The age was meant to point out some of the things you mentioned - as in the JK trans has 30 years of innovation and technological advancements over the AW4 - not that his is old and tired and that's why it might work less well.

 

Good point guys and one I had missed but very true as with all trans in the past they have improved a great deal in recent years.

 

You guys act like I plan on never doing gears or something. It just wasn't in the budget but please feel free to donate some $$$ to this project & I'll get on it tomorrow haha!

 

OMG! You didnt do a standard CF build! You better be careful it's going to fold like a taco and burst into flames!!!

Seriously nice job.

 

I like it man and it sucks that everytime someone mods their jeep the haters can't wait to give their $00.02 & that's noway near enough money to do gears.lol 3.55 with 33's is really not bad as everone likes to post .Sure it not good for long term daily driving but what ever.

 

quality work. I would get a track bar brace on there ASAP if you haven't already

 

I know this thread is ancient and it’s a long shot I’ll get an answer but...... So I’m doing this swap but a front 44. I’m curious as to what length your drag link is. I’d like to order the correct parts now before I get the axle in and mounted up so I don’t have to wait. I’m on a timeline. Also why the custom drive shaft? The stock shafts wouldn’t work? I understand that the jk diffs are longer but why not just move them?

 

If I were to do this over again I’d do everything the same except I’d buy just buy the CavFab JK steering kit as it comes ready to install. CavFab wasn’t a company then but their kit is great. I just bought it for the wife’s JK.

the reason for the longer drive shafts was twofold. When you lift a vehicle it pulls the axels inward & causes a sharper pinion angle. To correct that you get longer control arms to push the axels back out. The combo of the lift & moving the axels means the driveshafts will be too short. Additionally we stretched the wheelbase a few more inches (total of about 3-4” if I remember correctly). All of that means new driveshafts to do it correctly.

Hope that helps? FYI - All these years later my Swap is still running strong!

 

first I really appreciate your response!
So the cavfab kit will directly bolt the xj pitman arm directly to the jk axle without modification? I’m not worried about the tie rod as I can just order a jk and it’ll fit no problem. I’m sure you see my predicament lol. I know I can build it myself when the time comes I’m just trying to save time. I have to have my rig ready in 1 month for a trip. The front axle will be in by next weekend but then I have to wait for parts to arrive. The rear is very easy and I’ll have that done in 1 day.
Also im aware of pinion angle and their effect on drive quality, not to mention joints. I was hoping to use the stock shafts and just move the axle to the correct location to achieve this. I don’t imagine it’ll be more than 1-1.5”. I’ll weld on my brackets to compensate for pinion angle. If I have to buy shafts I have to buy shafts. I believe I can make the stocks work though. For now at least.