Improving the XJ a bit.

[REDxj5150]

Figured I would spend some of my hard earned money on some new goodies. Got the currie steering for my heep. Just installed it a few hours ago. Took it out to my favorite undeveloped housing track. Strangely enough, I wasn't alone. Some dude was playing with his RC truggy. The steering is so much tighter. It kinda feels like a Ferrari that's always about to roll over.
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[munepit]

Sweet! Money well spent.q

[TheBigDogg]

ever get a locker?

TheBigDogg

[REDxj5150]

I have a detroit for the front, but I haven't put it in. I'm thinking about tackling the project on my own to save that hunk of change for some rear end goodies. I may end up trading my rear axle for a dana 44.

[Desert Dog]

I put the Currie steering set-up on my daughter's Jeep. It was a huge improvement. Very solid feel and probrably 20 times stronger than factory crap.

[TheBigDogg]

[quote="REDxj5150"]I have a detroit for the front, but I haven't put it in. I'm thinking about tackling the project on my own to save that hunk of change for some rear end goodies. I may end up trading my rear axle for a dana 44.[/quote]
sweet!!!

TheBigDogg

[Repsolaaron]

I just put the rugged ridge link system on. It feels like the stock steering but at least its stronger and now my drag link doesn't hit the track bar bolt. I only got it for a $100 used. And if it don't work out than I will buy the rock crawler links. Did you still have to run the steering stabilizer with the rugged ridge links?

[REDxj5150]

Always run a steering stabilizer, ESPECIALLY with that kit! If your get-up didn't come with the bolt on mount I've still got that from my rugged ridge stuff.

[AJ99]

lookin good travis. I almost went with the currie myself but decided to go with the Rock Krawler steering.

[REDxj5150]

Oh boy! 200 bucks... Beat Richard by 75 bucks on my find compared to his...

[TONY]

That thing was in my pile of axles for a long time . Spent manny drunk'n nights pissing on that thing.

[REDxj5150]

It's ok.. I put it in my pee corner too.

Lets discuss the advantages to going super 44... 33 spline with a detroit sounds awfully nice. Are there any drawbacks? I understand that axles still snap, and I would still need a spare shaft. Would I just be spending money on a gimmick?

[Lake_v2]

33 spline d44... is still a d44

disadvantages small ring gear, not full float.

advantages... none

if you get to a point that you actually break 30spline rear d44 axles, then if you upgrade you will just destroy the ring/pinon or shear wheel studs or take out wheel bearings.

now lets discuss what it actually takes to surpass the capabilities of a stock 30 spline rear axle?

It would from my experience take over a 35" tire and some weight and horsepower to start breaking the rear axle shafts.

So unless you are going 37", v8 power, and heavy weight... its not necessary to upgrade a d44 beyond a locker and chromos.... if you do go 37" tire, v8 power, and heavy weight, then its a more sensible and cheaper upgrade to use a d60, chevy 14bolt, or ford 10.5" rear end.

of course this is all my opinion.

If your thinking why not go 33 spline while building a rear axle because the cost difference from building a pure stock 30 spline is near the same cost... well if you shop smart and buy gently used lockers/gears from people upgrading then the cost difference becomes greater.

again just my opinion....

good luck with the upgrade.

[REDxj5150]

That's basically it. There's hardly any cost difference between the two. The xj will remain on 35s but I do intend to add a bit of weight with a cage. Also, further on down the road I'd like to build a stroker as my engine is wearing out a bit quicker than the average xj.

That's my reasoning behind wanting the 33 spline goods.

[REDxj5150]

So if you've been keeping a little track of facebook lately you'll notice I've been doing some things to my jeep in order for KOH. Well... long story short I won't be done with all of what I wanted to do, but here's what I've done to make it road worthy so I can make it out to the lake bed.

I wish I could just wrap up 2/3s of my paycheck to the jeep to finish it up, but work is scarce.

I want a new look for the jeep: Integrated sliders like genright makes and a bumper similar to the race jeeps only with some added flair to keep things original, but there's a few things that need to be done before I get that far. Right now I'm still in the process of plating the frame. I've plated the front up with 1/8" on the sides and 3/16" on the bottom. For the bottom rails below the doors I'm going to buy the dirt bound stiffener kit. Then I'm going to use my old rock sliders as a sub frame coming off of those and run them from the rear spring perch to the front LCA mount. After all that is done then I can get started on the sliders and bumper.
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I've also been attacking some of the mechanical problems like broken motor mounts and transmission mount. I was running the infamous 2 piece autozone transmission mount.
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