Does anybody have any advice on this?

 

They do, and its all been written down by them all over this forum and the internet at large.
I think they are being polite by not telling you to use the search function.

 

See, that's the thing. I have used the search function. All I can find thus far is a bunch of people asking this same question. I have searched the internet for quite some time now looking for an in depth step by step how to, but I have had no luck.

I see references to certain things in various threads for sure. That's how I know that people have used the Dana 44's, and some even use the Ford 9 inch. This is also how I know I need to do something with the shackle mounts and spring perches. But I can't find any specifics at all, and nothing that really assures me that either of my choices for axles will be correct, or easy to do.

I am not saying you are wrong when you say it has all been written down, I just can't find any of it. Maybe I don't know what I'm looking for, but I have put forth a lot of effort to find answers, yet still come up empty handed.

As a matter of fact, I have 6 pages open right now while I am researching custom built axles, trying to find a place that will sell me a pair of 44's that I can just bolt right in and go without having to do any welding. I don't have access to power tools so I am trying to find a way to do this. But still no luck.

It does sound like a high pinion Dana 44 front axle would be preferable, but then I also run into this full floating axle option for the rear in the Ford 9 inch. I understand what high pinion is and also full floating, but what do I do? Maybe a 44 up front and a 9 in rear? Is a full floating axle really needed in a CJ? Or would a high pinion 44 in back be the best bet? I like the idea of ground clearance and less stress on the drive shafts, but I also like the idea of heavy duty axles like the full floaters. I don't like my stuff breaking on me. But then again, which will be the easiest to repair on the trail if it does fail? Which is cheaper to buy parts for? Questions like these I can not find any answers to.

That's why I am asking questions. I would hope that there are some people with experience in this area that would be kind enough to guide me in the right direction, and maybe help me to locate some build info that I have either overlooked, or have not even found yet.

 

Full Size

I have axles for a JK under my CJ7. They are basically a D44.

It was a lot of work. I left my stock leaf springs in the rear and cut all the coil suspension perches off the rear axle while the front suspension was converted to coils and built to fit the factory perches on the front axle. The new front axle had the pumpkin on the drivers side so everything had to be changed.

New tranny(I needed it anyway) and transfer case to match the drivers side driveline.

Moved exhaust to make room for the front driveshaft.

Moved fuel lines away from new exhaust.

Moved some brake lines and added a Hydroboost for the larger brakes.

Moved shocks.

All new steering linkages.

New driveshafts.

I would need about 6 inch fender flares to cover the tires.

When I need parts, I'm buying for a 2007/8 JK. Lots of them around and lots of aftermarket support too.

If your starting from scratch, why go with a Dana 44? I imagine you could grab a Ford 9 or a Dana 60 for just a little bit more.

I don't think you have to go with outboard shackles just to fit YJ leaves under a CJ, but you will need wider shackles. Although, moving the springs wider is an upgrade in stability.

I know that it's kinda generic information, but it tells you what I got. I don't know too much about all the other endless options, but if you want any details about what's in my garage I'd be happy to share.

Plan as much as possible out on paper, then plan on there being a whole bunch more to deal with.:thumbsup:

 

I think you're probably searching but you're getting information overload and getting overwhelmed. At least that how it seems in your post.

Start on one thing at a time. Think about what you want to upgrade and why. "Why" being the biggest thing to think about.

There are quite a few different axle choices but only one that will work for what you want. What do you want? How wide do you want to be, how wide is too wide? What size tire are you planning to run? Locked, unlocked?

Your post covers a million different topics that make up half of this forum.

 

I think you're probably searching but you're getting information overload and getting overwhelmed. At least that how it seems in your post.

Start on one thing at a time. Think about what you want to upgrade and why. "Why" being the biggest thing to think about.

There are quite a few different axle choices but only one that will work for what you want. What do you want? How wide do you want to be, how wide is too wide? What size tire are you planning to run? Locked, unlocked?

Your post covers a million different topics that make up half of this forum.

You are probably right, Deadman. I very well could be getting overhwelmed here. I do know what I want out of my build, and to answer a few of your questions, or to shed some light on what I plan on doing with my CJ I am planning a LowCOG build. Here's a run down on the plan, from the ground up:

Rubber would be 35-36 inch tires. Somewhere between 12.5 and 13.5 inches wide. I am wanting full width axles, something like 62 inches maybe? I'm not sure what the measurements are, but I would like the footprint to be spread out as wide as say, the 79 Ford F-150. I believe this will allow for additional steering clearance. The lift will be an Old Man Emu 2.5 inch suspension with maybe Rancho RS9000XL adjustable shocks and a remote shock adjustment system in the dash. In order to make room for the big rubber with such a modest lift, I plan on going with T&T Customs body armor tube fenders. According to the company, these will make enough room for 35's on a stock lift. In order to move all this, I plan on dropping in a 350 V-8 backed by an AX15 transmission. I will be retaining the Dana 300. As for lockers, I would like to have some ARB's front and back.

I don't want the Jeep to be very tall, I want to maintain stability while running big rubber that will help increase clearance. I also want to have a fair amount of articulation, but I don't need anything extreme. I want to maintain it's on-road drive-ability, so I don't need any kind of insane flex or massive meat. But I definitely need axles that won't break under the stress of a V-8 and large tires. The axles need to be strong, but not just strong enough to move 35's. I would like to have something that can handle tires as large as 38's, even though I have no plans to go that big. I just figure if I go with just enough, that will eventually turn into NOT enough. So I want something durable.

 

to start, ford front end is the wrong side drop for your tcase. what i did is i waited and found a ff14 bolt rear out of a one ton chevy srw truck and paid $100. it has 4.10 gears. then i found a 3/4 ton 76 chevy d44 front with matching gears and this axle was already setup with high steer. the po was stepping up to d60 so i paid $300 for it. i am slowly collecting parts and saving money up to perform the same swap. yes this will be wide but i also found a set of h1 rims/tires (36") and paid $300 for those. by running these rims/tires it wont be nearly as wide as anyother setup. the rear will go in just fine and easy but i know the front will take some time on outboarding the springs and getting the steering correctly lined up. i am waiting now to figure out what yokes to run and what size u joints to run. i will also need to upgrade the outputs of my d300 tcase as well.

 

What you have in mind can be done. If I were going to do this I would use Dana 60's and both ends. They will handle the 38" tires if you go that tall. They also are fairly easy to get parts for and there's allot of aftermarket parts available.

I would also convert to YJ springs. The YJ's are 1/2" wider than the front CJ springs are. Same width in the back. This should give you a pretty decent ride and more articulation than the stock CJ springs. You will need to mount these outboard on the frame too.

Doing this kind of swap needs to be done right. Caster angle on the front axle is extremely important. You will likely need to cut the knuckles away from the axle tubes to rotate them so as to get the right angle both on caster and the right pinion angle. Have you read up on this yet? Do so before you start if you haven't.

This aint rocket science and it's been done before. Hope you post pictures if you do the swap. Do yourself a favor though and get this on a slab of concrete and not in the yard. Much easier to move stuff around on a hard surface.

 

I would only consider a front Dana 44 up to about 35"ish rubber. Bigger than that and I'd just do a GM Front Dana 60. Since you've already mentioned 38s once, you might as well just go straight to them and run the one ton axles. For the rear, I'd probably just go with a GM 14bolt (from the same vehicle as the front Dana 60). The 14Bolt is a big axle though.. you'll want 38" rubber or else you're gonna drag the pumpkin everywhere. Wouldn't hurt to at least take a grinder to the bottom of the 14Bolt and take that lower lip off. If you really want to gain good clearance, research "Shaving Bottom of 14 Bolt Axle" or some derivative of that.
Might keep your eye open for the early-mid 80s Military CUCV M1008 Trucks. Basically the Army's version of the K30. It'll have a Front Dana 60 with 35 spline inners and 30 spline outers. It'll also have the Full Floater GM 14 Bolt rear axle. Both axles will already have 4.56 gears and the rear will come with a Detroit Locker. Should be able to find a pair of M1008 axles for $1200-$1500 or so..

What about running an automatic tranny? A warm 350 followed by a Turbo 350 and D300 running 4:1 gears is a nice setup with the 4.56 axle gears and 38"-42" rubber... A Turbo 350 will still work pointed straight up, straight down and laying on its side.. at least for a few seconds.

As already mentioned.. any full width axle is going to mean you'll have to outboard your front spring hangers on the front end.. if you plan to run leaf springs.

Plan on a fair amount of welding and fabrication to make any full width axle work in a CJ.

 

something I always wondered about myself

how to go about steering linkages? just make your own?

and will drive shafts work?

figured these were questions i had, they might be helpful to someone else as well

 

Thank you very much for the advice, guys.

The Old Man Emu kit that I want to use will have a YJ conversion along with it, so I will get that upgrade with the new suspension.

http://www.rocky-road.com/cjome.html

Castor and pinion angles are a big concern, yes. I know nothing about doing that, let alone doing it right, and this is one of the things I have been searching for a write-up on. Maybe I'm just not using the proper search terms, because I still can't find anything. But still, all I have available to me right now is hand tools, so I won't be able to do this myself without the additional investment in tools. Maybe finding axles that are already built for my application would be the way to go. If only I could find them. I ran across a few websites that offer complete axles with lockers installed, but I have yet to find info on whether they will have spring perches mounted properly to fit the YJ leaf spring conversion and lift. All the welding and stuff involved really sounds like a job for a pro, not for me.

Bersk, what you're saying is that a pair of Dana 44's would be good for running 35's, right? I really only mentioned the 38's as a reference to durability. I have no plans of ever running rubber that big. 36 is the biggest I ever want to go, and 35's are so close that it doesn't really matter. It really sounds like a Dana 60 and 14 bolt rear is way more than I want or need, not to mention the amount of work involved in installing them. Like I said, I'm not building any kind of extremely insane offroad rig here. I want the capability to handle some rough terrain, but I'm not going to be scaling any cliffs with this thing. It is my only vehicle, and daily driver, but I want to use it to get into some remote mountain lakes on occasion.

As for running a th350, it's just my personal preference, but I really can't stand automatics. Call me a power junkie, but I like to have total control over my rig. I can't handle the lack of activity that goes along with just shifting into drive. I want to be there and active while I'm driving, feeling each gear and choosing when it's time to shift. I'm also rather partial to the versatility of a manual and the amount of extra control it gives when driving on icy roads and snow. I've owned one automatic in my life, and will never go back. Every other vehicle I've had in my life has always been manual, and every one of them has served me very well. I have a lot of faith in manual tranny's. Not to mention I spent a long time in the mountains hand picking some green rocks for my custom made Rocknobs!

As for outboarding the springs, I understand that will need to be done, but I believe the Old Man Emu kit will have that in the conversion, no? If not, I am contemplating using the Poison Spyder full width conversion kit in conjunction with the OME suspension lift, but I don't know if this will work out or not.

So, I can safely run 35's on a Dana 44 up front, maybe with high pinion? Should I go with another high pinion Dana 44 in the rear, or opt for a 9 inch full floating axle? Is there a way to maybe beef these up a bit to strengthen them? I have seen some crazy stuff welded on to axles, but not sure what it is all for. Some trusses I think is what they were called. It looks like it's meant to strengthen the axle tubes. Is this an option for the Dana 44's to get some extra durability?

Should I salvage the axles and build them myself(or find somebody to help me build them), or should I opt for new assemblies such as the ones sold here:

http://www.solidaxle.com/ProductCart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=4

http://dynatrac.com/products_jeep_pro44faa.html

http://www.extremegearoffroad.com/axles.htm

Which would be more cost effective? If I end up going with the first option, building my own, where should I salvage the axles from? I know I can get a 9 inch from the F-150's of the late 70's for sure, but if I go with 44's all around, where do I get the right ones for my needs, i.e. front axle with right hand diff, and high pinion on both axles?

 

Food for though

No OME yj spring conversion kit will not outboard your springs for you.

and have you thought about your height after going to full widths? chances are if your going full width your going to go SOA meaning about 5.5 " of lift that plus your 2.5" you'll have 8" of lift way too much for 35's in my opinion

if your going full width I would just use stock yj springs

 

It won't outboard them? So it maintains the original spring perches and shackle mounts, just upgrades to YJ springs? And why would I need to do a spring over with full width axles? Is there no way around this?

This would definitely change my plans if this were so.

 

Yep.. keep in mind that the spring perches on a front D44 (or D60 for that matter) are cast into one side of the pumpkin. When all the measuring and math are done, a full width axle requires outboarding the springs in order to keep the axle centered under the rig (unless you shorten the long side axle tube/axle shaft).

Another option to full width would be something "in between" say.. a Waggy Front D44 (61" wide give or take) and a Scout rear D44 (58" wide). Still wider than any factory CJ setup but not so wide that it looks funny.

A Dana 44 should hold up to 35/36 inch rubber, moderate wheeling and common sense. You could always upgrade to alloy shafts, aftermarket ujoints and even front drive flanges (instead of hubs) if you suffer frequent breakage.

IIRC, a Waggie front D44 has about 10-12 degrees between the pinion and the inner "C"s. That allows for a nice amount of Caster (say 5-6 deg positive) and 5-6 deg of "up" pinion angle. It's been a long time since I measured my Waggy front axle angles (did it when I narrowed the axle about 10 years ago) so if I'm wrong on the angles, someone should chime in and correct the info..

 

Yep.. keep in mind that the spring perches on a front D44 (or D60 for that matter) are cast into one side of the pumpkin. When all the measuring and math are done, a full width axle requires outboarding the springs in order to keep the axle centered under the rig (unless you shorten the long side axle tube/axle shaft).

Another option to full width would be something "in between" say.. a Waggy Front D44 (61" wide give or take) and a Scout rear D44 (58" wide). Still wider than any factory CJ setup but not so wide that it looks funny.

A Dana 44 should hold up to 35/36 inch rubber, moderate wheeling and common sense. You could always upgrade to alloy shafts, aftermarket ujoints and even front drive flanges (instead of hubs) if you suffer frequent breakage.

IIRC, a Waggie front D44 has about 10-12 degrees between the pinion and the inner "C"s. That allows for a nice amount of Caster (say 5-6 deg positive) and 5-6 deg of "up" pinion angle. It's been a long time since I measured my Waggy front axle angles (did it when I narrowed the axle about 10 years ago) so if I'm wrong on the angles, someone should chime in and correct the info..

Wouldn't 61 inches in front and 58 in the rear look funny? I thought you would want the same width front and back.

Where I work, we have a few scouts and one Wagoneer in the junk yard. It might be possible for me to scavenge the axles from them if they are the right ones. Which years should I look for to get the proper axles?

 

The wagoneer axles are set up for spring under so you wouldn't need to do the SOA. They are 6 lug but can be converted to 5 lug using ford parts.

You'll be looking for 74 to 79 wagoneer axles. 1980 and newer are drivers side drop and won't work. Jeep truck (J series) are much wider, around 65 or 67 inches iirc.

If you want to stay 5 lug you can get a scout D44 rear pretty cheap. If you want to get 6 lug wheels you can get a D44 out of a wagoneer

 

The wagoneer axles are set up for spring under so you wouldn't need to do the SOA. They are 6 lug but can be converted to 5 lug using ford parts.

You'll be looking for 74 to 79 wagoneer axles. 1980 and newer are drivers side drop and won't work. Jeep truck (J series) are much wider, around 65 or 67 inches iirc.

If you want to stay 5 lug you can get a scout D44 rear pretty cheap. If you want to get 6 lug wheels you can get a D44 out of a wagoneer

Yeah, I'm reading up on the lug difference right now, actually. It sounds like I may be able to use the outer hubs from my Dana 30 if I go with a Wagoneer front 44. The Ford swap will push the hubs out really far, and I'm not sure I like that idea. Makes them vulnerable. But I'll go that route if need be.

As I understand it, the scout front Dana 44 has a castor that is difficult to deal with, so I may be focused on the Wagoneer front axle. I am still unsure what to do about the rear axle though. I might be able to track down a 44 from a scout in the junk yard, but I am still considering the Ford 9 inch. I had one in my old F-150 and was extremely impressed with it. I wouldn't mind having one under my CJ. They're pretty close to bullet proof.

Thanks for the input. I'll be planning on getting the OME kit then.

 

The wagoneer front is definitely a better choice than the scout. Not only is the castor better but the tubes are thicker. I wouldn't bother with the D30 hubs. They're pretty weak compared to true D44 hubs like on fords.

If you go with a 9" you'll want one from an early bronco if you can find one. They're the right width and have a 5x5.5" lug pattern. F150 or 78/79 bronco rears will be too wide for the waggy front. Some car 9" rears are the right width but I believe they are all 5x5". Might could have them redrilled tho.

Btw I picked up a waggy d44 front and rear for $100 about 2 months ago. The rear is offset so I'm going to get rid of it and the front needs rebuilding. Didn't bother me bc of the price and I plan to regear and lock it anyway. Its gonna be a while before I can afford it but I'm already looking for an EB 9". Theyre few and far between

 

If you go with a 9" you'll want one from an early bronco if you can find one.

Early as in pre 77? I believe 76 was the last year of the first gen body style. So I want an axle out of one of these? Wow, that is going to be tough to find, especially around here. Maybe I will stick with a Scout rear axle. We've got a few of them in the Junk yard.

Any idea on whether or not the Wagoneer and Scout 44's were high pinion axles? I know how to tell, but the yard is buried in snow so I won't be able to just go out there and look. I'll do some research into that, now that I am learning what to do google searches for.

 

I found this:

"For the front axle, keep an eye out for a '74-'79 Waggy front axle. It will have the differential on the correct side and disc brakes. You'll have to use '78-'79 Ford F150 hubs and rotors to match the 5-Lug Waggy rear axle though. And you will still have to outboard mount the front leaf springs."

Here:

http://forums.jpmagazine.com/70/8280809/jeep-chassis/wagoneer-axle-swap-for-my-86-cj-7/index.html

I'm just posting it here so I can find it later.

 

Yeah by early bronco I mean 1st gen. Last year was either 76 or 77. Both wagoneer and scout d44s are low pinion.

Oh and the measurements on the axles a few posts up that you werent sure about (28" for the front and 36" for the rear.. I'm pretty sure that's the distant between the spring perches

 

Just a thought, but the 91-97 Issuzu Rodeo and Honda Passport have a Dana 44 rear that is between 58" and 60" wide (I forget the exact). Already have either 4.10s or 4.30s in them and are disk brake to boot. Anyway that is what I am looking to match with my 61.5" 79 Waggy front axle. They are all over the junk yard here. Stay away from the '98 or later, they changed to a non standard pinion shaft that makes modification or repair a bugger.

Oh yeah and they are 6 on 5.5 wheels just like the Waggy too so if you did not want to do all the changing of bolt patterns you could just go with Chevy rims.

I will of course defer to the several guys in this post that have been doing this a lot longer than me if there is a reason this would not be a good axle. Selfish reasons, I want to know before I spend the money on one ;-).

 

Outboarding means that the spring and shackle mounts are relocated outboard of the frame instead of directly under it.

As you've found, there's a metric crapton of information on the subject. Instead of trying to take it all in at once you need to focus on one thing at a time. Make a decision on what axles you want first, and then determine what's necessary to install them, one step at a time, one axle at a time.

Once a decision has been made you can ask specific, educated questions.

Without the right tools and knowledge of what's needed to fabricate correctly, you have some serious obstacles ahead of you. Don't be in a rush either!

 

Another option is Toyota axles, a stock Toy rear axle laughs at 35" tires and the front you can upgrade just the outer shafts with some chromo Birfields which are about $250 and this way you have strong diffs that can easily handle 35"s and with a lot more clearance than you will have running 35" tires on fullsize diffs.

 

Any more info on this swap? Like, what year Toyota would I find these axles under, and what axles are they? Are they a relatively easy swap?

 

Imho I think you should go with the axles you originally talked about. The ford 9 inch is probably the most customizable axle out there and the fords hp44 can be built as well; narow the spring perch and shock mount and be done with it. if your worried about breaking then call up rcv performance and buy one of their axles kits you can't beat a YOU BREAK IT WE'LL REPLACE IT WARRENTY.
As long as your not running 400 ish pluss hp and drive with a sensible foot there is no need for 60's or the giagantic 14 bolt. Or if your interested in the narrow track 9 inch my buddie has one for sale, PM me.
Hope that helped!!!

 

he needs a different tcase to run ford front end.

personally i did research for a solid year before performing a soa on my old cj5. now on to my second jeep and am about to perform a full width swap on my cj7 i have been researching how to do this for almost 2 years now. i slowly gathered parts like a 3/4 ton d44 front setup with high steer, matching gears in a 14 bolt out of a one ton chevy, stock yj leafs, and now i am purchasing the brackets and metal material for outboarding the springs. last will be the driveshafts as i want to step up to one ton u joints and shafts. i already have h1 beadlocks with 36" tires mounted. tcase outputs will need to be ugraded as well. there is an old saying that a weak point never gets eliminated but rather just moved around.

 

The rear diff. you can get out of any 4x4 pickup or 4runner from the 80's or 90's, the ones from the IFS trucks are a little wider. On Pirate there is a lot of information in the Toyota FAQ section with dimensions and everything you need to know.
The front diff. I think will have to be from a 86 or earlier year pickup or 4runner.

Trailgear sells tons of bolt on stuff at great prices for the Toyota diffs., high steer, gears, lockers etc..

I just recently bought another CJ7 which I am considering putting Toy axles under.

 

I don't think I like the idea of Toyota/Honda/Suzuki axles under my Jeep. They may be good axles, but I'm not too sure I want to go out and buy metric tools just to work on them. If I get a pair of 44's I should be able to work on them with the tools I already have, other than specialty tools I may need.

So, as I understand it, we have a few 70's model Wagoneers in the Junk yard, and a few Scout's as well. I'm gonna see what I can do to convince my boss to give me a good deal on some axles from them if we have the right ones, and maybe even a chevy 350 V-8 as well.

Now, to make sure I understand this correctly, the Dana 44's from these two vehicles will both have spring perches UNDER the axle, will be 61 and 58.5 inches wide respectively, the front axle will have a 6 bolt pattern that can be switched out with the 5 bolt from a Ford Dana 44 front axle, and the rear will be a 5 bolt and ready to drop in. The front axle from a 79 or older Wagoneer will have the passenger drop the I need for my application, and all I will need to mount these axles to my Jeep will be to outboard my spring mounts on the frame.

Am I correct in understanding that there should be no welding on the axles if I go this route, and only some welding on the frame? And if I go with a Poison Spyder conversion kit, this welding will only be on the rear brackets?

What gear ratio should I be looking to pair with a Chevy 350, Ax15, Dana 44's and 35 inch rubber?

 

The waggy axles are 6 lug front and rear. The front can be swapped to 5 lugs with ford parts. Scout axles are 5 lug front and rear.

For the gear ratio google grim jeeper gear ratio calculator. You can plug in transmission tcase tire size and gear ratio. It will giveyou crawl ratios and speed in all gear combinations

 

For the rear axle, the spring perches can be removed and rewelded so they line up with the springs.

As far as the shackle reversal being dangerous, I don't agree (assuming it's done correctly) I'm sure it's possible to screw it up and throw off steering geometry and whatnot. And doin it with a 110v wire welder probably wouldn't be too safe with those weak welds, but done properly I don't see anything unsafe about it. In fact it's the 2nd best mod I've done to my jeep (best was the 360 motor swap). It was also one of the cheapest mods. Only cost a grinding disc, some welding rods, gas and electricity. Been running it for several years with no issues. And it rides much better. Only drawback is the front tire moves back as the suspension compresses and sometimes contacts the back of the fenderwell. Not much of a problem but when I move up to 35s I'll be going with either TJ flares or flat fenders

 

For the rear axle, the spring perches can be removed and rewelded so they line up with the springs.

As far as the shackle reversal being dangerous, I don't agree (assuming it's done correctly) I'm sure it's possible to screw it up and throw off steering geometry and whatnot. And doin it with a 110v wire welder probably wouldn't be too safe with those weak welds, but done properly I don't see anything unsafe about it. In fact it's the 2nd best mod I've done to my jeep (best was the 360 motor swap). It was also one of the cheapest mods. Only cost a grinding disc, some welding rods, gas and electricity. Been running it for several years with no issues. And it rides much better. Only drawback is the front tire moves back as the suspension compresses and sometimes contacts the back of the fenderwell. Not much of a problem but when I move up to 35s I'll be going with either TJ flares or flat fenders

What about wheel hop on hard braking? I hear this is the biggest issue with reverse shackles. The negative reviews is what makes me want to shy away from it. I do however understand the better ride, which is what everyone who supports it says is the main benefit. But as the Old Man Emu website says:

http://www.rocky-road.com/wranglerconversion.html
"Running shackles in the rear on a short-wheelbase vehicle like a Jeep CJ makes the vehicle highly unstable under hard braking (which is usually when you need your brakes the most). Further, shackles reversals on the CJ create axle hop under braking. After seeing a Jeep coming off of Lion's Back in Moab with his front axle hopping and a resultant total loss of control, we swore off shackle reversals forever."

So you've never experienced any of these issues?

I'm still not convinced it's a good way to go. I think if there are those out there who say it's bad, or could be bad, then I want to avoid it. The way I figure it, if there is a chance it could be bad for my Jeep, I'm not going to do it. I don't want to wreck my Jeep because I didn't listen to advice to stay away from an upgrade.

 

I've never had an issue with wheel hop while braking. There is a little more nose dive when braking hard but it's no worse than my 03 Ranger. Only time there's been any control issues is if I completely lock up the front brakes, but that's independent of the reversal

 

You need the running weight on the axles to properly set caster. You can't really "put it together" and then go and set caster either. It's not like a TJ where you can get adjustable control arms and change the angles that the suspension rides at.

 

This is one of the reasons I was asking the questions about this kind of upgrade. I do need to learn more about the proper steps to go about this. I was hoping I could either get the axles welded up so they will mount properly to begin with, or get everything bolted up and then have someone do the needed adjustments after it's ready to roll. Could you maybe expand on what you were saying here? What exactly are the proper steps to go through to get this to work?