Tough enough for 40's?

[uglyoinker]

This is kind of a long question. I have a 75 pig that has a 350 sm465 np 203 to a 4sp. toyota tranfer case on 38's. It is currently on SUA fj55 axles front and rear that have been converted to disc's front and rear. I have had this pig for a few years but not wheeled it much due to something always needing fixed upgraded and not having the time or the money to do the fixing. Right now the major thing it needs is sections of the floor replaced and the body mounts that are under the drivers feet and front passengers feet. And it has a hole in the oil pan from contact with the axle. PO in my opinion mounted the 350 too far forward and kinda low not leaving enough clearance between the front axle and the oil pan.
My plan is to move the engine back a couple inches, do the floor and body mount repair and replace the front fenders. Also I want to move the rear axle back a couple inches to help the departure angle and to center the wheels in the tubbed rear fender opening. I would like to change to 63 inch chevy springs out back and change to a longer spring the front of which I haven't quite decided yet. I have a pair of 48 inch chevy fronts but I was considering putting the rear 55 springs up front. The chevy fronts have had the 3rd leaf removed to soften them up and came of a 3/4 ton pickup I used to abuse.
You must be wondering where the hell my question is in all of this? The wife and I are hoping to move to alaska in the next 18 months so I need to go ahead and get this thing together and have it be burly. So with all these plans that include stepping up to 40's and possibly going spring over what axle is strong enough? I have a pair of fj 60 axles that I would expect to upgrade to longs and poly's? Are fj80 axles any stronger? Or should I just quit fooling around and go 1 tons? And if I do 1 tons I would think it would be safer and better in the long run to switch to a 203-205 doubler? I have a the 205 tcase and a 14 bolt rear already from things sitting around. But I don't have a 1 ton front. I know that longs in a lc axle are stronger than a dana 60 front but by how much? I saw that freds40 has a 14 bolt rear and the lc front on his massive 60. Would that be a decent setup in terms of strength?
This is a huge post and full of questions I know. But suggestions would be very appreciated.

 

[nuclearlemon]

we need more pictures in order to judge correctly

for 40 or larger, i would step up to one tons now and not have to worry about the lifespan.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

I've always wanted those Uni-Mog axles. Sorry, that prolly dosen't help much...

 

[LC_Hamma]

Stepping up to 40's, Bobby only recommends up to 39" tires for the 30 spline Superset.
Why not keep the engine low as is & move your front axle forward? It'll keep your COG low & w/ the 1 tons you'll have a wider stance & it'll be more stable off camber. I would retube a Ford D60 front for pass drop.

 

[uglyoinker]

....

I want to keep the COG low for sure. When I move the engine back I want to keep it low but just back a little. I'm hoping that will center the weight towards the rear. I've seen your build hamma, frickin' nuts. I'm honored that you read my silly question. I have another question. If I keep the landcruiser case how much stronger is the splitcase over the 4 sp case?

 

[uglyoinker]

....

The target tire is 39.5 iroks. Does that half inch put me into that much danger? Also why a ford Dana 60? What makes that better than just using a chevy or dodge Dana 60? The other scary thought is that if I'm gonna go through the trouble of 1 tons and the 203-205 doubler there is 455 rocket big block in my shop that thinks it belongs inside a pig. And I'm not so sure I want to tell it no. What holds me back now is the drivetrain that is in the pig now wouldn't hold up to that much ridiculous power. Underrated from the factory the numbers I read were 370 hp and 510 tq......

 

[LC_Hamma]

The reason he says Ford one is because it is "high pinion". In some circles, if you aren't running a HP axle, you aren't using the right axle

All ness aside, I guess you don't comprende' why it's used to get the driveshaft UP away from the rocks + HP gears are stronger in a front application. That is FACT

If you want to stick w/ the LC axles, just ask Sputnik how he feels about 39" tires & them

 

[LC_Hamma]

lol... I don't have cruiser axles and in this case I wouldn't use them.

I perfectly understand the theory... but like ALL things offroad, there is no one way to do things right.

However, trying to tell people that they should only run HP ones or they aren't doing it right it ridiculous.

Tell, suggest, whatever you wanna call it, I'm merely saying that's what I'd do if I was in his position/ giving him the *best advice I know. 3rd post in this thread is what you *need to look for:
Chevy kingpin Dana 60 - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

 

[uglyoinker]

some pics of my pile.

pic one from the front
pic two the holes in my floor
pic three engine bay

 

[uglyoinker]

..

a couple more
pic one is back of engine bay showing I have plenty of room to move back a 2 to 3 inches.
pic two is the close quarters of oil pan to axle/driveshaft. It is closer than normal in this pic because the shackles are not on the front so it is sitting lower. I was running plus 3 inch anti-inversion shackles.

 

[OinkOinker]

cool ??transfer?? lever nob.....

 

[uglyoinker]

...

The toyota case has a baseball shifter and the 203 case is a hurst shifter. I found the baseball in a parking lot one of the first times I drove the pig. I thought it was a "sign" so I drilled a hole in it and put it on the stick.

 

[uglyoinker]

making some progress

Finally got some progress made. Just needed to get to the grindstone and start getting things done. It hasn't been started in 2 years. The last time I moved it around there was 3 feet of snow on the ground. I had brought it out to aid in unstucking vehicles in the driveway. In doing so I got on it pretty good and bounced and the lack of clearance between the oil pan and the moving bits showed itself and drained all the oil out of the pan rather quickly. So between that problem and the need for two body mounts and some flooring it intimidated me and didn't want to start. So in the meantime I spent alot of time working on the 60 I have.
So today I took off the pan welded it and returned it to the pig. Then the next problem was a very leaky fuel filter and the carb was puking gas down the intake. Out come all the spark plugs to blow out the gas in the cylinders change out the filter and swap from the carter carb to the holley. With a few squirts of starting fluid she fired and I moved her into the shop. I start on body mounts and flooring tomorrow...

 

[uglyoinker]

...

here's some pics.

 

[scottryana]

The 80 axles are considerable stronger, the birfield is much larger. I used to have a picture of the two side by side, when I ordered the Longfields.

The FJ80 axles are also 8" wider.

When I talked to Bobby about using his birfields with 40" tires he had no problems and said that I could go to 42-44's. If you do go this route make sure you get the Polyperfomance rear axles too.

Ryan.

 

[uglyoinker]

...

8 inches?! Holy crap thats a whole bunch wider! I'm on my over to the shop now to start some body mount fab stuff. Will report later tonight.

 

[scottryana]

Yep 8" to keep the wheels from sticking out too far on my 55 with 80 axles, I used 4.75" backspaced wheels, I also think that using a wheel that is backspaced to the center of the tire is easier on the axle components.

But is you are just going for width and stability run the 2.5" backspaced wheels that some of the guys run and you would have lots of room!

 

[uglyoinker]

....

Well next day work on my body mounts turned into a please work on dads suburban. So I spent the day putting in a 3 inch flowmaster muffler and deleting the cat. And putting a warn winch bumper on the front. Then plugs and air filter. So I was wicked bummed to not be able to spend the time I wanted on pigtown. Old mans suburban was a sweet find though! It's a 89 so it's fuel injected 3/4 ton with manual tranny and rear barn doors. I plan to take it off his hands in the spring to pull duty as trailer puller.

 

[uglyoinker]

Spent some more time in the barn working on pigface today. Small amount of progress. Worked on replacing some rusting stuff. I forgot to take the after pic for what I got done today. At the same time with the help of a friend swapping out the whole front axle on my 60.

 

[uglyoinker]

Having problems with computer so I had to upload pics in a different reply.......