Angus
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Kansas City suburb
I have been gathering parts and advice for my modified D30 to go into my 2000 XJ. Yes, I am staying with the D30 since this is a daily driver that does not wheel hard or often and I recieved a HP D30 for free. At 4" inches the steering (alignment/wobbles) is not the greatest and the brakes are poor especialy towing my shop trailer. When complete I will have a high pinion, 4.11 truetrac geared, WJ rotored and WJ steered Dana 30!
I currently have the HP D30, WJ knuckles, 2003 WJ calipers and pads, and a factory used good set of 4.11 gears. I will reuse my 297 axle shafts from the LP D30. Of course the CA bushings, ball joints, and bearing will be replaced.
OK, after many months of research on this conversion there are few questions. I will be following Mark Hinkley's (ORGS) build for the most part. One thing I am doing different is with the unit bearing spacer issue (ORGS, Burnsville Off Road, 4x4wire.com). I went to O'reily's and double checked that the WJ unit bearing knuckle mating surface is .23 different from the XJ's (Jeepsrus.com). Of course this is the amount needed to space a XJ bearing to keep the u-joint in line with the steering axis. I was going to weld the spacers on the knuckles (ORGS), but now I will just redrill the WJ unit bearing. Most good aftermarket rotors will be good to use once redrilled.
The steering will look almost like the stock WJ. I was going to mount everything as a high steer, but the axle swaybar and tracbar mounts all have to change because of draglink interfearance. If I was totally worried about clearance I would be running more than a 31" tire. When all is said and done I may have to do some fine tuning to the tracbar mount but it should be close.
If you are still reading this and have any comments or advice please let me know. Keep in mind that my my XJ is a daily driver that is used to pull a small trailer, so it will stay in the 4" area for life. The rear NoSlip and soon front Trutrac will help keep the XJ a good wheeler despit the smaller tires. My goals are to improve the gearing, make the braking better, and make the steering more reliable. I have battled wobbles since lifting, even though the truck is meticulasly maintained, balanced, and aligned. After a true-honest-pee-my-pants Death Wobble experience I bought a JKS tracbar and JKS lower control arms that made life good, but not perfect. In essence I am trying to engineer the truck to act and feel "stock" at a modified height (don't laugh). Yes, the rear locker and taller height affect the feel, but you know what I mean. With the bigger brakes and improved draglink angles of the WJ I hope to succeed.
Angus
I currently have the HP D30, WJ knuckles, 2003 WJ calipers and pads, and a factory used good set of 4.11 gears. I will reuse my 297 axle shafts from the LP D30. Of course the CA bushings, ball joints, and bearing will be replaced.
OK, after many months of research on this conversion there are few questions. I will be following Mark Hinkley's (ORGS) build for the most part. One thing I am doing different is with the unit bearing spacer issue (ORGS, Burnsville Off Road, 4x4wire.com). I went to O'reily's and double checked that the WJ unit bearing knuckle mating surface is .23 different from the XJ's (Jeepsrus.com). Of course this is the amount needed to space a XJ bearing to keep the u-joint in line with the steering axis. I was going to weld the spacers on the knuckles (ORGS), but now I will just redrill the WJ unit bearing. Most good aftermarket rotors will be good to use once redrilled.
The steering will look almost like the stock WJ. I was going to mount everything as a high steer, but the axle swaybar and tracbar mounts all have to change because of draglink interfearance. If I was totally worried about clearance I would be running more than a 31" tire. When all is said and done I may have to do some fine tuning to the tracbar mount but it should be close.
If you are still reading this and have any comments or advice please let me know. Keep in mind that my my XJ is a daily driver that is used to pull a small trailer, so it will stay in the 4" area for life. The rear NoSlip and soon front Trutrac will help keep the XJ a good wheeler despit the smaller tires. My goals are to improve the gearing, make the braking better, and make the steering more reliable. I have battled wobbles since lifting, even though the truck is meticulasly maintained, balanced, and aligned. After a true-honest-pee-my-pants Death Wobble experience I bought a JKS tracbar and JKS lower control arms that made life good, but not perfect. In essence I am trying to engineer the truck to act and feel "stock" at a modified height (don't laugh). Yes, the rear locker and taller height affect the feel, but you know what I mean. With the bigger brakes and improved draglink angles of the WJ I hope to succeed.
Angus
)
, did you get my email a week ago. I know you are busy but I was double checking some things like I am here. Of course disregard the bearing issue now!
