91 XLT Solid Axle Swap

[Chief34]

The reason why i am going with 4.10 is because I have 3.73 now and my truck runs awesome with that ratio. If i step up to 4.10 i will be able to use overdrive easier. Which means better gas mileage. I am getting about 11mpg in the city and about 13 sometimes 14mpg on the highway right now. The only reason to go any steeper is if i was lacking power which i am not.
Another huge reason i dont want to go any steeper is because i will be swapping my engine to a stroked and blown cobra, '347' When this is done I will have plenty of power for these gears.
The last reason is because the dana 30 already had 4.10 gears saves me money.
As far as my tranny goes... It does not heat up the slightest bit. I have an aluminum aftermarket tranny cooler on it. I just finished coming back from a trip to mammoth and i went through the hills driving untill i need gas. When i stopped at the gas station i was checking things out to make sure everything was ok, and i touched my tranny cooler with the back of my hand. It was not barely even warm to the touch.
The only thing that will hurt a tranny is if the tranny is downshifting and upshifting constantly. If the tranny can remain in drive or overdrive, whatever you are using it wont be hurt. That is why i use overdrive.
I dont think i will put a hub conversion on it. I though about it but for that kind of money i could just get a dana 60. That is my plan anyway when or if i do finally break what i have. I will get a dana 60 with disks for the rear and a dana 40 for the front.

 

[Chief34]

Oh yeah! i will have some new pics real soon for you guys. I had my shock resevoirs installed up front. I am going to take some pics tomorrow. I will get pics of the shocks, leaf mounts, drive line angles, and others too.

 

[Rick]

Just found this for reference...

 

[taxx]

Originally posted by Rick
Two of the guys that do fab work on my ex had Jeeps with Dana 30s. One had an ARB and the other had a lockright. Both split their carriers in half one took both axle shafts with it.

As far as "pushing too hard" well... If you want to make the obstacle then you push until you either make it or break I guess giving up could be an option too, but isn't that why we build the crap out of our trucks? To be able to "conquer" obstacles on the trail?

Giving up what is that? I gotill I get stuck or get through. Sometimes I don't do the smartest things, but hey I gotta learn somehow and most importantly I have fun.

BTW You truck looks very nice, but I too am one of those that would be concerned with a Dana 30 and 37s onthe trail. WHeel hop sometimes is hard to avoid while clearing an obsticle.

However you have a very nice truck and should be very proud! Everyone has there own tastes and no matter what you do some will agree and some will dissagree. Fortunately around here most people understand what we go through to modify ou trucks and eventhe critisism is respectfull and only miniscule amounts of flaming.

 

[Rick]

I agree the truck is very nice and the leaf spring conversion looks good on there. I have just always thought a D30 is too light an axle for a truck as heavy as a 4 door Ex.

 

[Chief34]

Thanks i appreciate the compliments.
I do agree with you guys on this though. Unfortunately i didnt have the budget to do everything at once when i lifted it. I got the axle for 450 out of a junk yard. When this does finally break i will step up to a dana 44 up front definately. Then a dana 60 in the rear. I am only going 44 up front because i feel that it is plenty strong enough and i wont sacrifice any more ground clearance. Other than that though everything is holding up fine so far.
I did encounter my first problem with this axle though. My passenger side wheel bearing went out. It is in the hub. I dont really like that design but, it will change when i get the dana 44 for the front. I just went and got a good one out of the junk yard for 80 dollars and it is fixed now. That is what kept me from going to Truck Haven. It broke that friday. I will definately be going to the AZ run though. Damn i cant wait.

 

[Chief34]

NEW PICS

Ok everyone wanted to see new pics of my suspension. Particularly the leaf spring mounts up front. Well here they are . Some of them are blury, i am sorry about that my camera seems to have bit the bullet.

In this photo you can see the gusset type mount. This is the front mount of my leaf sping set-up in the front of my truck.

 

[Chief34]

This is the front view of my rear leaf mount. Those are jeep shackles.

 

[Chief34]

I am not sure what you call that "link" above the axle. But this is the custom mount that was made to hold that.

 

[Chief34]

This is the rear leaf mount for the leaf springs that holds the shackles. It shows the re-enforcement hat was welded above it to box or chanel the frame to make everything stronger around the mounts.

 

[Chief34]

A rear shot of the rear leaf mount

 

[Chief34]

A rear shot of the front end. IT shows driveline angle, shackles, and the Posi-lok that engages the axle into four wheel drive

 

[Chief34]

Shackles and driveline angle

 

[Chief34]

This view shows the middle brace for the hoop bend that holds my dual front shocks. looking from the front or any other angle you could never see this because it is hidden behind. It also shows the shock limiter strap that wont allow my shocks to blow out from over extending.

 

[Chief34]

here is a good new view of my wheel well up front. this shows my shocks with the resevoirs installed. IT looks ten times better.

 

[Chief34]

here is the heart of the sound. High flow cat and flowmaster muffler

 

[Chief34]

here is the flowmaster from the rear of the truck. Notice how it turns down before the axle. Looks clean and stays up high for clearence.

 

[Chief34]

Front shot of the truck

 

[Chief34]

Passenger side view. Camera sucks and messed up but this shows you some highth comparison. My girlfriend is standing there to show how high it is.

 

[JoshC]

Very very nice man. Looks great and very clean. Did you do the work to it? Again very nice. What does your girlfriend think about it, my wife isn't to thrilled with mine yet!

Happy trails!!