is it realy worth cuting the bottom of my rockwells?if so do i cut it flat and plat it or cut the hole thing off and build a new bottom .
i think that nothing can hardly get stuck on the round bottom but it's looking beet up from rock asaults .i wont some opinions and i know this is the place to get them. :D

Definitely cut it, for sure. If you want to get really wild, i have seen some that are cut flat across the bottom, with a "fin" that covers just the ring gear. I have heard that this takes a bit of effort, because the carrier bearing caps stick down below the housing also, so you have to fab up something that covers these as well. Make sense?

i have heard that you can shave them to gain 1/2" clearance over a D44, so i could say that shaving is worth it :D

the neatest way i have seen is that you cut it off about 2" higher than you would if you wanted a flat bottom, then build a new bottom for it that has a box hanging down in the middle of it for the ring gear.

the neatest way i have seen is that you cut it off about 2" higher than you would if you wanted a flat bottom, then build a new bottom for it that has a box hanging down in the middle of it for the ring gear.
Like an upside down mohawk. I got pictures if someone wants to post them.

send them to bovine_doq_@hotmail.com

Ill post em

Ill post em
Sent 'em.

350 sammy send him pics of your zuk and he can post i wont to see it i bet its a bad mutha##@%&:D

350 sammy send him pics of your zuk and he can post i wont to see it i bet its a bad mutha##@%&
Wait till tomorrow, I got all the parts painted that will unbolt.(hood, windshield, doors, targa bar, brackets, etc). I am taking it to the truck itself to the paint shop tomorrow afternoon. I don't know if it will be done before dark to get some pics, but I will have them no later than Tuesday. I painted it copper. It's a 2000 Plymouth Prowler color.

i've seen some of the pics of shaved rockwells, but never next to a dana 44 so lets prove it. ;) i have heard that you can shave them to gain 1/2" clearance over a D44 anyone got the pics to prove it?

Originally posted by FULLSIZE
i've seen some of the pics of shaved rockwells, but never next to a dana 44 so lets prove it. ;) anyone got the pics to prove it? K.I.S.S.:D

My buddy did this today and he said he wished he had cit below the ring gear and bearing caps...tons more work the way he did it.

Said he gave his Rockwell a Mohawk :laughing:

anyone got the pics to prove it?
Thats impossible. There is no such thing as a D44 with big enough tires or rockwells with small enough tires to compare too. :D :D :D

PICS?

I sent pics to LordRatner five minutes after he said he would post them and when I checked he was off line.
I gotta get me a damn star.

Has anyone heard of someone shaving the ring gear on a Rockwell? Is it possible or not? I assume the R&P is strong enough that you could chop some gear off and still have plenty of strength.

well you might be able to shave about 1/8 off the bull gear. the actual R&P is in the top part of the case and it drives a helical gear which is attached to the carrier.

I'm somebody now!!

I got a star. :bounce2:

Thanks Daniel. :beer: :beer:

Those shaved Rockwells are awesome.....the more I read the better they look for a swap...looks like a ton of mods can be done at home, the price looks good, so does the strength.... What's real the drawbacks to a leaf spring setup with rockwells if you clear the pan? Does it take a huge motor? I hear the low gearing requires 44's or so....sounds like a killer swap.

Great pics!

this was the first one i have done and i went through a learning curve. it is going in the back of my cruiser.
http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/857952-mohawk%201.jpg

Nice welds Mike....sweet work! Mohawk :laughing:

Originally posted by gunracer1
this was the first one i have done and i went through a learning curve. it is going in the back of my cruiser.

So what did you learn?? Would you do it the same way if you did it again??

Originally posted by gunracer1
this was the first one i have done and i went through a learning curve. it is going in the back of my cruiser.
http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/857952-mohawk%201.jpg


What type of steel? How thick?
Thanks, Dan

i would have made the cut on the pumking up about 1/2'' and then fit it with a flat plate. so it would have cleared the bearing caps. i cut it all the way down to the housing and had to form the plate to clear the caps. so it made for some serious gap welding. i used 3/16'' plate to make the new bottom.

What size pipe did you use for the curved piece, i was thinking about getting some 10" SCH80 pipe, and using that for the curved piece. Would that work?

it is 3/16'' thick cold rolled steel that i bent with a big leather faced mallet. i just used a block of wood and a good heavy table. and started knocking the shit out of it till i got it to the contour i wanted. mike

I guess i will just have to take it apart to see. But you are sure that 1/2" lower and the bearing caps would clear?? Maybe i should go down 1" just to be safe, huh?

Thanks, and good luck!

1'' would be safe for sure. i will do the front axle this weekend and pay alittle more attention before i go hacking the shit out of it. hell just cut it at 1'' then start measuring. you will have all kinds of room with that much cut out of the way. i welded up my spider gears before i put it back together. it had to be the easiest one's i have ever done. eight 1'' hole, just weld till full. so i get to put the detroit in the front. mike

well, i don't have the tools to do the cut job myself so i will be taking it to a welding place, and let them do it. IE the 3rd member, and the housing will not be in the same room for me to "eyeball" it. Thanks for the info though, and post up when you do the front one!

you need to make the channel that the ring gear runs in at least 3'' wide to clear the bolts on the ring gear. 3.5'' would be better. the gear is in the center of the pumpkin. man you really need to pull it apart, cut the housing then put the third memeber back in to figure out how low and close you can get. i can tell you it is a heavy son of a bitch. i had my buddie help me pull it apart the first time. then i got smart and got the fork lift. good luck with yours. mike

Yeah, i have pulled em apart before. Maybe i will be able to take the carrier down to the machine shop while they are working on it, i dunno. I creatively used a winch and tow-strap to go over the FJ40 rear shock crossmember, and lifted the carrier into the rear end. When i do the front soon, i will have the whole axle out of the truck to work on it...

Thanks again!

you guys are pussies. I have spent whole days out at that shop carrying those damn things around by myself. Forklift my ass!!:flipoff2: I dont know, maybe my back is just jealous! HAHAHAHA:flipoff2: Anyway I dont know if any of you guys have thought about this but I decided not to cut all the way and build the fin for the ring gear because I do want the ability to drive mine on the highway and this allows for extra oil in the diff. When you cut it you are already running less oil than it was designed to run with. Now I realize that they were also designed to carry alot more weight and i am sure that would factor in but I am also sure that there wasn't a 2.5 ton truck that went 75 miles an hour and with those extra large bearings spinning the extra RPMs it might be not be the best idea to decrease the amount of oil by that much. I know that most people who run these dont have any intention of driving them on the highway but you may still want to take off across a dry lake bed like the one at the hammers or run around in the dunes at high speed so it is something to think about. And on a personal note, it just feels like that rounded dome cut flat on the bottom will slide over rocks easier that that fin hanging down. Just food for thought.:rolleyes:

Oh by the way here is how mine came out.

Originally posted by 350Samurai
I sent pics to LordRatner five minutes after he said he would post them and when I checked he was off line.
I gotta get me a damn star.

Ya, sorry, i tried for about 20 mins and had to go work, sorry.

I know that most people who run these dont have any intention of driving them on the highway

Hey now, mine rolls great down the highway. In fact i am gonna cruise it down the highway a lot more...

On the back of a trailer!!!!

BAHAHAHA!

yeah I think its funny that you cant build something that goes faster than 45 too. HAHAHAHAHA!! maybe if you got rid of that dog of a motor. :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

Ya, sorry, i tried for about 20 mins and had to go work, sorry.
No problem, I needed to get off my ass and get a star anyway.

Originally posted by gunracer1
this was the first one i have done and i went through a learning curve. it is going in the back of my cruiser.
http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/857952-mohawk%201.jpg


are you still able to put enough gear oil in the diff to keep everything lubed correvtly. seems like there wouldnt hardly be any left in there....

i will just over fill it by a quart or two. it will be real easy, just pull it on a big hill. and it will clear a lot more tha jeeper111, i thought about doing it like his but then i figured if i was going to shave it, i might as well give it all the clearance i can get. it is much faster to just cut the bottom flat, but the best way is usally not the easy way. mike

it is much faster to just cut the bottom flat, but the best way is usally not the easy way.
I agree, that is the way I'm gonna do mine(mohawk). If you're gonna do it, why half ass. It's obvious that it will drag much less with the mohawk than it will cut flat.
You're looking at about 3 more inches clearance, except for a 3" wide piece.
And we might be pussies, but at 220 lbs., if you picked them up without any help, you are a dumbass. My engine hoist is a lot cheaper than back surgery.

yeah I think its funny that you cant build something that goes faster than 45 too. HAHAHAHAHA!! maybe if you got rid of that dog of a motor.

OOOOH! I don't see your pile moving at a rate of speed anywhere NEAR 45mph anytime soon. Besides, at 45 mph i am still only 1 hr from some of the nation's BEST TRAILS!! Even if you could go 200 mph, it'd still take you longer than that to get anywhere cool... Ohh, and who needs to worry about speed when you have a DIESEL TOW RIG!!!! You know, a tow rig that doesn't have "Z-71 Off-Road" written on the side(cough, cough, PUSSY, cough, cough...)

On a serious note, have you checked out that Katemcy Rocks place. It appears to be fairly close to the SLAB, but a little further from Waco. Run a search, i think the thread is a few days back...

If you're gonna do it, why half ass.

OUCH! SMACK!!

This is my feeling as well 350sammy. I only half-ass the stuff that is not gonna be under my rig 4ever. That's why I'm not gonna bother to cut my rear rockwell. Rear steer is coming next year...

Rear steer is coming next year...
I'm looking for a front for the rear of mine right now. I found one for $350, but I am holding out and I might get one for free. Some of the military junkyards around here are starting to quit selling two fronts together, they say they are getting stuck with too many rears that they can't get rid of.
I guess the rockwell craze is taking off out here.

if you can get a front for 350, you better jump on it. i won't sell two fronts any cheaper than 2 sets f&r for the same reason.

Tim incase you didnt know I got Keniths axles and coilovers. I dont think I am gonna cut mine right now just beat the shit out of them and they might flatten out a little. I need to get ahold of you Tim and talk theory on putting the axles under my truck.

Todd

Originally posted by elf_cruiser
On a serious note, have you checked out that Katemcy Rocks place. It appears to be fairly close to the SLAB, but a little further from Waco. Run a search, i think the thread is a few days back...



Yeah Katemcy kicks ass for Texas.....

there is that mud jeep again!:flipoff2:

I dont want to hear it from elf-loser, a guy who duck taped in his CB and then had to take it out because it would fawk up his cheap ass fuel injection. :flipoff2: Doing it right takes time and I have all the time in the world. HAHAHAHA

I dont want to hear it from elf-loser, a guy who duck taped in his CB and then had to take it out because it would fawk up his cheap ass fuel injection.

WTF are you talking about?? The CB works fine, and so does the FI. I had disconnected it when i pulled the seats out to swap the tranny, and just never bothered to reconnect it. Stop tryin to talk shit about things you don't know anything about...

By the way i know you have all the time in the world, this only the umpteenth time you've swapped axles, suspension, tires, etc...

When are you finally gonna "do it right"...?

I thought I was there man or are rockwells not the right way to go??? I already know your answer to that because us bear 4x4 guys are crazy and we build our shiat way too much.

I'm having a hard time getting the inner axel seals form leaking, have replaced all them. When the buggy is tilted hard , oil gets everywhere. Has anyone tried putting double seals in.

Hmm, i don't have that problem. Are you sure you are using the right seals?? The seals for repezza joint shafts are different from the seals for U-joint shafts. Just a thought?

Originally posted by jeeper111
I thought I was there man or are rockwells not the right way to go??? I already know your answer to that because us bear 4x4 guys are crazy and we build our shiat way too much.


hey, were you one of the guys that went on the trip with Bear 4x4 and TAMOR? there was a silver toy, black YJ, and green YJ there....thats all i know of...

Hey aggie, are you puttin rockwells under an F-150?? If so, then i am the dude that sold you my wheels and tires...

How's the project?

Wes you need to shut up and let Lee change his mind as many times as he wants! I get my shit alot cheaper that way.

Yeah I was one of the guys on the TAMOR and Bear 4x4 run. I had the red YJ on 36s then. Were you there and if so is that your wellow jeep that is at avalanche now? I know that guy was out there.

Hey Daniel, try giving credit where credit is due when you use my pictures! That mohawk bottom was cut last year here in KY.

Later
Todd

Originally posted by BMSN123
Hey Daniel, try giving credit where credit is due when you use my pictures! That mohawk bottom was cut last year here in KY.

Later
Todd

Lighten up....:rolleyes:

Originally posted by BMSN123
Hey Daniel, try giving credit where credit is due when you use my pictures! That mohawk bottom was cut last year here in KY.

Later
Todd
Hey Daniel, I got plenty of pics if you need some that aren't copyrighted.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by 350Samurai

Hey Daniel, I got plenty of pics if you need some that aren't copyrighted.:rolleyes:

Funny.

Originally posted by jeeper111
Yeah I was one of the guys on the TAMOR and Bear 4x4 run. I had the red YJ on 36s then. Were you there and if so is that your wellow jeep that is at avalanche now? I know that guy was out there.


i wasnt there for that run....i had a broken rear driveshaft. the guy with the yellow jeep is Greg Higgs. where exactly did yall go off roading up there?