Okay, so I wanted to throw out there to you guys that I have a lot of parts available for sale or trade for parts that I need. To mention a few but, there are many more. If you need something ask on this thread or text me at (360)929-5518:

1.) 2 perfectly good AW-4 auto trannys with torque converters, kick down linkage and wiring harnesses.
2.) 1 perfectly good stock NP231 transfer case.
3.) 1 perfectly good stock 96 HP D30 (non-disco) axle hub to hub.
4.) 1 perfectly good stock 96 ChryCo 8.25. It is the 27 spline but it's better than a Dana (turdy) five and it has a factory limited slip in it.
5.) 1 pair perfectly good 91 XJ Laredo front seats (gray). I will throw in my rear seat thats gray, also.
5.) Complete front and rear stock suspension from 96 XJ Country. If I'm not mistaking, I believe the Country model has a factory 1" lift

 

I could use an extra front drive shaft if you have one you want to get rid of. Are you doing long arms or short arms?

 

I do have a front driveshaft I can get rid of. I'm doing short arms with drop brackets. I'm still too cheap to drop the cash for long arms...LOL.

 

So, now that I have told you guys the plan for the suspension I will be putting in Great White, I figured I'd let you know the plan for the axles.

Front: The front will be the high pinion dana 30 that is currently in my old gray Jeep. Some of you may remember my "home brew cheap super 30" thread. Yes, this is still that same axle. It is originally out of a 94 Cherokee. It is trussed over the tube and under the "C's". The passenger side upper control arm mount is boxed for extra strength. The seams between the axle tubes and the differential were welded for strength. The OEM lower control arm mounts were cut off and 1/4" steel HD units from Under Cover Fab Works, were welded on. XRF Balljoints, with lifetime warranty, were installed. It currently has a V-8 ZJ tierod on it. I'm sticking with that until it fails me...so far, so good. The differential has 4.56 gears and an Aussie locker in it. The only place the axle is really lacking is it needs Chromoly shafts and 760 balljoints. I have broken 2 short side shafts at the knuckle joint since doing the cheap super 30 mod. That is in my plans hopefully before it is put into Great White. If funds don't allow it, then they will be bought and installed as soon as funds do allow.

Rear: The rear axle will be the D44 that is currently in my old gray Jeep. This axle is originally out of an 87 XJ that was a Cowlits County Sheriff vehicle, so it was ordered with the OEM HD offroad and trailering kits. It currently has 4.56 gears in differential and an Aussie locker. I'm sticking with the OEM shafts as these things are 30 spline from the factory and I've never had this axle fail on me EVER! I am going to do a DIY rear disc brake mod. that I read about online that uses 94 Ford Crown Vic brakes. I'm also going to grind off the OEM shock mounts and move them up higher on the axle housing for better clearance. The ring and pinion in this axle will be getting a rebuild before it goes into Great White. Not new gears, just bearings, seals and shims.

 

The suspension and axle upgrades I am doing over what I was already running on my old Jeep are in preparation for the new wheels and tires. I'm planning to go to 17x8 "D" window or soft 8 window wheels. Whatever between the 2 types I can get a better deal on when I am ready to buy. Now for what you have all been waiting for. The tires i am going with are 35x12.50x17 Yokhama Geolander M/T+.

 

Dam, short arms with 8" of lift!? Seems to kind of defeat the pupose of 8" of lift if you are going to limit your travel with short arms. I bet when you do finally upgrade to long arms you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

I cant wait to see how you do the rear disc brakes so I can try to do the same with my D44.

 

having adjustable uppers and lowers combined with control arm drop brackets will be almost or as good as long arms. the ride on the road might not be quite as good but the flex will be decent

 

Yeah, I kinda figured the same thing. Oh well, we shall see how well she flexes when I get the lift installed.

So, I took full advantage of the couple of hours of sunshine we got this afternoon. I mowed, edged, weed wacked and weed n feed and moss killered the yard. Then, I went up on the roof and swept off all of the moss and cleaned out the gutters. Then, once my chores were all done I started out with a trash can and cleaned all of the trash out of my new little white Jeep. Then I vacuumed the whole inside thoroughly. Then I wiped everything thing down with a wet rag. The inside of that Jeep was straight nasty. Then, I started scrubbing on the outside. Just as I finished washing the Jeep it started to rain. So, if you got caught outside in it, it was my fault for washing my Jeep...LOL. I gotta say I really am happy with how it cleaned up. Oh and right after I took these pics I peeled off all of the PO's GAY A$$ skater stickers.

 

Well, I didn't do any actual work on little white today. I will probably be putting the stereo out of my old Jeep into it tomorrow. A guy has got to have tunes. The PO must have had something nice in there because he removed it before he sold me the Jeep. Don't know. Don't care. My stereo works great. I will also be meeting up with Alex (Assets91) tomorrow to get my "new to me" control arms, coil spacers and another front DS from a V-8/Auto ZJ. Its always good to have spares and it sounds like this one is in better shape than the one that was on my old Jeep. Then, on Monday i will be going in to the DMV to get little white registered, pklated and apply for the Wa. state title. Then I can swap my insurance from the old Jeep to little white and I will be all legal like to drive it.

 

When do you plan on the axle/lift swap?

 

Well, my new coils should be getting to the house one day this next week. I met Alex in MV today and picked up my new RC control arms with Currie Johnny joints and brand new bushings and Teraflex 2" lift coil spacers. I could be ready to do the lift as early as next weekend. I'd really like to get the differential rebuilt in the rear D44 before it goes into GW. It's looking like money is tight so I will buy a master install kit and I will be setting up the R-n-P gears myself, again. The Crown Vic rear disc brakes will have to wait. The brakes aren't a huge deal. The brakes on both axles worked great last time I drove the old Jeep. That is something that can be done later after the axle is already under Great White.

 

Here is a pic of the new control arms and spacers I got from Alex. I had just finished cleaning them up and putting the new bushings in the LCA. I also went through the boxes of all the new goodies I have been getting for Great White and I put the stickers in Great White's rear windows. Much more manly than the skater stickers the PO had in the windows.

 

So, in the installation instructions for the Rough Country Drop Brackets it says, for an 8" lift, to adjust your LCA eye to eye length to 16.25". Okay that's easy enough to measure 16 and 1/4" with a tape measure. For the UCA it says to adjust the eye to eye length to 15.524". How in thee hell do I measure out 15.524" with a tape measure?? Come on Rough Country let's be a little more realistic with the measurements here!!

Sounds like time to apply some common sense here unless somebody can lend me a tape measure that shows .524". I'm going with 16 and 1/4" on the LCA and 15 and 1/2" on the UCA. Does everybody agree with my simple wrench turner logic?

 

Haha that sounds right xD Thats a terrible number lol. I would say 15.5 + a hair past the line

 

i would say those are some good starting points, but ideally you want the yoke and the driveshaft to line up, since you have a double-cardon joint at the transfer case end. now since you have coil springs up front that is not as easy as with leaf springs, but you should at lease angle the pinion up a few degrees.