[mjstranz]

My name is Matt and I am a student at TNTECH in Cookeville Tn. I am in the process of a full width axle swap in my 2002 TJ. The motivation for this swap was the twisted d35 rear. I was going to do a simpler 8.8 swap but decided against it because I wanted to go bigger. The axles are out of a 1977 f150. Here is some pics.

Twisted D35



I decided to make all my own brackets for the upper and lower control arms. Ive seen the stock brackets fold over or bend with very little force. The brackets are made form 1/4 flat stock.

The 9 inch.


The clamp and tube insures that the bracket will not shift during welding.

[mjstranz]

Here are some more pics of the 9 inch

The coil buckets I ordered from Ruff Stuff Specialties (www.RuffStuffSpecialties.com) They are 3/8 flat stock with a 1 5/8 hole in the middle. They helped me center the 1 3/4 by .120 HREW tubing I used to help center the springs.



If you have any questions feel free to ask. You can also ask GreenJip he has also helped me quite a bit.

[Unlimited04]

are you planning to gusset or box in the control arm mounts? might want, plus add some skids to the 9er to protect the 3rd

[mjstranz]

For brakes on the 9 inch i bought some weld on disk brake brakets from DIY4X (www.DIY4X.com). The Calipers are from a 85 Chevy Monte Carlo, and the rotors are from a 94-01 dodge 1/2 ton 4x4. With this setup you might need to have the rotors turned down a little so that the Calipers will fit over the rotor.

The dimensions for the rear are as Follows.

All measurements are from the Center Line of the axle.

Upper Control Arm
12 in. to inside of bracket, 2 in. wide.
15 degrees offset toward the outside.
Lower Control Arm
20.5 in. to inside of bracket, 2 5/8 in. wide.
5 degrees offset toward center of vehicle.
Shocks
1.5 in inside the LCA mount, 1.5 in wide.
Coil Buckets
Center of the Coil Buckets lines up directly above the Inner side of the LCA bracket.

Im not going to run rear sway bars, havent for years...

These numbers are rough and only intended to get someone in the ball park.
If there is a wrong number then send me a PM plz.

[mjstranz]

Ya Im going to build a diff guard and gusset the brackets, working on the 44 right now.

[UTWeezul]

Looks good, got any pics of the front? I'm wanting to do a big build when I get out of school.

[Unlimited04]

that sounds like a good idea for brakes, had you thought about using 76-79 Lincoln Versailles brakes? Thoses came with big bearing 9ers with 31-splines, and a 2.5 to 3.00 ratio. Little late now Need to regear & add the ARB/Detroit, but just a thought for others as well i guess.

Falcon and Mustang crowd has been doing it for a while: http://www.fordfalcon2000.com/restoration/restoration.htm

Not sure about WMS to WMS tho.

[KennyTJ]

WOW!! Must have had aftermarket gears and shafts in the D35. They normally go way before twisting the housing! That's a great reason to upgrade!!!

The full width looks good. How wide are you going on each end? I see you are keeping the coils springs. Did you look into spring over shocks?

[mjstranz]

The Versailles brakes where pretty pricey and hard to find, the calipers had a ridiculous core. This is an extremely low budget build, I cant afford lockers right now. I will weld the diffs now, and buy a locker for the rear later. It has 4.10s right now and with and auto and 35s I should be in high cotton. The D35 was stock with 308s I am attributing the d35 carnage to a sheared bolt that came with my RE LA kit. (Go figure and yes it was torqued correctly when it sheared). I will post picks for the front in a couple of days.

[mjstranz]

Originally Posted by KennyTJ

Did you look into spring over shocks?

Low Budget!!!! By the way there called coilovers for future conversation.

[mjstranz]

I dont have any special tools for this project. I cut all of my metal with either a bandsaw or a angle grinder. I have a inexpensive lincoln 180 welder that I do all my welds with, and my workshop is my basement and my neighbors garage.


If you take your time and you are wiling to correct your mistakes then you can do something like this.

[GreenJip]

OH CRAP! When I walked through there last weekend I knew it was mess, but this gives me a whole new perspective! I didn't know your work area was so photogenic! It looks like your jeep threw up and then had diarhea!

Hows the front coming along?

[mjstranz]

Ya here is some pics of the truss. I had to knotch the truss because I measured it wrong or did my trig wrong or something. I will work out for the better anyway putting my Upper control arm mounts in a better location.





My mig gun did the weidest thing, it stopped sheilding gas during the last weld (figure it out looks like a booger). I thought that i had run out of gas but when I checked it I had like 500 psi left. I adjusted the gun were it plugs into the welder itself and has worked great ever since. I had to grind that weld out and redo it because it did not penetrate.

[Dan Fredrickson]

good work with limited resources, thats always tough, I commend you!

[mferrari]

Originally Posted by Gravel Maker

good work with limited resources, thats always tough, I commend you!

x2!! Awesome, keep it up!!