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[sn0border88]

problem with the military tires is two things. Ive heard they have paper thin side walls and they only hit hummer rims. I have TSL-SX's and love them, but for on road they arnt so good. I would suggest IROK radials or pro comp x-terrains. I had the x-terrains for a while and they were amazing on everything except for realy sticky mud.

 

[Mud Bug 94]

the bogger is the best street tire out there... bfg mud terrains are a good all around tire..

 

[colindo94]

I was also thinking the iroks, but $. The TSL radials are also on the top of the list, but here they don't last long on the road. I had some BFG muds for a while, but hated them. Never balanced right and road not so good, specialy as they started waring out.

 

[mynameisaric]

any interco tire will be worse on the road than your bfg m/t's. when you start gaining off road performance, you'll lose on road performance. if you only go a short ways to work in your truck, you might want to think about a more aggresive tread, and if you do alot of driving, you might want to think about a bfg a/t, m/t, or goodyear mtr for better streetability. i heard the mtr starts wearing really bad on the last %50 of its' tread compared to the first %50

 

[james t]

You said you just need to get to the wheeling spots. If its not going to be a daily driver then why worry about wear? You're obviously not going to put a ton of miles on it so why make a sacrifice? Get something that works. FYI Iroks are really nice on the street for a swamper... they ride pretty good and arent any louder than a BFG MT.

 

[colindo94]

Iroks it is.

 

[Stic-o]

well after reading through stic-o's thread I have decided to just go with drums on the rear. Seems like a lot of work to just get rear disks. Kinda makes me wish I went with the 9" instead, but I already bought the gears and locker for the 8.8. O well. I figure the bigger brakes will do just fine, and I have never really had a hard time with drums. What do you all think?

Not that much pain now that I know how. Just need to order the custom rotors and your in business

 

[colindo94]

Well the gears, install kits, locker, coils, warn hubs all came today so now its about time to send the axles away for the gears to be installed. I also started taking apart and cleaning up the axles. Is there a trick to taking off the spindle? I got all the nuts off and trid loosing up the spindle by pounding on it will a hammer and tring to get a screw driver behind it, but it won't budge. Any ideas?

 

[Stic-o]

once all 5 bolts are off they should come off. They could be rusted .. they fit pretty tight, even new you have to tap them on with a hammer.

Maybe wit till you replace the ball joint..

 

[sn0border88]

heat the knuckle till it glows, then splash water or use a wet rag to cool the spindle, NOT the knuckle. The try and work it out. Or soak it with PB They are a real ***** to get off sometimes they never "come right off"

 

[Mud Bug 94]

i pesonally woulden heat it right away...just pound the f$*k out of the knuckle...the vibration frees the rust...

 

[mynameisaric]

heating stuff till its red will temper it if its a hardened component, thus softening the structure and weakening the assembly. stay away from heat, and if you do use, dont quench it right after getting it red hot, that could cause it to crack or as i said before, weaken the integrity of the material.

 

[zainyD]

A trick that I use so that I don't dent or warp the spindle and don't mess up the threads on it is to take the two spindle nuts and put them back on the end of the spindle. I can then use a hammer to hit the spindle nuts instead of the spindle which usually works to free it up. Make sure you hit the spindle from side to side as well as up and down. This has always worked for me.

 

[sn0border88]

the knuckle isnt hardened, thats why I said to heat it instead of the spindle.

 

[wanderer351]

A trick that I use so that I don't dent or warp the spindle and don't mess up the threads on it is to take the two spindle nuts and put them back on the end of the spindle. I can then use a hammer to hit the spindle nuts instead of the spindle which usually works to free it up. Make sure you hit the spindle from side to side as well as up and down. This has always worked for me.

yep...3lb sledge...AND A BLOCK OF WOOD over the spindal nuts...they need some beatin before they come off..couple hits from the top...couple hits from each side..couple hits to the bottom...work around and back and forth...they WILL come loose..

oh..and some PB blaster or good rust eater..(WD40 isnt really strong enough..but it will work...)

 

[jrgaylor]

I have been talking with Jim at Cage offroad about their radius arms. The Duff and Cage arms look the same but the cage arms have several improvements in construction and material and Jim is the original designer of the arms.
They are making new frame brackets for their arms to fit rigs that have a channel frames like our explorers and full size F150/Broncos. So now we won't have to modify the frame brackets that where meant to be used on a early Bronco that was a boxed frame rig
These new brackets should be available this Monday, as soon as they are available I am going to order a set for my explorer

 

['97 V8]

I have been talking with Jim at Cage offroad about their radius arms. The Duff and Cage arms look the same but the cage arms have several improvements in construction and material and Jim is the original designer of the arms.
They are making new frame brackets for their arms to fit rigs that have a channel frames like our explorers and full size F150/Broncos. So now we won't have to modify the frame brackets that where meant to be used on a early Bronco that was a boxed frame rig
These new brackets should be available this Monday, as soon as they are available I am going to order a set for my explorer

Make sure you remember to tell us how they fit and what not. I may be interested in going coils instead of air shocks due to $$ availability.

 

[colindo94]

Yea that is a major question for me. Some pics would be great too. Will they come with the radius arms as a set because I eed to get my arms asap.

I have a question about getting the gears installed. I went up to my gear installer and he said I will need new carriers along with the gears and install kits for him to install the gears for me. I have never heard that I needed to get new carriers when I go to a lower gear, but thats what hes telling me. ANy insight on this or should I spring for new carriers or will it be a waste of $$$.

Also, I'm thinking about going with the 36x12.5x15" TSL Radials. Will the 15" wheel be a good choice or would a 16" wheel be a better choice. Its quite a bit less $ to go with the 15" wheels, but I don't want to be a cheap A$$ and regret it in the end.

 

[Mud Bug 94]

15s are fine and you prob need a new carrier...the axles come with 2 kinds gennerally ...4.10and up or 4.10 and down (numericly)

 

[JoshC]

There are some axles that require new carriers if you are going with a higher (numerically) gear like mud bug said. D44 and the D30, i know that.