i currently have a currie built 9" front matched with an 8.8 rear on 36s under my XJ. i was thinking of upgrading the rear to a narrow 60 rear out of a late 70s work van and was wondering what everyone thought of the issues ill have with the front. Also will be upgrading to 37" creepys or 39" iroks

front end is a Currie built 9" with D30 knuckles, warn lockouts, 5 on 5.5, 31 spline chromos, 4.56, and arb. and is about the same width as a D30

the problem would be that the rear would be about 4 inches wider than the front and the bolt pattern. what should i do to match them up

ive thought of wheel spacers in the front but with the turdy knuckles and maybe an upgrade in tire size could this be a major problem with strength issues?

get 44 or 60 knuckles for the 9"- would i have to get new custom chromos cut from currie? would i be able to retain my warn hubs? etc???

limited funding!!!

Why not just put a 9 inch in the rear?

Doing anything to the front 9 inch is going to be money wasted.You allready paid once.Or sell your front and start over.No sense redoing an allready expensive axle

I'm a bit surprised that you went with the D30 knuckles - they are definitely the weak point on that axle. Now that you are looking at larger tires I doubt that they are going to hold up.

As Jeep says, it would probably make more sense to sell the 309 setup and build new axles front and rear that will match. Especially if you are going to 39s (and possibly larger further down the road?), I'd consider 609s front and rear for maximum durability. Or just swap in a set of D60s.

i just got the 9"f and a 8.8r on a trade for my old clunker YJ i would not have gone with the 30 knuckle if i had had it built for me either. 9" rear would be too wide being that the 9" front is about stock D30 width and the narrow 60 is pritty much free and waiting for me at a friends place.

aslo had an option of buying some D80s for a steel but not sure if they are still available and what the aftermarket is like for them, have not done any searching

and to give you an idea of how wide it isnt i dont really have any recent pics so here is a vid
YouTube - me on body shop at crozet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnA5gB6NDC4)

Early Broncos have pretty narrow 9"s or Like I said sell them and start over

sell and start over....

i currently have a currie built 9" front matched with an 8.8 rear on 36s under my XJ. i was thinking of upgrading the rear to a narrow 60 rear out of a late 70s work van and was wondering what everyone thought of the issues ill have with the front. Also will be upgrading to 37" creepys or 39" iroks

front end is a Currie built 9" with D30 knuckles, warn lockouts, 5 on 5.5, 31 spline chromos, 4.56, and arb. and is about the same width as a D30

the problem would be that the rear would be about 4 inches wider than the front and the bolt pattern. what should i do to match them up

ive thought of wheel spacers in the front but with the turdy knuckles and maybe an upgrade in tire size could this be a major problem with strength issues?

get 44 or 60 knuckles for the 9"- would i have to get new custom chromos cut from currie? would i be able to retain my warn hubs? etc???

limited funding!!!

Okay,

Here is what I would do. You are running 36's on a full bodied XJ, I am guessing?? So have you broken the front end yet? If not, then you must be an extremely kind driver. If thats the case, then the cheapest way you are going to get to where you want to be is to leave everything alone and mount your 37's, then drive like Mrs Daisy.

Now, if you want the beef of a 60 and want the front end to match, your kind of in trouble as far as keeping the cost down. You see, the outers you have in the front are junk, c and out. The warn hubs are garbage too. You can't fix them. So cutting them off is the only option. Once you do that, you are forced to get new inner C's, outers, brakes, stubs, inners. Chances are you have a 31 spline 9 too. So all that comes out. Longer tubes since it's too small, ect. Even if you buy a donor used axle, 60's go for $1000 in bad shape. So, look at a lot of coin.

Here is what I would do if you love your XJ, which is totally cool. I build off an existing truck and am good with not having a buggy. Anyway, I would sell what you have totally. You can probably find someone dumb who will want it because its a "Currie built 9!". See if you can get 3g's complete for the set. Then junkyard a pair of 60's. You can get a front for around $1200, especially if you take your time scour. Then get the rear you want. If you do it right you may be able to get it all done for not much out of pocket depending on the amount of redneck you are willing to accept. Don't even bother looking at 9's. You can get the beef out of 60's for much cheaper and all you lose is weight and ground clearance. I would guess your rolling on 5k plus so who cares about weight.

Good luck. Just remember, whatever you do, the cost will be double what you think in your head. It sucks. I am on a spending freeze after what I did to get ready for KOH.

Cheers

no ive broken the front twice but both times they were u-joints and the first time the joint got the outer shaft ears. i had a chance at a set of D80s out of a f550, stock with 4.88s and locked rear.... and i could sell just the front for the price they wanted. would there be a big enough after market for the 80s to make it a good buy or just more trouble than they are worth?

no ive broken the front twice but both times they were u-joints and the first time the joint got the outer shaft ears. i had a chance at a set of D80s out of a f550, stock with 4.88s and locked rear.... and i could sell just the front for the price they wanted. would there be a big enough after market for the 80s to make it a good buy or just more trouble than they are worth?

80's are heavy giant pigs. But bulletproof. Dynatrack has a good aftermarket for them, but you don't really need one since they are strong enough as it is. If the drop is on the right side I would go for it and run them full width. Just get very low offset wheels to compensate.

Just an FYI if you go from 36's to 40's with 80's you are probably going to have the same ground clearance under the diffs.

cool thanks for the help... if i got the 80s(if they are still available) id prolly run the 42" rockers

cool thanks for the help... if i got the 80s(if they are still available) id prolly run the 42" rockers

Good tire. Have fun. Hope your happy.

yeah im happy with the responses and its what i expected just needed some people to stick it in my head so id get it done

would there be a big enough after market for the 80s to make it a good buy or just more trouble than they are worth?

If you break D80s in an XJ I'm not sure that aftermarket support is what you'll have to worry about... :eek:

Is the front in an F550 a Dana 80?I thought they were just a Super 60?

If you break D80s in an XJ I'm not sure that aftermarket support is what you'll have to worry about... :eek:


:laughing: not worried about breaking an 80 just about diff covers, gears, lockers etc....
but now that im thinking about it where id really like to take this thing there is a good chance of breaking if i muster up the balls to do it...



Is the front in an F550 a Dana 80?I thought they were just a Super 60?

i have no idea i just heard about this through the vine and by the time it got to me i heard 80's out of a f550 dumbtruck dont even know the year.... i have no knowledge on axles/trucks that big :( but if someone wanted to tell me what would be in the front thatd make my hunt for knowledge a little easier

I "Think" its just a super 60 in the F450/550

Sell the 9" and buy a 60 front/14 bolt rear You should be able to sell the front for a good price.

i would stick with a 9"/9" combo if you can afford to do the upgrades. 9" front with dana 60 knuckles and 35 spline shafts. 35 or 40 spline 9" rear. yes, i said 40 spline. 40 spline is only available as a spool setup though. you will have more ground clearance and less weight. remember, every 7 pounds equals 1 horsepower in the power to weight equation. several hundred extra pounds requires a lot more power and increases stress on all parts. with 9's you can get gears from 2.50:1 all the way down to 7.33:1. high pinion 9's can only go down to 5.13 or so. high pinion is stronger in front, but weaker as a rear. many cars had narrow 9" housings if full width is too wide.

i understand where your coming from and all squirrel but being that i have chromos in the front 9" and a full set of chromo spares i would be out a lot of money just ditching them cus no one could buy them. then id have to dig into my pocket to do all the upgrading and being that im already in the neg dont think that would be a great idea. so if i sold what i have i think i would be well on the way to bulletproof-ish. the 80-60 combo im talking about getting already has 4.88s, locked rear, and at least 35 splines stock im assuming. plus im looking for a used stak or atless so HP isnt my main concern its gearing. plus the added weight at the ground is always a plus in my book

aight well basicly why im stuck on the 80-60 combo is because i could get the pair of them for at most 1500 bucks which is insane because i could prolly get that much for just my front end, that is if they are still available.i should be finding out tomorrow some time if i remember to check into it.

being that i have chromos in the front 9" and a full set of chromo spares

Yeah, no sense in cutting up the front to make something else. Few people "in the know" would go for a 309 axle - truthfully, I wonder what the original owner thought he was gaining and I'm surprised that Currie didn't at least talk him into D44 knuckles on it. But you'll find someone who is blinded by the fact that it is a "Currie" axle.

well someone told me the knuckle actually looks like a J10/20 knuck but the paper work i have says- END TYPE YJ/TJ inner. ive never really compared it to a 30 knuck. I wish i had know what i was buying but that was back when i bought my offroad vehicles not build them, now i know better. Besides the front i have is a great upgrade over a stock 30 and makes more sense than upgrading a turdy as well.

Besides the front i have is a great upgrade over a stock 30 and makes more sense than upgrading a turdy as well.

But for the time and expense to custom build an axle compared to just upgrading...

As you say, you bought it this way. So you didn't shell out the $$$ to have the work done. But to have someone build that axle, the original owner could have gone substantially stronger without spending much more money using D44 components instead of the D30 stuff.

Or put it this way, he could have upgraded the D30 for less than half the cost of the custom axle and still ended up with the same weak links as he had in that custom axle - the knuckles and axleshafts...

lol i know that im just saying for the price i will be selling it for im just saying it will be better for someone else...

i know what he did was retarded and so does everyone else including himself im sure because he now has 60s

Is the axle 5on4.5 ? Im assuming thats why its has 30 outers

nope its 5x5.5 and the 8.8 that i got with it has wheel spacers to match them up

still no word yet from my source on the f550 yet :(