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need a little front axle advice...

kewlkatdady

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Mansfield TX
I know I know.... do a search. I have.
I have an '88 XJ with the vaccum D30 in front.
I have a little money I want to put into it so my question is this....

I want to upgrade the front axle...but I'm not a great welder (I can get around that issue)...

Is there a front axle bolt in replacement for the XJ... if not which axle is the best for using in the XJ for a tire up to 35 inches.

When I say "best" I mean one that will not have to custom axles and have disc brakes and all the other thing that makes an axle "good"....
MOSTLY available to someone not wanting to spend alot of $$$$$.

I can do minor welding but I just need some advice on what axle to start looking for.
Thanks for your advice in advance......
 
the Rubicon front axle would be the best bolt in (besides Currie, Dynatrac, etc)

the easiest 1/2 ton swap is probably the HPD44 front and 9" rear from a late 70s F150 or F100 using the stock radius arms with a little modification. This swap has been done dozens of times and is simple, effective, and cheap if you find a good deal on the axles.
 
I did the hpd44 swap with the radius arms. You have to weld brackets on your frame but if you tack them a shop would do it for a couple of bucks. I also added a few inches of tubing and an RE superflex joint to the arms but I think PeteM is running them like the factory, I think he just used the brackets off of the donor vehichle too. Articulation wont be great with the ford brackets but it's cheap.
Hers some pics of my setup.
http://www.picturevillage.com/photo/showalbum.php?aid=5095&uuid=3022
 
The most bang for the buck would be to replace the existing axle shafts with ones that have the larger 297 ujoints. There are two ways to do that. The first one is to find a 96 YJ IIRC. They had the vacuum disco and the bigger shafts. Then all you have to do is swap shafts. A simple task. The other way is to get some non-disco shafts from later model XJ's. You would get rid of the disco. There are tons of articles on doing this. It entails pulling things apart and adding a seal as well as a block off plate where the disco went.

Any other axle upgrades other than that will require a significant amount of modification and $$$.
 
CW said:
I did the hpd44 swap with the radius arms.

I'm not real familiar with radius arms.

Aren't they similar to the LCA's on my XJ?
Are there only 2 (1 on each side)?
Is there nothing on the top of the axle housing like the UCA's?

Sorry for the silly questions but I'm trying to learn.
 
kewlkatdady said:
I'm not real familiar with radius arms.

Aren't they similar to the LCA's on my XJ?
Are there only 2 (1 on each side)?
Is there nothing on the top of the axle housing like the UCA's?

Sorry for the silly questions but I'm trying to learn.
correct, only 2 arms and a panhard (trackbar). they control axle rotation by the way the big wedge bushing is mounted. look at some pictures (search "ford radius arms") and you'll see what I mean.
 
you could, but i don't see why you would. if you do you'll need the F150/100 axle that has welded on wedges for the radius arms (pre 77.5?) the later ones (78/79?) have cast wedges that would prove difficult to work around. Or you could get an F250 axle which is setup for leaf springs.
 
i'd say it works pretty well
xj0037.jpg


this is FarmerMatt's, he was one of the first to do this swap.
 
A pretty good solution is to go with a leaf sprung 1/2 or 3/4 ton full width Dana 44. Either way you'll have to swap a new rear axle as well, or change the bolt pattern on the front axle. Even then the track will be wrong. The real trick is finding a drivers side drop leaf sprun Dana 44. 77.5-79 F250 for the 3/4 ton route, or 80something FSJs also had driver drop but a less desirable IMO AMC 20 rear axle.

Personally I think going full width is the way to go, you get much more clearance for tires, the axles are more abundant and usually have less weak points.

Constructing and welding the brackets is not all the difficult for a half decent fabricator. Its hard to retain the stock control arm setup. Probably the easiest way besides going with the ford radius arm setup is to use a front long arm kit like Claytons, and only use one upper arm. The pumpkin-side UCA mount would be a pain to construct.

small_DSC02033.sized.jpg
 
I gained articulation with the radius arm swap over my long arms I had with the d-30. I can't lift my front tires off of the ground with my highlift anymore. Wich is a good and bad thing. The key is that you have to add a different style joint to the arms instead of the way they attatch on the ford.
I did the swap for free, finding a cheap (not running) donor truck is key to doing it cheap. I also cut the joints off of my longarms. It also is a good time to move the front axle forward a few inches, I just made up a plate that moves my coil buckets back and in to the stock location. You can just flip the coil buckets 180* but it looked too half assed to me because of the rediculous bow in the coils.
 
ok....just as a hypothetical....

Is there another option that uses the 4 link vs. radius arms that still has a high pinion?


sorry for all the ?????'s just trying to check out all my options...

thanks
 
Unless you go with custom axle builders, there is no axle with any worth-while increase in strength that will literally bolt up to a stock XJ suspension.

You can get some very strong axles from the custom builders, but expect to pay more than most of our XJs are worth.
 
I don't know why you are stuck on using the stock 5 link setup but, you can use the hpd44 center section and use waggy tubes and shafts. Then just cut the brackets off the d30 and weld them on to the d44. or just go with the waggy 44 even though it is low pinion. I would replace the rear axle before you worry about the front, the d30 can handle 35's.
 
kewlkatdady said:
how can the D30 handle 35's but the rear D35 cannot....

High pinion, full float; makes a world of difference.

From what it sounds like where you are with your build, just do the normal upgrades to your stock D30 axle. You may never pass that level of equipment requirement. Or if you do, you'll know exactly what you want by then.

HTH

r@m
 
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