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78 bronco d44 & 9" into 93 XJ

C

cypertj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Canton, Texas
I hate for this to be my first post, but I have a quick question. I WILL come back and introduce myself later. I promise!

I have a 93 XJ, 4x4 4.0, I recently aquired this rig from my brother and it needs a front axle. I would like to upgrade and run 35s so I know I need at least d44s. I want this to be a tough trail rig, probably a trailer queen. Right now I'm thinking about a 6" long arm lift with coil over conversion in the rear. I will probably keep the stock 4.0 until it dies. It's gonna be a long road but well worth it in the end.

I have found a guy with a 78 bronco he's parting out and I can get both axles for $200. i understand these have cast wedges. Will these be a big problem and should I pass on these or would these axles make a good swap with a little blood, sweat, and tears.

Thanks Guys
 
It kind of depends. If you're going to do some custom long arm setup and use the radius arm ends like Ford does from the factory, you'd be ok with the cast wedges. If you're planning on getting a bracket kit for the axle and making it work with an off-the-shelf long arm kit for an XJ, then that axle HOUSING is worthless to you.

However, that's a great price for the pair of axles IMO. If it were me, I'd snatch those up, and start looking for another non-cast front housing you can swap all the parts into, or if you found a whole nother front axle, you'd have the one with cast wedges for spare parts (shafts in particular).

Hope this helps.
 
I wasn't planning on doing anything "custom". An off the shelf kit sounds alot better. How much modification am I looking at if i try to use a kit. I'm fairly new to this but I have been doing my research over the past year, not afraid to do a little bit of work though

We were planning on building this together and my brother bought a 97 TJ so he lost interest and sold me the XJ. So now its time to get started.
 
If you buy an off the shelf kit for a different front axle you will need to redo all the mounts and coil buckets on the Ford axle to match the Dana 30. If you go all custom its reverse... use the axle how it sits with radius arms and you end up building a crossmember and all that other jazz... its 6's in my book
 
Here she is, already has a 3" lift and 31s.
The guy my brother bought it from took out the front axles to save on gas and the diff has been open for a couple of years, so I figured it was a great time for an upgrade
a3u4ezud.jpg
3enyneny.jpg
 
id run what lift ya have and cut to fit the 35's, you can cut as much as you want up frt for the 35's and for the rear do a cut n fold, then pick up a 29spline 8.25 rear from a 97-01 xj for a bolt in upgrade then in the frt run stock shafts with spicer 760 joints
 
Looks good, also agree with what rob said, if you lookin for a "no fab" route...

On a side note, id cut that bumper off at the main tube and remount it about 6" back to get it closer to the body, you could also tilt it up a little bit so it doesnt have that extreme forward angle in it. It would look alot better in my opinion, but i buit one with almost the exact same design

_DSC1365.jpg


IMG_20120928_154636.jpg


I took winch measurements for the back of it to touch the grill and the fairlead 1/2" clearance on the front, its about 6" from the grill to front of the tube... just a thought :thumbup:
 
Breezio69 said:
id cut that bumper off at the main tube and remount it about 6" back to get it closer to the body, you could also tilt it up a little bit so it doesnt have that extreme forward angle in it.
Click to expand...
got any more pics of this or a link with pics of this setup and a how to kinda thing lol
 
Demonoid369 said:
got any more pics of this or a link with pics of this setup and a how to kinda thing lol
Click to expand...

Sorry man, no pics during progress, I just ordered some steel and went to town, built it from the mounts up... was going to buy some pre made mounts, but the 1/4" plate was less than half the cost of already made ones... 2" main tube and hoop with 1 1/2" braces, 1/4" plate on top ties into both sides, front tube and a rear brace that runs across the back edge underneath for the winch. Weights about 70-75 lbs + about the same for synthetic line winch. Cost about $200 in steel, easily 20-30 hours into Fab and welding, I did all the seams full weld and fill till I could grind them smooth as butter, no hard transitions in the angles.

Very sorry for the semi thread Jack OP, I just figured you were about 1/2 way to a sweet bumper already
 
NotMatt said:
It kind of depends. If you're going to do some custom long arm setup and use the radius arm ends like Ford does from the factory, you'd be ok with the cast wedges. If you're planning on getting a bracket kit for the axle and making it work with an off-the-shelf long arm kit for an XJ, then that axle HOUSING is worthless to you.

However, that's a great price for the pair of axles IMO. If it were me, I'd snatch those up, and start looking for another non-cast front housing you can swap all the parts into, or if you found a whole nother front axle, you'd have the one with cast wedges for spare parts (shafts in particular).

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Take the hp44 and a freebie chev 12bolt to a local drivetrain shop and have the 3"tubes swapped. I was quoted like $150 to have this done.
 
NotMatt said:
It kind of depends. If you're going to do some custom long arm setup and use the radius arm ends like Ford does from the factory, you'd be ok with the cast wedges. If you're planning on getting a bracket kit for the axle and making it work with an off-the-shelf long arm kit for an XJ, then that axle HOUSING is worthless to you.

However, that's a great price for the pair of axles IMO. If it were me, I'd snatch those up, and start looking for another non-cast front housing you can swap all the parts into, or if you found a whole nother front axle, you'd have the one with cast wedges for spare parts (shafts in particular).

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


That is a great price if I lived anywhere within 250 miles I'd go get it myself if you passed. The rear should be a big bearing 9" Ford. Both should be 3.50 gears. The front should be Hi Pinion that alone is worth the price x's 3. I believe there are not any 44 Hi Pinions available other than the Fords. I ran 35's from day one and have never broken an axle with my 44 other than a U-joint.
DSCN0448.jpg
Here is a radius arm set up which I first did for my 85 in 1992 and relocated to my 95. If you need more pics such as t-case cross member just hollar.
 
I had a Bronco 44 with a 9" in my TJ. For the front, I made custom radius arms utilizing the stock wedges. It worked really well, but was a LOT of work. There are a lot of considerations. First, the tubes are not complete under the wedges, so you can't remove them without re-tubing the axle. That is why I stayed with the radius arm setup. Also, the track bar and steering are completely different, so you need to come up with a solution for that. It goes on and on.

Personally, I would not do it again. A properly built HP Dana 30 with chromoly axles and good u-joints will hold up to 35's just fine. A long arm kit is easier and cheaper in the long run.
 
I hear you and yup! But those are 15.5 inch wide by 36" tall Mickeys . They probably equal the tire width and traction of a 42'' or 44" tire, which generates a lot more potential torque on the axles which a 30 would probably not hold up to! The XJ struggles trying to roll that width up grades even with 4.56, that's why I'm thinking stroker! I think my ratio is just fine at 4.56 especially with the under drive box for off road. I replaced one inner but that was due to axle joint explosion altering the inner axle ears! I went ahead and replaced it with a chrome moly inner and will do the same if the other goes!
 
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