114

Link to another 60 vs. 9" article..

http://performanceunlimited.com/illustrations/gears.html

Link to the buildup of the axles I bought..

http://www.geocities.com/bbuiltparts/Front_hybridAxle_Article.html?999474575816

Nice build so far Bnine.... Hows the winter up there right now?

Chris:cool2:

Nice, thanks for the links Chris. Some good reading there.

Parts to finish the rear should be here next week. Then I cut the housing, true them a few thou, turn the spindles down, measure shit a million times then put it together.

I'll take lots of shots and put them up here.

hey billy iam running about 4" offset in my cherokee when i had it and noproblem at all the shaft was a little longer than yours but drove back and forth to work 15 miles everyday and no issues . in the new rig iam offset about 3" and havent had any issues yet . but havent drove it either .

Cool, thanks Jay.

Slowest build in history continues :D

Got a few more parts in. Hoping to start assembling the rear axle over the next few weeks. I'll take shots and get into detail when I do.

Here's the Truhi 9 third member, loaded with 538's and a 35 spline detroit locker.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03216.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03217.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03218.jpg

Here are the rear hubs I'll be using. These are aftermarket chev dana 60 front hubs built by Rockcrusher (now Solid). The hub kit comes with hubs, 35spline slugs with hardware, disk brake brackets, spindles, spindle nuts with retainers.

I need to by stock bearings, seals, and brack calipers to finish it off.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03219.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03220.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03221.jpg

I had equal length superior 35spline shafts show up as well. I'll get some shots of those when I start mawking things up.

That drive flange is hell for stout. First RC stuff I've seen with the new Solid logo.

Keep posting please, I am starting a Spidertrax 609 build (just ordered parts) and am interested to learn from your build.

That drive flange is hell for stout. First RC stuff I've seen with the new Solid logo.

Keep posting please, I am starting a Spidertrax 609 build (just ordered parts) and am interested to learn from your build.

Will do

I layed everything for the rear out, and weighed each peice individually. Total weight for everything seen came in just under 245lbs. Im guessing another 80-110 lbs in brakes and bracketry by the time Im done. Cant beleive how light it all works out to be.

Couldnt resist, had to throw the 3rd member in .


http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03223.jpg


http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03224.jpg

You'll probably be done sooner then me if you already ordered parts Resg. I have a stupid amount of work ahead of my shit right now.

Your allowed to bring that in the house eh? :)

Gotta swing by and check it out,

-Joe

Your allowed to bring that in the house eh? :)

Gotta swing by and check it out,

-Joe

Not without some groveling :D :D

In my opinion currie makes ambitious products that don,t hold up well over time and the parts for repair are proprietary. I have run lots of axles that I pieced together thinking of the money and it never paid off till I scrapped up enough for my rear tera cdr60 I've been running it real hard for almost two years with minimal service and no problems I will definitely be upgrading the front to the same btw I am running 39.5s and 4.88s


So are you running 39.5's on what front axle now?

You'll probably be done sooner then me if you already ordered parts Resg. I have a stupid amount of work ahead of my shit right now.

Ordered everything at the same time. Spidertrax is supposedly two weeks away on the housing and will send it all once that is done, the rest of the parts are in stock.

The TrueHi9 was on my doorstep 3 days after I ordered it :eek:

I'm gonna have to fit mine in too, timewise. Ordered an outboard kit from BTF at the same time, so I gotta work on that first.

Lookin' good! :D

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03224.jpg



Hey bnine, nice build. I'm thinking of using those rear spindles as well. Do they press into the tube or get butt welded to the end? (I'm guessing turned to diameter on a lathe and pressed).

Exactly, turn em and press em in. Hoping to do mine on sunday, depending on if my freinds lathe is free or not.

So, you get these started?

-Joseph bag'o'donuts

Pounded all the races into the rear hubs last night, and took a shitload of measurements.

Hit 1 road block in that the outer wheel bearing wont slide over the spindle. My shitty caliper says the inner race is 2 thou smaller then the spindle.

Might end up turning the spindle down a few thou to make things fit right.

The plan is to run greased full float in the rear, so cooking the bearing on is not really an option, and I dont want to turn the bearing race out, then have to have bearings turned everytime I re do them. grrrr

I'll snap progress shots tonight.

Ya may even be able to emery cloth that small amount off. Stick it in the lathe and spin er with the cloth. It might be a pain to get the spindle centered perfectly for cutting.

Just a thought. :)

Thanks Hi9. Thats actually exactly what we ended up doing and it worked perfect.

Having a machinist for a freind comes in pretty handy. Things are coming together, I'll get some pictures up soon.

I think you shipped my front 3rd out last week :D:D

Did I miss what your WMS is going to be?

64.5 out back, and Im shooting for right around 65 up front.

Maybe by sometime next year :mr-t:

Nice. I like that tube truss, clean and simple.

Ok, so I've made a bit of progress.

Pounded the races in sunday night. Solids tolerances are ultra tight, and I spent nearly an hour pounding in 4 races. At least no fear of spinning them.

Normal d60 front hub, 1 race in the rear, 1 in the front.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03634.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03633.jpg

Monday took every thing up to my friends pump shop where we measured for an hour and a half and then finally cut the housing down. Kind of a measure 10 times cut once method :D

I still have more pictures to get into photobucket regarding the measuring process. I’ll get those up as soon as I can.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03637.jpg

Basically, we assembled the fullfloat hub, spindle, and drive slug.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03632.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03635.jpg

Knowing we are going to run 2.5 inches of interference between the housing and spindle, we measured total depth of to the inside of the slug cap, and subtracted 2.5 inches, and added 1/16 for some clearance.

For the carrier, we measured from the inside of the splines, to the face of the spanners. One side is around 3”, the other is around 4.5.

Knowing those 2 measurements, and total shaft length (35”), we installed the carrier and measured from the face of the spanners to the end of the tube.

(I’ll fill in with more pics later)

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03636.jpg

Subracted carrier depth, and hub depth from total shaft. Subtract that measurement from the spanner face/tube end measurement and you are left with how much tube to cut.

We used a band saw to get perfectly square cuts within 1/32 of an inch.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03640.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03639.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03638.jpg

I’ll leave out exact measurements, since anyone that does this will need to do their own anyways.

Tonight we are turning down the spindles and prepping the welding. Luckily another friend of mine that is a pressure welder volunteered to weld these in his booth at work using a rotary table, putting in a tig root, and a stick cap.

Most likely we are going a bit overboard with the amount of detail and precision we are putting into this, but we have the equipment and knowledge available so why not?

After tonight I will post up more pictures of the measurements, spindles, and welding prep.

Im sure you can do all this at home with a chopsaw and welder. The only thing you would need to send out would be the spindle turning.

Also starting to really learn where the cost savings is in these axles. Paying a shop to build these would run into a lot of money Im thinking. We took our time, but still, it was almost 4 hours to clean up spindle threads, pound races, assemble a hub, take measurements, and bandsaw the housing.

Maybe by sometime next year :mr-t:

Looks like a factory housing with GM 60 outers? How did you attatch the C's? What's the WMS distance?

Ok, minor update.

First, I screwed up my measurement by 1.5", but it worked out ok. Im going to cut the driverside shaft down and run a centered pinion now. I could pull both spindles and get to original width, but Im liking the idea of a better driveline angle.

Got the spindles turned down and beveled. We turned until we had 1 thou of interence (bigger) then the smallest diameter in the axle tube.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03641.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03642.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03644.jpg

Original comparison

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03646.jpg

Beveled the axle tubes by hand with a grinder.

Heated the axle tube to 250 using a rose bud and a heat pencil (wax pen that melts at 250) and dropped the spindles in.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03655.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03654.jpg

Assembled a hub and drive slug

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03657.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03660.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03662.jpg

Shot of my final width with the spindles in and hubs on. You can see the shaft I need to trim sticking out of the driverside hub.

Total weight right now is right around 200lbs

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03666.jpg

Nice!!

Nice tech!


and nice axle too!:smokin:

Ok, minor update.

First, I screwed up my measurement by 1.5", but it worked out ok. Im going to cut the driverside shaft down and run a centered pinion now. I could pull both spindles and get to original width, but Im liking the idea of a better driveline angle.

Got the spindles turned down and beveled. We turned until we had 1 thou of interence (bigger) then the smallest diameter in the axle tube.



What was the O.D. on the spindle before you turned it down?

Just slightly smaller then the the 3" od of my tubes, Im going to say right around 2.75".

There is still some left, if I remember I'll caliper it and check for sure.

That original spindle diameter is only about an 8th of an inch small then the 3" tube od.

Got the spindles welded in last night with a friend at the shop where he works.

Got some pics I will try to get up later. Camera is not working to hot these days.

Spindles welded up.

Rotating table we used

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03695.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03694.jpg

My buddy did 3 passes total. A tig root, stick fill, and a stick cap. These basterds are stuck good :D:D

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC03706.jpg

Thats it for a little while until I get more front components, and my rear back half from BTF. Unless I get motivated and do the brakes sooner.

Well, I got everything put together for the brakes. I've learned a shitload of usefull tips on searching down this stuff.............

There are 2 ways to go with brakes on these. 1 is all spydertrax willwood stuff, which is big dollars, and requires 17" wheels. At one point I almost went that route on the front, but have 16's, so no go.

So just a reminder. If you are doing spyder 9's, using their unit bearings, and want their brakes, you need 17's.

For the front, I ended up with a 2003, f250 Rotor. None of the chev rotors, to go with my calipers fit of the the unit bearing.

The f250 rotor needed to be turned down 55 thou, and the bolt holes need to be opened up a size or two to fit of the 8 x 6.5 pattern Im using.

The f250 Rotor registers perfectly on the center of the f450 unit bearing, so a little slop in the lug holes is a none issue.

This all took me about 2 hours in a parts store, pulling rotors and test fitting, trying to find something that worked.

The rear. Only thing that complicated the rear was trying to find an oldschool chev caliper (7.03" mount style) with a smaller piston then the standard 77 K whatever, which has a 2.75 inch piston.

I could find shitloads of metric (eldorado) style GM calipers with a smaller piston, but getting 8 lug rotors is a bitch.

Finally after a few days of looking around, I found GM3 calipers from wilwood (7.03" mount style), aluminum calipers with a 2 3/8" piston for 100$ a pop.

Grand total for brakes front and rear came in pretty respectible at around 600$. 100 of that is core on the GM calipers that I bought from scratch. New ones from now on are 26$ instead of 79.

My camera shit the bed, so no pics for a while. Once I actually get some of this stuff together I'll update with pics.

Cool to see yours coming together, bnine. I'm about as far along on my front 609 spidertrax build. Check progress in my sig link.

Nice, I've been looking for updates on yours from time to time.

I didnt realize that knuckle had a bit of play for the camber. I like the jig idea.

What width you end up with there?

Right at 63" wms to wms. If you look at the rig, it's a pretty old school CJ7, so 63 is pretty wide.

In a perfect world there wouldn't be any play and the friction fit of the knuckle to the tube would make the camber perfect. In reality the knuckles are machine with in a thousandth of the size of the tube, so they are fairly tight, but imperfections on the surface (scratches and the like) and the weight of the knuckle itself will drive the camber. Both sides were negative about 1/4 to 1/2 a degree. With the vice grips on the jig, they straightened right up to 0.

I'm at work for a couple of days, but should get brakes done, and maybe axles in the next few days. It is possible I could have it running for the weekend, though that's pushing it a mite.

Awsome.

Where you able to get any stock inner lengths, or strictly cut to fit, and will order all custom?

Strictly cut to fit,and they're gonna be Spidertrax 2 piece prototypes. I'll posta pic when I get them. Talked to Tom on Friday and he said they will "probably" get here on Wednseday.

Right now what is driving the speed at which I will finish is the steering box is at Howe getting stops put in it. I mocked up the steering while everything was tacked up. Also waiting for the Ram to come back with limiters in it.

Wicked.

My stubs are sitting at Northridge right now. But I dont know inner lengths yet, so need to get those measurements, then let Tom know.

Talk about the bling on those shafts eh? :D:D:D

Im going full hydro, so should hopefully be able to get as close to the full 50 degrees of steering as I can.

You have a rough weight of your front right now as it sits? Im thinking mine will weight in at the 350-375 mark complete, but not to sure. The OEM brakes might push me over a bit.

Have no idea on the weight, but definitely plan on getting that one piece at a time before I assemble it. I'll post it when I get it.

I'm using wilwood four piston brakes, building my own caliper mounts, and using a re-drilled chevy rotor so I can re-use my 15" wheels and 37's. Next year's project is flared tube fenders from TNT customs and 40" tires, so I'll switch to the big Spidertrax rotors then.

And yeah, the Spidertrax axles are pimpin' :grinpimp:

I couldnt find a chev rotor that would fit both over the 5" center register, and fit over the wheel mount flange. Your flange is cut down from original I take it?

Have you already done the rotors?

Oh yeah, I see on your page the flange is cut down.

I took about 20 thousandths off the flange and 20 thousandths off the inside of the rotor.

Napa part# 85965, and my mistake...it's a '87 Suzuki Samurai rotor.

All done and they fit. Still haven't done the caliper mount, but that will be tomorrow, I believe.

Sounds like you are set.

Pretty cool that no two of these axles ever get set up the same :D:D

Great tech guys, I am watching these builds closely. Anyways just letting you know I appreciate the updates.

Thanks.

To answer your question, bnine, the finished product including all unsprung weight except tires and wheels will be 348 pounds.

Nice. I guess I was pretty close thinking around 375 for mine all done.

Probably push closer to 400 I guess, due to full hydro ram, link mounts, and the slightly heavier brakes.

Im still not complaining. My freinds RC 60 is 750lbs!!!!!!!!!

Well I’m finally back at it.

Still waiting on rear calipers for my axle but I’ve been busy in the meantime.

Got the rig ready to mack up the axle. Threw the tires on, centered everything, and set the wheels at the wheelbase I am shooting for.

I’ll be building link tabs, truss, and finishing off the brakes shortly.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00005.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00004.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00003.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00007.jpg http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00013.jpg

14 inches to the base of the pumpkin on 38’s. Gotta like it.

Set up BTF’s rear frame kit and poly’s rear link mounts. Going to make for a really clean set up back there.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00006.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00008.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/DSC00009.jpg

I didn't know you were going to link it...cool:smokin: Mine's done and rolling. Hitting the Rubicon this week for Jamboree. I'll let you know how the finished product works.

Nice, cant wait to see it. With about 3 months to go, I definately envy you getting out there already.

Make sure to get lots of shots and putem up here.

With the BTF back half kit, can you still use the stock tank? Or is that no longer a possibility?

I considered it on my build, but with the design I thought for sure I would then need to figure out something else for the tank.

Stock tank would likely have to go in the backseat.

Im using a fuel cell like Redmist did, in the "fuel cell in a TJ" thread.

Stock tank would likely have to go in the backseat.

Im using a fuel cell like Redmist did, in the "fuel cell in a TJ" thread.

That's what I figured. With the rails being closer together, I was sure the tank would no longer fit. I can't have a tank in the back. My son sits back there and needs the seat. Believe it or not, even with the 1 ton's, stretch, coil overs, 39's, etc. my Rubicon is still a road rig. I also pull a 3klb travel trailer with it for camping or events :grinpimp:

Definately check out redmist's fuel cell then if you have a chance. Its really affordable, and still allows for a rear seat.

Ok, new camera, and some new progress.

I finished the T-case cross member. Pretty basic idea. Take a stock mount and weld some bushing tube sleeves to it. Build arm type tabs to connect to the bushing sleeves. Run tubing to the frame, with unions so it all comes apart.

Simple, strong, and effective.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture031.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture033.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture034.jpg

Side profile of everything tucked. I will finished it off with a 1/4" plate re enforced bolted into the stock holes.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture035.jpg

Lower links are built and installed on the axle.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture028.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture027.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture026.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture030.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/Picture029.jpg

Upper links are built and resting on the axle right now, I just havnt uploaded the picks yet.

That looks nice!

bnine, any updates yet?

Finished the rear links last week, and got the driveshaft in, but not a lot else going on right now.

We have a multiclub run this weekend, so I had a few rigs at my house for the last week getting them ready for that.

Picked up 300 feet of tubing to start caging, shock hoops, and fenders as soon as I get back from the club run.

I'll update everything with pictures next week.

Got back to my own stuff this week.

Soon as I finish this cage I am going to tackle the front axle.

Almost done the cage. Thought I would throw up a few pics.

Started the progress shots a bit late, but you can get the idea. I still need to finish the overheads, tie in the seats, and do the frame tie ins. I'll update with those pics later on.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9020211.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9020210.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9020212.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9020209.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9020208.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9060221.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9060218.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/P9060217.jpg

nice...

Here's some more. Pretty much done now. Start the front 609 tomorrow.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9070224-1.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9070222.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9070224.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9070230.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9070229.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9070227.jpg

Here's some more. Pretty much done now. Start the front 609 tomorrow.

Praise the Lord. :smokin:

Fawk Billy, looks good!! Any pics of your seat mounting? Or any pics of you going thru the dash up front??

-Joe

I finished the 90's for the seats last night. I'll snap a few shots today.

Cool to see it coming together. I'm stealing the hoop idea for a cage I am building now, gonna do two, one facing forward, one facing back for a family cage on a mildly built 7.

Ironically, I am in the middle of ordering all the stuff for a rear 9...spidertrax housing and ends, 450 bearings, Wilwood brakes, truehi9, etc.

I'll post it when I start on it.

BTW, my front has two straight weeks in the Rubicon (probably ran it both ways 4 or 5 times during that period) and some other minor runs on it without a burp. You're gonna love it.

Sounds like you are hooked on these axles now :D:D

Some minor progress on the front end here. I'm kind of stuck at this point until I get a driveshaft and some more joints. I used my latest up building a bunch of arms for people, but pick up more this friday.

I will have to look closer at your jig. I've noticed that camber you were talking about. Anyways. Once I get there. Today I just mawked stuff for the driveshaft.

First I just layed everything out. Then split on of the knuckle sets apart to get the inner C ready for install.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080235.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080236.jpg


Stock 760 versus a D60 CTM !!. CTM wins by a lil bit. :wink:
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080239.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080238.jpg

Spydertrax new 2 peice shaft. The yokes are machine billet seperate from the shafts. You buy the yokes and order whatever length full float shaft you want to install in them.

The machining of the yokes allows for stronger ears due to more material then the forged versions. thre's been a CTM or two buste, and replaced on these yokes with no noticable damage.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080237.jpg

Dads helper teaching dad how to install a 3rd member :) :)

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080232.jpg

When doing a custom front axle, everything has to be built around the drive shaft. Auto guys have it worse then the manual set ups due to the wide tranny pan. Once you have the drive shaft set, you can play with steering and width from there.

I set the pinion in line with the T-case output, and then consertively chopped some meat off the short side to start mawk up.

The spydertrax inner C is desinged to be a light press fit over the axle tube. I rubbed the tube down with a flap disk to make a little clearence, but it still takes a lot of convincing with a deadblow to get that inner C on there. You want that tight fit, and dont want to over clearence to the point that your inner C is sloppy.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080256.jpg

I made a dummy driveshaft just for fitting things up. All I did was rub down some 1.5" DOM, and slide it into a peice of 1.75" 120 wall DOM

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080276.jpg

Fit the ends up on the yoke nuts, and started checking pinion position.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080279.jpg

Here, we are to close to the exhaust header.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080280.jpg

Here looks about right. I wont really know until I get links in and cycle the suspension. But this is a good starting point. I will probably go with a 1.5" heavy wall driveshaft anyhow, just to give me that little extra.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080281.jpg

From there I could start to play with width and knuckle mounting.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080264.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9080262.jpg

This is a little wide at 68" WMS, but it did allow for full use of the 50 degree steering radius of the spydertrax knucle with 38 x 14.5's.

Looks broken doesnt it :) :)

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/CopyofP9080272.jpg

Thats all for now.

I have some other projects this week, but will be back at it shortly.

Looks broken doesnt it :) :)

Looks perfect to me, just like home:grinpimp:

If you want the jig dimensions, or even to borrow it, we can work that out. It will only work if you are running 3/8" wall tube in your housing.

You are gonna love that front end!

Thanks bud. I went 1/4 wall, but Im sure I can make one up off your picture. I just need to be able to get it nice and true.

Little more progress on the jeep. I know, been a while, but I did some other stuff in the meantime and inbetween time.

I think I am finished with side stuff for a while. Work on mine should be pretty steady now.

As usual, my progress pics lack step, and it reminds you of a car show, in that 1 commecial break and the project is finished :D :D

Tubed up the front to get an idea where clearences will be, and to have mounting points ready for the front CO's.


B9 highline. The budget version :wink:
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9290307.jpg

Built it off the front grill hoop I built last week.
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9290308.jpg

Banged the inner c's around on the axle until I was blue in the face. Took 1500 measurements repeating castor, camber and pinion angle god knows how many times. Finally got the nerve make my final cuts, and tack the C's in.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9290306.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9290309.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/P9290310.jpg

Nothing moved after taking, so thats a good sign. 7 degree caster, 0 camber.

Built the lowers for the front, the axle tabs, cleaned the frame off, and assembled the poly brackets. No pics of those yet. Hopefully I will burn the C's, poly brackets,, and axle brackets in tomorrow.

I managed to get the camber with no jig, but it was a definately a pain. Oh well, its working so far.

Billy,

This build is tight! Good work so far, I'm envious and wish I had time to build a new junk from scratch.

When do you figure you might be ready for the engine? I'm looking for an ODB2 test mule for a little 4.0L power upgrade I'm working on.....

That would be cool.

It should be ready in about 2 months. Then I will find out if my oil pressure issue was sending unit, or bearing related. I was loosing pressure at low rpm after warmup before I shut it down.

If its bearings, I might as well get into the motor.....lol

That would be cool.

It should be ready in about 2 months. Then I will find out if my oil pressure issue was sending unit, or bearing related. I was loosing pressure at low rpm after warmup before I shut it down.

If its bearings, I might as well get into the motor.....lol

Get a mechanical reading before you do anything. The Jeep gauge is nothing more than a idiot light in a gauge form. The sender is a simple on off switch that tells the computer you have more/less than 6 psi. They got tired of having people complain about low pressure, even though the gauge was in the normal range, so now it always shows 'high' in the normal range regaurdless if you have 7 or 40 psi.

Also if you are already having oil pressure issues, you may have coolant in your oil. Coolant will ruin bearings fast. And since you have an 04 Rubicon like I do, I doubt you have the miles on it required to wear out bearings. These also have a tendancy to have a cracked head.

Yeah thanks Wayne. A mechanical gauge is definately on the list.

I ran some k&n filters for a while, and they got stupid dirty on a few muddy runs. Thats the only reason I would suspect bearing damage, is if I dusted her once or twice. Done it before on some of my old junk........ No more k&n's for this guy.

She's an 03 (sept 26 was 5 birthday..lol) with 65k kilometers. Definately low enough that damage would be premature.

Subscribed! Nice build :D

Yeah thanks Wayne. A mechanical gauge is definately on the list.

I ran some k&n filters for a while, and they got stupid dirty on a few muddy runs. Thats the only reason I would suspect bearing damage, is if I dusted her once or twice. Done it before on some of my old junk........ No more k&n's for this guy.

She's an 03 (sept 26 was 5 birthday..lol) with 65k kilometers. Definately low enough that damage would be premature.

I think I dusted my motor a few months ago. Same thing, mud pit and K&N filter.... I may not have, though. On a dry compression test I have pretty even numbers but at 4 and 5, they are both 60-90. So I might have something else going on. I need to spend more time with it and get a better diagnosis....

Let's keep each other updated, as it kind of sounds like we both may have about the same kind of thing going on ;) I have ~90k on my 04.

Progress continues.

Front suspension is built, coilover hoops are in, driveshaft is in, coilovers are macked up, and front swaybar is nearly in.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070346.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070344.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070343.jpg

Knuckles welded, both sides are done.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070342.jpg

Ploy performance trackbar, and custom coil over mounts/knuckle gussets.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070340.jpg

Coilover hoop off of the fender. 1 support to the frame is done, and one more to go.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070339.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070338.jpg

Here is where I had to mount that upper. It is on top of the original design poly sent. Since I have all the stuff for two upper mounts, it will be really easy boxing this one in at the higher location.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA070345.jpg

FWIW, I am just shy of maxing out a Evolution heim on at the frame upper. A JJ would not misalign enough for that much travel. My arm is about 32 inches long, and total droop is about 8 inches.

I have the front sitting on the CO's now, just need to tune springs. Ride height is bang on, but the springs are to short. They are unloaded just about 5 inches at full droop.

Bnine, how hard would it be for you to box in the bracket and re-drill so the heim can he horizonatally bolted instead of vertical? Not sure how much space you have to work with but that would solve the mis-alignment issue?

Do you plan for a removable crossbrace connecting hoops up front or will the two supports down to the frame on each side be sufficient?

Im thinkin the frame supports should do it, once everything is gusseted and what not.

The way the hoop is mounted, it really wouldnt see much stress in that direction, to warrent a crossbar.

The heim has enough to do the trick, so I'll leave it horizontal for now. Be a bit of pain to mod that bracket. At that point I might as well just build an adjustable, but I dont really have time for that right now.

2 weeks, the clock is tickin :D:D

Tried out a few coil rates to see how things sit. I can get ride height, but wasnt getting the tension I wanted at full droop.

I borrowed some springs from a freind and have it boiled down now on what I need to run.

First try. 250 over 300

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA120350.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA120349.jpg

Second try. 200 over 250

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140371.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140372.jpg

This one was a little better. I am going with 175 over 250 for a final rate.

I also finished the tube work, gussets, and some work on all the link mounts.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140374.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140373.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140377.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140378.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140380.jpg

Boxed this one, just need to finish a support across the top of the frame.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA140379.jpg

Thats it for this weekend.

My favorite part of this thread is the title, and you're running Spidertrax stuff...

I'm diggin the build. :D

Thanks :D

Ironic isnt it..............

I was tossing and turning the 60's until I asked here and got turned on to the 609's.

Thanks :D

Ironic isnt it..............

I was tossing and turning the 60's until I asked here and got turned on to the 609's.

They're all good stuff. You got the bling though! :smokin:

Yeah, I figured do it once.

That and we have a lot of mud here. The little clearence, and half the weight makes a big difference in these parts.

Yeah, I figured do it once.

That and we have a lot of mud here. The little clearence, and half the weight makes a big difference in these parts.

Right on...I HATE MUD!! haha
We get our fair share of it up her ein the PNW too.

I went with Solid's on my current build.

*hijack*

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/_DSC2882.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/_DSC2938.jpg

They're definitely heavier, but should be plenty beefy.

I was just looking at the pics closer and I don't see a steering box? Did you move it? or etc?

Reason I ask is I stretched mine, but apparently too far? in the front and am hitting the pitman arm on mine on compression. The only way I have found to avoid it, is by adding more air. But now I'm too tall. I want to go back down 2-3" where it was... Just looking at pictures of my build (I didnt take many of the front as I did the rear), I don't think I moved my front as far forward as you did. Are you running your steering behind the axle (now that I'm typing I can't go back and look at your steering arms in the pics).

Also what are the spring rates in the rear that you ended up with? Or have you not gotten there yet? And what size coil overs are you using front/rear? ie 16/14"?

It's coming together nicely. I'm really enjoying this build...:smokin:

Wayne,

my steering is full hydro, so no box, pitman arm, and all that good stuff.

I'll be running 14" CO's all the way around, and most likely 175 over 250 front and rear.

Wayne,

my steering is full hydro, so no box, pitman arm, and all that good stuff.

I'll be running 14" CO's all the way around, and most likely 175 over 250 front and rear.

That makes sense and what I thought. But I still saw the steering shaft so I was confused :D

Oh, and as for the motor deal.... I had bad leakdown/compression numbers. I pulled the valve cover and push rods (so I could be sure the valves were 'closed') and still had poor leakdown numbers. I noticed that if I tapped the valves with my hammer, I could eventually get them to seal and hold air.

This means 1 of two things really. Either bad valve guides/stems or carbon buildup on the valve. So I did a Sea Foam treatment on it and noticed a big improvement - I haven't checked numbers since. However, there is a hill near my house that with the cruise at 65, I'm around 50 when I crest. After the treatment, I hit the same hill with cruise at 65 and crested at 60. Since then I've hit the same hill close to a dozen times and I've never crested under 60.

I also replaced the fuel injectors with a Bosch 3 design - 2000 Supercharged Mustang Cobra (24 lb/hr @39 psi - so with our 49 psi it's about 29 lb/hr). The thing with the Bosch 3 injectors, is they are 4 hole instead of our stock 1 hole. Better atomization of fuel. Both injectors running, you can see the 1 hole spray very easily but on the 4 hole you can barely make it out (bench test). While it made it run a lot better - smoother idle, acceleration and quiter running, I still had the 50 mph crest on the same hill. After installing them is when I did the SeaFoam treetment and saw the power increase. If you are interested, I can get you part numbers for them and even pictures of the different nozzles. They are a direct swap, connectors and everything match up.

Just a FYI/FWIW and maybe you have the same kind of thing going on, since your problem started the same way - mud hole with a K&N filter.....

I have a steering shaft adapter that goes from the stock shaft, into my orbital valve, so thats why you can see the shaft there still.

Thats pretty cool about the injectors. Something I will keep in mind.

I am still tossing and turning on a ramjet when my motor gets tired, so I dont know if I will be spending money on the 4.0 or not.

Mostly it will depend on how I find the power with the new set up, once I get to testing and tuning on the trail.

I have a steering shaft adapter that goes from the stock shaft, into my orbital valve, so thats why you can see the shaft there still.

Thats pretty cool about the injectors. Something I will keep in mind.

I am still tossing and turning on a ramjet when my motor gets tired, so I dont know if I will be spending money on the 4.0 or not.

Mostly it will depend on how I find the power with the new set up, once I get to testing and tuning on the trail.

My opinion as well; V8 swap (probably of the LS variety) when my motor is toast.

As for the injectors, I bought a used set (8) on ebay for ~$40 delivered. Something about those Mustang guys, they typically want to go faster, so they sell of their old stuff. The guy I bought mine from just went to a FAST system with 39 lb/hr injectors...

great write up , pics ,nice work ,can,t wait to see it flex
makes me wish i had gone with the spider trax knuckles and nine center

I have a steering shaft adapter that goes from the stock shaft, into my orbital valve, so thats why you can see the shaft there still.

Thats pretty cool about the injectors. Something I will keep in mind.

I am still tossing and turning on a ramjet when my motor gets tired, so I dont know if I will be spending money on the 4.0 or not.

Mostly it will depend on how I find the power with the new set up, once I get to testing and tuning on the trail.

you will not be dissapointed with a ram jet especiallly the ease of hooking it up. its all marine wiring and the computer sits on the intake and the power is great on the trail i seam to never get close to useing all of it ,i idle over most stuff

you will not be dissapointed with a ram jet especiallly the ease of hooking it up. its all marine wiring and the computer sits on the intake and the power is great on the trail i seam to never get close to useing all of it ,i idle over most stuff


Nice.

Thats one of my biggest draws to the ramjet. Self contained system, and plug and play factor.

I figure by the time you get and adapt a half decent harness, rebuild a good small block to make 350hp and 400T, you are pretty much at the same money, and way behind in hours.

But these axles ate my budget and then some for a while......I'll have to flog the ol 4.0 for a little while at least, before I upgrade again :D:D

Little more progress. Did some brake work, and got the back end sitting on CO's.

150/250 seems to work pretty well. I have about 3-4 inches of slack right now, but still need to add nearly 400lbs to the rear of the jeep before Im done.

Work is coming to a halt these days. We just had our baby girl on the 23rd, so Dads a little busy helpin around the house for a while. :D:D

I had to re drill the f350 rotors from 8x170mm pattern, to oldschool 8x6.5.

Also set up a air to hydro caliper fitting, so I can put air to the calipers to hold the mounts in place before welding.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA200384.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA200383.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA200386.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260468.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260467.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260466.jpg

Did a run out just to double check they registered on the hub properly. All was good.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA200385.jpg

Then I set up the rear CO mounts on the axle and roll cage. I still need to do all the frame tie ins, but I need to perma mount the tub before I get to that.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA210406.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA210407.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA210408.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260463.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260464.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260465.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA260462.jpg

Work is coming to a halt these days. We just had our baby girl on the 23rd, so Dads a little busy helpin around the hose for a while. :D:D



I dont want to know what you're doing with a hose....but the build is looking sweet.

Doh, that sounded bad.

Chit. I forgot this... :flipoff2:

i am still waiting for the steering arms to be set up ,what are you going to use twisted customs or spider arms ?

Twisted doesnt sell theirs, and my knuckles are an earlier version that arent milled down to except spydertrax.

I am going to run some string to set my ackerman, then start building from there. They will look similar to twisted double sheer design in the 60 degree artical.

Just not as pretty :D:D

But things are a bit of a halt right now, while mom heals up from this new addition. :p:p

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/spyderberry/Jesse%202007/PA250454.jpg

congrats man she looks like a real cutey
and she will be wheel with you in no time

Congrats on the kiddo! Luvin' this build, just wish I was a few weeks behind you, I tried something off the beaten track and not sure how it will work out for the rear, but the 609 is coming in this summer.

Congrats Bill!! I hope that she turns out nothing like her father :flipoff2::flipoff2:

Congrats Bill!! I hope that she turns out nothing like her father :flipoff2::flipoff2:

Thanks, man. ME TOO.

Apparently you haven't been THAT busy with this build...:flipoff2:
lol Congrats!! Kids are the best :smokin:

Oh boy knocking the bottom out of mama like that will put a serious cramp in your wheeling time, nice going. BTW congrats on the baby girl and give that bald guy in post #155 a pay raise he is doing a great job.
Also glad to see you didn't go with the Currie axle. The design is good but after sale service or warranty is non existent on their stuff.

Thanks man.

Lucky for me moms almost as big an addict as I am :D:D

Come May its "Moab or bust" lol

Any updates...

Nothing major. Mostly dad duty.

I do have some brake shots to load up, tail gate, some cage plates, and a few other odds and ends, but our card reader on the comp shit the bed. I'll get them up soon.

Got the comp working. Some minor updates, but updates at least.

Finished burning in the rear brakes. Converted all my wheelstuds to 14mm metric so I could run these wheelspacers I got from ebay. WMS is 64" now, where I was shooting for in the first place, but fucked up my cuts originally. Hence the spacer.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB100517.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB100518.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB100519.jpg

Did some body work on the back end. CJ tailgate, new crossmember under the tail gate to hold the hinges, and place the rear body mounts.

Before the xmember work

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PA210406.jpg

Cut away the stock stuff, and placed a length of 2 x 1 rectangle underneath. Welded it all in.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB100520.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270592.jpg

Got the body straightened out, and mounted the tailgate.


http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270590.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270588.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270587.jpg

Painted my btf skids

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270593.jpg

Got a bunch of little stuff done on the cage.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270576.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270578.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270580.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270581.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270582.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270583.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270584.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PB270585.jpg

Also finished the center and rear plates.

Because of the rear CO's being cage mounted, all the rear tie ins will be around the coil overs. The front are the only floor mounts I am putting through to the frame.

Looking real pimp Bill, :smokin:, keep it up.

Excellent build up bnine, I'm absolutely hat-off. Also congrats on the new bussiness ampliation ;)

I'm surprised that you used unit bearings on your axles. I'm preparing a axle buildup (but on Danas) and I was looking for chevy spindles, hubs and such stuff.
Is that uni-bearing so tuff? Having experiences from the front D30 ones, I was gueesing thats one thing to avoid. But now I see that so many rockcrawlers use them.

If you permit me, What F450 part #s are based yours?

By now I own a set of Toyo 8", that are also pig-style. You guys really like having to replace the shafts to do a inspection? Don't experience some play and leaks caused by the torsinal differences of the cast vs steel housing? I do, and its a real PITA.

BTW good rig with awesome clearance. In the last comp I broke the rear DS due to the impact of a huge rock. It bent the LCAs and ejected the springs :P I'm very jealous.

I'm surprised that you used unit bearings on your axles. Is that uni-bearing so tuff? Having experiences from the front D30 ones, I was gueesing thats one thing to avoid.

If you permit me, What F450 part #s are based yours?


Buildup is looking good, Bill. I'm doing my rear now at a little slower pace than the front was. I'll be posting up some pics soon.

World of difference in strength between the F-450 unit bearing and the D30 unit bearing. Advantages are that you can use a 35 spline axle, you don't have to deal with maintenance and greasing, torquing, etc., fast to change (literally 20 minutes to change your entire bearing/hub assembly), you only have to carry one part for a spare for all four corners. And, they're uber-strong and light.

Bill and I are both using Spidertrax moidified bearings on the front end, I am using them front and back now (link (http://www.spidertrax.com/s.nl/it.A/id.2191/.f)).

Yeah you bugger, nice work on doing the 450 rear. Not that I dont like my solid kit, it is good and stout. Just would have been nice to make it all match.

Rap, I definately dont mind pulling shafts for inspections. With FF rear, and unit bearing front, pulling axles is really, really fast.

My neighbor is a milright, and he has suggested I use permatex gasket eliminator. He uses it at work, and also on his yota 3rds with really good success. Its just a bitch to get off, but apparently permatex has something for that too.

I weighed the ups and downs, of dana's versus the 3rd's (as you can see from the thread title...lol), but in the end I went with the 3rds for weight, clearence, easy fab, higher pinion, easy gear work, cheap housings if I fuck one up...etc etc.

I stayed with detroits so I can pound a busted shaft straight through if I ever have that problem. Although I might spool the rear if I ever trash a detroit.

Not sure on unit bearing PO's, since they are custom modified anyways. Currie OTOH uses essentially stock 450 bearings and stubs. I think.

Pretty sure they are just the same bearing they have used since the bolt pattern change, which is 03 and up or something like that. Same bearing they use on 250's and up.

Currie has run them for years without failure.

Most people dont realize that these bearing come off of trucks with front ends as heavy as 6000lbs. More then most our rigs.

But in all honesty, I wouldnt even care if they wear out pretty fast. I already have 3 sets of hubs and bearings to maintain, which is to many really. Unit bearings are a life saver that way.

lower profile and less prone to getting rock bashed too.

I have a question as well.

Anyone section the front frame in pursuit of some more up travel.

For now Im going to notch the passenger side with some 3" tube, just to make trackbar space. But, this winter I want to look at basically sectioning the portion of the front rails from just in front of the motor mounts, to just behind the rad support. I'd be looking at gaining almost 3 inches of clearence for my frameside TB mount, and pumpkin.

I have some ideas, but would love to see where some folks have already done it for brainstorming.

With that, I can match the rear and get 6-7 inches uptravel all the way around.

What have you got?

Bill, have you looked at teenyCar's project, Acorophobia?

Here is the link:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=495084&highlight=project+acrophobia&page=8

I have a question as well.

Anyone section the front frame in pursuit of some more up travel.

For now Im going to notch the passenger side with some 3" tube, just to make trackbar space. But, this winter I want to look at basically sectioning the portion of the front rails from just in front of the motor mounts, to just behind the rad support. I'd be looking at gaining almost 3 inches of clearence for my frameside TB mount, and pumpkin.

I have some ideas, but would love to see where some folks have already done it for brainstorming.

With that, I can match the rear and get 6-7 inches uptravel all the way around.

What have you got?

Mine was cut, raised about 3.5" and narrowed a few as well.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/_DSC2901.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/Crawlbuild007-3.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/IMG_0087.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/Crawlbuild012.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/Crawlbuild006-1.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/Crawlbuild008-3.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t108/powdr7/Crawlbuild046.jpg

Bill, have you looked at teenyCar's project, Acorophobia?

Here is the link:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=495084&highlight=project+acrophobia&page=8

I've browes it, but havnt seen a good shot of the front frame. Of course I've maybe looked at 8 of the 45 pages....lol

Got a page reference?

Thats dam nice powdr. More then Im looking at doing, but killer none the less.

For now Im just going to do about a 1.5 foot section to make it quick an easy. But I do really like whats done to yours.

Thanks for the pics

Your welcome. Wish it was more help for ya!

I found teeny's on page 9....lol

Not as bad as I thought.

A little different then Im looking at, since I want to keet the stock front section. But it helped me get some ideas.

Yeah bnine, those are for sure very good reasons to decide for u-bearings.
I knew that bearings from a F450 for sure would be beefier than the D30 units, but I was also thinking that professional and comp guys sometimes use parts that don't last so many time... I saw something about timken liability around.

The p/n I found around are timken:
515020 - Integral ABS sensor
515021 - Tone ring ABS sensor
515025 - ?

I'm decided on using that setup on my build hopelessy replacing parts slowly, now the bearings, tomorrow the knuckles (I'm in love with spidertrax ones) housing... to finally stay with a 9.

It's so true that with unit bearings its so easy to pull the shafts. With my toyo stuff I must dismantle the whole knuckle and hub (luckily I run it with martack) :shaking:

For the front end, I must say I'm a stock looking bust-tard :p So why not simply doing some little cuts to the current frame near the turn and resoldering it only to obtain the clearance you need? After that you only have to add some material at the front straight section to recover the lenght if you want.
BTW I like the front of Pwrdr7, very aggressive! :eek:

Come on Niner, Keep doing like that ;)

Yeah Rapo, I think I will stick with some small sections for now. Keep it simple.

A buddy of mine has fun those bearings for 3 years on 39's with a ton of time on the rocks. He says they are as tight now, as the day he bought them.

This is how I understand those numbers...

515020 - SRW w/Integral ABS sensor
515021 - NO ABS - Rear ABS only
515025 - Same as 515020, but DRW

Ok then, when I save some cash I'll order some Ubearings. Hope the shipping don't kill me ;)

This is how I understand those numbers...

515020 - SRW w/Integral ABS sensor
515021 - NO ABS - Rear ABS only
515025 - Same as 515020, but DRW

Uhmmm does make sense but, What is SRW and DRW?

UPS! Sorry for the post hijack bnine....

...What is SRW and DRW?...
Single Rear Wheel, Dual Rear Wheel...

No worries Rapo. Its all related tech anyways.

Pick up a few parts friday. Rear AR, and a BnM short thow shifter. I am going to try the short throw in the 4500 I have laying in the shed, just to see if I can swap it over when Im ready to throw that boat anchor under my rig.

No worries Rapo. Its all related tech anyways.

Pick up a few parts friday. Rear AR, and a BnM short thow shifter. I am going to try the short throw in the 4500 I have laying in the shed, just to see if I can swap it over when Im ready to throw that boat anchor under my rig.

I'm surprised that since you already have it, you haven't swapped it in while your doing the build... How come? It would appear now would be the easiest time (when you had the suspension and crossmember out)...

Bah, just dollars and timeline.

Im out of budget, and I need to be ready by may, so I'll leave it for this year.

Heh, I need something to do next winter :D:D

Got the rear AR done tonight, and loaded the back with some weight to get it sitting at targeted ride height.

Frame is at 21", top of the windsheild is 75.5"

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC020601.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC020602.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC020603.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC020604.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC020605.jpg

I like the AR set-up :beer:

Very nice indeed!

...And I hear ya on the budget... This shit is expensive! :eek:

So to get the frame down that low, did you need to notch the tube for the upper links? ...And what size of tires again?

I have almost 2 inches of body lift, so things fit a little eaiser. Only tub modding I had to do was the coil over chop outs, and beat the double wall over the t-case.

Nice! :smokin:

Next question.

Radiators. I need to change to a passenger side lower outlet style rad. Anyone have good stock candidates that come pretty close to TJ rad demensions?

Some good links to rad sources?

I really would like to stay away from custom stuff if I can, and go with an off the shelf.

I'd suggest giving www.extremeradiator.com a call...

I was going to say "I said no custom stuff Mark".

But that was to god dam easy :smokin::smokin:

It leaves tomorrow

http://www.extremeradiator.com/store/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=1682-3C

Thanks Mark

Nice, that worked well Billy! Got a shot from the rear with the garage door open?

75.5" sick :)

-Joe

Not yet Joe. I'll grab one this weekend.

I could have missed it but did you figure out what you were going to do about clearancing the frame for more uptravel?

I didnt post it up, but I am just going to cut a section out, and go over top with square tube and plate it all together.

cool. post when you finish that. thanks,

Thread hijack, Bill. Some shots of the Spider 9 that I'm building for the back of mine. Spidertrax housing, Truehi9, ARB, Spider F450 uni-bearings, Wilwood 14" brakes, etc. 61 1/2" WMS to WMS to match the 62 3/4" front. Going to Walker Evans wheels with 17 x 40 Crawlers.

Thats awsome.

Guess I should get off my ass eh? Everytime I turn around you have another one finished :flipoff2:

I've set up to freinds with rear spider 9's so far, I tried getting both of them to go for the spider full float, but no dice.

Looks like I have to wait until I put some under the wifes rig before I see them. Which at my pace will be around 2020 :D:D

I have some minor updates. I guess I should get those in here.

what part of canada are you from.

Im out in Calgary Rock.

Oh ya, the minor updates.

Finally got the rig off the jackstands for the first time in a year and half. Ride height is set. I just need to do a little mounting tab modding, and some frame work to utilize all my up travel.

Top of windsheild is 74-75 inches, all 4 corners are set for 6 inches of uptravel.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC220686.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC220681.jpg

Few xmas goodies showed up. Spidertrax inner axles, seals, and driveslugs.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC280003.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC280004.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/xbninex/Rubi%20Build/PC280001.jpg

Sold my tranny and t-case. I'll be working on my 4500 and atlas 4.3 in the in the new year.

Very nice!:smokin:

Thanks PJ.

If anyone has good links, tips or tricks, or whatever regarding 4500 swaps into TJ's it would be much appreciated.

I'll be searching around in the meantime.

One thing I'm considering is dropping my motor an inch, and pushing it back 1-2 inches to help the 4500 fit better. But, just an idea. Last pictures I saw of a 4500 in a TJ had the shifter coming almost directly under the dash.

Sold my tranny and t-case. I'll be working on my 4500 and atlas 4.3 in the in the new year.

Santy Claus bring some more money and time? ;)

These guys might have some good input?
http://www.high-impact.net/transmission_and_gear/nv4500.htm

These guys might have some good input?
http://www.high-impact.net/transmission_and_gear/nv4500.htm

I know the guys at hi-impact, they're good. Little bit pricey, but very sharp.

I know the guys at hi-impact, they're good. Little bit pricey, but very sharp.

Good to know if I ever do this swap later... :smokin:

Thanks PJ.

If anyone has good links, tips or tricks, or whatever regarding 4500 swaps into TJ's it would be much appreciated.

I'll be searching around in the meantime.

One thing I'm considering is dropping my motor an inch, and pushing it back 1-2 inches to help the 4500 fit better. But, just an idea. Last pictures I saw of a 4500 in a TJ had the shifter coming almost directly under the dash.

Build looks awesome Bill, very nice. Sits a bit high for me, but hey, whatever :flipoff2: Just kidding, looks great :smokin:

As for the NV4500, my recommendation is to a) toast the TJ dash in favor of a CJ flat dash (gain about 2-3 inches for the shifter), and b) build a tranny tunnel from scratch. We used to do that when we'd swap SM465's into a YJ tub back in the day. Just cut the tub to fit then sheet back in, simple. If the shifter is still interfering - use your torch and bend that shifter wherever the hell you want to.

As for the NV4500, my recommendation is to a) toast the TJ dash in favor of a CJ flat dash (gain about 2-3 inches for the shifter), and b) build a tranny tunnel from scratch. We used to do that when we'd swap SM465's into a YJ tub back in the day. Just cut the tub to fit then sheet back in, simple. If the shifter is still interfering - use your torch and bend that shifter wherever the hell you want to.

Just went out and compared a TJ with my CJ (w/ NV4500)...I think this quote is pretty realistic. The difference between the two in terms of interference is the TJ dashboard. You may even be able to get the NV4500 in there without modifying the tunnel too much...looks like it to me.

I'll be putting a NV4500 into my wife's YJ soon, may run into the same problem w/ the dashboard, though the YJ dash doesn't stick out near as much as the TJ.

Just a few thoughts...

Just went out and compared a TJ with my CJ (w/ NV4500)...I think this quote is pretty realistic. The difference between the two in terms of interference is the TJ dashboard. You may even be able to get the NV4500 in there without modifying the tunnel too much...looks like it to me.

I'll be putting a NV4500 into my wife's YJ soon, may run into the same problem w/ the dashboard, though the YJ dash doesn't stick out near as much as the TJ.

Just a few thoughts...

Of course it's realistic. I may not have 3000 posts on Pirate, but tech is better when it's your experience - right? :D

Build looks awesome Bill, very nice. Sits a bit high for me, but hey, whatever :flipoff2: Just kidding, looks great :smokin:

As for the NV4500, my recommendation is to a) toast the TJ dash in favor of a CJ flat dash (gain about 2-3 inches for the shifter), and b) build a tranny tunnel from scratch. We used to do that when we'd swap SM465's into a YJ tub back in the day. Just cut the tub to fit then sheet back in, simple. If the shifter is still interfering - use your torch and bend that shifter wherever the hell you want to.

This would save you lots of time... You can also build the tunnel to be removeable if you want - no need welding it up. It's not like you are trying to stay street legal and be all fancy for car shows or anything.... :D

I know I can fit it for sure with a cut and about 2" long 90 in the shifter, but I'd rather keep it a little cleaner looking then that.

I like the sounds of an FJ style tunnel. That makes sense.

I hate the TJ dash, but Im going to keep the gauge cluster for a while, since all my stock stuff is hooked up and working.

Cancelled the moab trip in May, and started taking on side work again Wayne. Adds a few more months to the build, but I'm really not in a rush.

Cancelled the moab trip in May, and started taking on side work again Wayne. Adds a few more months to the build, but I'm really not in a rush.

That sucks you had to cancel your trip... Not living 2 hours from Moab anymore makes me realize just how much I used to take it for granted... :(

As requested - 609 installed, going wheeling tomorrow. In the deep ass snow. 76" to top of windshield frame on 38.5" Boggers, yeehaw.
Thanx for the 3-link w/panhard inspiration Billy - Arrrrr! This is the captain speaking...young Billy!

Word...., is born:

http://telusplanet.net/public/cdkruchk/4.5Lbuild/IMG_1785.JPG

Yeehaw, stick it in your Grandma:

http://telusplanet.net/public/cdkruchk/4.5Lbuild/IMG_1786.JPG

Kick shit old bitch - hit em' with your left skate:

http://telusplanet.net/public/cdkruchk/4.5Lbuild/IMG_1787.JPG