I've been doing some upgrades to my truck to get it better suited to driving on modern roads. I've changed the front brakes to disk, using a Scarebird conversion kit and a bunch of mixed make parts (they give you a list of everything you need, rotors, disks, caliper...). Since I wanted to use me stock wheels, and they are 5 on 5, I needed some adapters, which I found, that adapted the new 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern to the 5 on 5.

I'll toss a few pictures in now to keep it from getting too boring.

First you just strip it to the spindle.

There is an adapter plate that allows you to mount the caliper

Then new hub includes the proper bearing and seals.

 

Next comes the rest of the disk conversion.


It all lines up pretty well.

Here is the whole thing, except the brake line, with the wheel adapter installed.

Even with the adapter, there is plenty of room.

 

Then, the rear axle. I won't go through the long torrid story about my experience with the wrecking yard I got it from, nor will I give their name. They sucked.

But, in the end I got a 1995 Jeep Cherokee 8.25 Mopar rear end with 3.55 gears. That should put me 65MPH engine speed a touch over 2500.

I bought every part to do the rebuild of the brakes, but the internals of the rear were in great shape. All the gears and bearings were good to go.

I started by cutting off all the old mounts.


Old stuff cut off using a 5 inch cut off wheel.

I had to buy new U-bolts and spring perches for the 1.75 inch wide leafs. That and some new top plates.

I centered the rear by measuring from the backing plates to the edge of the leafs.


Here is a close up of the drivers side. Everything is just snug, not torqued.

I plan on removing some of the leaf springs. This truck will never see 3/4 ton in the bed again. It will drop the rear about an inch, and stick the u-bolts out the top another inch. They go past the top of the nuts a few threads already and aren't fully torqued.

 

I still need to set the pinion angle and tack the spring perches in. I'll get to that tomorrow. Then I can pull the whole things out from under the truck and fully weld the perches with some room around me.

The shock mounts were integral with the bottom plate on the original install. They used a flat top bolt, rather than U shaped. Those went through a heavy casting and the shock mounts were part of that. I have some 1/4 inch material with the 3 inch tube diameter in it already, along with some bolt holes. These came from a full floater kit I've had for years but never installed in anything. By cutting some of that, I can sandwich the shock eye between two of them and make a new mount.

Nothing has been fully torqued yet, not until I get it all welded. I'll tack the shock mounts in before I pull it for final welds.

I'll be removing the trans mounted emergency brake drum, and using the ones in the new rear axle. It still has the cables, which are undamaged. I've purchased a front cable and some of the adjuster parts. Some I'll have to fabricate. It's been done before, so I'm not forging new ground here. I spend some time on the p15-d24 site also and there are threads to follow.

All this gives me modern brakes and gearing I can take on the freeway. Some day I think I'll maybe put a T5 in it, just to get a better gear spread and maybe keep the engine in a happy area more of the time.

I've done the cost break downs and although I like the cool factor of the flathead, and it give plenty of power for my needs...it would cost a few thousand dollars less to just swap a small block and A833 into it.

Of course I spend some money on the doing things to the flathead, so I'm on the fence about that still. One thing is a dual 1 barrel setup...

Just mocking up the linkage

Same with the fuel supply lines.

 

Nice work !!! Looking good for sure...

 

Sitting on it's wheels, drive shaft connected...still need to get the final angle, but I can do that now.


Sitting on it's wheels finally

drive shaft is approximately the same as the transmission exit angle.

 

How much Pinion Angle will you be looking for ?

 

The only proper answer is the right amount. I will set it to the same angle the drive shaft leaves the transmission. You don't want huge angles, that kills U-joints, but you do want them to be equal. There isn't a lot of angle to my drive shaft. Lifted trucks end up having to do things like tilt the transmission/engine to keep the angle down, then point the pinion at the transmission. I'm not expert, but I have read a lot of information from people who are.

My understanding is you don't want zero, and you don't want too much. 3 degrees is a number I've heard a lot, but my new pinion is the same height off the garage floor as the last one was, engine/trans haven't moved...so I figure match the angle.

 

 

Aproxcemently will give you vibrations.....

 

Ya, that's why you measure things before you burn it in.