Muzikp's Sometimes Driveable Build

Looks similar to my Hankook's.

 

I had a set of those on a TJ and really liked them!

 

They are older style BFG Mud terrain tires

 

I’m gonna date myself here, but to me, those are the ‘newer’ style. I can’t even find a pic of the ones I’m thinking of because they were pre-internet.

 

Wow! Found this old thread on page 7...

If you recall I was working on narrowing a D44, installing my powr-lok, made disc brake brackets, shortened an axle shaft and had it resplined, installed my rotors and calipers and was ready to get the Jeep back on the road.

Looked like this, made me very happy with the perfect width (in between narrow track and wide track) and disc brakes, flanged axles and powr-lok.





I had done all my axle measuring and shortening work with my open diff. When I went to put the axles in my powr-lok they were too long. I couldn't understand why and finally decided the powr-lok was different and the axles needed to be shorter. So I cut this much off of them.



That's where I made a huge mistake but didn't know it yet. After I cut them and installed them, I decided I wanted this axle to be perfect so I took it to a guy to have my gears setup professionally just to be safe. He sent me a message saying everything was ready to go but he was concerned the axles were too short and didn't insert into the powr-lok enough. That's when I realized I didn't align the splines inside the powr-lok which is why the axle shafts didn't go in all the way .

For some reason that killed my enthusiasm to get it back on the road... I had toyed with the idea of just getting two more axle shafts made and even bought a really cheap Wagoneer axle with 19 spline flanged shafts to get cut down but I never followed thru and haven't been motivated to do anything with the Jeep since... UNTIL NOW!!!!

Last weekend @'74Renegade and another friend loaded this into my truck while I unloaded my wallet...





A rear, narrowed, high pinion, full float, large tube Dana 44, Detroit locker, 4:10 gears, 31 spline hardened axles, 11" brakes with e-brake and nice Warn hubs. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics before I tore it apart to inspect everything but it's all in excellent shape.

Today I ordered 4:10 gears for my front axle and I'm hoping to get this rear axle cleaned, greased and painted and under the Jeep this weekend. There is a slim chance I might even drive it if all goes well . It feels good to be excited about this Jeep again .

Oh and before we went and picked up this axle we had lunch with @Jeepsterjim and spent a few hours talking Jeeps and trails and... well lot's of stuff. Sure is fun to put faces to names in person .

 

James
Enjoyed meeting up with you and your friends. Let's do it again. Bob mentioned Pizza while hanging out in the shop. The diff you got should work great! A good find!

 

I lost count of how many times I walked away from my build, either due to a questionable choice I made, or the endgame being so out of reach it seemed futile. Several times for years at a time. Glad to see you’re back at it!

 

Don't give me too much credit, I only pretended to be lifting.

 

I rebuilt an engine to have a... spare? needle bearing grenade the trans in the first 5 miles.
I had several hundred miles on the trans since opening it last.

Took 6 years for me to heal.

 

Glad to see you're back into the jeep...you've done really nice work on it so far. And sorry to hear about that axle you built. I was truly impressed with that.

I recently put a custom built rear HP Dana 44 in my rig too because of a "good deal". It's very similar to yours, except mine's got 4.88's and an ARB. Know that your drive line will change a little. There is approximately a 3" difference in the vertical plane. Obviously these axles are useful for a taller lift situation.

Although you probably know, be aware that with a HP axle in the rear you're running on the coast side of the gears. This creates a weakness in the ring and pinion compared to a LP that runs on the drive side. Probably not a big deal if you stay with 33's and are cautious on the throttle. Check out the JANTZ stuff for upgrading the HP diffs for rear use. They put Dana 50 gears in a 44 housing:

JANTZ ENGINEERING

 

I've heard they are a bit weaker but I'm not aggressive with the throttle so I think I'll be ok. Any idea what this axle might be out of originally? I'm guessing a 70's Ford maybe?

 

I bought new seals for it tonight. The bearings and races are Timkin and look good so going to run those. Trying to get everything cleaned up and ready to go back together this weekend hopefully.

I ordered 4:10 gears for my front axle and those showed up today, they seem so small and... cute .



Got some cheap gear oil and other stuff needed as well. Going to run this oil for a few miles and change it, cheap stuff should do fine for that.

 

I've heard they are a bit weaker but I'm not aggressive with the throttle so I think I'll be ok. Any idea what this axle might be out of originally? I'm guessing a 70's Ford maybe?[/QUOTE]

Probably. I think mine came out of a 76 F250. Obviously all the HP 44’s are full size truck front ends. WFO in Auburn builds them and there’s a chance yours came out of that shop...the one I have did. They swear it’s solid for my little CJ. I’ve been wheeling with it some now and it’s fine so far. I’m no longer worried. I did have a new Woods drive shaft built for it....really well built part.

 

Send the parts out to Dean Reed and have them frozen, LOL. You will gain about 50% in strength. Weakest part is those locking hubs. Just carry a spare. Looks great James!

 

The internal ford style locking hubs should be good to go.. If he had the Jeep D30 hubs, he can run quadratrac drive flanges..

 

Turns out I got the wrong seals for this thing. I'm having a really hard time finding seals, this axle is some sort of unicorn, custom thing. I ended up taking my axle shaft and spindle to a local old school shop.



He typically has what I need. Super nice guy, we spent an hour measuring and researching the correct seal, after trying 20 or seals he had I ended up with a seal number for machinery as opposed to an automotive seal. I ordered two seals on Amazon but they won't be here for a bit .

 

I hope you gave that guy a tip or returned with a 6-pack.

 

Where is that shop? Might be worth the drive from my part of town.

 

Mc Master Carr or Applied would deliver overnight......

 

A & E auto parts on Franklin. Nice guy, entry area is full of rabbits and hay and other rabbit stuff . He definitely has all the good ole parts we need.