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Bought tons VS built tons.

9K views 47 replies 15 participants last post by  j3ff3ry_j33p 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So I've been looking at going tons on Hardway. I have wheeled the piss out of it the last two years, put 50k miles on it two sets of 37s, minor damage , shafts ,U joints , bent flanges, typical stuff for 44s.
Is it really cheaper to build tons or to just buy a set ? I can do everything myself I have access to a welder can turn my wrenches no problem.
But then you look at a set of Fusion, UD60s, Daynas or RJ all in the 15 to 19k price range and pretty much bolt on with a warranty. It's a tough choice. We have plenty of guy in our clubs that are now running tons and coils and 40s.
They say its cheaper to build, but is it? .
Some have problems with the clearance or the speed sensor's or locker issues.
Just looking for some feedback from some of you out there in the 4x4 world.
Thanks in advance.

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#2 ·


I've spent an ungodly amount of time on this subject since I joined a real crawling club. I need more stout housings to , likewise , shoot w/ the dudes rollin' on 40s & tons in my club, since it seems they're the ones having the most fun.
I get down into the discussion w/ my better half & it always ends in ," that Unlimited JK is so nice. Some family could get into offroading like we did with it ..." or ," that thing is too nice to do what you're about to do with it , kiss what little of its resale value goodbye once you roll it ..." & ," are you honestly going to spend $20k more for 1500 additional pounds of rolling weight on the already insanely expensively setup JKU that we will never see back again ?!?! only to then want a V8 or diesel in it since even with 5.13 gears , it isn't going to be drive able with tons & 40s on it. ..."

we decide it'd just be best to sell the jku for whatever I can get for it & then acquire a tow-rig , 2 seat crawler and trailer to avoid the hassle.

I do love my jku,tho





 
#4 ·
problem is an LJ cost as much as your JK does so no real savings there.

You can build tons cheaper if you can find the donor axle at a cheap price. Locker and gears $1500-1700, brackets 400-500, brakes 500-800, shafts are likely to be upgraded $800-1000, tone rings, yoke $150, new bearings and seals $100. It is a savings but not a huge amount. Fronts may have to add knuckles if not the set up for steering you want and hubs.

Fusion 60/60 package at $12850 is a pretty good deal and you don't have the headaches of sourcing parts and doing the labor. One nice thing about buying built is that you get your axle has the proper caster for your pinion angle without you having to cut off and rotate the inner C's.

And either building or buying you are going to need new wheels, driveshafts, and likely steering links running the cost up about $2-3k more.

One thing I have noticed this year is most vendors are offering financing on parts thru third party companies.

I see nice built buggies out there for $12-20k that would offer better performance off road and keep the jeep more stock for a DD or for resale value.
 
#43 ·
After 25 years of this, building two Jeeps I tend to agree. My previous YJ got built to the point it was on a trailer to & from the trails and as a result got driven less & less. The tow rig & trailer became a PITA. So I sold the trailer & YJ, traded the truck for a JK and swore it would never go higher than 3", bigger than 35s, and never see a beadlock....HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
 
#5 ·
yeah, I could never get so fortunate nor afford such a machine as the rare LJ.

no, I got her to agree that whatever I would be " dumb enough" to sell the Wrangler Unlimited Sahara for , loss-wise :eyeroll:
, I would chuck no less that 1 grand per child into their respective education savings ...THEN, whatever was left, I could get a trail rig with.

I would probably wind-up with something more like :



srry, tapcola , not gonna derail this good topic./
 
#10 ·
I have looked at many options really like the Fusion stuff , even thinking about just getting the housings , that SD60 and 14b with 4in tubes. But then you start going down that list add= traction control, yes pls , install gears yes pls, add shafts yes pls , buy the time you are done it's like screw it just get the king pin 60 /14b combo ! It comes with new steering components. Makes sense right ?

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#11 ·
I have done a couple sets from fusion and they would be my recommended go, to and I personally run Dynatrac 60/80 on my rig. Very good quality on the Fusions and lots of options to go with. Just dont make the mistake of buying too narrow an axle if buying, I would be a minimum of 70" and recommend 72" WMS to run 40x13.5" tires.
 
#12 ·
I've got a set I've built and for the set, it was still cheaper than buying a front prebuilt. Thinking about selling them to a buddy though since I wont need tone rings anymore and he's offering a good bit more than I got in them. Looking at the 14b front and rear axle housings, it would be kind of cool running these as no one else I know has them.
 
#18 · (Edited)
it would be highly entertaining - to me - to see how a 3.8l JK Unlimited would "perform" w/ a set of Rockwells on it. Even w/ 5.38 gearing I bet the thing could only motivate 46" tires if it were on flat ground.


@FatCow
what'd ya mean about not seeing a Jeep on "2.5s" & not being drivable ? You mean coils?
 
#14 ·
I dont know what kind of trails you run but I think there is something to be said for not having to end up at the same spot you began. A good numbers of the trails out here dont end where you began so having to trailer is a bit more cumbersome.

Also I think @gt1guy put it best. The Jeep shouldnt be looked as a investment you recoup in money. Its something you recoup in joy. Im paraphrasing.

Also Im an idiot who plunged into tons and now redoing all my suspension etc... so what do I know. My pockets are empty :frown2:
 
#15 ·
I dont know what kind of trails you run but I think there is something to be said for not having to end up at the same spot you began. A good numbers of the trails out here dont end where you began so having to trailer is a bit more cumbersome.



Also I think @gt1guy put it best. The Jeep shouldnt be looked as a investment you recoup in money. Its something you recoup in joy. Im paraphrasing.



Also Im an idiot who plunged into tons and now redoing all my suspension etc... so what do I know. My pockets are empty :frown2:
All over Las Vegas , Logandale, Sand Hallow (fav)
We have a good amount of trails out here and the guys I run with are awesome ,we run 8s and up most of the time. I have beat the crap out of my jeep and it has held up well. I have took on some body damage and had it fixed. Alot of the trails are trailer friendly.

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#16 ·
This is a DD/Trail rig. I haven't seen a vehicle with 2.5s and still was able to drive it across the country, at least enjoy it anyway. If it were a trail only jeep, and I felt like redoing my suspension and such, that'd be my way to go.

I have a tendency of selling stuff that doesn't get used more than once a week.
 
#21 ·
Fusion. Happy with mine and Dan is awesome. I ordered them on black Friday 2018 and installed them in February, i think. Since then, I have been to Rubicon 3 times, Fordyce 2 times and Slick Rock 3 times. Not sure if Sour Grass counts but 3 runs there too.

I went with e-lockers and Yukon hubs. They definitely perform well and hold up to the abuse. Big thanks to @thedirtman for steering me to them.

Something to keep in mind with fusion is that you get a custom width axle for the same price and the standard chromoly axle shafts have a lifetime warranty.

Dan has a formula for getting the correct axle width for your setup. It is based on your chosen wheel and tire size. For example, with 40" tires, he is going for an outer rim lip to outer rim lip measurement of 79". You need to factor in your wheel width and bs.


Example, for 8.5"wide trail ready bead locks that have 4.5" bs, you want a 71" axle.
79-(2*(8.5-4.5))=71.

To come up with a true 71", Dan/Fusion includes 1 custom made axle. I went with the option of using off the shelf parts in case I am stuck in a pinch. With off the shelf parts, you can get 70.6", which rounds up to 71" anyway. :) Close enough.
 
#22 ·
^^^^X2^^^^

I did the math and it wouldn't make sense to go with anything but Dan @Fusion .

After looking at just the hard parts .
Then really look past the fact that the bits and pieces that you just don't consider as part of building them are hard costs too .
The list might look like a laundry list IE ; a couple of rolls of mig wire , a bottle of gas , new hardware , wear items , ….Hell the list just goes on and on , those consumables are items that add up quick .

Pull the trigger , I'm happy I did , your check book feels the hit all at once , not nickel and dime like you would if you built them yourself though .

The pain ceases real quick once your done .
 
#23 ·
Its like driving two hours to an airport to board a flight that is going to take you 11 hours with 2 stops vs leaving at your local airport for a direct 4 hour flight so you can save $20 on a round trip ticket. All that shit adds up and your time is worthless. How much would you make if you put in 2-3 extra shifts at work?
 
#25 ·
If you can do everything yourself it is definitely cheaper. I did the same thing wheeling on 37s but figured I might as well get some money for my rubicon axles before I destroy them and get nothing. That helped offset costs for brackets and other parts back when prices were cheaper. I hunted for my 05+ 60 and 14 bolt and got them for under 300 bucks. Everyones situation is different, some can shell out money for pre built axles with JK brackets that hang super lower only to be cut off and redid later. Yes, you can buy them without brackets but you'll still have to do custom work anyway if you go that route. In my case I had more time than money so I spaced it over a year doing my axles and suspension together. It is a lot of piecing together but with all the swap kits and info out there its doable if you know what slippery slope you are going down. The options are endless, my build was simple by buying the best parts I could afford while if something ever broke replacement parts are readily available. For example I could of went 40 spline everything while being significantly stronger, that also drives up the price shafts etc. Nothings unbreakable so it gave me piece of mind knowing sticking with the stock spline count I could get parts cause you pick and choose you want the fuse to be. Also after seeing how big the 05+ 60/14bolt are I can't imagine people wanting or more so "needing" a beefier axle idk maybe its marketing hype since the ton swap has become so popular or people driving like morons. Are the pre built axles a better product? Sure, they better be for that cost but in the end thats why they cost so much is because all the work is done for you.
 
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#26 · (Edited)
You can easily build front and rear junkyard axles for the price of an aftermarket front. I guess “almost” is a very relative term when people say they’re “almost” or “about” the same overall price.

Edit:
It’s also never been more “plug and play” with building junkyard axles as it is today. Artec, motobilt, and Barnes all make kits that snap into place. Regear, add lockers, and whatever miscellaneous bullshit like seals, brakes, bearings and flanges and you’re done. Too easy.
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#27 ·
"Too easy" except on the wallet.

I learned a lot from just what has been discussed here that I did not know. I had no idea that the planning for whatever wheel and tire BS or width was such a prominent factor in housing upgrades. I mean, I sure knew about full-width versus our JK OEM housings widths but did not know there were 'custom' widths or as much variance as apparently there is.

I thought you just got a Currrie, Dana, DynaTrac or a Fusion D60 & it'd be a 71" housing. Then whatever tires you ran with appropriate BS determined how wide your rig was after upgrading to tons.
I do not know as much as I think I know.










 
#28 ·
You can easily build front and rear junkyard axles for the price of an aftermarket front. I guess “almost” is a very relative term when people say they’re “almost” or “about” the same overall price.

Edit:
It’s also never been more “plug and play” with building junkyard axles as it is today. Artec, motobilt, and Barnes all make kits that snap into place. Regear, add lockers, and whatever miscellaneous bullshit like seals, brakes, bearings and flanges and you’re done. Too easy.
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This. In my opinion it comes down to two things. Time. Money. Which do you want to spend more of?
 
#29 ·
For me this is one of the factors that makes it hard to understand what is your time really worth .
I had considered UD 60's but was informed that @Fusion 4x4 could provide more options for width as well as ratios and types of lockers among other options that Dana didn't offer , that made it really easy to make the decision .
And I didn't have to get a face tan or bloody knuckles in the process .
The welds looked as go as mine , or better in some instances too .

Tell Dan what you want , I have a feeling that you'll get it .
The options are endless , only limited by your imagination and check book .
 
#45 ·
I dont know what kind of trails you run but I think there is something to be said for not having to end up at the same spot you began. A good numbers of the trails out here dont end where you began so having to trailer is a bit more cumbersome.
Also I think @gt1guy put it best. The Jeep shouldnt be looked as a investment you recoup in money. Its something you recoup in joy. Im paraphrasing. Also Im an idiot who plunged into tons and now redoing all my suspension etc... so what do I know. My pockets are empty :frown2:

I've just got to say, I completely agree with the comment about recouping your investment in joy. So many times I've seen comments talking about recouping your money. No one should be putting a cent into a Jeep thinking they'll get any back. Every dime spent on a Jeep should be to get a bigger smile on your face when you drive it.
 
#46 ·
That has to be the way to look at building these Jeeps. I had a ton of money in 2014 with V8 conversion and all the other goodies we purchase. I stayed with 35" tires so it was a good drive it everyday rig. That was the hardest vehicle I ever tried to sell! The Jeep was in perfect condition and most everyone says they want a V8 swap right? Anyway that Jeep didn't bring anywhere near what I had invested. I enjoyed that Jeep and I thought I would re coop enough to pay car for a 2018 truck but I was wrong. I never keep vehicles for ever as there are too many different ones to enjoy but for that reason I won't do another one.
 
#47 ·
I’ve been in and around the auto industry on both the retail & wholesale side most of my life. One thing is certain, money you spend on customizing, modifying or otherwise “enhancing” a vehicle is a COST, not an investment. In a sense, you’re doing it for the next owner. It makes no financial sense, so if that is your concern don’t put an extra penny into a depreciating asset. What you’re “investing” in is as suggested, your own fun and happiness. Only you can determine that value. For me, the ten year old JK sitting in the garage waiting for the snow & ice to melt will be with me for a long time. It’s the only way I can justify the monies spent on it over the last decade. When it stops putting a smile on my face I’ll sell it, and won’t calculate the cost per smile.
 
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