SOLID Dana 60 Axle Build
Jan/090
A few weeks ago we assembled the SOLID axle assemblies. Here’s a brief overview:
The housings are top quality. They use .50″ wall DOM axle tubes. The housings have threaded holes for top plate mounts, which is a much better option than welding to the cast differential. We ordered the front axle with the suspension mounts already welded in place. For the rear we ordered the axle with just the flanges attached since we are converting to rear leaf springs. Inside the differential, the housing has three oil galleys to keep the pinion bearings lubricated. Another great feature are the ARB air fitting holes drilled and tapped in the housing. You still have to drill or notch the carrier bearing caps, since those can be in different locations depending on the shim pack thickness.
For our build we used 35 Spline ARB Air Lockers, Superior 5.38 reverse cut ring & pinions and Superior overhaul kits. The gears set up perfect on both axles and we even got the hole drilled in the carrier bearing caps for the air lines without any hassle. Notice that the SOLID housings have the carrier bearing caps marked with a letter in different orientations on each side so that you don’t get them on wrong.
The rear reuses the stock brakes, the shafts have OE style tone rings pressed on. The stock wheel speed sensor is mounted in the stock location. The front comes with new 1/2 ton GM style brakes, but uses custom machined hubs that have teeth for the wheel speed sensors. There is also an aluminum ring that the stock wheel speed sensor bolts in. Since the sensor uses magnetics to sense the teeth on the hub, you don’t have to worry about a little grease or dirt on the teeth.
Once the bearings, seals rotor, studs, etc are all in place you can attach the hub assembly to the spindle using a Dana 60 4 prong spindle nut socket. Be sure to follow the recommended torque and back the nut off the proper amount to acheive the right preload on the bearings.
After the housings were assembled, putting them under the vehicle is fast and easy job. Most people will probably order complete axle assemblies, making this process a DIY job. We’ll post more info on installing the axles and the rest of our winter build in another post.
Winter Upgrades (42s, D60s, Atlas, etc.)
Nov/080
I just wanted to post an update on what we are going to do this winter. Here’s the grocery list:
- 42×15x17 Pit Bull Rockers
- SOLID Dana 60 axles front/rear
- ARB Air Lockers
- Superior 5.13 reverse cut gears
- 4340 Chromoly 35 spline inner and outer shafts
- SOLID ball joint knuckles
- SOLID high steer arms
- Mile Marker premium lock outs
- Raceline RT-233 Monster beadlock wheels
- Custom fender flares
- Leaf spring rear w/ traction bar
- Modify rear tire carrier to hold the new meat
- Atlas 2-speed transfer case
- 1350 CV driveshafts front/rear
- Extreme Duty front track bar
- Howe hydraulic assist steering
The parts have started showing up. Our goal is to have the Jeep back on the road and running smooth by March. We have a couple of customer vehicles to do in between this project, but we should have plenty of time left over to get this all finished.
Hanson Offroad Rock Sliders
Sep/080
We’ve been playing Russian Roulette for the past couple years by not having any rocker protection. There are a few dents in the rockers because of this, but luckily nothing major. We waited so long to get rocker guards because there are very few options for JK rocker protection on the market that we liked.
Our Requirements:
- Must bolt to the body to distribute force and maintain high ground clearance
- Needs to have usable steps built in
- Needs to be built with strong enough materials and workmanship to hold up to abuse
- Needs to look good
We happened to have our booth set up right next to Hanson Offroad while set up in Moab for Easter Jeep Safari. It was the first time that we saw their design and we really liked it. After looking around at other designs for a while we decided to go with the Hanson on our Jeep because nothing else fit our needs as well as the Hansons.
Like pretty much every other Jeep project we waited until the week before leaving on a trip to order the parts. Luckily the UPS guy dropped the rocker guards off today, so we have the weekend to get them on. In reality, it doesn’t look like it will take more than an hour to install them.
The Install
There are three body mount bolts that the rocker guards attach to. You will need to loosen those three (18mm socket) bolts enough to slide the guards above the washer, but under the rubber mount. You do not have to remove the bolt.
Now have a friend help you slide the rockers over the bolts and hold the guards up and against the body. Make sure the guard is held up high so that it doesn’t slide up while you tighten the body bolts and scratch the paint. While one person holds the rocker guards up, tighten the body bolts.
Mark the five holes that need to be drilled in the side of the body. Remove the rocker guards (opposite of how you put them on). Drill out the holes enough to fit the supplied threaded inserts. The hole that is closest to the front of the vehicle will have two layers of metal to drill through to give the insert enough room to be fully installed, all other holes just have the outside sheet metal layer.
Installing the inserts is probably the trickiest part of the install. We stripped the allen head off the install tool supplied. We ended up getting a hex head bolt to finish the install. The star shaped washer should keep the insert from spinning while you hold the nut with a wrench and torque down the screw. As the screw is tightened the brass fitting will flare and secure itself to the sheetmetal. To give you an idea of how tight it will hold, the inserts pulled themselves in to the vinyl of our wrap as we tightened them. After installing a few inserts, the inserts might start to spin as you crank down on the screw. If that happens you can try flipping the star shaped washer over or use a new star washer to keep a good grip on the insert.
After all the inserts are installed put the rocker guards back on. Install the five side screws first, then tighten the body mount bolts. THAT’S IT!
Mopar Performance Dana 60 P5155083
Sep/080
The Mopar Dana 60 was released at the end of last week, part number P5155083. We have one on the way to check it out.
It comes in cheaper than any of the aftermarket options. Our concerns are:
Spline count
Locker type
Tube thickness
Gear availability
Yoke availability
We will know and post more by the end of the week.
Update:
- This axle does not have a locker
- This axle does have huge brakes compared to the stock JK
- This axle uses c-clip axles!
- The brakes use a different retainer than the stock, so you cannot swap these brakes on to your stock axle
- This axle appears to have a 5×5.5 lug pattern
- This axle is set up for leaf spring (spring under) suspension
- It looks like this is the direct replacement for the J8 rear axle
Overview:
This is still a Dana 60, so it would be a good upgrade from the stock Dana 44. The downsides are listed above. Our preference is still to build a SOLID® brand Dana 60 for the JK. After installing a locker, gears and yoke the price is about the same. Also, the SOLID® Dana 60 uses chromolly 35 spline non-c-clip shafts and is high-pinion for more ground clearance. We will be building a set of SOLID® 60s for our JK this winter, check back here for updates on that project.
Coated Headers Ready to Ship
May/080
Check out our new headers. They are Jet-Hot coated, designed for either 5.7L or 6.1L Hemis. These are the best headers for this swap by far!
Hemi Conversion Parts For Sale
Feb/081
We have started listing Hemi conversion parts for sale on our site. These pieces are either hard to find, or made by us specifically for this conversion.
We are also starting to do turn-key installs. Turn-key vehicles can be as simple as just a Hemi swap or as much as finding a vehicle and setting it up with lift, tires, wheels, seats, Hemi, etc. to your specs. Please call us at 800-954-0065 for information on turn-key set-ups
Hemi Headers (Jeep JK)
Dec/070
I have spent a lot of time researching headers for this swap. I have seen what other companies have used and I have talked to experts in the header/exhaust industry about this issue. The goal of this article is to explain the problems with all headers available for Hemis as they relate to the 07-08 Jeep Wranglers.
OEM 6.1 Header/Manifolds are a big step up in design and performance compared to a log style manifold that you would find on most vehicles. These headers wouldn’t be too bad for this conversion. What you will find is that the car version of the headers sticks out too far and will not fit between the frame, so those are out. The other option are the Grand Cherokee headers. Not only will the Grand Cherokee headers cost about a grand, but they won’t work wit the stock short arm set up. They should work with most long arm kits (like the Rubicon Express kit). If you are running short arms the passenger’s side collector will be right in your upper control arm mount. I have seen where other people have cut, sectioned and moved the mount. Personally, I don’t like moving and reusing the stock suspensions mounts because they are heavily engineered and modifying them could jeopardize the structural integrity. Finally, with any of these headers, they are relatively short tubed and do not have equal length tubes for all ports. The result is a high rpm power band and decreased performance.
5.7L shorty headers will work, but there are some problems. The passengers side collector is real close to the frame making the exhaust “interesting”. Also, the ports on a 5.7 and 6.1 are VERY different. See the picture to the side with the 6.1 exhaust gasket on a 5.7 header. That is a huge reduction in flow. Also, the shorty headers will move the power band even higher in the rpm range because of the tube lengths. Finally, the tubes are nowhere near equal lengths for each port, reducing performance.
Our decision was to custom make some templates for the longest tube headers possible in this application with as close to equal length tubes as possible. We will be producing and selling these headers just for the 5.7 and 6.1 Hemi JK conversions. Our headers will be designed to work with short arm suspensions as well as most long arm kits. Best of all, our headers will be the same price or less expensive than most of the alternatives.
Preview: Power Plant Front Bumper for JK
Jul/076
Here is a look at the prototype for our new front bumper for the JK. It’s a super stubby bumper that mounts the Warn Power Plant winch as low as possible for maximum air flow in to the radiator.
We are still planning on making D-Ring mounts for the front that will attach to the mounting bolts and a small stinger/fairlead protector.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments area.
JK Lockers and Gears – Installed
Apr/071
We are just wrapping up the installation of 5.13 gears front and rear and Auburn ECTED lockers front/rear in our 2007 X model Wranglers. The installation was straightforward, but there are some things you need to know before cracking those axle open.
Finding parts for your axles is about as easy as fiding wheels, they are out there, but not readily available at most places. We had to get several parts from the dealer. Here is a list:
- Dana 44 ECTED Locker (3.73 & Down, our Jeeps use thick gears) $569.95
- Dana 30 ECTED Locker (3.73 & UP) $569.95
- Dana 44 JK 5.13 Superior Ring and Pinion $229.95
- Dana 30 JK 5.13 Superior Ring and Pinion $229.95
- Front Crush Sleeve (5183525AA) $1
- Rear Crush Sleeve (5066047AA) $10
- Front Pinion Nut (4720895) $11
- Rear Pinion Nut (sorry lost the part num/price)
- Pinion Shim Kit (4856368) <– This works on the front and rear pinion, but just has the .035-.039 thicknesses that we needed, you might need thicker
- Front Oil Baffle (68004076AA)
- Varying carrier shims for the 44 and 30. The dealer had a selection and let us just buy the individual ones we needed. These shims (both f/r) use external style shims.
- If you don’t have a high quality bearing puller, then get some new bearings and races from the dealer. The carrier bearings/races are the same as older vehicles, but the pinions are much different.
We started with disassembling the rear axle. Our luck of quality continued with this vehicle with the studs being loose that retain the axle to the housing. After squeezing some vice grips in to hold the stud we removed the shaft and sent it to the dealership to have the retaining plate and studs replaced.
Next we removed the carrier and pinion. We used a Yukon bearing puller to remove the bearings from the carrier and pinion, they were all reusable. We were left with plain old carriers and gears from the stock Jeep, now it was time to start the fun exciting part.
To install the ring gears on the lockers we started a couple ring gear bolts in the gears partially and then used a press to press the ring gear the rest of the way on to the lockers. On the Dana 44 locker, we had to drill the ring gear bolt holes out to 7/16″ from 3/8″. We have been told that newer 2007 models use 1/2″ bolts, but you will only want to drill out to 7/16″, that way your new gears will work with the locker without spacers. If you are installing a locker with your stock gears, then drilling to 1/2″ is required. After that, we pressed the carrier bearings on to the locker. There are no shims that go between the locker and bearings, which is convenient.
Next, we transferred the stock pinion shim to our new pinion gear and pressed on the inner pinion bearing. The stock shim is always a good place to start; Both of our axles were within a couple thousandths of the origional shim thickness.
Our first test fit left the carrier bound up because of too little backlash. We ended up having to make a drastic change to the carrier shims to get the backlash acceptable. A few fittings later and we ran a pattern that looked good.
Side Note: We have confirmed with Superior that the patterns on some of these gears are reading really weird. Specifically, our front showed the pinion to be too deep on one side of the tooth and too shallow on the other. Superior said to set up the gears as best as possible and they have been performing quietly and without trouble.
On the rear, we chose to route the wire for the ECTED locker through the differential cover. We usually try to run the wire through the housing, but it wasn’t practical to drill the housing without removing the axle from the vehicle in this application. There is nothing wrong with routing the wire through the cover, it just requires extra effort to remove and replace the cover. Luckily, these axle all have drain and fill plugs, so removing the cover shouldn’t be required.
At the front end, we did more of the same removal. It’s worth noting, the front pinion yoke fits extremely tight. The front locker also does not use any carrier shims between the locker and bearings, so you can press those on right away. We had to remove the magnet to fit the ring gear on the locker, but the magnet only uses a slip fit, so that’s no big deal. Again, our backlash was at about .013 on the front, we adjusted the shims and got it to .006, which is acceptable. We did manage to detroy the oil slinger when removing the inner pinion race, so we had to wait a few days on our local dealer to order one in. Other than that, the install was easy. It’s amazing how much smaller and lighter the Dana 30 parts are compared to the Dana 44.
Wiring the Dana 30 locker was done with a hole in the housing. We drilled it right by the vent tube. We had to remove the sway bar link to give room for our drill, but this location worked great. It is recessed away from the main part of the housing, so there shouldn’t be much oil slung in that area and, like stated above, we like running the wires through the housing whenever possible.
Friction additive comes with the ECTED units. Make sure to use 80W90 NON-synthetic gear lube and add the additive at a rate of 3 onces of additive to 1 quart of oil. The rear diff should use about 2.25 quarts, the front should use about 1 quart. Auburn sends the additive in a bottle that contains more additive than needed.
Check back with us for performance reports!!!!
Tuffy JK Center Console Insert
Feb/071
First off, Tuffy has always made the very best quality storage boxes that we have seen. Their fit and finish is always supreme. This new insert is no exception. It gives you a very secure spot to store stuff and a much more comfortable place to rest your arm (with a lot less static than the stock unit).
Check out the install…
Use a T-30 Torx wrench to remove the four larger bolts that hold the console in place. You can get to all of these bolts with the seats in the vehicle, you just need to move them forwards and backwards. (Our Jeep had the head broken off one of these bolts thanks to the fine assembly workers at the Jeep factory.) Then remove the ten T-20 screws on the sides of the console, again, they can all be accessed with the seats in the vehicle.
Next remove the four T-20 screws that hold the factory rear panel/cup holder on the console. Our version of the instructions weren’t real clear on this. You need to hold the sides of the console away to access these screws (see picture). After these four screws are out you will have to gently pull away at the edges of the rear panel. There are some plastic pegs that keep this on that you must pry the lip over. Be careful to not break the rear panel, because it is needed for the Tuffy insert.- Now you just need to pull the factory console insert out. It should come out pretty easily. Install the rubber seal on the lid of the new insert. Make sure the lock and latch work as intended.
Optional: Place the insert where it will be installed and start a couple of the new screws that hold it in place to get the placement of the console established. Next, we put the longer bolts through and used a permanent marker to mark where the holes need to be drilled for the 3/8″ bolts. After that, remove the insert and drill the holes. Note the location at the bottom of your tub. Both of our holes hit the edge of some metal for a body crossmember and landed on a very curved part. This made it difficult to install the bolts. This step is not necissary if you don’t want the insert to be extra secure.
Attach the factory rear panel to the Tuffy insert using the supplied screws and a 5/64″ allen head wrench. Be sure that the bottom hole where the tab of the cup holder goes over has clearance for the bolt to go through the tab on the cup holder. (See picture)- Install the Tuffy insert in to the factory console using the supplied screws in the factory holes. Do not over-tighten the screws, they will go through the plastic if you aren’t careful. Also, get all of the screws started before you tighten any of them. Tuffy has a note that you may have to enlarge some of the holes in the console, but we didn’t find that to be the case on our install.
- Next install the four T-30 bolts that you removed at the beginning of the install in to the factory locations.
- If you chose to drill holes for a more secure install: Put the bolts with washers through the holes and put the other washers and nuts at the other end. Hopefully you drilled straight and didn’t get too close to a curve or crossmember! Be sure to paint any bare metal to prevent rust.
