Anyone regret going full width?

THinking of going full width 44/9. Any of you guys regret going the extra width? Up here in the NW some of the trails get a little tight . Thanks

no but if you dd i wouldn't they stick out far and attract unwanted attention

NO!

I'm 'full width' as it's 81" from the outside of the tires, but that's still fairly narrow compared to what some guys do. That's with 13.5" wide tires and stock GM 16" truck wheels on a Dodge Dana 60. I wouldn't want to be much if any wider.



It's also about as narrow (and low) as you can go with those tires (39.5) and still have the stock inner fender area.

I sometimes do - I'm only running 35's, so I dont really need the width to not hit things.

A bunch of the times, I'll watch someone walk a line, that I cant even make, and I have to take some retarted line...

I used to get a lot of attention while driving it on the road, but it now lives on the trailer, so...





Only about 80.5" outside tire - outside tire...


If you drive it on the street, you're going to cut and turn the knuckles on the 44 anyway... and if you're cutting and turning the knuckles, then you've already done all the work to narrow the 44... get some alloy shafts ('cuse otherwise the 44 isnt an upgrade) in whatever length you need...

Various cars came with 9" housings that are narrow enough to be used or aftermarket housings with out brackets are cheap enough as well (though Currie or Spidertrax)...

You can always space out the stuff later with different backspacing or wheel spacers, but its really hard to narrow it once youve put all your brackets on there, and paid for your alloy shafts and all that...

My next axles will be 61-62 WMS instead of 65...

vetteboy specs his trackwidth, xj_ranger specs wms-wms, any chance either of you have your specs in the other format, for comparison? thanks

xcm said:

vetteboy specs his trackwidth, xj_ranger specs wms-wms, any chance either of you have your specs in the other format, for comparison? thanks

Click to expand...

xj_ranger said 80.5 outside to outside, vs vett's 81.

unwanted attention

cal said:

xj_ranger said 80.5 outside to outside, vs vett's 81.

Click to expand...

Both to the outside of the tires.

Which is alot narrower than I'da thought. Mine's about 76", stock axles, 12.50s on 8" rims.

That puts them about 2-2.5" bigger on each side. I'd gain that much if I went to a 10" rim.

Don't mean much. Just interestin' is all...

Robert

(Sorry about the treadjack... My mind wanders a bit...)

Great info guys, my rig is on the street about 40-50% of the time... and it is nothing compared to the rigs you two posted pics of. I'm running 35's with the stock 30 and I baby it everywhere, I don't want to waste money on d30 parts so I've already picked up a hp 44 to build. Narrowing it to waggy width is what I am leaning towards currently. I'm sure my plan will change 10 different times before I even begin the build. Thanks

WrenchMonkey said:

Both to the outside of the tires.

Which is alot narrower than I'da thought. Mine's about 76", stock axles, 12.50s on 8" rims.

That puts them about 2-2.5" bigger on each side. I'd gain that much if I went to a 10" rim.

Click to expand...

That's what I'm saying...I'm a bunch wider than stock, but not huge. I feel it's a good compromise and it makes for nice clearance to the links and inner fender area. I still rub just above the spring at full flex, and at the corner near where the battery box & air intake box sit. I wouldn't want it any wider or taller to fix that though.

Narrow axles + deep wheels to get the width equals good hub protection but crappy ball joint life and poor steering characteristics. Wider axles and shallower wheels put more things in spec but the hubs stick out more. I'm running drive flanges so I don't give a crap about the hubs.

wicked_xj: I've got well over 2k miles on this build in central NJ and I haven't been pulled over once. It's insured & registered at least.

vetteboy said:

Click to expand...

you just like posting that pic everywhere dont ya?

It's all about the 5" of backspacing. I was right around 81" from outside to outside.

9" rim with 13.5 IROKs and 5" of backspacing
Front

Rear

Front view


I drove it on the street from time to time and never once had an issue.

Are there any full width axles that can be installed witout changing the front axle geometry or does every potential front axle require cutting the knuckles off and making alignment adjustments?