Axle Truss

[Flex]

Ok so im probably a little late on this but was just woundering what u guys thought about the TnT truss's

http://tntcustoms.com/fronttruss-wagoneerd4480.aspx

So the way it reads is u can just drop this truss on the top of the axle and weld it on. Some questions i have are. What about the caster shouldnt it still be necessary to cut the weld off the inner C's and turn them to ur desired Caster angle? Also another question kinda off topic, is there any Dana 44 outer that u can bolt to a waggy 44 that would have a 5x4.5 bolt pattern, im pretty sure theres not but maybe u guys know something i dont. If those dont exist which i dont believe they do, i think the chevy flat top knuckles r pretty awesome because u can have them machined for High steer, therefore making them the best option. Just let me know what u guys think.

[Flex]

Also let me know of any potential problems i may run into.

[calvynandhobbs]

I've never looked at trussing an axle before, but it was an interesting read about this product. Yes, you can put this on top of your axle, but you have to cut off the upper control arm mounts and coil buckets to do it. In the directions I think it said that you weld it on with 5 degree of caster, but depending on lift you can set it where you like. They probably assume you are using adjustible upper and lower arms so that you can fine tune it from that point rather than having everything built into your truss. I don't know of any outers to put on it to match a 5x4.5 lug pattern, but if you went with spacers I know they have spacers that will allow you to change the lug pattern. It looks like a good product, but it is going to take some work to get it installed. There is a lot of cutting and welding involved and it looks like the price goes up substantially when you add in all of the things that need to be reattached once the truss is in place.

[gearhead1985B]

As far as i know there is no way to get the waggy bolt pattern down to any thing smaller than 5 x 5 Because of the manual hubs i don't Know if any of the ttb  ford d44 is that size and that could bolt up i think that you will need to convert the 8.8 to match the front and from what i read any thing from tnt is Great

[calvynandhobbs]

As far as i know there is no way to get the waggy bolt pattern down to any thing smaller than 5 x 5 Because of the manual hubs i don't Know if any of the ttb  ford d44 is that size and that could bolt up i think that you will need to convert the 8.8 to match the front and from what i read any thing from tnt is Great

Adam, your post just reminded me that I had manual hubs on my Exploder with a 5 on 4.5 lug pattern. They actually used a D35 TTB front axle in those. I wonder if there is any way that the outers from that could be put onto the waggy D44? I doubt it, but you never know.

[BlacXJeep]

what about the d44 ttb in the 90s broncos? are they 5 on 4.5 by chance?

[kirksjeep]

I don't remember the part combinations off the top of my head, but a waggy D44 can be converted to  5 on 5.5 and the super 8.8 kit can convert the ford 8.8 to 5 on 5.5.  All you need then is 5 new rims.

With a D30 axle truss, and alloy shafts a D30 can handle up to 35's with a locker with no problems.  If you convert the D30 to 29 spline and the ARB carrier it is even stronger, but you won't be able to get spare axle shafts. 

Either way it is pretty expensive to build some something that will handle larger then 35's and be reliable. 

[calvynandhobbs]

All of this talk about an axle truss got me looking tonight for my D30. I don't want to put much into it, but the weak point on a D30 is the long side tube. Maybe I should get one of these to weld on just for a little added assurance.

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=rustys&Product_Code=ADS-99&Category_Code=BP-B_S

Nate, I like your enthusiasm in building your XJ. Do you think for 36s you really need to go to a D44? I would think if you truss your D30 and put some Chromoly in it or a Super 30 kit you'd be fine and save yourself a lot of work in lug pattern changes and the other fabrication that you'll be doing.

[Flex]

yea the more i think about it i think im just going to with the Chevy knuckles so i can do the high steer and then just change the 5x5.5 to a 5x4.5 using the adapters. Then some day if i get new shafts in the rear i could just pull of the front adapters and buy some new rims.

Nate

[Flex]

All of this talk about an axle truss got me looking tonight for my D30. I don't want to put much into it, but the weak point on a D30 is the long side tube. Maybe I should get one of these to weld on just for a little added assurance.

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=rustys&Product_Code=ADS-99&Category_Code=BP-B_S

Nate, I like your enthusiasm in building your XJ. Do you think for 36s you really need to go to a D44? I would think if you truss your D30 and put some Chromoly in it or a Super 30 kit you'd be fine and save yourself a lot of work in lug pattern changes and the other fabrication that you'll be doing.

I gotta be honest i really just want to do a Dana 44, just to have something to do. I do however believe that the Dana 30 u describe would work for the 36's ill be running. But also this isnt something ill be doing in the immediate future i still have to  get the jeep back after the cage is done and mount the 36's on it. Then of course i'm going to have to break the dana 30 once or twice. So plans may change between now and when time comes to put a dana 44 under the jeep. I guess i was really just looking for a product review to see what u guys thought.

[kirksjeep]

another option is a D44 out of a TJ Rubicon, but good luck finding one......

[calvynandhobbs]

If you just need stuff to do I'm sure some of us could drop some parts off for you to work on.   My rear bumper needs a little work. It's leaning out, away from the Jeep so I took the spare tire off. I'm doing my axle swap on the 6th and I'm sure there are some other things I can think of.

[Flex]

If you just need stuff to do I'm sure some of us could drop some parts off for you to work on.   My rear bumper needs a little work. It's leaning out, away from the Jeep so I took the spare tire off. I'm doing my axle swap on the 6th and I'm sure there are some other things I can think of.

Ill be out of town most likey this weekend. But as long as i get a few days advance my garage is open to anyone in the club that needs a place to work. So just bring ur jeep over any weekend and we can knock it out. I should have just about anything u would need to get the job done just let me know when u wanna do it.


On another thought Duece did u still need to install ur shackles and other stuff i cant remember. Let me know.

Kirk the problem with the TJ dana 44 is the basically just welded Dana 30 inner C's to a dana 44 housing, so other than the housing u dont really gain any strength, and they are super expensive to get from a junkyard and typically they want ur old axle for a core. just my $.02 from when i looked into do that, so for what ur going to spend u could build a way more awesome axle for about a grand cheaper.

Nate

[BlacXJeep]

yes I still want to do my lift Nate. looks like your not around this weekend though?

[kirksjeep]

Kirk the problem with the TJ dana 44 is the basically just welded Dana 30 inner C's to a dana 44 housing, so other than the housing u dont really gain any strength, and they are super expensive to get from a junkyard and typically they want ur old axle for a core. just my $.02 from when i looked into do that, so for what ur going to spend u could build a way more awesome axle for about a grand cheaper.

Nate

There are more parts out there to build the D44 stronger, like weld in inner sleeves and I believe they are 29 spline which is stronger.  For the cost, it is probably not worth it, but if I found one in a pick-n-pull for cheap I would pull it in a heart beat.