TJ 8.8 swap - Dumb questions

Archdukeferdinand

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2006
Location
Vilas, NC
First coil axle swap so apologies for the stupidity. To piss off even more folks, I'm reusing the stock brackets.

1. UCA brackets- Searched all over and can't find the angle these are supposed to be mounted at. Didn't see it in the stu-offroad writeup. Dumbass me forgot to put the angle finder on them before I cut them off. I'm pretty sure it's 90 but want to be sure before I start burning things in.

2. Didn't mark which side the anti-sway brackets came from, they look pretty much identical but wanted to make sure they're not side-specific.

3. Stock DS setup, no sye, only lifted 2" (coils). I came up with a pinion angle around 6*, which I'm pretty sure is within a degree or two of stock. I'll check for binding before going whole hog on it but any reason not to think that's right?

Any other tips would be great, I know this could be done a LOT better but the d35 shit the bed and I think (not counting consumables) I'll have under $350 in the whole swap. Since I have the 4 banger it's not going to be pushing anything much bigger than 31s til I regear anyways.
 
Appreciate the help but the truss they use eliminates the UCA brackets. I was stupid and didn't put the angle finder on them before I chopped them and the stu-offroad writeup just says they "straddle the anti sway brackets" and are therefore easy to locate. Lookin' for something a bit better than that. Worst comes to worst I should be able to find a stocker around to lay the angle finder to.

Edit: might could just bolt up the track bar to the bracket and then locate the axle to the bracket. Everything after that should be close to the measurements I took and with the control arms/anti sway there to show me, I'll know if I'm way off...
 
They should be at 90, assuming your pinion angle is already accounted for. What I mean by that is when I'm doing an 8.8, I set the axle on jackstands. I rotate the entire axle to the correct pinion angle and put a small tack on the tube and stand to keep it from moving. The pinion angle is therefore set into the jig. From there I ignore the actual pinion angle and assume everything is from a zero degree plane. Thus, the uppers are at 90.

When Stu says to straddle the sway brackets, he's just talking about where the bracket lands on the tube. No measurement needed. Just butt them up against the sway bracket, set them to 90* and burn them in.
 
Thanks, Will. Exactly what I was looking for.

And yeah, I was using degrees relative to horizontal not relative to the pinion. Should be all I need to start burning stuff home tomorry. 90* is what I remembered but since this is my first non-leaf swap I wanted to be sure before I started zappin metal.
 
One issue you may want to consider before you go zipping all those CA brackets and coil buckets on is where are you going to want to end up lift wise. Do you ever plan on doing an sye? If you go larger on the lift, or do the sye, the angles are going to be waaaay different. Even doing the sye, you're going to have all sorts of stuff not work out very well after. Your lowers will be really tucked in (forward), the uppers will be way back, the shock mounts will probably be unusable depending on how you set them now. Your coil buckets will be too far rearward and the coils will have make a pretty good arc. What's really going to suck is the lower trackbar mount. It will most likely be halfway into the gas tank. Think ahead on what you plan on doing and if possible, split the difference on measurements now.

FWIW, most of the ones I have done had a pinion angle more in the 17-20* range. However, these were on TJs with fixed yokes and 3-5" of lift.
 
Def been in the back of my mind. All the angles I found w the syes were more like what you were talking about since the pinion shaft and tc output shaft don't have to be on the same plane. I might go up another inch or two to at the body to make room for a belly pan, but I think it's about as high as I'll need it. The way the fenders are trimmed now I think I could stuff 35s without much rubbing or bumpstopping. Axle gearing is definitely my limiting factor right now.

I guess here's how I was thinking about all that- I'd prefer to use sturdier brackets, and I think between the heavier pinion offset and already existing lift I'll need an SYE in the near future. But money is tight and I wouldn't even have done this swap if the d35 didn't have serious problems, AND I got the 8.8 as part of a trade deal for a scrap XJ I had sitting around. Actual cash out of my pocket on this swap is going to be closer to $150. The TJ is my DD and I just need to get it good for the road and get a new top before winter.

It'd be much more ideal to do all of these things at once but I think what'll end up happening is that next spring or summer I'll torch off all the brackets, replace with a HD set of brackets and do an SYE. This gives me all winter to get parts together and decide on a final tire size/ratio. I've been thinking 5.38s and 37 ish but I also might build up an XJ front that I have around and be more like 4.88 and 35s. Don't really want to do it twice, but if that's all I've got to complain about I'd say life is pretty good.
 
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