New project XJ

upnover

upnover

Grumpy, decrepit Old Man
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Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Morganton NC
A good friend of mine has given me an old XJ. It is a 4.0 with a five speed. This is going to be for my son, who has limited budget, so a lot of this will be fabbed by us, and some stuff from KORE. He wants full width axles. We have a set of axles now, a 10 bolt and 12 bolt. I think will be heavy enough for what it will do, plan on 35 or 36" tires. Probably a used set of TSL's The problem is the front on the XJ is Drives drop and the 10 bolt is passenger drop. Having a shop re-tube the axles is not in the budget. Getting a 44 that is drivers drop and geared the same(4:56) is most likely out too. What I would like to do is cut and swap ends. I know it would be an undertaking. What I am thinking is to cut the tubes, and make a sleeve to slide in the tube, plug weld it in several paces, as well as weld the seam too. Taking great care to keep everything straight and not allowing it to deflect. Anyone here done this? Any reason it won't work? The outside would also be strengthened with the coil spring mounts that will have to be made.
If I do it, and it fails, I will be out time mostly. All input welcome.
 
i have an xj. here is my master plan.dana 60 rear. dana 44 front. 44" ltbs. axle and t-case gears. 454 chevrolet with 700r turbo trans. full exocage. and much more. just kiddin thats the dream now heres the idea. i realy am going to have dana 44 front and rear. may get ford 9" for the back depending what price i get. 34" ltbs on atlas rims. havent figured up wich gears to get. i may get t case gears if have the money. as far as lift goes i know their is a 4.5 inch cheap one but it wont be tall enough for the tires like i want. thanks for reading
 
just put in a 300. the 4;1 kits are pretty cheap. Reroute the exhaust straight back from the manifold (instead of around the oil pan as stock) and go. Way better case and the 4;1 kit is a similar price to the doubler.
 
I am guessing the tranny is the BA-10

not sure on it

but I do know that the ax-15 and nv3550 is a direct bolt up for the dana 300

I had a nv3550 5 speed, from a 2001 Jeep wrangler, a dana 300 bolted to the back, and the nv3550 bellhousing bolted directly to the 78 304 V-8, no adapters needed

good luck
 
it will bolt to an ax 15, with a clocking ring. you can either cut down the tranny output, or build a spacer. 5/8 plus clocking ring for memory!
 
I have been thinking of doing EXACTLY what you describe but with a different axle. I am considering taking a 76-77 F150 D44 HP and building it into a passenger side drop for my Samurai. I wouldn't even be thinking about it, but I have a 9" with detroit laying around that I have not managed to sell which would be the perfect matching rear. I think it would be a fun project.

DK
 
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