My 44/9" full width cherokee build

[Gravesdiggerxj]

(Dial up: shoot your computer)

So I got tired of being careful with the throttle and worrying about my weaker stock axles and all the crap I've broken so far.... that, and I popped my spider gears over the weekend of the 4th of August.

So here comes the axle swaps :headbanger: . I bought the whole underhalf of a Ford 76' F-150 custom on the 5th.

I spent most of last week cleaning up the rear axle and old wheels that I'm going to run on the street.. 32" Kelly Safaris. (35" mtr's offroad)

This'll be kinda slow because I'm getting Hitched the 21st of September so all the $$$$ is going to that

I'll keep a running Tally of what stuff costs
Brake drums $28.50x2= $57
Brake lines and u-joints $20
Stainless braided brake line extension $fiftey-free$ (thanks Brad)
Brake shoes (Raysbestos 5year) $12
Wheels Cylinders (Rays) $12x2 = $24
Moper leaf spring perches (six states) $10
Paint and Primer $50+
Brake Fluid $4.99
Gear lube $12 (you need to change yours anyways)
Grinding wheels, flapper discs, welding wire (whatever)
Spidertrax wheel adapters (#WHS-004 for the front for now) $82

total $253


(sorry about the crappy pics... I killed the digi so I get to use the phone)

Monday-Friday





halfway




primered




the wheels
before






bare metal




after


Saturday

grabbed some of Spidertrax anodized wheel adapters for the front to fix the width and convert from 5x4.5" to 5x5.5" lug pattern
#WHS-004


looks funny on little wheels in front


Ran up to my bud's shop in Bountiful to start


Brakes (thanks Brad)




End of Saturday

[Gravesdiggerxj]

Sunday

Ran up to Sill's in Layton for breakfast if you get a chance get a sweet roll. $3. Bigger than my whole plate...sheetcake sized





Fabbed some shock mounts




And yanked the Axle



Primed and painted with new third member




More later...... [IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/SERVIC%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.jpg[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/SERVIC%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.jpg[/IMG]

[Gravesdiggerxj]

Updated pictures with the axle under the Jeep!
I ran her up to 85mph down the point of the mountain and no problems. It tracks perfectly straight.

Looks almost factory.



I reused the factory brakeline "T" and it worked perfectly.
You can see that we placed the Shock mounts just below the centerline of the axle tube to keep them off the rocks. (ignore the crusty shocks... salt corrosion sucks, they're only a year old)


I'm also loving my smooth street tires. They are so much better for daily driving and my wheelin' tires will last longer too.

[BRIANHO13]

the lift blocks are a bad idea.

[barillms]

Lift blocks are FINE. As long as they're steel and no higher than 3".
Tack weld them in place to the leaf perch on the axle.

You may experience some axle wrap, other than that... they are fine unless you are some kind of extreme rock crawler. Most people aren't rock crawlers.

[ahm]

Nice work, How much wider is it compared to stock?

[uncc civilengineer]

Originally Posted by barillms

Lift blocks are FINE. As long as they're steel and no higher than 3".
Tack weld them in place to the leaf perch on the axle.

I agree... lift blocks are fine on trucks, etc. that are crusing around the mall.. otherwise get rid of them and make up the lift w/ springs/shackles (if economically possible) they're just not safe.

Another option: Buy/Make some U-bolt eliminators that are nice and wide...

Originally Posted by barillms

You may experience some axle wrap, other than that... they are fine unless you are some kind of extreme rock crawler. Most people aren't rock crawlers.

The axle wrap is what's going to leave you sitting on the trail with a rear axle flush with your transfer case after the lift block has fallen out...

[RyanM]

Great work on the axle swap, but man, those leaf springs are very 'tired'
You'll be fine mall crawling.

[BRIANHO13]

Originally Posted by uncc civilengineer

I agree... lift blocks are fine on trucks, etc. that are crusing around the mall.. otherwise get rid of them and make up the lift w/ springs/shackles (if economically possible) they're just not safe.

Another option: Buy/Make some U-bolt eliminators that are nice and wide...





The axle wrap is what's going to leave you sitting on the trail with a rear axle flush with your transfer case after the lift block has fallen out...

Or the axle wrap can eat ujoints, like mine did until I added a traction bar and I only have a 1" block.

But like said above you should be fine at the mall.

[Gravesdiggerxj]

New shocks today! Rancho RS9116 adjustables, approx 13" compressed 24" extended. Take off's (3 mo's old and free) from some kid who needed a bigger lift

Originally Posted by ahm

Nice work, How much wider is it compared to stock?

Thanks, I'd guess 2in wider than stock per side 66" WMS to WMS, but my rims on my street tires have 5.5" of backspacing and the tires are 1" narrower, so it's hard to tell.

Originally Posted by RyanM

Great work on the axle swap, but man, those leaf springs are very 'tired'
You'll be fine mall crawling.

Thanks. Ya my springs are hashed! I toasted those springs (4.5") with axle wrap (35" mtr's) before the 2" blocks (they're steel btw). I picked up a toyota leaf pack and hopefully this weekend I'll build a pack that will last more than a year.... and get rid of those blocks....\


BRIANHO13: do you have any pics of your traction bar?

Also forgot to add.... thanks to XJ_Ranger, baseballneal86 and Fatwreck (Brian) for the inspiration and answering my questions.

[RyanM]

Does your EBrake work?

[Gravesdiggerxj]

Originally Posted by RyanM

Does your EBrake work?

Yes perfectly. I was able to adapt the stock cables. They are identical to Ford's in everyway except for length

[xcm]

::looks around::
wheres the posts about the 44?

[Gravesdiggerxj]

Originally Posted by xcm

::looks around::
wheres the posts about the 44?

This is a build thread... read the first post, it's in production.


Don't worry.... progress pics soon

[fuzzydog]

lookin good! hope you keep this thread goin with the rest of the build. I considered a full width 9" and d44 when I started my build but went with an explorer 8.8 - you are making me regret my decision