axle swap on the jeep

72'CaminoKid · 10-04-2007, 07:24 PM

hey fellas. i've got a line on an 87 grand wagoneer for pretty cheap. i'm watning to swap the D44's under my yj. does anyone know how easy/hard it will be? what modifications will need to be made? basically anything you know about it tell me. thanks

75K30 · 10-04-2007, 08:00 PM

It is a piece of cake, however, since the diffs are larger, the driveshafts may have to be shortened. This will be a problem if you are still running a slip yoke in the back.
The other thing to consider is that the front axle of the 87 Still uses an axle disconnect that is a common point of failure. An eliminator kit and locking hubs while a bit on the spendy side is a great investment. Other than these small items, the little bit od fab work for the sprngperches are very easy. Should also try to go spring over now and lift it while it is apart, (if it has not been done already).

72'CaminoKid · 10-04-2007, 08:07 PM

i've got an easy fix for the vaccuum disconnect, costs about $20.
1)how much work is it to moving the spring perches?
2)i was reading something about a yj rear pinion being a little off-set so the one on the swapped ale needs to be also. is this axle still the on i'm lookin for?
3) what about u-bolts?
4) i plan on just doing a 2"susp lift for now. then when i get the money going soa, do i order the susp lift for my YJ? or do the springs need to be for the woodie?
5)steering parts?

thanks for the help already. sorry if i'm asking alot of questions. but i just wnana get everything nailed down before i delve into it

75K30 · 10-04-2007, 10:32 PM

Never apologoze for questions. Heak your participation here, and your assistance with others is always much appreciated and we (all) look foward to helping one another out when we can.
When you purchase a lift kit, it will always be for the YJ. The old donor vehicle will have nothing to do with anything you purchase from now on.
Yes the other 44 will probably be offset a bit. Man I will have to look this up in some old books to verify exactly how much has to be accomodated for.
Since you are going to be making at least one new shaft for the rear, you will want to eliminate the slip yoke, and consider a CV style, or double cardan joint. This will eliminate the vibrations associated with the "compound angle" present when using an offset diff. The offset is minimal, but you will not want to run single joints, because it will give you a bad case of the vibes.
U bolts; These could be swaped, or flipped so that the plates no longer face down. This means that the nuts and threaded part of the bolts will be facing up. This provides better ground clearance, and keeps the bolts from getting hung up in the mud or damaged by rocks.
Worst case, is that you can use U-bolts from the donor axle. This is important that you get bolts that fit the diameter of the axle tube correctly. Using bolts that are too wide could allow the axle to move, and not allow the u-bolts to clamp properly. A simple tape measure can be used. The outside diameter of the tube should be the same as the inside diameter of the u-bolt. The correct spring plates are necessary to accomodate the wider pattern, So kepp your tape measure handy.
Worst case, is to just use all of the fasteners from the donor vehicle since they already fit the axle, and the spring widths are the same.
Now I recommended that you do a spring over axle conversion since you have everything apart.
You will notice that your existing springs mount below the axle now, and adding a spring with a larger arch will lift the vehicle, but the spring under design has some limitations with regards to flex, and ride comfort.
The spring over axle is the more desireable design, and is easy to do. You simply have to remove the spring perches from the underside of the axle, and relocate them to the top. Then install the axle by mounting the spring above the axle instead of below. This is like a free 3 to 3.5 inches of lift without adding arch to the spring, or compromising ride comfort.
Steering parts are easy, very easy. I just need to know what style steering you have now. I believe you have an inverted Y style steering. This is a steering system that has a drag link that directly attaches the steering box to the pass side knuckle, and then has a tie rod that attaches to the drag link. This makes the fromt tires actually able to move independantly from each other.
The desired method would be a high steer crossover, but this requires machining of the pass side knuckle, and is probanly overkill for this purpose, so you will probably want to consider the inverted T design. This incorperates a traditional straight solid tie rod, that attaches both front wheels together, and than tha drag link connects the steering box to the pass side of the tie rod, or knuckle.. In the case of the jeep, it will connect to the very end of the tie rod.
I hope this kinda makes sense. I have some pics if you need some help with a description. The Donor axle might already have the desireable steering design, and will only require that you adapt the drag link to connect to the steering box, or pitman arm. May be the same pitman arm, and the parts will interchange. Could be that the donor vehicle has a slightly larger rod end, and will require the use of the pitman arm from the donor vehicle as well. probably not though. I believe that the parts are interchangeable.
Let me know what is not clear, and we can concentrate on one item at a time.
I do have several pics of a spring over if you need to see what is required.
tried to post them but are too large.

72'CaminoKid · 10-05-2007, 01:59 PM

i'm familiar with spring overs. my buddy has one. mainly just all the odds and ends of the swap is what i'm copncerned about. i'm getting an sye and a CV shaft for the rear. new springs are a must for me bcthe stock ones are so flat it aint funny. thats why i was just going to get a 2" lift and do the spring over. i'm runnin round like a chicken with my head cut off right now so cant think to straigh. i'll post any more questions later. thanks for the help so far though.

75K30 · 10-05-2007, 02:06 PM

You will like the SOA, and 2" springs. This will net around 5 to 5.5 inches over stock, making this a fairly inexpensive lift. Do make sure that you run stock shackles again of you have long shackles that Jeep guys love to throw under there to get a little lift.
In the future, you may also want to consider reversing the front swing shackle to a conventional rear mount style. Shackles at the rear of a spring drive soooo much better.
Let me know how I can help you out. Sounds like you have a handle on it already.

10-04-2007, 07:24 PM	#1
72'CaminoKid Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,268	axle swap on the jeep hey fellas. i've got a line on an 87 grand wagoneer for pretty cheap. i'm watning to swap the D44's under my yj. does anyone know how easy/hard it will be? what modifications will need to be made? basically anything you know about it tell me. thanks __________________ 99 suburban xlt 96 silverado 91 wrangler (my baby ) 08 Honday shadow 750 (my mistress)

10-04-2007, 08:07 PM	#3
72'CaminoKid Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,268	i've got an easy fix for the vaccuum disconnect, costs about $20. 1)how much work is it to moving the spring perches? 2)i was reading something about a yj rear pinion being a little off-set so the one on the swapped ale needs to be also. is this axle still the on i'm lookin for? 3) what about u-bolts? 4) i plan on just doing a 2"susp lift for now. then when i get the money going soa, do i order the susp lift for my YJ? or do the springs need to be for the woodie? 5)steering parts? thanks for the help already. sorry if i'm asking alot of questions. but i just wnana get everything nailed down before i delve into it __________________ 99 suburban xlt 96 silverado 91 wrangler (my baby ) 08 Honday shadow 750 (my mistress)

10-05-2007, 01:59 PM	#5
72'CaminoKid Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,268	i'm familiar with spring overs. my buddy has one. mainly just all the odds and ends of the swap is what i'm copncerned about. i'm getting an sye and a CV shaft for the rear. new springs are a must for me bcthe stock ones are so flat it aint funny. thats why i was just going to get a 2" lift and do the spring over. i'm runnin round like a chicken with my head cut off right now so cant think to straigh. i'll post any more questions later. thanks for the help so far though. __________________ 99 suburban xlt 96 silverado 91 wrangler (my baby ) 08 Honday shadow 750 (my mistress)

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10-04-2007, 08:00 PM	#2
75K30 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,537	It is a piece of cake, however, since the diffs are larger, the driveshafts may have to be shortened. This will be a problem if you are still running a slip yoke in the back. The other thing to consider is that the front axle of the 87 Still uses an axle disconnect that is a common point of failure. An eliminator kit and locking hubs while a bit on the spendy side is a great investment. Other than these small items, the little bit od fab work for the sprngperches are very easy. Should also try to go spring over now and lift it while it is apart, (if it has not been done already).

10-04-2007, 10:32 PM	#4
75K30 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,537	Never apologoze for questions. Heak your participation here, and your assistance with others is always much appreciated and we (all) look foward to helping one another out when we can. When you purchase a lift kit, it will always be for the YJ. The old donor vehicle will have nothing to do with anything you purchase from now on. Yes the other 44 will probably be offset a bit. Man I will have to look this up in some old books to verify exactly how much has to be accomodated for. Since you are going to be making at least one new shaft for the rear, you will want to eliminate the slip yoke, and consider a CV style, or double cardan joint. This will eliminate the vibrations associated with the "compound angle" present when using an offset diff. The offset is minimal, but you will not want to run single joints, because it will give you a bad case of the vibes. U bolts; These could be swaped, or flipped so that the plates no longer face down. This means that the nuts and threaded part of the bolts will be facing up. This provides better ground clearance, and keeps the bolts from getting hung up in the mud or damaged by rocks. Worst case, is that you can use U-bolts from the donor axle. This is important that you get bolts that fit the diameter of the axle tube correctly. Using bolts that are too wide could allow the axle to move, and not allow the u-bolts to clamp properly. A simple tape measure can be used. The outside diameter of the tube should be the same as the inside diameter of the u-bolt. The correct spring plates are necessary to accomodate the wider pattern, So kepp your tape measure handy. Worst case, is to just use all of the fasteners from the donor vehicle since they already fit the axle, and the spring widths are the same. Now I recommended that you do a spring over axle conversion since you have everything apart. You will notice that your existing springs mount below the axle now, and adding a spring with a larger arch will lift the vehicle, but the spring under design has some limitations with regards to flex, and ride comfort. The spring over axle is the more desireable design, and is easy to do. You simply have to remove the spring perches from the underside of the axle, and relocate them to the top. Then install the axle by mounting the spring above the axle instead of below. This is like a free 3 to 3.5 inches of lift without adding arch to the spring, or compromising ride comfort. Steering parts are easy, very easy. I just need to know what style steering you have now. I believe you have an inverted Y style steering. This is a steering system that has a drag link that directly attaches the steering box to the pass side knuckle, and then has a tie rod that attaches to the drag link. This makes the fromt tires actually able to move independantly from each other. The desired method would be a high steer crossover, but this requires machining of the pass side knuckle, and is probanly overkill for this purpose, so you will probably want to consider the inverted T design. This incorperates a traditional straight solid tie rod, that attaches both front wheels together, and than tha drag link connects the steering box to the pass side of the tie rod, or knuckle.. In the case of the jeep, it will connect to the very end of the tie rod. I hope this kinda makes sense. I have some pics if you need some help with a description. The Donor axle might already have the desireable steering design, and will only require that you adapt the drag link to connect to the steering box, or pitman arm. May be the same pitman arm, and the parts will interchange. Could be that the donor vehicle has a slightly larger rod end, and will require the use of the pitman arm from the donor vehicle as well. probably not though. I believe that the parts are interchangeable. Let me know what is not clear, and we can concentrate on one item at a time. I do have several pics of a spring over if you need to see what is required. tried to post them but are too large.

10-05-2007, 02:06 PM	#6
75K30 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 2,537	You will like the SOA, and 2" springs. This will net around 5 to 5.5 inches over stock, making this a fairly inexpensive lift. Do make sure that you run stock shackles again of you have long shackles that Jeep guys love to throw under there to get a little lift. In the future, you may also want to consider reversing the front swing shackle to a conventional rear mount style. Shackles at the rear of a spring drive soooo much better. Let me know how I can help you out. Sounds like you have a handle on it already.