Ruffstuff full float conversion (1 Viewer)

[cody c]

He responded, but the answers were one or two words with no real information where I was Hoping for more to go from.
This went on for about 3 e mails and I just decided that I wasn't gonna get him to sit still to give me a real answer for the questions I have.
I suspect he's pretty busy though.

From my experience with Dan, he is a great guy and took the time to talk on the phone and explain everything and made sure I knew what was involved.

Some people are just not very internet savy, and prefer a more personable method of communication. Give him a shout.

 

[chicago]

From my experience with Dan, he is a great guy and took the time to talk on the phone and explain everything and made sure I knew what was involved.

Some people are just not very internet savy, and prefer a more personable method of communication. Give him a shout.

No.
I know. I wasn't knocking him. I know he's busy.
Ive talked w/ him at length in the past as well on the phone.
That's why I decided that I'd just be better off calling him vs. the e mail thing.

 

[Fast Eddy]

The only thing is, you need to have the axleshafts bolted on the hub, the spindle bolted to the ruff stuff plate, and the FF shafts in the differential.

Which is fine, but if your building one out of a SF housing and are ordering custom shafts for it at the final length, then you need to measure and order the FF shafts for it before building it. (just a bit of foresight required)

some axle shaft machinists wont build them with the flange'd end to bolt directly to the hub, but will instead put splines on them to use a hub flange like on an fzj80's front full time hub. In this situation you will likely have a bit more "slop" between the splines and the flange with the extra weight of the hub/spindle/ruffstuff flange bolted to it. Which would make it a bit more difficult to get it perfect.

Having said that, I havent built one yet and apparently you have, so what axle shafts did you use? Stock Im guessing?

I started with an fzj80 axle and narrowed it to match my fj62 front axle. I ordered a custom shaft from Bobby Long, which is, indeed, dual-splined with long splines on one end for the e-locker diff. I use Bobby's Flange, and there is really no slop. It fits tight once the snap ring is in place. I don't think there were any nuts on it when it was welded, just snug on the studs. At the diff end we put it in until it was tight and backed it off a couple mm before welding.

(Sorry for the long pause. I was on vacation. I could almost see Keith's house from there. )

I don't really see the issue with custom-length shafts. I ordered this one on a Saturday and received it on Tuesday. It was under $300 including the flange. Stock ff shafts are probably harder to get than that. I use the stock fzj80 long-side shaft and I have a spare. My rig is about a ton lighter than an 80, so I'm not too worried about breaking an axle with my 135hp engine.

 

[FJ73]

I started with an fzj80 axle and narrowed it to match my fj62 front axle. I ordered a custom shaft from Bobby Long, which is, indeed, dual-splined with long splines on one end for the e-locker diff. I use Bobby's Flange, and there is really no slop. It fits tight once the snap ring is in place. I don't think there were any nuts on it when it was welded, just snug on the studs. At the diff end we put it in until it was tight and backed it off a couple mm before welding.

(Sorry for the long pause. I was on vacation. I could almost see Keith's house from there. )

I don't really see the issue with custom-length shafts. I ordered this one on a Saturday and received it on Tuesday. It was under $300 including the flange. Stock ff shafts are probably harder to get than that. I use the stock fzj80 long-side shaft and I have a spare. My rig is about a ton lighter than an 80, so I'm not too worried about breaking an axle with my 135hp engine.

So you running the Toyota centre with Bobby's 27 spline front inner axles and drive flanges are either side custom length? And what will u do for an axle seal now?

 

[pjohnson]

Bringing this back up....

Has anyone used Ruffstuff's flanges on a stock housing yet?

Phil

 

[dr_claw]

Any updates? I will be doing a full floater conversion on a 40 series axle with the ruff stuff flanges soon. I bought a long side 80 series rear axle cheap enough to get me started. Cheers!

 

[jcj_78FJ40]

I would to like see this as well. I am unclear of how the seal works

 

[Stumpalama]

I would to like see this as well. I am unclear of how the seal works

There are 2 decent ways I know of to seal the inner axle if cutting the axle and using Dan's brackets: Front Range Off Road sells a seal that fits into the spindle housing in place of the brass bushing, or you can use the original FF seal spindle nut, though I don't know their availability. Others have mentioned fitting the Dana seals, but I have also heard there are fitment issues with these due to the Toyota axles being welded and not being perfectly round.

I bought a set of LCwizard's FF brackets that slip over the original machined axle housing end and his brackets come with a machined puck to fit in place of the axle bearing and also comes with Marlin's seals. I am planning on using Nitro's cut to fit axles, but I also hear that RCV will cut 30 spline axles as well. The difference is that the Nitro's save time since you can buy them ahead of time and cut them to length after installing the brackets.
LCwizard's kit widens the axle around 4" to 59 1/4", which is perfect if you run a 60 axle or 1.25" spacers up front, like I do.

I plan to do a full write up here, once I find the time and balls to do it.

There's a guy running LCwizard's brackets and he posted some pics HERE

 

[jcj_78FJ40]

Thanks Stump! Informative as always.

I have read about LCwizard's brackets but I didn't see them listed on his website.

Hope you find the time before CMCC

 

[Stumpalama]

Probably not... but maybe. He doesn't advertise them but you can PM or call him and he will ship them right out.

 

[jstncse]

These pictures?

Backing plate removed and flange cut off



Mounted, plumbed and welded



Spindle installed



Mocked up



I don't have any pictures of the axle shafts or the modification needed on the spindles. The shaft diameter was not the issue though, the end of the spindle was. Die grinder with a carbide bit made short work of the problem

 

[Stumpalama]

These pictures?

Yep, that's them. Very nice.

Hijack: what's the length of your rear DS? It certainly doesn't seem as short as I thought it would be with a toybox. (gears turning)

 

[jstncse]

Mine? 22" with the rear axle pushed back 6" from stock.

 

[Stumpalama]

Thanks... that's pretty far back. I don't think I could go another 4" back.
I need to go thru the pics of your build.

 

[Front Range Offroad]

Fwiw, we have bolt on kits coming very soon for the fj60 rear axles, soon to follow fj40 kits. We'll have options for nitro or double splined shafts. Naturally we can build shafts/ housings to fit any setup. And we even offer FF weld on flanges (pioneered those) even in custom bore sizes!

 

[Stumpalama]

Fwiw, we have bolt on kits coming very soon for the fj60 rear axles, soon to follow fj40 kits. We'll have options for nitro or double splined shafts. Naturally we can build shafts/ housings to fit any setup. And we even offer FF weld on flanges (pioneered those) even in custom bore sizes!

Hmmmm, sneak peak? Seriously, that will be awesome. Often wondered why there wasn't a bolt on option. So, the 60kit should then bolt on to the late 40's since they have the same backing plate mounting bolt pattern. This would simplify the operation, no doubt.
Will these have the Toyota disk mounting tabs as well?

 

[jstncse]

Don't need a sneak peak, it looks like they are available for the mini's and taco's already

http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/full-floater-conversion/

 

[Stumpalama]

Don't need a sneak peak, it looks like they are available for the mini's and taco's already

http://frontrangeoffroadfab.com/full-floater-conversion/

Gotcha. So they will mount just like the mintruck ones. Very cool.

Any idea how much width these will add to the axle WMS to WMS?

If you need a late model 40 to test them and get length measurements for the double spline chromo inner axles, I volunteer.

 

[Fast Eddy]

So you running the Toyota centre with Bobby's 27 spline front inner axles and drive flanges are either side custom length? And what will u do for an axle seal now?

To answer this 3yo question: the axle was cut inboard of the original seal location and Bobby (RIP ) matched the sealing surface on the shaft he made for me to the original Toyota shaft.

The bolt-on kit is going to be the bees knees! Great work!

 

[fj-rankenstein]

i wish i didn't waste my money on the flanges from rough stuff.. and i should have bought them from the originators at Diamond axle anyways.. i always love to support the vendors of original products over someone who copied another persons idea so i don't know what the heck i was doing when i bought these.. at the time it seemed like it would be a cheap and easy way to build a full floater out of one of my spare diffs.. i too struggled with the idea of how to weld the ends on straight and when i talked to Dan he suggested that i get an aligning bar to help with the job and it should be easy.. well, i am not a machine shop nor do i have access to an aligning bar so this kind of ended up being a waste of time and money for me.. i thought of just trying to assemble everything and weld it on the end of the axle tube but i fell there is too much slop in all of the parts to truely get a perfect level fit.... the other issue i had was with the seals.. Dan suggested that i get some type of seal that just plugs into the end of the axle tube and it would seal on the axle shaft as well... this is a lousy idea.. i cant remember the brand name of seal he told me to buy.. maybe its raceway or something like that?? i cant remember now.. this was over a year ago now.... super lame anyways.. i really liked Brian's idea from diamond axle seal assembly where the seal takes the place of the brass bushing inside the hub.. I don't think he was selling them seperate at the time though.. is he now?? i dunno.. i just ended up being annoyed at the whole process of trying to build a full floater and i don't have much time now a days anyways to dedicate to the idea so i ended up just cutting the full floater ends off of a spare 80 series full floater diff and sending them to Brian at Diamond axle to build me the full floater that i wanted.. for the 900 bucks and the extremely nice product in the end it was worth it and it was a lot less hassle.. i went with the cut to length 80 series axles from nitro and got Brian to cut them for me... this all being said, does anyone want to buy my flanges?? i will never use them.. shipping from Canada will probably kill the deal though..