New Front Axle

[Vince]

My head is spinning with all the options....I'm so lost right now....

I know what that feels like. You need to work out first how much money you want to spend initially and what the worst total spend would be after a couple of years of use.

It takes a while to price up the various builds and to get it all on paper (or a spreadsheet) but that's the only way to do it. Then it is just a case of working out which is the best option that you can afford now, and if you can afford the breakages over the next couple of years if you cut corners.

Only you can decide if you need to postpone your build in order to increase your budget.

 

[JNickel101]

Yeah, thats my dilemma...I dont mind spending a bit of extra coin if its going to be something I dont have to worry about breaking (like a D44 or a 9") - but every D44 option i seem to come across is a LP version...I'm just not sold on that.

I can get an HP 9", but with all the options and bells and whistles, it will come out to like $3500....yeah, right.

I could also get a JY HP D30 that would bolt right up - I could just get the mini skids welded on the LCA mounts to beef those up....maybe get a truss for it....get WJ/Teraflex knuckles so i can do a high steer setup, then get a new "over axle" trackbar bracket welded up

Or...I could attempt to figure out where the hell I can find a HP D44, have it cut to the right width, have all the bracketry/mounts welded up, still go the WJ/Teraflex Knuckle route (because i have no idea what all that crap is about a "flat top" knuckle - there are eleventy billion options for a D44 knuckle and I just want to keep it simple)

 

[xj92]

XJ, TJ, & ZJ have exact same front end bracketry on the axles. I built up my HP D30 a little with a full-case Detroit soft locker, 4.88's, heavy-duty cover, and then upgraded to the stock shafts that accept the 297x joints since mine originally came with the 260x joints. It was a waste of money and I now have a D44 sitting in my garage that I'm building up, but I invested in tools and learned to do stuff myself on it. If you're not doing any of the work yourself, then search the classifieds here and buy something somebody else has already put the money into, whether it be a D30 or D44. I'll sell you my D30.

 

[JNickel101]

Which D44 did you go with?

 

[Vince]

Clayton Offroad gave me a pretty good price on a custom built HP 44 using a Rock Crusher (Solid Axle) center section with D60 knuckles. http://www.solidaxle.com/products/d44hp44.htm
http://www.solidaxle.com/products/d60bjcend.htm
http://www.solidaxle.com/products/d60bjknuckle.htm

In the end, it was going to be very cramped around the spring seats at stock width with the D60 knuckles. I was already committed to a Ford 8.8 rear so going wider wasn't an option for me at the time.

It's possible that a JK HP 44 axle could be worthwhile for narrowing to stock width. But I don't know of anyone that has done that yet and used off the shelf 30 spline or larger shafts. The money spent narrowing could be spent buying a matching JK 44 rear instead.

 

[mikeNtucson]

I checked into the JKhp44. The locker is not common, and the ecm sends a pulse alternating that controls it. the bolts on ring are 7/16 not 1/2 and then the brackets issues. I wanted to know if there was a way one could make one. What hp44 center would fit like the rubi and bolt in? one with an uca on it. i know tube would have to be at width to fit in center.

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

It's possible that a JK HP 44 axle could be worthwhile for narrowing to stock width. But I don't know of anyone that has done that yet and used off the shelf 30 spline or larger shafts. The money spent narrowing could be spent buying a matching JK 44 rear instead.

JK 44s are 61.9" and XJ 30s are 60.75" not worth narrowing if you ask me.

 

[xj92]

I'm using an HP44 out of a '79 F-150. Here's what I've done with it so far and how I narrowed it with the cast wedges.

(click the link)
It's still a work in progress, not done yet.

 

[Vince]

I checked into the JKhp44. The locker is not common, and the ecm sends a pulse alternating that controls it. the bolts on ring are 7/16 not 1/2 and then the brackets issues. I wanted to know if there was a way one could make one. What hp44 center would fit like the rubi and bolt in? one with an uca on it. i know tube would have to be at width to fit in center.

But you could still replace the JK locker with an ARB and sell the electric locker. Probably still works out as a cheap way of getting a HP 44.

 

[Vince]

JK 44s are 61.9" and XJ 30s are 60.75" not worth narrowing if you ask me.

You are right. It isn't worth narrowing, but you would still have to deal with the different bolt pattern for the wheels which may be resolved with rear wheel adaptors or perhaps a JK rear disc brake conversion if you didn't buy the matching rear 44.

 

[JNickel101]

Clayton Offroad gave me a pretty good price on a custom built HP 44 using a Rock Crusher (Solid Axle) center section with D60 knuckles. http://www.solidaxle.com/products/d44hp44.htm
http://www.solidaxle.com/products/d60bjcend.htm
http://www.solidaxle.com/products/d60bjknuckle.htm

In the end, it was going to be very cramped around the spring seats at stock width with the D60 knuckles. I was already committed to a Ford 8.8 rear so going wider wasn't an option for me at the time.

It's possible that a JK HP 44 axle could be worthwhile for narrowing to stock width. But I don't know of anyone that has done that yet and used off the shelf 30 spline or larger shafts. The money spent narrowing could be spent buying a matching JK 44 rear instead.

Clayton built an axle for you? Do they not have that advertised on their page?

 

[Vince]

Clayton makes custom axles and he has all the workshop equipment to do it properly. He prefers to make axles from new parts than modify old ones. I really like his work, my budget on my XJ and TJ build couldn't stretch to the HP44. My wife and I got married the same year and she knows that the diamond engagement ring she is wearing would have been my HP44. I don't know why he doesn't advertise axles on his website, he's listed on solidaxle.com. Maybe it's because they keep the factory busy making suspension kits and it's something Clayton does personally as one-off special orders. It's worth calling to ask.

In the end Clayton made me a right hand drive Rubicon front 44 out of a left hand drive axle, fully built with new trackbar mounts, swaybar mounts, Warn 5.5 kit and CJ Discs. He also built me a similar spec RHD HP30, a trussed Ford 8.8, and a trussed TJ 44 rear with Rubicon disc brakes. All four axles had new axle shafts, 4.88 gears, ARB's and Rock Crusher covers installed.

 

[P1atinum]

Yeah, thats my dilemma...I dont mind spending a bit of extra coin if its going to be something I dont have to worry about breaking (like a D44 or a 9") - but every D44 option i seem to come across is a LP version...I'm just not sold on that.

Why are you eliminating the LP D44 from your axle list?

 

[JNickel101]

I have a LP D30 now....if I upgrade, I'd want to go to a HP axle...

I'm worried about caster/pinion angles....it seems to be hit and miss....

 

[JNickel101]

oh and for reverse rotation gears....

 

[Kittrell]

oh and for reverse rotation gears....

Reverse Cut gears. You want a certain thing and you don't even know what it is.....

 

[Skullver]

Reverse Cut gears. You want a certain thing and you don't even know what it is.....

reverse rotation, reverse spiral, reverse cut, all the same thing, he wants a hp axle, is that bad that he knows what he wants and maybe not EXACTLY how it works?

 

[JNickel101]

Reverse Cut gears. You want a certain thing and you don't even know what it is.....

go build a fire somewhere else. I know what I want, and that its stronger than standard rotation/cut/whatever in a front axle, but not necessarily in a rear axle. I know its stronger b/c the forward drive falls on the drive side of the tooth and not the coast.

 

[JNickel101]

reverse rotation, reverse spiral, reverse cut, all the same thing, he wants a hp axle, is that bad that he knows what he wants and maybe not EXACTLY how it works?

:cheers: thanks buddy!

 

[Kittrell]

reverse rotation, reverse spiral, reverse cut, all the same thing, he wants a hp axle, is that bad that he knows what he wants and maybe not EXACTLY how it works?

No, its not terrible. Just a annoyance to me, and I can never help but point it out. Just trying to get the right info out...............:thumbup: