Junkyard 1 ton swap!

So I am usually terrible with documenting things but I’m going to try to be better about it with this project. Right now my pictures of the progress are kind of all over the place and I figured I’d start this thread to keep it organized and possibly help someone else who may want to attempt to tackle this project in the future. The pictures below are how the axles looked when I picked them up and how the jeep currently sits.






I started with the D60 tearing it down and cutting off all the bracketry as well as trimming the drivers side of the diff housing and welding the tubes to the cast. The amount of cast steel on the drivers side that needed to be cut away was no joke but I got it all cleaned up and prepped for the Artec truss kit.
















I had a bit of a learning curve using this new welder and figuring out wire speed but with some heat and patience I was able to weld the tubes to the housing and painted it to prevent it from rusting while I waited for the truss to come in.










Truss kit came in and it was time to mock it all up. The welds weren’t the prettiest but they’re decent enough.

tJKrider said:

What vehicle did the donor axles come from?

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The front is from an 05 super duty and the rear an 02 silverado 2500 gasser

Got the truss kit welded up and she looks Beefy! Once the front kit was welded on I started stripping off the brackets from the 14 bolt. The rear went much faster than the front getting it cleaned up. Motobilt makes a sweet 13 bolt shave cover that fixes the massive land anchor that is the factory 14 bolt cover. No shaving the gears or welding mild steel to the bottom of the diff after the fact.














The Barnes 4wd truss for the rear went on alright. It definitely wasn’t as seamless as the artec kit but it was much cheaper. Its all burned in and ready for the ARB’s and gears installed.

1o1Proof said:

Awesome work, hope you keep us updated!

What precautions did you take against bowing the axle tube? I’ve considered trussing my 44s, some say it’s no problem others guarantee failure.

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The truss I did slowly and bounced around doing different areas to keep from getting 1 spot too hot. The center section got pretty hot because you need to heat the cast to get a solid weld between cast and mild steel. Welding the truss on a 44 with it installed and weight on it i’d be concerned with but because the tubes are so thick on the tons and theres no outside stressors on it I just kept it cool by bouncing around. Sleeving your 44 would be easier and if you want to truss it I’d take it to a shop or remove the axle or at least remove the weight from it by putting the jeep frame on jack stands.

Little update on the axles, I’ve got both front and rear gears and lockers installed, tone rings installed on the hubs and rear rebuilt. The front currently has knuckles held on with the ball joint deletes waiting on hardware for the unit bearings then the shafts, unit bearings, and locking hubs can go back on. Pics are from last update til now

pc1p said:

I'm building my 14B right now as well... I just ordered a set of the Dorman "loaded backing plates". They're quite nice and reasonably priced if you're gonna replace yours.

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What are loaded backing plates?

got the unit bearings installed as well as the warn locking hubs. Other than brakes and steering linkages they're good to go! Its wild to see how they originally showed up and what they look like now side by side.

pc1p said:

I'm building my 14B right now as well... I just ordered a set of the Dorman "loaded backing plates". They're quite nice and reasonably priced if you're gonna replace yours.

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Nvm I just looked it up. I’m going with a line lock for a parking brake setup since I’ve had so many issues with my factory parking brake.