4 Wheel Disc and Rear D44 Full Float Conversion Writeup

On my '66 CJ5, I am swapping my front D27 over to a '73 Dana 30, converting over to 4 wheel disc, doing a rear full-float conversion, and putting a dual master cylinder on all at the same time. I'll post pics and commentary as I move along through this process ...

I started my "thinking" on this project over in this thread:
http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68959

My subjects for this operation ... BUHAHAHAHA :twisted::

D30 from a '73 CJ5:


My current tapered axle D44:



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I have most all of the parts on hand or on order. Getting my axles from Herm:
http://www.hermtheoverdriveguy.com/id2.htm

My parts list (will update as I actually get them):
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tTxghLH7HdMEP8NeBIl_bUg&single=true&gid=1&output=html

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But before I get going, I have a question:

I have (two of each of) three different types of spindles. The backs are different. Would one type be better than the others to mate up with my D44?



Any thoughts? More pics and writeup as I start the teardown ...

Thanks!

 

i have no idea which spindle would be better, the only thought i had was arent the ones with bronze bushings better(assuming that the first one does not have one, not just missing from picture) looking at it again it looks like its just missing the bushing... so im really no help at all....
oh ya im definitly subscribed.

 

OK, well, I'd hoped to have all afternoon to work on her, but the missus had some other ideas ... so I go started late.

Here's where I started - Passenger side hub. Never dealt with Warn hubs before so this will be interesting. How do you get these things off?



Started by taking out the six bolts that run into the hub. No sir, she won't come off. Hmmmm. Maybe I need to take out those six allen-head screws. OK, so I see a snap ring in there, maybe it needs to come out? One of the tools I never bought (yet) is a set of snap ring pliers. Maybe I'm stuck on that until tomorrow.



Well, let's move over to the Driver's side. Decide to take out the six allen-head screws first. Easy enough. That assembly comes off. Take off the six bolts that run into the hub and wow! The rest of the Warn hub comes off!



What's the deal? Go back to the passenger side ... nope she is not coming off. Seems like something is holding it on - it will slide out maybe 1/8 or 3/16 of an inch and stop solid like it is being stopped by a ring or something in there. I'll work on cleaning the grease out so I can look at it in more detail tomorrow.

Well, I am done for the night. Bag everything up in zip-locks - one for the passenger, one for the driver, and label with a Sharpie.

So, anyone have any ideas on why this part of the Warn hub is stuck on?

 

Looks like a Factory Service Manual would help ya out a bunch. Yes the snap ring needs to come off of the end of the axles to take the center of the hub off. The other side is just really worn so the center of the locking hub has come out of the housing.

 

The "best" stock type spindle to use is the disc brake spindle from a CJ Dana 30. They are thicker in the area where the inner bearing rides so are supported better after machining. The 27/25 spindles it doesn't really matter as dimensionally they are pretty much the same for use as a FF spindle. The 27/25 spindles work fine on a lightweight vehicle like a CJ as long as you aren't jumping it regularly. Mine have been on the '59 CJ-5 for around 18 or so years with no issues. Just make sure the seal and bearing surfaces are in good shape.

Edit: Oh yeah, if you use the disc brake spindle with attending bearings and go GM/ Jeep Waggy/pickup disc brakes you don't have space the inner bearing to get everything to line up properly.

 

Daryl, you were right. Bought myself a nice pair of snap ring pliers today and came home to try them out. Easy as pie and those hubs came off slicker 'n hog snot.

Nice little hub nut wrench from my pile of M38A1 stuff ... very helpful.





Now I'm into an area Pharaoh would have ruled ...

Used PB Blaster on the nuts, waited a while and pulled out the impact wrench. I'll buy new Grade 8 nuts to go on there.

Bang a little, tap a little, bang a little, tap a little, scratch my head, bang a lot, tap a little more ... here's what I end up with:





Those drum brakes will be for sale soon.

I don't think I am removing the spindles at this time and messing with all of that. I need to be able to DRIVE my Jeep, not just work on it. Everything seems to look pretty good and the ball joints seem tight. Opinions?

If it really needs a tear down for ball joints and U-joints, I can do that later over a weekend after I get her back on the road again.

Here's what's going back on - these brackets (have 4 identical) will get drilled - six new holes exactly in between the original six so I can go 30 deg more clockwise that how it is in that pic. Question - do I need to drill holes for the rear as well or are the original holes OK?

Then they will get scrubbed and painted ...



and I just LOVE the look of new rotors (finally got the right size)



Probably be Friday before I work on her again.

TTFN

 

You don't have to drill the rears. The fronts need to be re-clocked so you get full turning radius. When I drilled mine, I put the bracket on one of the spindles and marked 1 hole and drilled it. I put a bolt through that hole and drilled the rest of the holes working diagonally. Drop a bolt in the hole each time. Use a slightly larger drill bit then the bolt size. 1/32" if you have a drill press. I had to "adjust" a couple of my holes with a file to get the bolts in without binding.

 

Thanks, Posimoto. I always appreciate knowing the right way vs. trial and error. That's what this board is so great for!

Mailed off my hubs and spindles to Mr. Mcruff this am so he can work his magic on them ... another reason this board is so great - you get to meet poeple like Mike! Thanks, Mike!

By the way, based on advice from Herm, I am going with this type of spindle (out of the three types I have - see above) for the rear full floater:

 

I am going to be doing a similar mod to my brakes, but as a newbie here, I have no idea who Mcruff is, nor what Magic he does, how about a little more elaboration please??

Thanks.

 

Mike,

Mcruff (aka Mike) is great guy and a machinist located in Alabama. He does all sorts of machine and fab work - high quality at great prices. He is machining four hubs (to be flat on the back to mount to my rotors) and pressing out the old studs at the same time. He is also machining two spindles for my rear axle to a) make them fit into my D44 housing by machining the back to the right OD, and b) machine out the ID slightly to clear my new axles from Herm.

He also made some spring plates to allow a stock mounting of the D30 front axle to my Jeep:



and when I get it checked at an alignment shop, he's offered to make some axle shims for me at a good price to get my caster right.

I think he also makes a Saginaw steering conversion kit.

Don't mean to sound like an ad for Mike, but he is helping me out a lot with the things I can't do myself.

Troy

 

I just thought about something. I have these aluminum American Racing wheels ... are they gonna fit over these disc brakes I'm installing or am I going to need spacers or new wheels?

 

I can't wait to see the rear axle wright up. I plan on converting my tapered rear axle to a full floater.

 

Got the tie rod and drag link off ... hey, will I need that steering stabilizer set up? I'll keep the brackets just in case.

Opened up the diff just to check it out. Looks pretty good - doesn't look like any water or anything was in there. I bought this thing sight unseen, so you never know what you're gonna get.

Excuse the mess - I'm re-organizing some stuff in my garage.

 

Great time to throw a Lok-Right at that thing.

 

Aussie locker, its a little cheaper and built jsut as good and there slightly quieter.
I put one in my dana 30 about 4 years ago or so.

 

Progress is painfully slow, guys. I have too many things going at once!

Drilled the front brackets tonight. Started out clamping a spindle to one of them and drilling one hole, bolting it, drilling another. After two holes, it seemed like it was way too unwieldy for the drill press, so I unbolted the spindle and bolted another bracket to it back to back (technically front to front). The holes are a little bigger on a bracket so I figured I would be off a hair with my holes since I was using a 3/8 drill bit (wish'd I'd had a 25/64 or a 13/32). Since I didn't have any "real" coolant/lubricant, I used 3-in-1 oil for drilling.





So when I un-bolted the brackets, they were ever so slightly off ... I'll use the dremel tool to dress up the sharp edges and adjust the holes to get a perfect fit.

I'm going to try to get that done and these things cleaned up and painted tomorrow, and mounted on Wednesday. My axles show up Thursday, and hopefully/maybe my hubs and spindles too! I'd like to get this wrapped up by the end of the weekend, but I am also putting on Herm's dual MC bracket and a new master cylinder, so we'll see.

Blown all of my cash for the time being (and I still have stuff to buy!) and the wife is getting ancy ... love to put a locker in, but it'll haveta wait ...