Ok... first off... how in the hell do you search stuff on this forum... "use the search function found at the top of most pages..." I see
[User CP / FAQ / Members List / Calendar / Quick Links / Log Out] Where the hell is search at? lol

Anyway, since I'm a n00b, (to the forum AND at fabrication, both of which I'm diligently working on! :nuke: )
I'm wondering what the process of putting a Dana 44 and a GM 14 Full Floater on a Jeep YJ is.
Yes, I'd rather put a D60 with the GM14, but the 44 and the 14 are both free sitting under my rusted out Chevy in the back yard. And no, I don't want to just bob the end of the Chevy! I want to hack up a perfectly good YJ so no comments trying to tell me just to mod the Chevy! :mad3:
Ok so now that is out of the way... from some very limited explanations I've read the D44 should bolt on the front of the YJ, right?
1979 Chevy 3/4 Ton, btw

The GM14 bolt is another issue though, which requires the "out boarding" of the spring perches. Being one to overlook anything relatively obvious I'm going to guess that it simply means move the spring perches on the outside of the frame rails and weld 'em on, right? Juuuust like they are on the Chevy right now? Also I was told to look into the RE 2.5" SOA Springs.
Yes / No / Something Better or Cheaper that is just the same?

So basically, how do you out board spring perches? I know it sounds obvious but what is the best way to weld them on, reinforce them for being mounted on the side of the frame instead of under, etc? Or do I even use the same perches? lol I dunno... so help me out guys... Thanks! :flipoff2:

Also, what am I looking for as to steering with the 44 off of a Chevy onto a YJ?







Overall plans (at this moment in life) are the following:
Jeep YJ
Chevy 350
D44 Front
GM14 Full Floating Rear
TH400 Transmission
Dana 300 Transfer Case (Anyone know how to adapt the Dana 300 to a TH400 without buying a 600 dollar set of output shaft/adapter?)

So many questions so little time... see if ya'll can help me out here, lol.

" Where the hell is search at? lol "

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/payments.php
go here, pay 20 bucks and you get a red star. then you can search and post pictures

Cool, thanks... I thought I was just blind as hell, lol...

I'm not entirely sure i follow why you need to outboard your rear springs...I'm a fullsize jeep guy and i don't know that much about YJs. I just finished inboarding my rear springs and swapping in a 14B much like yours.

I'd imagine your springs are fine where they are, you just need to grind the old perches off the 14B and move them. Get a SYE kit, make sure your driveshaft angle is correct and then burn the new perches into place.

As far as the front 44 swap, steering is gonna need to be addressed. Your gonna need to run some kind of cross over steering and if you plan on doing a SOA, you will probably need a high steer arm.

hope this helps...there is tons more to this little swap...hopefully this gives you an idea.

I am sure someone will correct me, but don't the front springs have to be outboarded to run full-width axles?

Oh I know there is going to be a lot involved... this Jeep is gonna be tore down and completely redone as an offroad rig.

But that's great I don't need to outboard anything, just move the spring pads on the axles. Thats simple... so, I don't know if I understand what you mean by crossover steering? Isn't the steering box on the drivers side? Using the pitman arm you have the drag link which goes to the passenger's side knuckle... then a tie rod that goes over to the passenger's side?

I'm going hardcore into the planning stages, and have everything setup for the engine and transmission, etc etc (besides that darn adapter for the Th400 to Dana 300... theres gotta be something cheaper than 600 bucks).

Please let me know what to look for about swapping this 44 into the Jeep! It has an 8 lug pattern and has the drag link going under the arm on the knuckle on the passengers side on the Chevy... (which is already SOA obviously)



I am sure someone will correct me, but don't the front springs have to be outboarded to run full-width axles?

I thought something had to be outboarded... I'm sure someone will chime in...

You are gonna have to swap tcases as well if you are gonna use a chevy d44, yj's have drivers side drop, chevys are passenger side.

I'm actually going to be using a TH400 and a Dana 300, which will be Passenger side drop... but thanks for warning me... :p

... I don't know if I understand what you mean by crossover steering? Isn't the steering box on the drivers side? Using the pitman arm you have the drag link which goes to the passenger's side knuckle... then a tie rod that goes over to the passenger's side?


You've got the right idea, i was just sayin that chevys, IIRC, use the funky short drag link, that is like a foot and a half long, and connects to the driver knuckle...so it's not crossover. So, just keep up with what you had envisioned, just get a high steer arm so that you get your draglink over the spring as to avoid bump steer.

I'm actually going to be using a TH400 and a Dana 300, which will be Passenger side drop... but thanks for warning me... :p

with this T case you dont need a sye it doesent have a slip yolk to eliminate

You've got the right idea, i was just sayin that chevys, IIRC, use the funky short drag link, that is like a foot and a half long, and connects to the driver knuckle...so it's not crossover. So, just keep up with what you had envisioned, just get a high steer arm so that you get your draglink over the spring as to avoid bump steer.

Ah okay I see what you mean... lets get back to the outboarding situation... do I need to on the front or rear? So far all I know is that I've just gotta move the spring perches on the 14 bolt no biggie there...

I am sure someone will correct me, but don't the front springs have to be outboarded to run full-width axles?

no, depending of the axles. Look at my sig for a bunch of info that may help you ;)

as i think someone else already said, all you'll have to do for the rear is grind of the stock spring perches and weld new ones on that line up with your leaves on the jeep. The front is another story however, you are going to have to either fab your own spring mounts to the width of the axle or get a full width kit from a company like bluetorchfab.com or poisonspydercustoms.com, this is because a full width axle has the differential mounted farther to a side then the stock width, therefore you have to highly off center the axle in order to get it under the jeep with the stock springs, steering is also going to be an issue, if you have some spare cash laying around and this isn't going to be a street rig i'd look into going full hydrolic, you wont regret it. but good luck with the build, just make sure you have everything well planned out before you dive into it, theres nothing worse then having a half put together rig and no more cash to finish it... :shaking:

as i think someone else already said, all you'll have to do for the rear is grind of the stock spring perches and weld new ones on that line up with your leaves on the jeep. The front is another story however, you are going to have to either fab your own spring mounts to the width of the axle or get a full width kit from a company like bluetorchfab.com or poisonspydercustoms.com, this is because a full width axle has the differential mounted farther to a side then the stock width, therefore you have to highly off center the axle in order to get it under the jeep with the stock springs, steering is also going to be an issue, if you have some spare cash laying around and this isn't going to be a street rig i'd look into going full hydrolic, you wont regret it. but good luck with the build, just make sure you have everything well planned out before you dive into it, theres nothing worse then having a half put together rig and no more cash to finish it... :shaking:

theres nothing worse then having a half put together rig and no more cash to finish it...
Trust me I've seen too many of those to just start at it... I know there will be tons of things that once I get to them I'll be like... man why the heck did I take a week to figure this out its so easy... but it will be worth knowing before hand, lol!

Thanks for the links, I thought there was something I had to do... and to see there are kits makes life all that much easier. I'd love to fab up something but I'm still a n00b in the area of fabrication. (Unless I didn't mind my front leaves falling off going down the road at 40 mph then I'd gladly take a whack at it :shaking: )

But thanks for the info all! I'll keep this thread update as I progress... which may take me a long time... so if you see it bumped back up to the top a few months from now Its probably going to be something worth lookin' at if you're bored, at least... lol

If I think of anything else I'll chime in again!

I put a Chevy Dana 6 into a YJ. You will need to outboard the springs about 1/2" on each side, or live with the slightly splayed springs and replace bushings more frequently.

I know on the TH350/700R4 to NP241 (mabye 208?) adapter you can hog out one of the holes and bolt a D300 to it. Of course you will need a 27-spline input for the Dana 300 from either Novak or Advance Adapters.

Good luck with the project!

Oh sweet information... so a Chevy with a TH350 and an NP241 (or 208? You're not sure, but I'll look around with that info...) you can mod the adapter and it will bolt to a D300... great! Now I've only got to spend about $200.00 to get that t-case on there instead of $600.00!

I've also been looking around on other forums but the front axle will bolt on but the springs will be "canted" ... now I understand what they're saying... thanks a bunch guys!

I think I found a nice YJ yesterday that doesn't look like it runs! Who else would be excited about that than ppl like us, right? lol

At out curiousity, what tires do you plan on running? Probably not much bigger than 37s I am guessing with the D44 in the front?

Ah okay I see what you mean... lets get back to the outboarding situation... do I need to on the front or rear? So far all I know is that I've just gotta move the spring perches on the 14 bolt no biggie there...

front is handled with this
http://www.bluetorchfab.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=62_143&products_id=71

the rear is simply moving spring perches on the axle.


here's what mine looks like with a Ford 44.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/00tjken/DSC00433.jpg
and
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v705/00tjken/DSC00440.jpg



edit: and those are 37's

lose the leaf springs and mount up some coils front and rear with a stretched frame. Custom 4 links front and rear.

lose the leaf springs and mount up some coils front and rear with a stretched frame. Custom 4 links front and rear.

Don't get ahead of me SurvCat... I'm planning on doing that during "Stage 2"of the build... but maybe 4 - 5 years from now... trust me its in the future plans 42"s/44"s custom 4 links with a D60 front and a stretched wheelbase :) All in due time, right? :cool2:

But thanks for the pics/info everyone else... I can see how you needed to move the spring mounts just a liiiittle bit because of the pumpkin... I think I know a place that may be able to help me fab something up. It looks a hellofa lot easier than I was expecting, (and would sure beat 500 bucks for a few pieces of metal, eh? lol)

BTW, I'm planning on running no bigger than 38's on it CCJC, I don't wanna grenade the front end even though the rear is reported to throw around 44's with no problem... Although, I could just drop the front driveshaft and throw 44s the rear and 35+s on the front and make a hotrod Jeep :flipoff2:

Hey, question for all you Chevy guys out there...

'79 Chevy C20 3/4 Ton...

TH400
T-Case? Is it an NP241 or NP208...
It is ALWAYS in 4wd... and I can't remember if 'up' is Hi or Low:

Hi LOC
Hi
N
Low
Low LOC

The "LOC" positions lock the "limited slip" within the transfer case much like a Quadrajunk Jeep transmission works (if I understand the system correctly, with Jeeps there is a button in the glove box that does this?)

So this leads me to an earlier reply on this thread of mine... stating that a TH350 and 241 or 208 adapter will work if you modifiy it to mate a D300 to the TH400... if I can mate the adapter to a TH400, wouldn't the adapter be the same regardless of it being a TH350 or a TH400 to the same transfer case? Point I'm getting at... is if that is true... and the Chevy already has the appropriate transfer case I very well may have my D300 adapter sitting under it already!


EDIT: As a matter of fact, I was looking around on the internet, and it states that:
1.)NP241s are '88+ light duty trucks... mines a '79 3/4 ton and is apparently "full time" 4wd... 241 is a PART TIME case...
2.)NP208s are part time as well!
Which leads me to believe... it could possibly be an NP203?
HOWEVER: One page I was looking at lists the TH400 as a 4-speed... lol so who knows how good the info is... I'll poke around...

Fulltime + 70's Chevy = 203. Keep the reduction unit lose the rest bolt to 205

Fulltime + 70's Chevy = 203. Keep the reduction unit lose the rest bolt to 205 Since we are bringing the thread back, I have a question for ya.

I am thinking about doing the 203/205 doubler in my YJ but don't want to go to links. Do you have experience with this as hinted by your post? I have ran the number and it should all fit but I haven't seen one yet that wasn't stretch on links. Currently I am SOA on 44044s. :confused:

My bad didn't look at date of last post. 203 is 21.5" front to back doubler combo is about the same and is heavy roughly 285 lbs. If you have the chevy drivetrain with a 203 already on it I would go the doubler if I had to buy all the parts it would be a toss up I might spend the extra cash and go with a Stak or Atlas.

I have the 465, 203, & 205 but not the adapters yet or shifters.

My main concerns are lack of low gears (only 4:1 w/ a doubler vs. 205 & Klune Goliath) and ability to keep my center console with the shifters.

Here's a calculator to compare the combos side by side : http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html 203/205 combo is strong and will handle horsepower but if you want or need a lower crawl ratio then the Klune might be the way to go also as you already noted the Klune shifter would be easier to place and maybe save your console.

Thanks.