Yup, I'm swapping out the solid axle from under my 4 door JK for a TTB setup. Here's what we're starting with:
Typical Jeep mods. Dynatrac axles, Nittos, Reel drivelines, and a bunch of other stuff.
Bouncing through rocks at 2mph isn't fun for me anymore so I'm turning my rock rig into a desert mob monster. Well, that's the goal anyway.
The plan is to start off with a D44 TTB which I already have broken down and in the process of getting cleaned up. It's from a 95 bronco with bolt on calipers, but no ABS provisions. The beams I purchased ($150 on craigslist hub to hub) were in amazing shape. Lots of surface rust and oil buildup inside the beams but otherwise in great shape. All the bearings, seals, etc looked perfectly fine and everything felt nice and tight with no play in anything. Even the ball joints still look good but we're still going through it to see what can be salvaged and re-used and what needs replacing.
I've got a 2005+ Super Duty Dana 60, Dana 44 TTB, and a beefed up JK Dana 30 sitting in my garage with a ProRock 44 under the jeep now.
Plan on selling the PR44 and Dana 60 to fund the project while running the Dana 30 as a 2wd beam axle while I work on the TTB.
The outsides of the beams aren't looking so bad now but the insides are still poop. Ill clean them out when I cut the ends off to extend them out. Should have easy access to the insides then.
Looking for a 72" WMS-WMS, so somewhere between 3.5"-4" extension on the beams. Don't plan on a "cut & turn" unless some restriction prevents me from getting the beams to sit where they should at ride height.
For the rear, we're not quite sure which way we want to go yet. A typical go-fast 4 link is the obvious choice, but a double triangulated 4 link with shocks over the axle would be much easier and quicker to fab while keeping weight and costs down. 18" shocks with a conservative angle should net 20" of travel in the rear. Coupled with 16"-18" up front with 4wd and a long wheelbase seems like a killer combo.
I'm likely going to have to stretch the front out a couple inches to clear the passenger side beam and pivot and will pull the rear back a couple inches as well to have room for the rear seat when the shocks come up through the tub. I should be somewhere around 120" wheelbase all said and done with either rear suspension option.
Motor is still stock, but when the rig is done, suspension built, cage burned in, and all safety equipment in place, we're going to drop in a Gen III Chevy iron block, 4l80e, and turbo. I'll probably buy a salvage 3/4 ton HD van or truck so I can take my time in pulling everything apart and not have to source all the little stuff.
My goal right now is to get the beams rebuilt, then we'll work on getting pivots and steering mocked up with wheels/tires attached and suspension cycling.
For steering I'm thinking of running two pitman arms at opposite ends of the frame rails in an idler setup. Kind of like this guy. By using two identical pitman arms, the geometry between the two will be nearly identical. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I should also be able to use drop pitman arms if I need to rather than run bracketry down without placing as much strain on the sector shaft since the idler rod is supported at both ends. I could also use TREs instead of heims for easy to find replacements. Of course this is the idea now, I'm sure much will change as we go.
Stay tuned for updates.