Full size Axles under XJ

[JeepTJ38]

So here in NC there is no lift law and no tire cover law and all that other stuff so:
How hard would it be to slamm full-width D60's under my XJ. Weld new perches in the rear and 4link brackets up front. But where would be a good place to look for D60's (rear chevy, front Ford ?). And how much wider are truck axles compared to XJ axles. I am doing 8in of lift and 35's so any extra width will be better but I dont want to have totally exposed tires. I could buy new axle from Dynatrac or Currie or something but there like 5,000 and you can get D60's out of a yard for like 200 or so. So what do you think ?

 

[rockdog]

Full Widths

I`ll Buy All The Full Width Dana 60 Fronts You Can Buy For $200 For $300. Great Deal You Make $100 For Just Find`n Em!! Maybe They Are Easy To Find There. But Here They`er Gonna Put A Dent In Your Wallet When You Find Em Here.

 

[Floppy Hat]

Full size axles are going to be about 7 to 9 inches wider than what you have.

 

[ben c]

full size axles

the guy i work with (bigoxj)has chev pu axle under his and it works great the tires do stick out a bit. he has a pitcure on the for sale part on the board its not the best but may be it will give you a idea of how far the tires stick out he is running 35" krawlers and 15x10 bead locks (but not for long going to 37"krawlers ) if you have some more questions call us at big o tires on antelope dr in layton ut 801-776-5560 his name is garry

 

[crimsonride]

Good luck with your uni, that's a lot of stress for that little jeep.

 

[N-Smooth]

uhhhhh
i have one thing to say..... GET A FRAME!!!
okay two things... SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A YJ!!

hehe i have a xj and it sucks to work on. i used to think not having a frame was no big deal then i started to actually learn about wheeling and damn i have my regrets.
i am still building my xj because there is no turning back. ask any of the fellow unibodiers that have encountered problems or "really" wheeled their stuff and they will tell you the same.
xjs make way cool weekend wheelers and mall cruisers, hell they fit a lot of groceries, but they are not designed for the crap we want them to be.

just my 2 cents, no hard feelings
-nate

 

[JeepTJ38]

If I still lived in Utah and was doing what I did in my TJ I would be with ya but out here thers not much to flex on. You just need the clearance and tires for mud, so Im not that worried about it. Plus I can't stand driving this grocery getter around stock.
Also I forgot the company but someone has made weld on tubes for the sides of the unibody that then connect to the t-case crossmember that is suppose to help stiffen the frame. They did a story on it in this months JP mag.

 

[spiderman]

My buddy put a full-size ford dana 44 up front and a full-float dana 60 in the rear of his xj. His rig was only down for a week before he was done. I see no problems with doing this swap. This was his first swap, and he has had no problems with it.

 

[N-Smooth]

Also I forgot the company but someone has made weld on tubes for the sides of the unibody that then connect to the t-case crossmember that is suppose to help stiffen the frame. They did a story on it in this months JP mag.

http://www.tandjperformance.com/products-bpp-xj-chassiskit.htm
just make your own with angle iron or cap the uniframe with square tube cut into channel.

here is a good thread about the xj unibody, there are many more to be found on naxja.org (an xj forum) and jeeps unlimited (gross i just told someone to go there?) but this one is probably my favorite.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=168280&

you see i guess i should be kinda nice cause i made the mistake of building an xj too. check out the link in my sig if you are interested.

-nate

 

[Brett]

Personally, i wouldn't waste your money on putting full size axles under a Cherokee. Not worth the effort of putting that much stress on the body. Even with those frame stiffeners (currie makes them as well) it's still gonna be popping welds on the unibody.

IMHO

 

[Cody]

I'll give you 500 bucks for one of those Ford 60's you can pick up for 200.

PM me with an address to pay

Cody

 

[Economos]

You won't ever need 60s for 35s. You can make D44s live with 37s if you baby it or run alloys. The best front 60 is obviously the Ford reverse spiral kingpin unit but they're very hard to come by in the junkyard and are far from cheap, complete units sold around $1200 or so.

You're gonna need a cage for sure to keep the uni in tact as well as some sleeving on the actual uni-rails.

If you want full widths under your rig, look at a Ford HP44/9" swap. The Ford radius arms can be retained and used under the XJ and the rear 9" is a direct swap - the perches line directly up. The 9" is also a big bearing 31 spline unit. These axles are way narrower than the HP60s; the 1/2 ton HP44 is 65.5" wms-wms and the matching 9" is 64" wms-wms.

FYI, stock XJ axle width is 60.5" wms-wms. And for reference the HP60 wms-wms is around 70" I think.

 

[olywrestle]

Dragging this up from the depths....

I want to do this swap, I figured it I am going to swap axles, I want to do it right the first time...

My questions is, what years are the best donors for the Ford HP44 and 9"?

 

[olywrestle]

HA HA! Answered part of my question...

High Pinion 44: 74-77 F100/150 at least. (just 76 and 77 have disc brakes)


but still curious on the ford 9"