Alrighty, first of all hello. New to this forum but not new to jeeps. I’m aiming to make this more of a discussion than a question, hoping some educated folks could provide their thoughts.

Currently running with the most barebones lift imaginable (2.5 inch rear coils, 4 door front coils, rancho shocks, everything else suspension-wise is stock), but for good reason. Many of the bolt on kits don’t seem optimal considering suspension geometry, mounting locations etc. Because of this, I’ve decided to open up a whole new can of worms to go the custom route. Here’s where I’d like some input.

Future plans include the works. Going for a half decent rockcrawler that can handle a bit of high speed hooning from time to time. Long arms, D60s, F&R stretch, 16” front coilovers with towers going through the engine bay, and 37s. I most definitely do not have the funds or downtime to do all of those at once, so I’m trying to figure out a method to the madness.

In what order should I tackle this build so that:
1. I don’t have to spend $ on things that I will be tossing in the garbage later
2. I can avoid any backtracking / unnecessary work, (eg. cutting off custom brackets and re-welding them)
3. I’m able to keep my stock axles (For a while at least). I hope to run these axles as long as I can before needing to swap them out. Fresh new 4.56 gears and front D30 has a truss and gussets so for the time being I’m pretty comfortable running it on 35s.

I appreciate any input and constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for the read

 

What you are talking about is a one shot build, not something built over time unless you are going to do things twice. Sorry, that is how it is. You should be budgeting $25-35K for such a build depending on how much you are going to do yourself. You are going to want 72" WMS axles which you are not going to find in a junkyard. You might want to look into adding bypass shocks as well as hydraulic bump stops if you plan on going fast. Just the coil overs are not going to cut it. Start looking at fuel cells too as it is just in the way. I am surprised you are saying 37's as most will go 40's when doing all that work, but the 37's will definatly be better on the build for both crawl and fast, mainly fast.

 

If semi-serious rock crawling, the 37's or larger will eventually eat the D30, trussed or not. Any money you put into a 30 will be waisted when it goes. It sounds like you have a budget to work with, so I suggest starting here and work out from there.

For 37's, this should do the trick (non competition).
44/60
https://www.dynatrac.com/axle-assemb...r-jeep-jk.html

60's for more hard core use
https://www.dynatrac.com/axle-assemb...r-jeep-jk.html

 

I would go with Fusion4x4 if buying axles. I bet shipping to Hawaii is a going to cost you.

 

Yep, one of the biggest downsides of living here. I have about 10k into my rig but 1/3 of it is shipping, throwing all my money into the ocean basically so I try to DIY & junkyard shop as much as possible. Agreed on the bypass shocks & bumps. I’m actually getting the hydro bumps sooner than later as I’ve bottomed out a few times already. The reason I’m going 37s is because we don’t have much serious rockcrawling here, and I’d like to keep whatever power I can. The terrain is mostly tight windy trails, mud & slippery rocks and I have not yet faced an obstacle I couldn’t get over with 35s and a good line.

That Dynatrac set is surprisingly not bad on price when you consider they’re fully built, might consider that down the road. I’ll look into Fusion 4x4 as well. Anyone know off-hand what the PR44 measurements are? If the control arm mounts are similar in location to the d30 I can get to work on a 3 link setup for the front.

 

PR44 is a waste of money, not more to just go with a hybrid 44/60 or just go 60 and get big brakes and lock out hubs. A PR44 only makes sense if you are swapping everything over from a factory 44 and running 35's. Once you get into the proper width, longer shafts, gears, and most will just go ahead and do an arb locker. Add a big brake kit and lock out conversion and you are at dana 60 pricing

 

Great points Dirtman. Have you found the extra weight of the front 60 reduces daily driver ride quality over the 44? A buddy of mine has 60's on his JKU, and it rides like a dump truck (although any of a dozen factors could be dictating this).

It does make sense to go right to a 60 if you have a 30 now. I am penciling together the next stage of my build in 2022, and this is great advice.

 

The low weight adds stability along witht he extra width. Turing radius is a bit bigger but if your buddy is getting a poor ride it is likely the tires or shock/spring combo. The biggest drawback of building junkyard 60's is the lack of caster correction you will get up front for the height you are going with. But with lock out hubs you can get by with dealing with the bad driveline angles with locking out the hubs for raod driving. A non caster corrected axle is going to be limited to about 14" of travel with lots of trimming because of driveline bind. I run 18" travel shocks and can only get 16" oft of the front with a caster corrected axle, relocated radiator, and lots of trimming. Caster correcting the axles will throw building a set in that $10k+ range. Rears are easy to build if you can find the right one $2500-4k depending on the components you choose.

 

I did sleeves and trusses and run 37s all day long. And run them hard. Everyone says going from 35s to 37s requires a deep wallet. They were not kidding! I ran 35s for years on stock and no problem. Went to 37s and had to start upgrading everything. In fact, when I see a nice Jeep now, the first thing I do is drop down and look under the front-end. That's where the real magic happens.

My best move was Metalcloak. My god do those springs hold up. I haven't had sag and they have to be 4+ years old? And I like the company. I called them once about an issue and they gave me advice not to buy something from them until I checked X, Y and Z. I also have their arms. I was in The Maze and thought an arm had broken. Turned out it was the bracket that sheared off the axle. Indestructible. Plan on a bigbore down the road. I had to go with upgraded brakes all the way around, including the lines. And I wouldn't put a mud terrain tire on there unless you are on dirt 50%+ of the time. Finally, the driveshaft will wear a lot faster. I have huge respect for people who run 37s. We just nod at each other and instantly understand.

 

Aloha, are you aware of drop shipping? I have used Aloha Freight Forwarders (AFF) for awhile now. There are others. Take advantage of the free shipping on mainland to the docks in California and then have these freight forwarding companies bring ‘em to Hawaii nei. You will save hundreds! A’ole pilikia!