Front Axle
The Dana 27 in the front was thrown out and a Dana 30 from a '72 CJ was purchased at J&W in Sacramento to swap in. I didn't feel the 27 was strong enough for 33 or 35 inch tires and you are limited on your locker choices (a power-lock is a marginal option).
Spring Over Lift
Because the Jeepster model doesn't have a store bought bolt-in lift option, a spring-over conversion seemed to be the best alternative. Custom springs, I thought at the time, were too expensive. A spring-over seemed to be the cheapest method to lift the Jeepster, but if I had to do it all over..... The conversion was done on the Jeepster before the axles were taken out because I wanted the spring perches to be welded on before I powdercoated. Both axles were taken off the jeep, completely torn apart, powdercoated and then rebuilt with all new parts. Above you can see the rear after the axle was put back together.
Here you can see it lifted at Andrade's shop after the spring-over conversion, giving about 5 inches of lift. If I had to do it all over, I would have just done custom springs. I ended up putting in new springs any way because the old ones were shot. A spring-over lift and stock springs just don't mix. The axle wrap in the rear is very noticeable, even when taking off from a stop sign. The front 1-3/4" springs are just too weak and give alot of side to side motion.
New Springs
New springs were purchased and they look great, work great and no more axle-wrap! The springs were custom made with full military wraps, teflon pads between the leafs, bolt clamps and a good mix between long life and long articulation. Steve at Betts Spring in San Leandro, CA (510-352-0111) design them and had them to me within three days. Total cost was $645 for a set of four springs. Try paying $1,000 to $1,200 at National Spring.
New Perches
When the new springs were installed, I torched off the old spring perches that rounded over from the last trip to Moab and welded on new "Boxed" spring perches from Con-Ferr Inc. These perches will never bend! At the same time, I redesigned the axle attachment. The previous method had the spring plate and shocks mounted to the top of the springs.
Shock Mounts
A spring-over conversion and top mounted shocks leaves about 3-inches of travel before the shocks bottom out. So, I used Ford square-bent U-bolt and moved the spring plate below the axle. This does reduce ground clearance a little, but that is the price I have to pay in order to gain an additional 6-inches of travel in the rear. I also made sure to tack weld the spring plate to the axles spring perch to make sure it doesn't shift and round over the lower perches.
Rear Axle
Both ends were rebuilt completely and fitted with 4.27 gears by Andy Andrade at Andrade Automotive in Hayward,CA. The rear Dana 44 was fitted with a 19 spline full-floater kit and a new Detroit Soft Locker from 4Wheel Parts Wholesalers. This was necessary because my Dana 44 was a cross-over year where the housing was a 44, but the axle was a 27-spline Dana 30, for which Detroit does not make a locker for. This meant putting in the 19-spline axles to get the new Detroit Soft Locker, but also to allow flat towing with the manual hubs on the rear end unlocked.
Tim Retallick, the manager at the Oakland, CA store went to great lengths to get custom axles made to fit the narrow 44 of the Commando. A prototype set were made and it was determined that the splines were too short. Tim then ordered a second pair, which fit perfect, at no extra charge.
It wasn't too long that the splines on the drive flanges (hubs) of the full-floater stripped away and I was driving around on one wheel. I noticed it when I got one tire stuck in a 3" deep dirt hole. I couldn't get out without putting it in four-wheel drive. Warn Premium locking hubs were installed on the rear end to allow me to drive home that day. The hubs are great if you are planning to tow a great deal, but Warn will not warrenty the hubs if they are on the rear.
Another set of drive flanges were purchased and these lasted about half as long as the first set. This time, the splines on the axles started to twist, wear down and make some terrible sounds. This was the last straw. The next thing I did was to call up Foothill 4x4 shop in Auburn, CA to order a set of custom one-piece 19-spline axles which have the drive flange forged to the axle. You can see the weakness of the 4Wheel Parts Wholesalers kit, which is the two piece set-up. Here you can see the heavy-duty drive flange bolted to the rear hub. This setup should last me for a very long time, compared to the original kit.
Rear Skidplate
It is so nice to finally find a part that is a bolt-on for a Jeepster. I found this rear Dana 44 skidplate at TurboCity on their web site. Not taking it for granted that a new Dana 44 from a '99 TJ would be the same as a Dana 44 from a '69 Jeepster, I called up and got measurements first. Hot Damn! They match up. It was a mircle that something would bolt up to a Jeepster. As soon as I got the skidplate, it was unboxed and placed upto the housing. Damn this thing is heavy, making it hard to line up all the holes. Damn again, it isn't a direct bolt-in. I had to grind down a spacer for the nose of the housing so the holes would all line up properly. It would have also have helped if it came with longer bolts, but it didn't and I was off to the damn store again.
Wheels
My new 10x15 wheels and 33 x 12.5 BFG Muds help lift it even higher. The wheels are a credit to my other buddy Andy McGrath, who talked me out of buying modern aluminum wheels and to get stock rims, widen them to 10 inches and use the stock chrome hub caps. The steel rims have really taken a beating in the Sierras, where I think aluminum wheels would have cracked. The wheels really look sharp with the polished and hand painted hub caps, and of course, I powdercoated the wheels!
Suspension Testing
While at the Accessories Plus Truck Show, one of the contest was the RTI ramp, seeing who could get the highest score. This was a good opportunity to check out the travel of Project Jeepster. The first time on the ramp I all most rolled it by traveling up the ramp too far it seemed. Those lockers will take me any where. My score was 760 and the winning score was 1200! I determined that my front shocks were my limiting factor at that point on the ramp. The next project will be to make shock mounts to the bottom of the front axles instead of the top. This will allow me to run longer shocks and should give me six more inches of travel. I hope that this one change will allow for a much higher score. This is a great way to guage the performance of each change you make to your suspension.
Lockers - Traction Devices
After making the decision to go to the 30th Easter Jeep Safari and after watching Rick Russell's video on Moab, I determined that the Commando would need more traction assistance. Especially since the guys I was going to travel with signed up for all the 4+ trails. A new Detroit EZ locker in the front Dana 30 was the call. This unit is great! Cost was $190 and my buddy installed it for $150. The Detroits front and rear performed very well off-road. Steering really wasn't affected too bad on the trail, but you did lose some turning ability. You also have to get used to the metalic "crack" noise when the front and rear lockers let loose and your butt slides to one side.
Locker Upgrades
One upgrade that I wanted once I got new axles installed was to have a locker that I could turn off when driving on the street. Street driving with a Detroit in the rear axle takes experience and having a daughter nearing driving age made me install something safer for driving on the pavement. Besides, I was getting tired of being embarrassed from the Detroit lettin' go in a parking lot with dozens of by-standers jumping out of the way.
The ARB air compressor for the front and rear lockers was installed in the location where the stock windshield washer bag was before, right on the drivers side fender well. It turned out to be a very good and convenient location to mount it.
Dana 44 Front Axle Upgrade
After having the Dana 30 axles in the Jeepster for more than 6 years, I wanted to upgrade to an axle that wouldn't break and that would allow me to mount up bigger tires. The tires I wanted were 37" Goodyear MT/R muds and are huge compared to my 33" tires. In order to minimize all possible damage and breakage, I had Foothill Offroad build the axles with their High steering kit and new chromemoly heavy-duty tie rod/drag-links. The axles were built with one-ton parts such as these spring plates and U-bolts, which are beefy.
Dana 60 Rear Axle Upgrade
After dealing with the original and then the built-up Dana 44 rear axle issues for too many times, I decided that it was time to upgrade the axle. My reasons were the same as upgrading the front; bigger tires and no breakage. Both of the axles were built by Foothill Offroad Products in Auburn, CA. They were made to my specifications, which were: 58" front and 57" rear widths, 4.56 gears, disc brakes, Dutchman one-piece shafts and ARB Air lockers.
Brakes Upgrade
One other objective of my new axle upgrade was to make the Jeepster safer, not only by having wider axles, but by putting in disc brakes all around. The front Dana 44 axle has a Chevy rotor/caliper setup. Foothill Offroad chose to install on the rear Dana 60 axle the Teraflex Disc brake kit which uses a Ford Explorer setup with e-brake in the rear and. The axles were made up with Ford style shock mounts, which in my opinion hang down way too low. We'll see how long they last on the trails.
Here is a front-to-front, before (33" BFG Muds) and after comparion photo of the Jeepster with the new axles, 37" Goodyear MT/R tires and the Bushwacker Pocket Flares installed.
