Order Of Operations
I am planning on putting a 3 1/2- or 4-inch lift onto my '97 XJ. I plan to add a slip-yoke eliminator and therefore will need a CV driveshaft for the rear. Is this something that can be sourced from the junkyard or can these only be bought through the aftermarket? Also, when I upgrade my axle at a later point to a Dana 44 or a Ford 9-inch, will the same CV driveshaft still work? Will it bolt right up to either of those axels or is there an adaptor that will allow the CV driveshaft to work with any of those axles?Jeff Logandro, Carlsbad, California
You can get a front driveshaft out of a TJ and have it retubed to the correct length after you get your axle swap and lift finalized.
I'd hold off on the driveshaft modification if you're planning on swapping out the Dana 35 for a Dana 44 or a 9-inch. Both usually require a driveshaft that's about 1-inch shorter because the pinions are longer. I'd do the 3 1/2- or 4-inch lift first and would install the t-case drop brackets that come with the lift kit. These should just barely allow you to run the stock driveshaft until the rear axle swap happens. It will probably vibrate a bit, but at least you won't have to pay to have your driveshaft retubed more than once.
As far as using an adapter to work with the new axle, the TJ front driveshaft will have a 1310-size U-joint at the axle end. Most Dana 44s come with the 1310-size yoke. The factory Ford 9-inch will either have a 1310- or Ford style 1330-size U-joint. It's no big deal. If the axle yoke doesn't match you can either swap the axle yoke to a 1310 or run a conversion U-joint that has U-joint trunion and cup sizes that match both the driveshaft and yoke.
WJ Wobble
I have read in your article about an upper ball joint for the rear wishbone of my '99 Grand Cherokee. I have looked all over the Web and turned up nothing. Do you have a part number or any type of contact information I could use to find this part?Arthur Gill, Kayenta, AZ
Crown Automotive has it. Check its web site at crownautomotive.net for a list of its distributors and then order PN 52088808AB.
Tranny Troubled
I have been doing the same project with the TH700R4 swap you did on Steal-J, but have run into a snag. Right now we can't get the Jeep to crank at all. The crank position sensor and everything else seems to be hooked up (no tranny) but it will not crank and I was wondering if you had any advice or and helpful tips?David Williams,via e-mail
Start small first. Look at the under hood fuse box and make sure the relay is good. Just for troubleshooting you can yank a relay from another part of the fuse box you won't need for cranking (maybe the A/C compressor-they should be the same).
If the relay doesn't do it, remember if your tranny is out (you said no tranny) then your Neutral Safety Switch isn't getting any signal. Try jumping the NSS and it should crank.
Tips? You'll need a 1-inch body lift. Also an extreme short shaft conversion on the NP231 will get you a decent driveshaft length. The tranny will be in the way of the catalytic convertor. Random Technology (randomtechnology.com) has a mini cat that worked well enough to get my TJ to pass smog, although it's technically not OBDII compliant. You'll need the engine computer from a manual transmission TJ if yours was an auto to begin with. The Lokar shifter I used worked great, but I'd look into the cable actuated version instead of the one with hard linkage as I used. Or perhaps something a little cheaper like a B&M. If you're willing to spend that much on a Lokar, look into an Art Carr or similar gated shifter. Also, go a little higher on the stall converter than you would for a Jeep automatic transmission. A looser "Saturday Night Special" TH700R4 converter will help the 4.0L get the Jeep rolling without feeling like it's bogging down.
Pizza Cutters
I have been a reader for years now and finally have a question that I hope you guys can help me with. I am building a '43 GPW into a toy and was looking for a bigger tire than the old NDT's. I like the look of a tall thin tire and would like to keep the original 4.5-inch combat wheels. Can I fit a 34x9.50 tire on a 4.5-inch rim? The advice I get off the web ranges from "yes" to "why are you doing that to a GPW" to "not on your life". This is not going to be a street driven jeep and there is barely enough left to call it a GPW. I just like the combat wheel look. What do you think? I would like a 33 to 34-inch tall pizza cutter tire.Adam Stoldt, via e-mail
Man, it's a shame somebody hacked up a '43 GPW like that. You can still get the grille and replacement body panels from places like 4 Wheel Drive Hardware (4wd.com) and Quadratec (quadratec.com).
To put your wheel/tire question in perspective, that's like trying to mount a 16.5-inch wide tire on an 8-inch rim. In my opinion you can do it, but I don't really think it's safe. That's a whole lot of pressure on the tire bead surface and it will strain the shell area and bolts of those rare combat rims.
If you don't mind sticking with an NDT, Coker tire (cokertire.com) carries several different sizes made by Firestone that would be a much better fit on your rare wheels. You can buy the tubes and flaps needed for use with the combat rims from Coker as well. To start with, the 6.00-16s have a 28.3-inch diameter and a 6.7-inch cross section, the 7.00-16s have a 30.5-inch diameter and a 7.9-inch cross section, the 7.50-16s have a 31.6-inch diameter and a 7.6-inch cross section, and the 9.00-16s have a 35.2-inch diameter and a 10.1-inch cross section. Of all these sizes, I'd say the 7.50-16s come the closest to reaching your goals. Considering that the true diameter of a 34-inch Swamper will be around 32.5 inches, this gets you pretty close to your original goals while offering a much thinner cross section for use with your 4.5-inch wide wheels.