Custom rear flanged full float shafts ordered and new bearings, ball joints, u-joints, stub shaft have all arrived.  Dutchman can cut and drill shafts for the Sterling 10.5 outers (different pattern than the dana).  Only remaining parts to get are the new brake parts since re-using junk yard brakes is a big no no.

With all the details sorted I can finally figure out my total cost.  I ended up changing directions a couple of times and now have a decent pile of extra parts. Had I started out to build what I am getting I would be at $8,841 which includes all parts used, paint, welding wire, taco bell, gas to pick up the donor axles, and the axle alignment jig.  To just order ready made axles similar to what I have would be about $14k (currie front complete, front dropout, ECGS full float rear with dropout) but could be done for closer to $10k without the full float and sourcing other brakes or just going with Dana 60s.  The savings I achieved was from watching craigslist and ebay for a few years getting parts cheap, the biggest savings was on the third members themselves.  In the end I used no factory 9in parts except for a pinion support.

My thoughts at this point are:

-Lost of $ can be saved by using craigslist and ebay

-Building 9in axles gets expensive if all parts are new

-For a light vehicle like a TJ, beefing some JK Rubicon 44s would be the best and cheapest route 

-9in axles only make sense if you already have built third members

Josh said
Nice build Kris! Thanks for sharing the build story. 

What tires are you going to run now?  

Going to keep running my 36 iroks till they wear out or I run into some surprise cash.

Got almost all of the small parts sorted out for the swap but I need some help on the last few.  

-99-04 super duty rear caliper mounting bracket bolts.  Having one hell of a time finding a part number.  Looks like an M12 but I need to know the length to order one in the correct grade.

-JK ebrake cables.  The ebrake cable ends are different on the sterling than the TJ or 8.8.  And super duty cables are about 40ft too long.  Anyone have a JK cable lying around I could try? The ends are visually the same as the JK and the JK lengths are more appropriate than the TJ.