Here is what was generously donated to us this weekend...lets see if we can make it work!

 

This evening we tore apart all of our axles. One of our D44s is out of a 1978 F150. Unfortunately when we bought this we did not know that the radius arms fit on a CAST wedge. The cast wedge pretty much makes it 'impossible' to rebuild with new brackets. To solve the problem we went to the junkyard and picked up a new front D44 out of a 1978 or 1979 F250 with leaf springs. Since we are trying to stick with a 15" wheel setup we would not be able to use the brakes that are on the F250 axle. Therefore we need to swap all of the outer 5 lug stuff off of the F150 axle onto the current 8 lug F250 axle. We also pulled apart the 9" to find out some measurements since we are putting in an order for gears and master install kits soon. Here are pics of the axles torn down, the size difference between rotors, and a few of our spare axle shafts. We should also be putting an order in for new chromo shafts soon too!

 

More to come this weekend!

 

Look what came in last night...thanks to our friend Mr. Blaine/Black Magic Brakes. These were the last brackets we needed to get that front axle mocked up under the rig! Thank you Blaine!

 

As of today we got both the front and rear axles stripped...no gears, no shafts, no brackets. They are about ready to be thrown under the jeep so the brackets can be mocked up :thumb: We also got the passenger side frame stiffener tacked into place. We need to completely weld it in until the evening when it is cooler and more tolerable

9" just needs a little more cleaning


Dana 44, just about ready


A little action shot...Brian cleaning up the front axle


Dave grinding away the undercoating so the frame stiffener can be put in

 

I almost forgot to include this super exciting pic of...our brake calipers!! Hopefully it wont be long before we have a nice set of Black Magics on these!

 

More stuff showed up in the mail today! With the help of Blaine over at Black Magic Brakes we should have no trouble stopping now. One set of Black Magic Brake Pads...Check. One set of Centric Premium Rotors...Check.

 

ALL OF YOUR DIFFERENTIAL PARTS ARE LEAVING TODAY!

Jeff
Sales@rockridge4wd.com
www.rockridge4wd.com
www.facebook.com/rockridge4wd

 

Nothing beats a summer Christmas

 

Sucks about that axle man

 

The first one...with the cast wedges? It kind of did, but it wasn't too much money lost. We paid 250 for the truck it came out of...sold the rest of the truck for 100 I think. That puts us at 150 for both axles. We took the cast housing (after stripping it of all usable parts) along with 2 other axles we got for free to the junkyard and got 50 bucks. Basically, 100 dollars for a 9". Then we picked up the new front axle for like 150 plus an old demo derby car...so in the end we ended up paying the original 250...along with cleaning out some unnecessary junk.

 

awesome video and awesome project

 

Thanks blacksquirrel!

 

Another large package showed up today and here is what we've got to show off...Thank you Rockridge4WD for your help and support!!

For the rear Ford 9" axle we are are running a 5.43 Yukon Ring and Pinion set, USA Standard Master Install Kit, and a 31 spline spool...



For the front HP44 axle we are running a 5.38 USA Standard Ring and Pinion set, USA Standard Master Install Kit, Yukon Drive Flanges, and a Yukon Grizzly Locker!!



I've shown you all the parts so I guess it is time to get some actual work done on the rig

 

This weekend part of the Poor Boys made the trip to visit our new friends with Petty Cash Racing. We spent quite a few hours hanging out with them and looking over their rig. Not only did they let us check out the race car, they answered many questions and gave some good insight and tips on building.


After meeting up with Petty Cash, we were feeling pretty inspired and motivated to start some work when we got home. We decided to start installing the new gears and lockers. Here is Brian getting the D44 all ready for a set of 5.38 gears and a Yukon Grizzly locker!


Sean disassembling the 9" so it can get some fresh new 5.43s and a spool locker


Sean scrubbing away at the 9". These junkyard axles were filthy and caked with dirt and gear oil. It is still sitting in a bucket "degreasing."


Sean again...putting the ring gear on the Yukon Grizzly locker for the HP44.


We didn't get terribly far because it got pretty late and we were lacking a few tools that were necessary. The plan is to get the gears finished up throughout the week, and then actually start getting everything fabbed up and slid under the jeep. We hope to have this bad boy rolling by the end of next weekend.