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IFS "Go Fast" JKU Build

27K views 81 replies 19 participants last post by  JKommuter 
#1 ·
Hey all, I've got a build thread running over at race-dezert.com where Im documenting my swap over to an IFS setup using a Ford TTB front axle.

I've been a long time consumer on information here at jkowners and love the JK platform so I would like to run a thread here as well. As the JK's age and become cheaper, I see other shadetree builders like me become more willing to try more extreme stuff while they daily drive their JL's and Gladiators. If that ever happens, I hope someone may learn find and learn something from my build. I've already made progress, so Ill start filling in my thread with info and pictures.
 
#2 ·
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.
 
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#3 ·
Been gathering materials and such before I reach the point of no return and start cutting everything out from under my front end.

Also got a new welder, an Everlast multi-process unit. Tig, stick, and plasma cut from one tiny box.



Going to order some uniball kits shortly to replace the bushing on the beams. Ill start building a jig for the beams tonight so I can keep everything true as I burn in the uniball cups and extend the beams a few inches. I'm thinking of cutting the beams on the smaller section of the beams rather than outside the radius arm bolt holes like everyone else does. I'll be welding my radius arms to the beams and having that extra space, however small, will likely be valuable as I try and get every inch of up travel I can. Thoughts?
 
#77 ·
Been gathering materials and such before I reach the point of no return and start cutting everything out from under my front end.

Also got a new welder, an Everlast multi-process unit. Tig, stick, and plasma cut from one tiny box.

Why did you decide on an Everlast 206Pi instead of either a larger unit or separate TIG and Plasma cutting machines? Or a combined TIG/MIG?
 
#4 ·
Also sold my old bumper/winch and started cutting back the frame rails, they stuck out forward of the grill by a ridiculous amount.

The combo weighed in at over 180lbs, glad I dumped it. I immediately felt the difference of driving without that weight hanging off the front end.

This really helped to see what kind of space I had to work with.





I need to get a move on with this swap. My tie rod and drag link ends are all shot and I don't want to replace them while I'm trying to swap them out...
 
#5 ·
Alright, got some work done over the weekend. Gutted the entire front end and some junk under the hood as well. Lots of plastic to throw away and brackets to fab.















Next up is some cutting. Have to remove the coil buckets, shock brackets and track bar bracket. When that's done Ill have a completely clean slate to work with and can start mocking up my beam pivots. Good thing I have lots of cardboard stashed away...
 
#6 ·
Wow, very cool. Great pictures. One beef with you though man. Get some more support under that rig with as much as you're going to be under it. I knew someone that had a mustang fall on them when they were under it. His jackstands slipped and it killed him. Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming. Awesome!
 
#7 ·
Thanks and I agree with you completely. I've been giving those stands some serious side eye but I haven't really spent much time underneath it yet.

Ill probably pick up the HF 12 ton stands and put them under the frame rails up front. Those stands are pretty tall.
 
#8 ·
Have to wait until this weekend to cut off the remaining brackets.

In the meantime, I found I nice long piece of 2x6x.120 wall tube in the scrap heap at my local steel supply. Perfect for setting up my jig for extending the beams. Getting it mocked up with the beams to see how much of it Ill need then Ill cut it to size and clean it up. I'm also going to have the beams sandblasted, there's so much gunk I can't get out of the inside of the beams and I want squeaky clean parts.







Got my uniballs from Ruffstuff earlier this week also, beefy stuff.





I'm thinking of cutting the beams and extending them further in than most do. Somewhere around here:



 
#9 ·
Got some time in yesterday and started cutting. Point of no return: passed.

Dropped my beams and knuckles off at my local powder coater for some sand blasting. A bunch of nasty junk was still attached to both and I was done scrubbing rust and dried oil from the beams.







I'm going to relocate the battery to the rear and move the fuse box up against the firewall where the battery previously was. After removing and cutting out the now excess plastic from the tray, this will give me plenty of room and a nice place for shock hoops to live.
This means moving a whole mess of wires and connectors which have been baking in the engine bay for 10 years and are brittle as ****. Fun stuff.





 
#10 ·
I can't see in my mind where all this is going yet but kudos for biting off a project like this.

On a related note, something you are fooling with is something I've been considering myself. I've been wanting to remove the LS in my jeep and rebuild it for boost. Both options for boost will not be "easy" but if I go the turbo route I need a place for it and the engine bay is cramped as it is. I was considering relocating the battery and then moving the tipm to the glove box. Do you think there is enough harness to push it inside the firewall? I think it would be pretty slick to open the glove box for access of the fuse block / tipm and would create the room I need.
 
#12 ·
Here's an example of a TTB fully drooped out where you can see the axle shafts a bit.



Ill be swapping in a boosted gen 3 Chevy iron block for power when suspension/chassis/safety work is done. Fitting a turbo in there is one of the reasons why I'm bothering with it now, while everything is out in the open and being cut up.

And yeah, there is definitely enough harness. In fact, I've got too much harness coming through the firewall. You will be extending some stuff though.
 
#13 ·
Ill eventually swap in a gen 3 chevy iron block with a turbo. With the turbo and my desire to shift as much weight as possible towards the back I went ahead and just decided to move it.

Excellent packaging skills though, jesus christ that must have been fun.
 
#15 ·
Awesome project man! I dig seeing out of the box builds.

What size tires are you planing to run?

If you want to shift as much weight to the rear as possible, why go with a iron block LS? All the work spent moving batteries to the rear, TIPM moved back and whatever else you're planing, is going to be for naught by introducing almost another 100lbs right up by the front axle. It wouldn't be as bad as not moving those things but, your F/R % might not change in the end.

Another thing to possibly consider..........rip out all that retarded factory wiring, run the engine stand alone and wire the chassis like a hotrod.

Are you wanting to keep all the factory creature comforts intact?
 
#18 ·
Plan on sticking with my 35's for now. Still plenty of life left, the 35's will be easier to get more up travel out of, and since I'm still running the 3.8 they'll also be easier to push down the road.

The iron block LS from 2000-2006 in 4.8, 5.3, or 6.0 are cheap (like $500 cheap), easy to source, and take big boost all day long. Don't have to worry about modern computer systems with these either like DOD/AFM or VVT. I'd even run a boosted *gasp* 4.8 if I found a good one for cheap. It's fairly easy to put out 500-600hp with any of those engines and a halfway decent turbo.

The simplicity of those engines combined with cost and power potential make the weight gain easy to overlook.

I will be running it hot rod style. My goal is to purchase a complete 2500/3500hd, Express van, or one of the SUV's on the cheap or salvaged. Ill then swap over whatever I need without having to run around and source all the little tiny stuff.

As far as creature comforts, getting A/C working is the most important. Ill build a custom dash which will be fairly simple so I can just graft all the GM stuff in behind my dash panels as needed. When I first do the swap I won't worry about any comfort items though. The first goal will be to get it running.
 
#19 ·
For someone like me who doesn't care about having my rig look and function like it just drove off the dealers lot, it's a no-brainer to do it hotrod style. The "kits" for swaps cost more alone than I'll have in my whole swap. Donor vehicle purchase included.
 
#21 ·
I will be running it hot rod style. My goal is to purchase a complete 2500/3500hd, Express van, or one of the SUV's on the cheap or salvaged. Ill then swap over whatever I need without having to run around and source all the little tiny stuff.
I plan on using the stock ecu and harness. Not very attractive, but I can worry about prettying things up later.

A "swap harness" to integrate with the Jeep side of things would run around $2-$3K. About what I plan on spending on my donor rig.

Did you keep A/C?
 
#33 · (Edited)
Trust me they’re coming. I’ve taken this next week off from work to work on this. I’ll be doing daily updates at the end of the day. I’m also on Instagram, castlemotorsports, which I update more frequently and post more stuff because it’s so much easier. Here I have to manually resize images, upload them to a server where they can be hosted, and then reference them in posts. It’s a real pain so I’ll only be doing it once a day.

A few updates though, I just sold my evo coilovers to a guy from Phoenix. That’s cash for my new shocks. Super stoked. I’ll be running 14” 2.5 coilovers and 2.0 4” bumps at all 4 corners. Likely from Fox as they seem to have the best balance between cost and quality. I’d love to add bypasses, even just at the rear, but they don’t fit the budget. The rears will be on trailing arms and should net somewhere in the ballpark of 24”-25” of travel. On the front I’ll be looking to get 19”-20” of travel. Thats with 4wd & IFS. That’s what I’m shooting for anyway and all in a best case scenario.

I’ve also pulled off the muffler, what a pain in the ass. A 32 gallon fuel cell will go somewhere where the stock muffler was. I’ve got the hubs rebuilt, new studs pushed in, spindles rebuilt, new bearings,races,seals, etc. and a few other things like that. More updates and pics to come.
 
#35 ·
Last week was a busy one. Lot of stuff done and even more not done.

Started last Monday off on a good note by getting various packages from Summit Racing and Ruffstuff earlier than expected.

I was most excited about getting started on these:





I quickly got to work.




One arm is done and the other still needs the main plate burned in along with the side plates and valley.
Beefy stuff for sure.

I also got a truss from Ruffstuff and more various link ends, brackets, etc.

The next day was just as exciting as my shocks & bumps also came in early.
4 x 14" 2.5 Coilovers
4 x 4" 2.0 bumps



Got some work done on the beams as well, focusing on the driver side first.
I got the old bushings cut out of the beams ready to accept the Ruffstuff uniballs, got the driver side end cut off, and axle shafts extended ~4.5"-4.75" per side.
My plan was to fully assemble the beam, axle shafts included, with the housing still cut. This way, I can support one end of the beam on a bracket system while the other end is actually bolted to the wheel. Using the axle shafts as my jig, I know that however I burn the beam back together, the shafts will still fit in the end. My plan seems to be working out so far, I'm still getting my alignment numbers close to where I want them before piecing the housing back together.










Fuel cell came from summit on Monday and I started cutting out the cargo area sheet metal to see where I'll end up placing it.
32 gallon cell.

 
#36 ·
Been dark for a while, so here's some updates for you.

Decided to suck it up and swap power plants now. It will never be this easy again with the entire front of the jeep gone.
LQ4/4L80e on a pallet and on its way. Plans are to run basic budget mods at first to get it rolling under boost. Valve springs, 80lb injectors, turbo camshaft, and Ill fab my own turbo kit using parts from VSRacing. Ill use OEM harness/ECU, Bosch 044 external pump and everything will be run hotrod style. 400hp - 400ft/lbs at the wheels would be sick. I need a tuner though and there isn't a dyno around for 100miles. Ill definitely be trailering down to Phoenix for that.




My beams are also almost done in terms of setting geometry. Spent a couple hours last night trying to get the PS numbers to match the DS. Finally got everything set and I'll weld it up tonight hopefully.



Also got the OEM tank out and cut a bunch of wiring and interior garbage out.

 
#38 ·
LOL, really ******* wide. Since the PS beam isn't glued together yet I can't say for sure, but a rough tape measure and eyeballing it says around 73-74" WMS-WMS.
The OEM Broncos of the late 80's through the 90's had a WMS of 65"-65.5" and I added ~4" to each side so 73" is pretty close to where Ill end up.

This is all with the adapters removed, I don't plan on keeping them long. WITH the adapters, I'd be pushing 77"-78", haha.
 
#40 ·
Been a while since I've posted any updates here but I've been hard at work.

A few updates/changes of direction:
* Decided to run Holley EFI on the new power plant, Terminator X Max. The more I read about it the more of a no-brainer it seemed. * I've also stripped everything touching the firewall on both sides, so the dash is out now too.

* I'm going to run hydro boost for brakes, some used GM unit should do the job. My power steering pump is already setup for it so hydro boost it is.

* Until I can swing the cost of an atlas, I'm going to try and re-use my existing transfer case. I was going to just run the 4L80E in 2wd, but all of my suspension design will be thrown off by the major change in driveshaft length with the missing t-case. I've purchased and installed a Novak adapter to change the input gear to one that will accept the 4L80E output shaft. I was very lucky to get a tranny that has a fully splined output shaft that I can cut to size. I won't even have to break open the tranny. I'm still going to run it in 2wd for a while though because there's no way it will handle the power Ill be sending through it. Hopefully with no torque on the front it will be fine. The Novak install went very smooth, Ill be posting a walkthrough in another thread later.

* I'm ditching the Dana 44 based TTB stuff and welding on Super Duty dana 60 ends. I'm doing all this work and still using Dana 44 stuff? **** that shit. I know the desert guys seem to make it work, but I'm going to abuse this thing and I want 40's because I want 40's. I've cut one end "C" forging off of my 2005+ SD Dana 60 axle and I'm in the process of modifying it to weld into the TTB beam. Since I've already got the geometry I want on the driver side beam, I can build the PS 60 beam to match, then redo the DS to then match the PS. That's my plan anyway.

* I've got a Sterling 10.5 to match. The brackets are off and the axle is waiting to be mocked up under the chassis for the truss/link brackets to be tacked on.

Alright, picture time.
 

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#42 ·
By an order of magnitude, the end forging from the SD axle alone seems to weigh about as much as the beam itself. Where the two meet will need to be well built...
 
#43 ·
My quick pump hanger made from scrap I had laying around.

Ill be passing power through the tank to the pump via stainless steel bolts passing through the flapper.
I ran a rubber grommet through the filler lid, nylon & ss washers to hold it altogether and everything coated in a fuel resistant gasket maker I found.

Ill run power to the tops of those bolts through some eyelets or something.
 

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#44 ·
Been absent a while but the engine, tranny, transfer case are all hung in the chassis with all custom fabbed mounts/crossmembers. I’ll post more details about the power train placement/install later.

Once I finished getting the engine in I could resume my work on the beams/front suspension. Here’s some progress pics.

















I was pondering how to handle the round knuckle forging to rectangular tube transition when I had the idea to further butcher my SD Dana 60 and just cut a piece out of the tube to fill the gap and further strengthen the beam. Fits really well and I’ll do this for both sides of both beams.

The beam wall thickness will be variable but most of it will be around 1/2” thick.

The core of the passenger side beam is fully welded to the inside of the stamped section of the OE beam and also welded to the knuckle forging. I’m going to leave it here for now in case I need to shorten things up or adjust alignment specs. Once I know my geometry and width is golden I’ll finish plating, gusseting, and trussing the beams.

I kept the inside portion of both sides of the beams to prevent having to duplicate the geometry for how the beams pivot in relationship to one another.

I’m working on getting the DS beam tacked together now and once that’s done I can start on building my pivots in the chassis.

I’ll have a follow up post this evening or tomorrow with updates on hanging the power plant and some of the decisions made there.






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#50 ·
Thanks for the kind words, but really I’m just doing my best to figure stuff out as I go. One hurdle at a time.


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