m1028 cucv axle swap questions

[Flingarrows]

You can get spring perches and disc brake brackets here: http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com , http://www.greatlakeoffroad.com , http://www.bluetorchfab.com .

You may want to do a quick search on this board, I think I remember reading about clearance issue and clocking the disc brackets

[Flingarrows]

I moved the axle perches on the rear and used the stock springs. You will have some clearance issues on the rear axle with brake calipers. You will need to rotate them down and under the spring (not a big deal). You should be fine with 3.5 inches of back spacing on the rear. My wheels have 4.5 and the tires clear the leaf spring by about 3/4 inch (a little closer than I like)

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Doh!, thats where I read it

[Troop ISP]

There are several places that sell new perches for the Dana 60/14 bolt. I got mine from Ruff Stuff Specialties. Great guys to work with. Talk to Dan. They have some longer than stock perches for the rear that will help control axle wrap. Although with the stock M715 springs being as stiff as they are I doubt you have to worry about that.

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/...47a23fcc556ea6

This site will get you to there complete swap over kits or individual pieces. One thing I would recommend is that you either try to save your outside rear U bolts (the ones with bends in them) or find someone who can bend your new ones. With the 14 bolt being a bit narrower, you will definetely not be able to run the heavier U bolts without a bend.

[Troop ISP]

Hey Fling, great minds must think alike. I see you listed RuffStuff also. Their parts worked great and the service was the best I've dealt with.

[andrew]

I'm going with ruffstuffspecialties for the perchs and the rear disc mounting bracket with the bend to stay away from the spacers. Thanks again for the info, i'm starting to really enjoy this forum!
I'm still undecided on my tire and rim size. I was thinking at first a 42"x15"x16.5" tire on a 16.5"x12" rim with 3.5" backspacing. Now i'm leaning towards 42"x14"or15"x16" tires on 16"x10" or 16"x12" rims with 4" backspacing. I hate being wishy washy, i just want it to look right and fit right when i spend the money. decisions, decisions.
Andy

[Troop ISP]

It really just depends on the look you want and the use. I had 16.5x12's with Mickey Thompson 39x15x16.5's. The rims had 4.5 BS. The wheels and tires stuck outside the fenders about 3 inches. I though it looked great as far as stance.

I sold those because they no longer made that tire and I could not find a spare. Also, 16.5's are getting harder to find as manufacturers discontinue some of their 16.5 lines.

I went with 42x14.50x17 Goodyear MTR's because I wanted something both great off road but good on road. In 42's the choice was 17 or 20 inch rims.

If you go with a 16 inch rim you will have many choices. A narrower rim, say 10 inch, will be better for off roading because you are less like to unseat the bead when lowering air pressures. But, the wide rims look cool.

Shopping all the options is half the fun. I looked a lot at other trucks and read about them. I shopped all of the custom wheel and tire shops on line. I looked for months.

Have fun and don't forget those pictures.

[Troop ISP]

Hey Andy, one other thing. You mentioned 15 inch rims. I don't think they will have the clearance you need for your brake calipers. You will need to do some checking on that. You might be anle to run them with some grinding of the calipers - not sure. Someone else here could probably answer that one for you.

[andrew]

Yea, i'm going to stick with the 16"x10" or 16"x12" rim with 4" backspacing. I really don't want to grind on the calipers. So far "US Wheel" is the only 16"x12" rim i can find with the 4" backspacing. Going from a 10" to a 12" wide rim, the price goes from $100 to $200 per rim. I'm going to keep looking though,surely someone makes this size in a plain black steel rim. I want to run a 14" to 15" wide tire in maybe a radial.
I'll be taking pictures as i go. I want to put some on here as it sits now. We tried to post some on here but my Avatar is as far as we got. We need to put some more time into posting pictures. Andy

[Troop ISP]

Marsh Wheels makes a 16x12 for $149. Check their web site. Many of the guys on the Zone have run them. I think they will set your back spacing how you want them. They build the wheel to your specs. See the link below.

http://www.rockcrawler-mrt.com/off%2...16%20inch.html

[andrew]

Hello fellow zoners,
I finally started my axle swap (or my dad did since its parked in the middle of his shop). We have the rear axle out and the disc brake conversion pretty much done. We mocked up the rotors and calipers but took them back off to get ready to weld new perchs on. We also took the front hanger on the rear leaf springs off to flip it. This proved to be a pain in the rear. The best way to get them off after spending 2.5-3hrs on the first side and 45 minutes on the second side is: 1st: use a cut off wheel to cut the heads off the rivets. 2nd : use a drill to bore a decent hole about to the head of the rivet on the inside. 3rd: take a punch and knock them out. 4th: use a grinder or cutoff wheel to cut the weld off the center bolt on the inside of the frame only. Finally after considerable blood, sweat and aggravation take a large punch and knock the center bolt out from the inside of the frame. Whew...definatley alot easier said than done! Actually first should be remove the gas tank. Does anyone know if there is a hanger that i can use in conjunction with the rear shackle that will bolt on in case i ever want to or have to remove it again? Thanks, Andy