Dave51

So all the brackets on my front axle are pretty rusted. Waiting for the shocks to rip off if I hit a good bump. Driver's side LCA bracket looks really weak. Tossing around the ideas of replacing the whole axle assembly (have a lead on a very good used one) or going with the Artec replacement brackets (3/16" stock). I only drive around town so Rusty's brackets (1/4" stock) would be WAY overkill. Think my small (90 amp) welder will be good enough to weld the Artec brackets on?

tinytrax78

I would just swap out the axle its not hard to do and you have a lead on a good one already

texastaz38

x2 tinytrax. Be sure you get the same gear ratio in the replacement axle as what you have.

Happy Jeepin'
TexasTaz38

4.3L XJ

Swa[ping out is much easier, but the brackets can be welded on with your welder

Dave51

Right. I have a 3.55.

RockinRonnie

Swap it with another. Brothers had the same problem swapped it out in a couple of hours and done!

Dave51

Thanks for the input everyone. If I want to add the UCA bracket as well we're talking about $270 not counting shipping and tax so there doesn't seem to be a lot of savings going that route.

That said, I had some concerns about insuring proper placement of the aftermarket LCA brackets and Nate from Artec was extremely helpful (FYI they go 16.6" from diff to passenger side bracket, 0.77” diff to driver side. With the diff cover surface at 90 degrees, the top of the coil bracket is about 9.2 degree back).

Dave51

The axle swap out plan isn't going well. All my leads turn into "well, we can't find that part", "oh, the coil mount can't be rusted out?", or they're front end collisions where the axle housing is bent. And while the shock mount seems like it has a few months left, that spring mount is getting pretty iffy. I might offer that anybody reading this who lives in the north, if you haven't checked the spring mounts (or looking to purchase a used XJ) be sure to look closely at this area.

Dave51

BTW, once you pull the shocks, there's plenty of room to R&R the coil mounts w/o pulling the axle. OTOH, I need to replace one of the UCAs. Ordered parts, and we'll see how the weather is (this is a driveway job in the New England elements. Cold I can deal with, snow I can deal with. Slush, not so much).

Rlmx

@ car-part.com 27 Pages of 1996 Dana 30 3.55s for $125 - $400.
@ getusedparts.com Same deal.

For a Dana 30, you should research high pinion vs. low pinion. I think high pinions are on 1996 - 1999? I am putting a 96' high pinion on my 91'.

Dave51

Thanks Rlmx. I didn't think that finding a low Dana 30 was was going to be such a PIA. But between rust, short production, 17-18 year old part and front end collisions I suppose it certainly makes sense. At any rate, I'm going to try the Artec TJ 3015s. I don't do any rock crawling so I don't have to go too crazy here.

OldTires

Good luck. I had the same issue with my shock mounts. I ended up finding a used axle housing. However, it had some issues with the pinion preload I had to fix. I did consider the welding on new mounts, but I am not a welder. I did read up on it, and I think the big challenger is getting the new mounts welded on at the right angle. So maybe find, mark and measure different reference points on the old ones before you cut them out, so you can use them for positioning the new ones. Also, I would fit the new ones with the Jeep on the ground.

Make sure to wear eye protection when grinding out the old mounts. Better safe than sorry.

Dave51

I had the same concern, so I called up Nate at Artec who said

Dave51

Well this project is going slower than a [insert glacier, turtle, molasses, etc. metaphor here].

Having given up on trying to find a used axle than was in good enough condition to make a straight swap worthwhile, I looked at 3 replacement coil bracket kits--Barnes, Rusty's and Artec.

I thought Artec was a good value but upon closer examination I didn't like the way the front tab of the steering stabilizer mount was attached when used in an XJ application. I'm sure it would be fine when welded up but I wished they put just a little more thought in that part of the design. Pluses are 3/16" stock, shock mounts are bolt-through the shock eye and has coil spring seats. I initially bought these and returned them. Perhaps most importantly tho, tech support is A++.

Rusty's are quite impressive but I didn't see the need for 1/4' stock, there's no recess for the coil spring seat, the shocks are mounted with a tab on the surface (same as stock)(but if you think you need 1/4" stock for the brackets why bolt the shocks with a surface tab instead of a through the eye bolt?) and I really thought the price was too high at $250, $100 more than Artec or Barnes, and since they don't include sway bar mounts, you have to add $30.00 to that.

I got the Barnes (currently), it's a good value at $150, the sway bar mounts are actually 1/4" stock and the steering stabilizer and tracking arm brackets are solid. The perch has a tab that is bent down to create a coil spring seat and then rewelded. But I'm thinking the Artec design is better here. No installation instructions were included so I don't know where the welding points of the coil spring seat should be to insure that it's going to be solid. Think I'll see how good tech support is at Barnes. Better keep my purchase receipt handy.

Dave51

Oh I forgot-- I looked briefly at a $60 bracket from TNT Customs, but from the image it didn't look like the shock mounts would be too strong, and there were no brackets for steering stabilizer, sway bar or tracking bar so that option was quickly dismissed.