full width discussion
 

cannot in anyway manage to go full width any time soon. but I'd like to learn more about it
so lets call it streetable full widths locked on 37's or 38's with no interest in hydro. gotta drive it to the trail and back. full widths wanted for massive strength and stability. I've been collecting info bit by bit and the one sentence that keeps popping up is "if you want to go bigger, go straight to tons and dont even mess with anything less than a D60." so I've been weighing out some options

so this leaves D44 front out of the picture along with a 9" rear

fears for the D60 rear are that it's expensive to buy and build and harder to find in the 35 spline

so that leaves the FF14 bolt rear. WFO concepts is located just 20 miles from my front door and I heard they will shave a 14 bolt for $50! I read a couple reviews that a shaved 14 can have equal ground clearance as a D60 rear. build parts on a 14 are dirt cheap too. only negative I see is the massive weight. disc brake conversion is a must. IIRC, robert at RWKhaus ran a 14 bolt with 35's so I know it's do-able on 37's
http://youtu.be/zsXkP3zhFZs

D60 front. not many options here. has to be ford high pinion driver drop and full width. but for ease and price, KP vs. ball joint? drive flange kit vs. supposedly weak warn lockouts? chromos vs. stock shafts for mild wheeling? spicers vs. CTM ujoints?

pros and cons of 60/14 vs. 60/60? the idea is that these axles could be upgraded to handle much larger tires in the future as opposed to building a 44/9 that has to get tossed out when I want to run something bigger than a 38" tire


aaaaand go

If going tons need to already run 40s imo to make them worth it.

77.5-79 F250 D60. They have a longer drivers side axle tube making it easier to mount brackets and whatnot. My plan is also FF14/D60. I wouldn't doubt a locked 60 on stock shafts would hold 38s, and if it does break its not like its hard to change shafts. Same with the FF14, if you manage to break a shaft its full float and easy to replace.

On the king pin vs ball joint they both are about even in wear but a king pin is more of a pain to rebuild.Just make sure you truss the axle the older ford dana 60 had problems with the C breaking off.Rear end you can't go wrong with a 14 bolt they are cheap but make sure its a full floater not the semi floater.Have you seen ballisticfabrication shave kit?Its nice comes with a new ring gear and they even have a truss kit too.

I'm sure 40's would be awesome. Problem. Thats a $2000+ set of tires. You need to run hydro. They body needs to be cut up to fit. They're extremely heavy. What's wrong with a little axle over kill? I wouldn't have to buy chromos (I think). A 14 bolt can be built for less than $1500. And if I ever decide I do want 40's they're just a few upgrades away instead of another axle swap

You want a passenger side drop front but won't cut the body up for 40s?

That is the year of axle I was going to look for some day. Good to know I probably won't need chromos. After adding costs I'd spend more money polishing a 44 and it would still be weaker than a 60. Ha yeah if I manage to break a 14 bolt on 37's I'll be impressed with myself


I have seen the ballistic stuff. But I'd like to see what WFO can do for me first. Support local and all that. I'd like to build my own truss as well. But I think I might have to order the shaved ring gear from ballistic. I haven't seen that anywhere else yet

Whoops. Ford is not passenger drop. That was posted late last night I meant driver. I'll cut the body no prob. I just would like the option of driving to the trail. Don't know how we'll that would go on 40's

My buddy's xj on tons and 40s does 80mph with hydro assist and tracks like a new car.

theres a guy up here that drives around on a 60/60 combo w/ 44's on his yj all summer long...with hydro steer. just sayin. shoulda took pics...

ok. but lets keep this discussion about building strong full width axles with budget in mind. back to the questions please. drive flange kit vs. warn lockouts?

What about the sterling 10.25 out of a ford like Travis is running? Might be cheaper than your 14 and he's on 40's

I had not considered that as an option


http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticl...s/viewall.html

What tcase are you running? Hubs can break but flanges = vibes and no go if it's a spooled front end since you wanna drive to the trail.

Weld the tubes.