1979 Ford high pinion Dana 60 build for a TJ

"kevheb" wrote: [quote="RobD"]Your right, sway bars are for sissies, but leaf springs are for little girls 😁

😂



Funny how this little girl with leaf springs and 33s followed you with your coil springs and 40s through Fordyce. 😁



Yeah, yeah, I needed a few rocks stacked, but still. 😁



😂



I want to do that one again this summer now that I have 35s and low range. Hope my axles survive!

BOOM!



:runover: :slap: :nutkick:



Nice to have someone on my leaf sprung team!



😂

Very true, my back still hurts from stacking those rocks for over and hour 😁

"kevheb" wrote: [quote="RobD"]Your right, sway bars are for sissies, but leaf springs are for little girls 😁

😂



Funny how this little girl with leaf springs and 33s followed you with your coil springs and 40s through Fordyce. 😁



Yeah, yeah, I needed a few rocks stacked, but still. 😁



😂



I want to do that one again this summer now that I have 35s and low range. Hope my axles survive!

"RobD" wrote: Your axles will hold up just fine as long as you stay on 35's..You do have chromo shafts right?

I have the 30 spline chromos in the rear 35, plus some spares. My front D30 is still stock and no spares (yet).

All installed and flex tested. Everything is working good and clears. I had to reroute the rear brake lines due to where I had to put the lower bracket tabs for the links. I also had to cut about 1 1/2 inches off the outside of the upper coil spring bucket on each side to clear the links as they travel up and down.









Shot at 2010-04-28





Shot at 2010-04-28

None of the pics do justice to how stout those arms are, until the last photo.



Very nice job - especially since you fabbed it yourself.

Those are pretty stout. Looks good Rob.

Starting my next modification. I am done with Rubicon Express's crappy rubber bushings. I will be replacing all my lower control arm rubber bushings on the axle with 1 1/4 inch by 1 Chromoly heim joints.....







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Are you going to build all new arms, or just cut off the RE stuff?



It seems that while you're at it, building all new makes sense.



With your extended rear, how long are your rear arms?

I am just going to use the ones I have. I built them when I stretched the wheel base. They are both bent in the same place, so no big deal. I am just going to cut the RE ends off and weld in the new bungs for the heims then re-drill the holes in the axle bracket to fit the new 5/8 inch bolt. Should only take me about 30 minutes an arm to do them. The chromoly heims have about a 4 to 5 year life and then you just throw them away and replace them. Initial cost is pretty high at just under $200 for 2 heims, 2 weld in bungs,jam nuts, and 2 5/8 inch bolts. Replacement cost on the heims is about $120.00 for 2.

"BKGM Jeepers" wrote: Are you going to build all new arms, or just cut off the RE stuff?



It seems that while you're at it, building all new makes sense.



With your extended rear, how long are your rear arms?

I like the route you are taking. Also, $200 every 4 or so years for a quick change is easy to justify.



Post some photos. I think I need to change my JK uppers already and can easily go your route for them. Plus, the smaller joints may be even cheaper.

I wouldn't have anything to listen to if I took all the creaks and clunks out of my Jeep. It would be like my Jeep was ignoring me and giving me the silent treatment.

Brad, I forgot. You asked how long my rear lowers were. They are 39 inches bolt hole to bolt hole.



The other advantage of having a screw in heims on the axle end is that I can now turn my lower control arms while they are attached to adjust the pinion angle. No more dropping the arm to do it.

Believe me, with all the leaves and crap building up on your Jeep in the driveway, it will make all kinds of noise the first time you drive it 😲 You might want to set off a bug bomb in there before you drive it too 😁

"JohnDF" wrote: I wouldn't have anything to listen to if I took all the creaks and clunks out of my Jeep. It would be like my Jeep was ignoring me and giving me the silent treatment.

"RobD" wrote: Believe me, with all the leaves and crap building up on your Jeep in the driveway, it will make all kinds of noise the first time you drive it 😲 You might want to set off a bug bomb in there before you drive it too 😁

Check...bug bomb and jump start 😁

"RobD" wrote: Brad, I forgot. You asked how long my rear lowers were. They are 39 inches bolt hole to bolt hole.

The other advantage of having a screw in heims on the axle end is that I can now turn my lower control arms while they are attached to adjust the pinion angle. No more dropping the arm to do it.

Thanks for the measurements.

I got one side done this afternoon.















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Nice job.. 🙂



I'm curious though, if you don't mind me asking. What filler metal did you use ? Is both the insert and tubing chrome moly? At what temperature did you preheat and postheat?...... :weld:

The heim is the only piece that is chromoly. The tubing is just DOM and the insert is steel.

"rick-rock" wrote: Nice job.. 🙂



I'm curious though, if you don't mind me asking. What filler metal did you use ? Is both the insert and tubing chrome moly? At what temperature did you preheat and postheat?...... :weld:

Fordyce takes its toll on me again 😁 😁 😁



I guess I will have to just upgrade to 5:38's



1 mile of trail is going to cost me $1500.00 🍺







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Great googily moogily. You need to wear lighter shoes. 😀

Yep, took out my entire rear drive train on "Drive line hill" Was going up the top ledge with water flowing over it. Very slick!!! I bumped it up on to the ledge with all tires spinning. I was almost clear when the back tires hopped and the fronts slid backwards and the rear tires dropped off the ledge under full power. people 100 yards down the trail said they heard it like they were standing next to me 😁 What happened was the yoke and the CV broke at the Atlas output, and when that happened the drive line rotated down and got rammed into the rocks and that was when the ring gear decided it didn't like all its teeth 😤



No biggie. I wanted 5:38 gears anyway. This just sped up the process!!

Man, those 40 inch tires sure are expensive 😁

More like my right foot is expensive!!!!

"JohnDF" wrote: Man, those 40 inch tires sure are expensive 😁

The 5.38s aren't any stronger are they? Do you have 4.88s now? It's actually interesting to me that you want to go that low. I'd always assumed that's where I'd end up since I run 5.29s now but if you want to go that low maybe I need to go lower to keep the squirrels happy.

I need to check some numbers to see where my street RPMs will be with my 3 speed auto with 4:88's vrs 5:38's. If I can keep the RPMs manageable on the street with the 5:38's it would be nice to have the lower gearing for street use. If it is going to cause me to run high RPMs at 55 to 65 MPH then I will stick with 4:88's and live with the slow speeds on getting up hyw 80 to the trail.

"Bender" wrote: The 5.38s aren't any stronger are they? Do you have 4.88s now? It's actually interesting to me that you want to go that low. I'd always assumed that's where I'd end up since I run 5.29s now but if you want to go that low maybe I need to go lower to keep the squirrels happy.