Just aquired this 79' J10!

[COfsthun]

This is my newly aquired J10 Pickup with the Auto Transmission and Quadra-Trac.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Dubbed/CIMG0077.jpg

I'm doing some research to see if I can find out exactly what this thing has as far as the GM or AMC TH400 transmission and does it have the Dana 44 Diffs front and rear. I'm not sure if it's the 119in or 131in wheelbase so if you can tell by looking that would help because the truck is in Washington State and I'm in Texas. It has the AMC 360 and I'm planning on building this truck to use for 4 wheeling and get as much articulation out of it as I can. I'm going to spend about $8,000 completely rebuilding the motor, trans, suspension, New Paint, and New Interior.

From the research I've done so far I'm looking at the SOA rear and a 4 or 6" lift with 35" tires. I am really wondering if I go with the Detroit Lockers front and rear or should I find an air locker since this truck will be driven on the road some also. I really need some input on Differentials because I don't know anything about them other than the basics. I'm also looking to get a 401 to rebuild and drop in it and I might even rebuild the transmission. We'll see how far I can make my money take me on this.

Any help would be really great, Thanks!

[learfxr]

Nice truck. You sure picked one far enough away from Texas. When you go to get it you should get a 6" lift from BJ's and save the $200 shipping it will cost to get the lift kit sent to Texas. I'm in the middle of rebuilding my J10's manual transmission and NP208 transfer case. My engine runs good as of right now, but it was in a field for a few years and has yet to be driven, just run in the shop. I can't offer much info on your truck, mine's an 82 and I'm just learning about them myself. Mine has a D44 front and AMC 20 rear axle. The center housing is easy to tell the difference, but since you are not near the truck it would be hard to tell. Plus, your year may have different options than mine. I think your truck looks like a short bed, mines a long. The other guys will have much more info! This site is a wealth of knowledge!

[COfsthun]

Well the truck is sitting at my Dads house because he was the original owner. I'm almost 100% sure it has the Dana 44's front and rear for the 74-79's and from someone else I talked to said that in 79 and with the Quadra-trac 4wd it has the Dana 44's. I know it's a long way away but I get out of the Air Force Next year and I'm saving all the money from my next deployment to build this truck. When I get out I'm going to go up there and work on it and then I'll take it with me where my wife ends up getting orders to.

I'm just doing all the research to build this thing so I can have some fun!

[learfxr]

Ah, that makes more sense that it's in the family. BJ's Offroad is in Washington State I believe, and that's one of the greatest sources for parts. There have been posts lately that talked about the QT being a pain. Janey has gone through a couple from what I read. The members can shed light on that issue. Tad has parts and info on the SOA for the front and shackle flip for the rear, something like that, I'm not up on that info I'm just going to use a leaf spring kit on mine. If you want to spend the money I'd use air locker in front, I won't be buying one, but sounds like you would benefit from it. There are tons of mods to do if you are interested. Rear disk brake conversion, better alternators, ignition upgrades, the 401 is very popular of course. All of these have lots of info on the forum. I've been reading this stuff for hours each day and I'm starting to have meltdown from deciding which mods I want and trying to learn about them.

[COfsthun]

Well I think I'm going to go with the SOA and Shackle flip with a 4" lift or I even saw a 6" lift here somewhere today. I mainly want to run 35" tires and have as much articulation to do some good slower speed of roading. I've done the Texas Mudding thing already when i had a 94 Full Size Bronco and that was enough. Is QT the Quadra-Trac? I keep seeing it everywhere.

Thanks

[learfxr]

SOA and shackle flip is supposed to be worth 6-7 inches of lift, if you add lift springs on top of that you will be in for more work. Some guys have done it though. You should easily fit 35's with 6" of lift from what I've read. That's my plan, 6" lift springs and 35's.

[COfsthun]

OK so now I understand. I thought if you go with a 4" spring lift and then do the SOA/shackle flip that you got 6-7". Thanks for clearing me up.

So would my 79 J10 have locking hubs on the wheels or are they always locked. The reason I'm asking is because If it does then i can go ahead and do the Detroit Lockers on both the front and rear but if not then I won't.

Thanks

[Tad]

...I'm doing some research to see if I can find out exactly what this thing has as far as the GM or AMC TH400 transmission...
It's a TH400 that was made with the AMC bell housing pattern, so you can't just bolt up a GM engine, but internally it's the same (except your version has a QTrac specific rear output shaft, it only matches up with that Tcase but can be changed out).

...does it have the Dana 44 Diffs front and rear...
Pretty sure it does (I'm not that famialer with stuff that new).

...I'm not sure if it's the 119in or 131in wheelbase...
Looks like a longbed to me but from the angle of the pic it's hard to tell. Nice shell BTW, hope it's in good shape, those are hard to find.

...so far I'm looking at the SOA rear and a 4 or 6" lift with 35" tires...
The SOA conversion just applies to the front (rear is already) and as mentioned nets between 6-7" depending on spring condition. The rear can be shackle flipped with a kit or make new hangers (axle perches move also) and relocate them under the frame to match the front height. 35" tires will fit fine at that point.
You mentioned articulation so you may want to add some clearance after that with a body lift, fender trimming or some spring upgrades.

So would my 79 J10 have locking hubs on the wheels or are they always locked...
Stock with the Qtrac Tcase would not have come with manual locking hubs, but, lots of stuff gets swapped and changed on these things over the years.
Someone could have put manual hubs on it with the addition of a part time Tcase kit, someone could have just stuck some on there for fun thinking they would help with milage (a myth, but it happens and sometimes they destroy the Tcase in the process).
A lot of that stuff will just have to be visually and phisically verified once you have your hands on it.

$8K is a lot of money in my book, is the truck a daily driver currently?

[will e]

I like the truck!

If it is full time 4wd (no PT kit installed) then you don't want to put anything except a manual (ARB/OX,etc) locker up front. You want the open diff action for your front tires when turning on the street.

[Elliott]

If the bed measures 7" it's on 119", 8" it's 131".

[COfsthun]

OK this truck is my Dads right now and he was the original owner and it only has what came stock he never added anything except mirrors and that shell that doesn't even match up. I didn't think it had the locking hubs I just thought I'd ask.

It isn't drivable at all right now because the interior is moldy and the engine sometimes starts. It needs a lot of work but this truck has been in my family since it was new and I remember growing up riding around with my Dad Pulling people out of Ditches in the winter time and going 4 wheeling in the summer.

So it would be worth it to spend the money and get the ARB air lockers since this truck will be my daily driver but I plan on spending a lot of time off road.

Thanks

[Mephistopoles]

8G's is a **** sight cheaper than a new truck would cost, and you'll end up with a much better truck!

[COfsthun]

I apologize for misreading your post I was unclear of what you meant.
Thanks

[trailsforus]

umm dude...thats wasnt rude at all. reread his post. He is saying that for 8 grand you will build up a awesome FSJ. For 8 grand you could get a normal ford or something and have less of a truck.



-Dillon

[COfsthun]

I'm sorry I didn't read his post right I thought he meant that I should just buy a new truck and that it would be better. I've already done that once and I really regret getting rid of my old YJ Jeep when I had $5,000 to put into it I went out and bought a bigger truck with that.

[Mephistopoles]

Sorry, my typing fingers got lazy. What I was trying to say is that you can build a much nicer truck for $8G than you could ever buy. For one thing, it would be custom for you. For another, it is as depreciated as it will ever be. Whatever you could purchase for $8K today will likely be worth about 1/3 that in five years. Your Jeep truck would still be worth probably 1/2 to 2/3 what you had in it, if you do a good job and don't trash it.

[COfsthun]

Thank you for posting again I feel bad that I misunderstood you. I have had problems with other forums in the past where people go around just trying to get as many posts so they talk trash all the time. I want to do this truck right and so I'm working on a spreadsheet of all the parts I can come up with to replace with either new or upgraded parts to keep it around $8,000. This truck was bought new by my Dad and he always wanted to lift it and make it a 4 wheeling toy so that's what I'm going to do.

[trailsforus]

Rest easy about this place. We are all here for the same reason and our collective wisdom isnt wasted (for the most part) on bickering. I have been apart of so many message board throughout my young life and this place is top notch. Glad to have another enthusiast aboard!



-Dillon

[will e]

With a SOA and shackle flip (your best bet for a lift IMHO) you will be able to get some pretty big tires. What size tire are you looking at? I ask because the stock axles will start to get kind of 'iffy' at the 35" mark depending on how you wheel it. Since you are going to go for expensive lockers, you might look at what axles you choose to put them in.

A D60 swap up front is a popular modification and will give you lots of strength.

Good plan to start planning now and collecting parts for when you get out of the Air Force. And THANKS FOR SERVING!

[COfsthun]

Well I'm going on Deployment here soon and when I get back I'm going to have $10,000 saved up so I'm going to put 8 of that into the jeep so I can't really start getting parts till I get back and then I'll have about 4 months before I get out. I'm only planning on going for 35" tires and I really don't think I'll be pushing this truck too hard since I'm going to have it painted nice too so I don't want to roll it or really damage the body.

I know that sounds like I shouldn't even go wheeling in it but if I damage something then It'll get fixed but I'm going to be trying not to damage the body since the truck still doesn't have any dents.

[janie]

Welcome to the madness. I think it's great that you want to keep and enjoy a truck, that your Dad bought new back in 79. Janie and quadratrac's are like oil and water. ;)

So I'll end this by saying thank you for your service to our country. Stay safe and come home to TX soon.

[Thumpszilla]

Good luck with the truck and thanks for serving.