Call me crazy?

I have this idea about my recently acquired CJ6. After reading many posts about how a lot of you modify your early CJs with saginaw steering, disc brakes from later models, wider axles, power steering, power brakes and so forth and I started thinking about what I might want to do to my cj6. Then I looked at the 92 YJ chassis I have sitting in my yard next to the cj6, that has power saginaw steering (including the pump), YJ suspension (wider and much better design), power disc brakes, a 20 gallon fuel tank located in the rear and so forth and thinking it's probably not that bad of a job to sit the cj6 body on the yj frame. In addition to transferring the cj6 body to the frame, I would stick in the Buick odd fire V6 I have with the TH 400 transmission, mated to a NP 231 transfercase via an Advanced Adaptors T/C adaptor. That would allow me to keep the 92 yj driveshafts front and rear. This should make a nice riding cj6 that has good road manners and can be a decent trail rig.
Any comments or additional ideas?

 

What about the difference in wheelbase?

 

Yep YJ is 94in WB and CJ-6 is 101.

 

Yes, a CJ-6 is 101", and a Wrangler is 94" IIRC. Splice the frame or cut the body.

This sort of thing has been done before. Get out your tape and measure the distances on the frame to see what would need to be changed.

Might be easier to use the CJ-6 frame, reinforce it, and fit some Wagoneer axles. The front springs will have to be outboarded to fit a Wagoneer front axle. Outboard the rear springs if you feel you need extra stability. With Wagoneer axles, you get an open knuckle front 44 with disk brakes, and a rear flanged 44.

The V6/TH400 combo is no problem in either chassis. I'd just use a Dana 20 - and pick some appropriate axle gears. You don't need super-low gears for crawling with an automatic. It's a different style of two-foot driving, one foot on the gas and the other on the brakes.

 

O.K.

You are crazy.

 

snicker
you beat me to it....

 

AHHH!!! I wanted to be the first to confer his thoughts in that area.

Ed :tea:

 

The good part about thinking out loud, is that someone else can hear you and tell you where you are going wrong. The YJ frame sounds bad, unless I decided to cut it down and that's not going to happen.

 

Well, I've been doing some more thinking, (and here goes more of it out loud). It may not be such a bad idea afterall, that is, putting the YJ frame under the CJ6. I just need to stretch the YJ frame about 6 inches. I think it can best be done by adding a section just in front of the rear spring perches. It will add the additional length I need without modifying any of the suspension geometry. In the end I have a CJ6 with a boxed frame, power assist disc brakes up front, saginaw power assisted steering, track bars, anti roll bar, 20 gallon gas tank and a few other features I can't think of right now. I'm going to give this further consideration.

 

One other thing to think about is the axles. You will have the smaller wheel bolt pattern axles (5 on 4 1/2") that use unitized bearing/hub assemblies up front. Non serviceable. Can't put locking hubs on 'em either without spending tons of money or LOTS of work. The rear axle most likely is a Dana 35 which is not a good build platform. They can be swapped however. I kind of like your idea but it needs very careful consideration and lots of measurements. My '59 '6 is on a shortened Scout Terra frame and the wheel base is stretched to 106" using long fenders and hood. I started with a rusted out tub and clean vin tag/title though. Only reason I used the Terra frame is because I had it and a '6 frame around here in any kind of shape was unavailable.

 

Put a ford dana 60 in the front 78-79 and bolt a 14 bolt in the rear.

 

You Sir are a NUT

 

Had to be done.

 

What do you mean by "Non serviceable"?
Also, I am wondering if you can elaborate a little more about why the Dana 35 is not a good build platform.

 

The Dana 35 is known to be a weak axle in snapping axle shafts and Ring and Pinions along with it being known to bend the axle tubes and housing from general use/abuse. It generally is considered a weak link in the driveline of modern Jeeps.

 

What MB82 said about the 35. They are weak, pure and simple. It would be close to the equivalent of putting a dana 30 in the rear with thinner axle tubes.

The front bearings are non serviceable. They have what are called "unit bearing" hub assemblies. When the bearings go bad, the whole assembly must be replaced. The outer axle shaft holds the whole assembly together. Break an outer axle shaft and the whole thing comes apart. You can't disassemble the front bearings for inspection, packing, replacement, etc. They don't stand up well to large tires/wheels either.
Because of this design you can't put on locking hubs without a very expensive conversion kit. Around $1700-$2200 last time I checked if anyone still makes one.

These are the reasons why people who want to run large tires on a Wrangler, XJ, MJ, etc. eventually either go smaller tires, break lots of parts, or upgrade to stronger running gear.

 

well, with all due respect Nick, they are serviceable if you want to make a "box" fixture to bolt the hub to, then you can press the two halves apart. We repacked these all the time for our customers. The tricky part is the retainer that holds the rollers. You have to be careful during disassembly or it will break; that retainer is made out of nylon/plastic. Then you have to buy a new bearing assy.You can also replace the wheel seals at this time.
Although you won't find a factory procedure for it, and what Nick states is 99% true, they can be taken apart.
Is it cost effective now-a-days to take it apart, probably not. For trail servicing, mush easier to just carry the whole assy for quick change out.

 

Thanks for the information, a lot to think about.

I took a lot of measurements on the YJ frame and the CJ6 body to see how they might fit. With a six inch stretch of the YJ frame, it comes very close to a nice fit with the exception of the radiator. I will need to move the radiator forward two inches to clear the 231 v6. The firewall will clear the motor. I will also have 1 1/2" of frame extending beyond the rear of the body in the rear. I wonder how difficult it will be to find the exact demension square tubing to splice into the frame. Might have to cut the extentions from a donor frame.