95 ranger SAS. giddy up

[Snurfer]

nah man the axle has been doin great actually! put the larger coils in last june and ive been dealing with shitty steering since my angles are so steep on the draglink and track bar. got a new drop pitman arm to correct it though so i gotta get that put in. the big brake upgrade that i did has been great. i havent beat the shit out of it since its my DD. i dont think i would use the 30 in a dedicated wheeling truck tho. but for the normal person wanting to SAS their rig and still DD it i think its a great option. it spends a lot of time on the road and when it does does go off road its mostly in the snow. a little mud here and there. but i mainly wanted the upgrade to handle better in the snow at the mountain. some big changes comin this year for the ranger. 2004 front clip, viper elite red repaint, black 18s, and possibly a new built 4.0 if the old one doesnt hold up past summer.

 

[Str8sixfan]

everything bolted up to the stock XJ axle from the donor WJ truck. the only thing i had to get was the JKS spacers to correct the stub shaft u joint orientation to the WJ knuckles. otherwise the u joints on the XJ axles bind up. and the lower balljoint needs to be swapped out for a lower WJ balljoint since the taper is .5 degree per foot difference.

Let me ask this:

Don't Grand Cherokee's sometimes come with D30 or D44 depending on year/trim level? If I end up being right about some with D44s, does it matter which axle the knuckles come off of?

 

[railman]

Grand Cherokee's all had D30's up front....only D44's were in the rear....

Grand Wagoneers on the other hand had D44's up front....but have the 6 lug bolt pattern....

l8r, John

 

[Str8sixfan]

Grand Cherokee's all had D30's up front....only D44's were in the rear....

Grand Wagoneers on the other hand had D44's up front....but have the 6 lug bolt pattern....

l8r, John

That helps. Thanks! Got to go try and find some knuckles at a salvage yard now!

 

[Str8sixfan]

the xj hub needs to have a 1/16 machined off the outer rim of the flange that the studs are pressed into. this way anytime you need to change out rotors you wont need to have the WJ rotors machined out for the different bolt pattern

So let me get this straight. This 1/16" machining only occurs if you still run WJ rotors? You do not have to do this with the Sport Trac rotors? And is this the outer rim (around the circumfrance)? Or is it the thickness off of the back side where the studs are pressed through?

I plan on running sport trac rotors, and am hoping I don't have to do any machining. If I have to it's not the end of the world as I have a few options when it comes to buddies and machine shops.

Don't know why I'm asking this now, it will be awhile before I get to brakes.

Also on the ball joints, I see you have to go WJ lowers on the WJ knuckles (just picked up a pair last night)...I assume that means you are fine with XJ upper ball joints? That's probably the more pertinent question for where I'm at on my rebuild.

 

[atrudeau]

Super nice ranger great job!

 

[Str8sixfan]

youre right about the WJs having that bolt pattern. i used my xj hubs and rotors off of a 2002 sporttrac with WJ akeobono calipers and hangers to keep the same bolt pattern without having to redrill the the rotors.

What year are your unit hubs? I think some later model tj hubs actually space out right with the sport trac rotors but don't have the smoking gun proof as of now.

 

[Str8sixfan]

release the picture whore!!!

I have 2002 sport trac rotors, and 2002 (whereas you had 1999) WJ knuckles, and the distance between the tie rod endlink portion of the knuckle and the rotor is pretty dang tight. I'm a little worried. But looking at your pics, the TRE looks no larger than where it connects with the knuckle, so I should be good because the rotor clears the part on the knuckle. But man.