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Trussed 8.8 build with traction bar

troy5118

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Ks
Just finished this up the other night. I moved up to 35's last year and my 4.10 gearing hasn't been cutting it. Since I needed to regear anyway I picked up a 8.8 as a good excuse to upgrade from my dana 35.

Out of a Eddie Baur, it was supposed to be 4.10 posi but was 3.73??

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Sandblasted, tubes welded, new perches on.

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1.25" tube bent for the truss.

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Filler plate dimple died and welded.

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Pinion guard.

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At this point I decided to add a traction bar after finding bent leaf springs. I was going to build one but it was cheaper to buy a M.O.R.E. bar. It came with everything except a cross member so I used a couple pieces of 1.5 square tubing and built this.

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I used that Rustolem Hammered paint in Silver and black to paint everything. That stuff is the shit! Reduce it a little with Xylol and spray it with a 1.8 tip, works nice.

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I've been very happy with them. I have several friends who run them also and no has had anything negative to say. I'm on my 2nd set and ordered 5, one showed up with a hole that was leaking air. They sent me another tire completely free. I patched the hole and basically ended up with a free tire!
 
how was welding the truss on. (me likey btw) did you build a jig for it? or just went to town welding? I'm assuming you used a 220 mig with gas. Been wanting to truss my Front and Rear axles but havent gotten any solid info on it. Please let me know....nice build
 
your speed holes are backwards :D

Sometimes you just can't make anyone happy :looser:

probably one of the nicer 8.8 builds ive seen. who makes the carrier gurdle?


x2 on the speed holes.

It's a T/A cover, they make them for several axles.

how was welding the truss on. (me likey btw) did you build a jig for it? or just went to town welding? I'm assuming you used a 220 mig with gas. Been wanting to truss my Front and Rear axles but havent gotten any solid info on it. Please let me know....nice build

The center section is cast steel so it's weldable. I preheated it, welded 220 mig/Argon and wrapped it with a fiberglass blanket to prevent cracking. Didn't use a jig but I tacked everything well before welding to keep it from moving.

And whats a reasonable source for a dimple dye kit? :)

I bought my dies from:

http://myworld.ebay.com/whiskeyv8?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1181

They weren't cheap but they do look cool!
 
That's a pretty nice 8.8 build!

Seeing the mounting spot for the factory ford pinion snubber shock gives me some ideas... dirty dirty ideas... wonder if you could make a traction bar and/or pinion guard bolt to that. Probably not strong enough for a pinion guard, and not sure it'd be strong enough for a traction bar either.

edit: FYI - when junkyard hunting, the tag on the diff tells you the gear ratio (if it hasn't rusted off) and the gear code on the door jamb does too. 42 is a 4.10:1, D2 is 4.10:1 LSD.
 
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Did you set the pinion when you welded the springs on? How did you know what angle to weld them on at?

How do you like the traction bar so far? Im thinking I want to build one for my 9 inch
 
I put it all together, set the drive line angle, tacked it then pulled it back apart to weld. Traction bar has been great so far. I had bent some leafs before which lead to adding it. It definitely helps the rear plant, only nag is it adds some noise but its a Jeep.. lol
 
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