I have a 74 j10 long bed w/AMC 360, TH400, quadatrac t-case (from BJs), and dana 44s. I have rebuilt the the tranny with all B&M parts (1200 stall convertor, master race rebuild kit and heavy duty shift kit), along with the motor and have a lot of performance parts (Edlebrock 600cfm carb, performer intake and cam, forged pistons, MSD ignition system, Hedman headers, everything but heads, which should be coming this summer w/roller rockers). I did a 2" lift and want to run 33x9.5R15 BFG A-Ts, should I regear the axles? If so, to what? I do travel on the highway with it but do most of my driving on city and country roads. I would like to get desent milage without losing a lot of power.
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Or should I not even bother and just find a dana 60 front/rear? I plan on installing a 4" lift with 1" lift shakles front and 1"lift blocks in the rear and run 35" ground hawgs in the future. Thanks for any help.
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Unless you are going above 35's, keep the D-44s. Change the gearing to 3.73 or one step higher for 33's, or 4.10s or higher for 35's. Also, for your stall, change it to an 1,800 to 1,900 stall for regular driving. That will put you more in your power band and really wake that engine up, without sacrificing anything else.Comment
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35" tires is the biggest that I want to go. Is it wrorth it to upgrade everything in them then? (axle shafts, bearings, OX locker)Comment
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I prefer keeping the stock axles personally. You can upgrade lots of parts in them, and they will last for a long time assuming you take care of them. Typically, D44's are rated for max. 35" tire if off-roaded.Comment
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will that also fix the speedo or will i have to do something else to have it read correctly? Also i was gonna go with a 15x8 rim. Is 4" b/s fine? what about on a 15x12 rim, what should the b/s be on that seeing that the tire is 35x14R15Last edited by jeeping1974; 01-03-2007, 10:55 AM.Comment
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that won't correct the speedo. You have to do that either by getting a new set of gauges that are programmable (ie, Dakota Digital.....what I'm running in one of my rigs), or you have to get a different speedometer gear that goes into the T-case, one that is set for your specific gear / tire combo. I recall hearing about a company that made one that was adjustable, but I can't recall their name (and I think it was for Chevy's)Comment
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Oh, stock backspacing is 3-5/8". Try to stick to that if you can. Note that any larger b.s. will push your wheels in, thus increasing the risk of rubbing / decreasing your turning radius. If you have a smaller b.s., your tires can rub the fenders.Comment
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thanks ryanComment
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How hard is it to regear the axles myself? I am going to be getting a complete install kit with new bearings for the front and rear. are there any special tools that I would need? Will I have to change the carrier since I'm changing gears? Does your kit for 3.73 gear come with new seals or is that something that I will have to purchase separately? I see that you sell them for the rear dana 44s but do the front dana 44s have any seals that would need to be replaced as well? I am running Warn Premium locking hubs in the front axle.Last edited by jeeping1974; 01-04-2007, 11:12 PM.Comment
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Regearing or replacing gears should be left to the pros unless you have done it before. There are special tools needed to set up the gears properly; it's not just a matter of removing the old and installing the new. If the gears aren't set up properly, you can damage them very quickly.Comment
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there are lots of great articles & books (some free online, others cost $$ in print books.....you can find a lot of them on www.amazon.com for cheap) that can explain in great detail how to do it. Once you've spent a good bit of time researching & understanding the process, you can buy an install kit and the various tools you need and do it yourself. It isn't terribly hard, but you have to take your time and measure, install, measure, remove, disassemble, change shims, reassemble, measure, install, etc. It is a time-consuming process.
On the other hand, you should be able to find a local installer that can do it for around $200-800 per axle, depending on how good they are or how proud they are of what they can do
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