My D44 build with 36" IROKs, tested and it works!

Well I finally finished my XJ andd took it out for a shake down this past long weekend. Did two trails nothing too difficult but the one trail did give me problems in the past but not this time, just walked right thru everything. Very happy so far.

Heres some pics:



The axle is a D44 from a wide trac Waggy. I reused factory coil buckets and moved them out about 1.5". On the driver's side I had some problems with the mount being to close to the pumpkin.



I welded the upper mount directly to the pumpkin. Used some preheat and special rod. Much easier than building a bridge.



I can definetly see why people buy pre-fabbed bracket kits, fabbing takes sooo long!!! When I do my HP Ford D44 I think I might buy a kit.






I'm using Dodge 8 bolt outers and a Dodge 3/4ton D60 in the rear. WMS is 65" for both. Aprox 7" lift with 36" IROKS. Front flares are Steel Horse 7" TJs and rear is just plain old conveyor belting.

good to know .pretty much my new set up.what gearing are you running?

Do they make boxed tubing in Canada?

I'd keep an eye on that UCA mount on the pumpkin, I've seen them break off. There is a good amount of twist and sideways force on that mount, as well as fore and aft.

Right now it has 4.10s in it. I thought it would give me problems with that high of gearing but the automatic really made up the difference. I have huge tranny cooler in it. I have 5.38s that will be going in when I build up the HPD44. But for now 4.10s will have to do. We don't have much for rocks here, we do get some pretty good hill climbs, but no bouldering.

I was inspired Clayton's Offroad D44 upper brackets, seemed simple. I also have access to a lathe to boring out the tube for the step in the bushings was easy. I originally thought to use box for it but this seemed easier than trying to cut out the bottom of the box tubing to match the angle I would need to line up the control arm.

Some things I don't like and won't do again; I reused factory coil buckets. While this saved me a ton of time I think I want to push the axle out and mount the coils centered on the tube and possibly build more lift into it. This would also allow me to move the lower mounts up farther. Not really happy with how they hang down right now.

Also reusing the coil buckets let me reuse the factory Trac bar mount. Again saved time but I don't get much down travel before it bottoms out.

1.5" is a bit too far out for the coil buckets, there is more curve to the spring than I would have liked. I had to do it mainly to clear the pumpkin. Hopefully the HPD44 won't have this problem.

Its wider than I wanted(65WMS). While it hasn't posed a problem yet(excpet it won't fit on my tow dolly!) if I can figure out how to narrow the rear D60 I will definetly be narrowing the HPD44.

As for the upper mount on the pumpkin, I guess time will tell. If it doesn't hold up then I'll build a bridge for the HPD44. I saw that Clayton's kit welds directly to the pumpkin to it must be possible. I also really question how much force there really is on the upper arms as I have seen some setups only use one upper arm, mostly to maintain pinion angle. But people have broken them off so there must be a fair amount. Again time will tell. I built this axle mostly as a test so see what works and doesn't before I go mess up a HPD44. I figure I'll wheel with it for the summer and then build the HPD44 next winter. Might do a long arm setup in between that.

If you're going to use the factory coil buckets just use the tops and weld on your own sides so you can orientate your coils how you want.

I have yet to see any aftermarket bracket "kit" that comes out as slick as that.

i don't think that spare on the roof will help ya any..:laugh3:

look's good

Ya its only a 33", best I could find at the time. Still scouting for a 35". Still better than no spare I figure.

Yeah, I did my coil buckets similar to what Jes posted. I just used the very top where the spring sits, and the sides are plate. I also raised them 2" in the process.

One of the reasons for running a 3 link is to reduce the strain on the upper mounts. The majority of stress on the upper mounts comes from the twisting forces of articulation rather than from the torque of axle rotation. Sure, with a 3 link the upper mounts need to be real strong since they hold the axle for both power and breaking force, but they don't have to deal with the force of control arm binding that comes from articulation.

Just had a look at your mid arm pics. So there is no driver's side upper arm at all and your lower frame mounts are moved back on the frame. The upper passenger frame is also moved down and back. Is this the basics of it? Is the driver's upper arm removed simply to eliminate binding or because its simply not needed? What considerations need to taken into account for the trac bar? IE is their a relationship between TB angle/length and lower arm angle/length?

Do you bash the lower arm mounts at all or are you lifted enough its simply not an issue? Sorry for all questions but I'm gathering info/ideas for when the HPD44 goes in. Interesting to see something different from the typical LA.

cLAYH said:

Just had a look at your mid arm pics. So there is no driver's side upper arm at all and your lower frame mounts are moved back on the frame. The upper passenger frame is also moved down and back. Is this the basics of it? Is the driver's upper arm removed simply to eliminate binding or because its simply not needed? What considerations need to taken into account for the trac bar? IE is their a relationship between TB angle/length and lower arm angle/length?

Do you bash the lower arm mounts at all or are you lifted enough its simply not an issue? Sorry for all questions but I'm gathering info/ideas for when the HPD44 goes in. Interesting to see something different from the typical LA.

Click to expand...

What is a "typical" LA?

CRASH

RE-style radius arms.

Yep, that Clayton's kit is what I think of when I hear LA.

I know that Long Arm is now the cat's meow and EVERYBODY has to have it(insert sarcasm here). Just not convinced its right for me. Need to do MUCH more research and educating myself before procceding.

cLAYH said:

I know that Long Arm is now the cat's meow

Click to expand...

Is it?
I thought it was the "in" thing to do 3 years ago.

Jes said:

Is it?
I thought it was the "in" thing to do 3 years ago.

Click to expand...

Yea, long arms are TOTALLY 1999, the new "in" thing is recessed 3 links....

get with it people.

What can I say we're a bit behind up here in Canada. We don't even have box tube!