so I'm guessing you are running d30 axles or something similar? how much welding did you have to do? the welding is the only big setback I have to doing an axle swap... since I don't have one or access to one..

 

That's what I'm wondering. It almost looks like its a bolt on kit.

 

Yeah its a Dana 30 front axle out of a Wrangler, but the rear is stock. With the ORD kit it pretty much is bolt in it just requires some drilling and grinding. You have to drill four holes in the frame rail on each side for the rear shackle hanger, bolt the front spring hanger into the factory tow hook holes and drill a hole on the side for a 1/2 inch bolt and nut, and then the shock hoops bolt into the factory control arm and shock locations. The only welding that I had to do was for the leaf spring pads on top of the axle which I brought it down to the local 4x4 shop and he did it in like ten minutes.

 

wow that's not bad at all, I was just at the junk yard last week and there is a wagoneer still with front and rear axle, I should get them and the sfa kit, sounds pretty straight forward

 

from that pic.......i'd say yes it was!


damn you guys (Ryan & Blaaazer), now when i head back to the wreckers o Wednesday, i'm gonna be tempted to ask my buddy how much for the axles from that '87 (? not 100% on the actual year) Wagoneer that's sitting in the corner. for the money you've invested in the kit & axles, it's a whole lot cheaper than doing a 5 or 6" IFS lift-and much more durable.

 

Wow that seems so easy, I think I may have a new project in the near future lol

 

Benedict and Old Skool- that would be perfect if you got both axles out of those Wagoneers because then you wouldn't have to deal with the problems of different lug patterns and gears like I did! Plus, you would have the added strength of Dana 44s.

You are right about the durability part thats for sure! After how much stuff I wore out and broke in my front end with IFS I decided that this route was my only option. It only took me four days worth of work to get it driving although I did it with a lift and air tools. But if you research it a lot before hand you will find out everything that you have to do so you know what to expect, and won't get overwhelmed when you realize your whole front end is laying on the ground

 

thanks for the info & heads up brother. definately gonna be looking into this. especially since it's waaaaay cheaper.

question........ISO doing the leaf packs up front.....what about doin' trailing arms with some nice coil-overs?

hmmmm.......then the rear would need to be done like that as well. more fab work means more $$$$. skip it, leafs are cheap(er).

 

there were a few people on the s10 forum who did the long arms and coil overs, and I'm pretty sure 1hugeblazer did that too

 

Yeah running some trailing arms with coilovers with coilovers would have been awesome! But out of my league fabrication wise so I stuck with leaf springs. I am really surprised with how much articulation my front is gettiing so I'm definitely not regretting my decision especially when I compare costs. I am going to be making a build thread so you guys can get some more details about what all was involved in the swap if you are interested.