My 8.8

 

What're you going to do about the difference in width?

 

This 44 is the same width as a d30

 

I gotcha, nice. You should gain a little more width with the 8.8 also assuming you're gonna run a 5x4.5 to 5.5 adapter. The only size adapter I've found is 1.5" thick.

We're about at the same step right now, I'm building a front waggy 44 for mine. I've converted it to ford 5 lug and am gonna run an adapter on my 8.8.

 

yea, the 8.8 gets adaptors, and the 44 gets a small spacer

when i do 37's ill probably end up doing the super88 kit and making some beadlocks on a steel wheel with a little less backspacing

 

YES! thats what i've been trying to do. i just cant find a .500 wall tube hp44 with the bigger joints. good axles are hard to find here...my 8.8 is still sitting on the bench too.

 

got all my factory framerail mounts cut off and started making my crossmember.

 

pulled out my stock crossmember and got my exhaust out of the way.


should be pretty easy to build a flat belly x-member.


rolled the axle under the jeep to get an idea of my wheelbase and where everything is going to go.


set my caster and tacked in the coil mounts, and also tacked in the UCA mount and track bar mount about where they will end up




and decided im probably going to go with a TJ pitman arm for a little more steering clearence, the TJ pitman is around 1" higher than the stock XJ.



so i went ahead and drilled out the TJ arm to 5/8"


and i tossed together the new chromo's for it.

 

shock tabs on the arms? looks like you're having fun.

 

that may be the way im going, well have to see.

 

Man this thing is really evolving! Sent ya a PM, did ya get it?

 

Have you had any problems with the Warn VR winch? im surprised how cheap it is for being a Warn. and, do you ever have times when you want a 10k? or is the 8k really enough?

 

The VR has been good to me, and as of now 8k seems to be working perfect. I follow the 1.5 x vehicle weight concept, and the 8k is almost twice my weight

 

Sweet! well now its between a Warn VR8000s and a Warn M8000s lol

 

did some mocking and planning tonight.
tacked the crossmember together (still missing the side plates that will sandwich the framerail)



mocked it under the jeep, and marked will i will cut to make clearence for the bottom of the trans and driveshaft.


im thinking i will do this setup for my transmount off the front of the crossemember.



and cut up my floor some.


im going back and forth on how i want to mount the upper link mount.
either like this


or this, which is where im more leaning to because it will give me a little more frame seperation.


and how it looks from under.

and looks like i wont have to do way to much bending on the upper link to clear the starter.


couple more mock up pictures. pretty much just me figuring out exactly where im mounting my frame side track bar mount.