What’s up folks? Planning on a pretty big project as the title has mentioned. So far I have the rear axle portion figured out. Stuck on the front part. Planning on staying IFS. So for the steering rack I’m going to get a tundra rack milled. Getting LT. Need to figure out what the biggest front diff I can put in to withstand the pressure. And which components to go with it. Also got an ARB, so most likely it would be air locked in the front.
what’s y’all suggestions? Thanks in advance.
I’m looking to do pretty much the same thing. I have done a bunch of research on diff upgrades that could keep up with 39-40’s. Pretty much taken me down the rabbit hole on what it will take to get there.
So front diff. I’ve looked into the AAM 9.25” that came in the GM HD trucks and Tundra 9”. Both of those are massive and are way to tall and wide to work well unless you basically take the front frame and weld it into your frame to get all the suspension components to match. It’s too tall to sit under the engine (without a drop bracket lift. Lame). And too wide to fit off to the side of the oil pan like the stock 7.5” diff does. (Even if you narrowed the ADD tube).
I also looked at the Ford IRS 9.75” diff out of the rear of an Expedition. This one could work actually. The negatives is that it’s a heavy and bulky cast housing, and it’s center mount which is great but it’s tall. I think this is what Nick McPherson did on his Colorado recently. Check his IG page for info on that badass truck. He’s on here but never made a build thread and doesn’t come around much.
Basically what I decided was if I’m going to center mount, might as well get a Ford 9” which is much stronger and in a smaller package and unlimited mounting options due to a fabbed housing.
@Konkordmusk and I have been designing a Ford 9” IFS housing similar to the Currie F9 but we got busy and never finished making the actual housing. Soon hopefully.
At this point you’ll need custom CV’s so might as well get RCV’s right? $$
You’ll need some hubs that can actually hold up to the abuse of 40’s right? Might as well pick something that is more than strong enough and easy to make a spindle around. I chose the 05+ super duty unit bearings. Super beefy and easy to find replacements at a parts store for much cheaper than expensive race car parts. I can just use a brake kit from the same super duty truck. You can have RCV use the D60 CV that comes in the solid axle trucks and a 934 inner. Both with 35 spline course because why not at this point?
You’ll need to design some A arms that have ball joints beefy enough to hold up to those big ass tires and the abuse you plan to put it through.
Steering gonna he tough to find a steering rack that is strong enough and narrow enough to work without going full hydro. My idea is double swingset steering using a Saginaw box. (Maybe just use super duty because you are already using super duty stuff? Idk just something strong enough). Tundra racks are probably strong but probably not strong enough to be reliable. Plus they are way too wide even when milled down.
So basically I went from thinking this would be a relatively easy/cheap project using factory parts wherever possible. Well that got out of hand with building an entire new front end front the firewall forward. It’s gonna be expensive to do it right. And speaking of that, might as well LS swap it while you are in there to push them 40’s lol
here’s the latest I have on things.
