officially looking into a 4WD conversion!

[LONO100]

yeah, thats one of the reasons i think i can get this done. there are about 6 pick n pulls within an hour drive from where i live, and the biggest one is a 15 minute drive from my house. i was thinking either a 44 or a 30. i dont ever plan on running anything larger than 33" even though i have tossed around the idea of going 35", but i think im pretty sure im going 33" to keep things simple.

 

[shooterdude199]

the only reason why i say a 44 is seeing a shaft of a 30 compared to a 44. basically everything is much beefier on a 44. go big or go home .

 

[OffTrac]

To keep your current (not-over) lifted look, which is really b.a. btw, I'd seriously consider the D30 for it's ease and expense. That, with 33s and locked, you'd have a really awesome weekend warrior truck that would still be great in the city and comfortable for everyone.

 

[01STrunner]

Or an 80s Wagoneer. I can see the biggest downside to an SAS being road manners though. Like Hugh said the grass is always greener on the other side. I do like that I can go 80 right now with no consequences. But I know that'll change with a solid axle. There's pros and cons and that's the one downside I can think of for an SAS.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

If you stay with 33's a Dana 30 will be perfect for you, they can be had for dirt jeep (I mean cheap) LOL. You retain the same bolt pattern and the width is a match to the ST's, Exporer's. Check out these build thread's all with Dana 30's.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303902

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349040

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367945

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=356717


Patrick, as long as you do you suspension setup correctly road manners with a SAS can actually handle as good if not better then with IFS. Ask Chad about his, he says he does 70mph with no issues ad he drives his rig daily.

 

[01STrunner]

I've studied his build just a couple times lol. Mine went from coils/shock to leaves like he did just for ease and lower likelihood of death wobble. Traded in for axle wrap instead

Lono FWIW I thought about doing a Dana 30 originally, even have the donor XJ and everything. I figured I could upgrade to chromo shafts and beefier U joints to accommodate my 35s. I just knew that I would want to throw 37s on later don the road and they would tear up a 30. Like Jerry said a 30 would be plenty for 33s and might even turn 35s if you're gentle, although I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

From what I've seen from your post Lono you do more Expedition Trailin' then Hardcore Rockcrawlin', right? The D30 with 33's is perfect for your needs, Stang rockcrawls his rig's and he's running D30's. I do both kinds of wheein', more crawlin/ hardcore just because of the terrain around here, if I still lived out west it would be more Expedition Excursions for a week or two at a time.

 

[LONO100]

Thats right, im not big on rockcrawling or anything gnarly, im more of a trail expedition guy. The main purpose of my rigs are to get us into wild to find the best fishing, hiking, camping and biking spots. I think im leaning toward the d30. I can keep my bolt patterns matched up which will keep spacers out of the equation. I can pull one of these off a xj right? That would be awesome because those things are plentiful.

 

[shooterdude199]

xj, yj, tj. almost all of them have dana 30's.

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Yep. Lono, you probably have these mags http://www.4wdaction.com.au/ in your Barnes & Nobles too, I get one every month and love reading them. One of these years I wanna take a trip out there and just get off the grid for atleast two weeks minumum. Maybe closer to retirement age LOL or if I ever win the lottery.

 

[01STrunner]

xj, yj, tj. almost all of them have dana 30's.

As long as its not a Rubicon. Those came with 44s

 

[Dauntless76]

Dont know if its still out there, but there is a D44 on craigslist out here for 300 bucks seemed like a steal to me but have zero use for itvat the moment. Just thought I'd point that in your wiser directions lol.

Lono its gonna be sweet def post pics as you get started collecting.

 

[LONO100]

Oh yes, i will be documenting this in depth for all future members to reference. Right now I'm waiting to get my Chilton manual, and doing a lot of research and planning. It may be a while before i post any pics, but i will post all new info that i find put and questions i have. Right now its homework time. Victory loves preparation!

 

[shooterdude199]

i think at some point some of the grand cherokees with the v8's had 44's in the rear as well.

 

[OffTrac]

One thing you may want to consider if you go D30 SAS is that it really isn't stronger than the stock 4x4 D35 in the Trac. It's only worth it for a little more front flex and that's really going to just depend on how you set it up.

If you do go with the stock IFS, you'd be wise to go ahead and do coilovers. I'm actually currently considering them myself to hold me over the next year or two before I get the 1 tons ready. But who knows, the SAS may come sooner than I have planned. All depends on this house building thingie and family planning.

 

[shooterdude199]

if you or someone does do coilovers, i might be willing to sell my old brackets from rcd. MAYBE.

 

[01STrunner]

I think you could build up a 30 to be stronger than the IFS 35 with shafts and U joints, etc. There was an offroad magazine/site that had an article about how to build a better Dana 30. I'll see if I cant find it and post it up. I agree with thinking about doing coilovers if you stick with IFS. Only more experience and knowledge gained by doing that too!


The ST is part of the family and can't be neglected haha.

 

[LONO100]

yeah i think i have that issue in my house. it was in jp magazine. the research on this project is overwhelming! so if i go sas, it will most likely be with a d30 because of availability, and i will still need to do a ton of homework on swapping in an ifs.

 

[LONO100]

one area where my knowledge is really limited is the whole transmission game. im really going to have to learn how these things go. im clueless on what differences there will be between the auto trannies in the 2wd and the auto trannies in the 4wd, and if i will need to do any modifying in this regard. i literally have next to zero knowledge on transmissions and what will need to be done to make this conversion work.

 

[01STrunner]

Here's the link. I had it bookmarked in my SAS stuff. Just had to take the time to look it up.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/howto/34047/

For future readers: It goes over how to build a better Dana 30 but you can use the same steps to build up any axle.