New FSJ and planning changes

[Stew4706]

Hi everyone, i have pulled the trigger and bought a 73 Wagoneer! Of course i have not even taken delivery and i am planning some mods. The first is disc brakes up front - my thought is to pick up a 74+ Dana 44 with disc brakes. The challenge is then 5 lug vs 6 lug. Any help with pros and cons?

Thanks!

[tgreese]

Hi everyone, i have pulled the trigger and bought a 73 Wagoneer! Of course i have not even taken delivery and i am planning some mods. The first is disc brakes up front - my thought is to pick up a 74+ Dana 44 with disc brakes. The challenge is then 5 lug vs 6 lug. Any help with pros and cons?

Thanks!

You can put Ford hubs on the later axle and keep 5 lugs. Not sure of the details - a search will probably turn up the answer. This era also had changes in how the springs mount to the frame, ie "post mount" ... a '73 is the oldest style as I recall, and may not work with the later axles without moving the springs.

[joe]

Young'un huh? Don't buy anything till you get the car. Then decide what you need. Don't be afraid of drum brakes. If in good condition and set up properly the work very well. I've completely rebuilt the drum brakes on 2 of my J-trucks(72 and 73) and they worked excellent.

[babywag]

I swapped in pair of D44?s from ?77 under my ?73.
If you find & swap a pair from later one, less issues.

[lkmarsh]

You sure your 73 doesn't already have discs? Mine did.

[KaiserMan]

No 73's had factory disc brakes. Those showed up in '74. I'd try driving it with the drums. They are perfectly adequate for normal driving.

[babywag]

My '73 D30 front axle was neglected, needed a lot of work.
Brakes worn out, long TRE bent from mild trail adventure WEAK skimpy dude! The D44 axles swap made a lot of sense vs. spending a bunch of $ on an axle that was a turd.
D44 parts are cheap and readily available anywhere, IIRC the D30 closed knuckle stuff is only available used?

[wiley-moeracing]

To swap to 5 lug rotors on a 44 front end you will need 79ish ford front rotors from a bronco/f150 4wd, spindles, ford hub seal and ford inner bearing set. the outer is the same as jeep dana 44. Use the caliper mounts and calipers for the jeep front end, the ford rotors are thinner but will work with calipers and brake pads.

[tgreese]

My '73 D30 front axle was neglected, needed a lot of work.
Brakes worn out, long TRE bent from mild trail adventure WEAK skimpy dude! The D44 axles swap made a lot of sense vs. spending a bunch of $ on an axle that was a turd.
D44 parts are cheap and readily available anywhere, IIRC the D30 closed knuckle stuff is only available used?

The closed-knuckle axles are a pain in terms of maintenance. Every Jeep with closed knuckles that was not previously owned by an enthusiast needs the knuckles gone through - seals, cleaning, special lube, kingpin brgs, TREs, plus inferior brakes. You'll probably pay more in parts to refurbish the existing axle than the replacement axle will cost. The spindle bolts sometimes pull out too, which is another big project. If you can switch to an open knuckle axle, they are stronger overall (gears, axles, housing - all stronger), much lower maintenance, and have a noticeably sharper turning radius. Good deal if you can make it happen.

[rang-a-stang]

I found that most pre-delivery decisions go away as soon as you get it. You will find all the other things it needs and they eat up your budget/time well before you get to the things you thought you would.

Wait til you get it, start it, drive it, register it.

[Stew4706]

Thanks for the advice!