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zjizzle

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Ive had my zj for a couple years now and wheeled it plenty and sat for awhile as well. its time for some full widths. I have a 79 bronco axle set, hp d44 and 9 inch. I will be using the radius arms up front and my existing rough country la's out back, if I can. I plan on throwing in somewhat of an X brace in the rear and beefing up the front crossmember, and possibly plating the frame. the axles still have stock gearing, 3.50, but I don't plan on running anything bigger than 35's until I get a new job(took the summer off). I have a 242 that I will be rebuilding due to a bearing noise, and will probably use that for the time being. heres a few pics of it pre-transformation.








and heres my MJ






any input is appreciated! this will be my first big job on the jeep besides the LA kit (rough country). I have a miller mig and a Lincoln tig for welding, but I have not welded much since high school, so im sure it will be a learning process as well.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Are you dead set on the HP44 and 9"? A friend of mine local put those axles under his ZJ and has had nothing but problems with the 9". Here is a link to his build thread for some pointers/tips for the swap if you decide to go this route.

http://mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?22776-Biggoofy-s-96-ZJ-build!-**-HP44-and-9-quot-swap-**

thanks for the link, helps a lot. and yeah I'm pretty set on the axles. the 9 should be fine for what I'm doing, and I have a buddy that's pretty good with setting up/working on diffs.
 
Why do you think you need full width axles under it? Keep in mind it likely will need to be licensed as an OHV if you go through with it, we have less strict safety inspections here in Utah and my buddy's XJ running that exact setup will not pass.
 
Discussion starter · #7 · (Edited)
We don't have safety inspections here unless its been out of the dmv system for a certain amount of years. plus I live less than 10 minutes away from one of the biggest off-road areas in CA. I've wanted bigger axles under this thing for awhile now. the only thing that can happen is if a CA highway patrol sees me, he will ticket me for the tires sticking past the body. to remedy this, all I need are some quick release mudflaps.

Modifications to the emission systems are the biggest thing the chp look for. Mine is all legal.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Snapped a d35 shaft and put a d44a after, and ive had nonstop problems with it. The d30 is making alot of interesting noises and the ball joints are toast. As for armor, I plan on taking off the bumpers and plating the frame and somehow tieing everything together. I have a lot of homework to do, but I have a good idea of how its going to turn out.
 
Discussion starter · #12 ·
got a lot done today. finished rebuild of my 242, bench pressed that back in. modified coil pads(like oem buckets) and had to grind and the brackets to fit my axle, the 9' has 3.25' axle tubes, not 3.0. laid under the jeep for a bit and measured everything out. mocked up everything then burned them in. all I have is fluxcore right now(solid, but ugly welds), but I have some solid wire coming in a few days that im going to be welding over the fc welds with. it is now sitting on its own weight. working on brake lines tomorrow and shock tab locations. also read the axle tag and found out I have tracloc, If that's what its called, and 350 gears. I am using cj5 rims (15x8? 5x5 lug pattern) that help with the width A lot. it is just a hair wider than my front d30 with my 15x10 d-windows. Should look pretty tough when its all done. the total lift is probably around 4' now. pics soon
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
Still to do:

brake line routing
gusseting/rewelding with solid wire(over fluxcore) here and there
spring retainers
shock tabs
paint

Had a hard time finding the right u joint to match these up. jeep is 1310. the 9 yoke SHOULD be a 1350 from what I've read, but I've also seen some 1330s come up as well. the 1310-1350 did NOT fit. the caps were too fat to fit in the 9' yoke. then I tried the 1310-1330. It fits, but the caps are a hair too small(diameter) on the 9' yoke, it will work for now, but I will try to find a better fit soon.

Also, I was hoping a whistle/hum noise I was hearing would be gone due to the t-case rebuild... not gone. I'm guessing the transmission output bearing or a planetary somewhere? the noise starts around 25-30mph and changes tone with speed. I'm just going to drive it as-is and ill eventually find out what it is.

It also seems like it kicked up the rear an inch or 2. I'm hoping the front 44 will do the same.

Here's some pictures. Please note I am not done yet, but let me hear your input.







 
Looking good, it did raise the rear up a bit for sure.
 
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