Hello everyone. I currently have a 99 Cherokee with a 5.5" rubicon express long arm, stock geared and locked axles, frame stiffeners and 35's and I want to run 37's. I am currently building a trussed Ford 9" axle with 4.86 gears and a Detroit locker. I am also building a trussed rubicon d44 front axle with the ARB air locker and 4.88 gears. I have full PSC hydro assist in a box ready to go and I will go to 6.5" lift. Now here's my questions:

-what one ton steering should I run? Over the knuckle or under the knuckle?
-I was going to do a WJ brake conversion for my d30 but now I'll have a rubi d44. How is the knuckle and everything on the rubi d 44's?
-what should I do about the flex in my rear? I can't decide between getting 6.5" leaf springs or getting some short of shackle lift to help with flex
-what brake setup to go with?
-what else should I consider for 37" tires on my XJ?

 

- Over the knuckle heim crossover WJ steering
-WJ steering and brakes will be a great upgrade highly recommended with 35+" tires and your tall lift height. The Rubicon 44 is a beefed up D30, all the same outters with D44 housing parts (It's not much of an upgrade over a HP30).
-Flatter leaf springs flex and ride better than taller arched leafs. Best get something like a 3.5" leaf pack, a shackle relocation kit from HD Offorad/Ironman Offroad, some type of taller than stock shackles.
-WJ brakes with the WJ knuckle swap
-Chromoly shafts for the D44 and regeared to 5.13s.

 

The Rubicon Dana 44 may have the same outers as a high pinion Dana 30 but it is still a good upgrade. Once you have upgraded the shafts on a Dana 30 the ring and pinion gears and carrier become the week link, the Dana 44 has a bigger gears and carrier so it can handle 37-40" tires under an XJ as long as it has all of the necessary upgrades.

 

So would the WJ knuckle conversion with the brakes on the d44 be better than going with a big brake kit? Is a stock WJ steering setup really going to be better than a thick one ton steering setup? I like the idea of the WJ conversion but I'm not sure how I feel about the WJ steering

 

WJ steering conversion gets rid of tie rod roll due to the different mounting points....1 ton steering doesn't (it does lessen it, but it's still there)

 

Good to know. I guess I'm more or less wanting one ton steering because of how much stronger the tubes are. Ill
be hitting some pretty big trails. Right now I have the rigged ridge XJ steering but I'd like something stronger

 

Plenty of companies make a one ton steering setup for WJ knuckles plus it's a true crossover steering. I would personally prefer a ZJ tie rod with a XJ drag link over that rugged ridge steering. But yes ultimately for your setup, lift height, and tire size the WJ setup with over the knuckle steering will be the best.

 

I assume you're talking about a tj d44 since that's what everyone is aiming towards with their replies. The only thing I've been breaking in my d30 are the u joints which are the same size as those u joints and I'm on 35s not 37s. If you do go through with the swap, stinky fab racing sells a wj knuckle conversion kit with steering and stuff.

 

Im glad you brought that up because I probably would have done the WJ knuckles and then still ordered an XJ one ton steering setup. Oops. I guess now I'll need to see what my best options would be for a WJ one ton steering. I'll check out over the knuckle. Will my suspension geometry need to stay the same or would I have to change the angle/height of any other components like my track bar? WJ conversion requires 17" wheels right? I have 15's right now.

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to start looking for some WJ knuckles before I get this axle under the jeep. I'm going to fully truss the rubi d44 axle. Wondering if it's worth doing the weld on knuckle gussets as well?

 

If you have 15" steel wheels they normally clear the calipers by a hair with at least 3.75" backspacing. You will need to change the trackbar to over the knuckle so that the drag link and track bar stay within the same geometry of each other.

 

If you look at the stinky fab kit it comes with a track bar and bracket I'm pretty sure. Also, the c gussets are definitely worth it.

 

Yeah ive got a rubicon axle from the last year 4.0 TJ. The stinky fab kit is badass but wow that's not cheap. I'm kinda leaning on doing the conversion by myself like tapering the holes on the knuckles and such so I can put more money into other parts of the build. I feel if I source all the components on my own and convert stuff on my own I'll havesave money.

I am also definitely blowing out u joints on my axle shafts on my d30. Do you know of any good u joint upgrades for my d44? My oem ones blow out fast. I'm stuck wth the rubi d44 now so I'll have to just figure out how to get it stronger

 

Yeah I was just looking at some track bar relocation brackets so I'll pick one of those up too. I have a rubicon express track bar now that came with my lift kit but I'm wondering if I should go with something beefier.

 

RCVs