Build Direction Figured Out - Couple Of Questions

So after hashing out my build plans with my wife and getting the ok, , i have bought a set of narrow track wagoneer axles with drum brakes for $300. I am picking them up tomorrow.

My plans are to do a mild lift, 3" maybe, install the wagoneer axles, convert my D18 to a D20 as i believe its the D20 case in my 1970, and put it on 35s, maybe up to 37s. I want to have a good all around cruiser and multipurpose rig and my wife wants to go mudding on occasion with some trail riding with the family.

The wagoneer axles i am getting are drum brakes all around. Should these have the 11" brakes that are easier to service? how hard would it be to update to disc brakes from easily found and cheap parts?

ive also read that some D18s are the HD versions and are in D20 housings. Can i swap the internals and make my 18 a 20 easily enough or would a swap of entire units be needed? im hoping this is something like buying a D20 rebuild kit and an output or something to convert it and rebuild my t case at the same time?

future plans are a efi 4.3 swap with a sm465 but my 225 was rebuilt about 2 years ago according the the previous owner and is running fine so thats further down the list. maybe a 350 but we will see what deals land in my lap.

 

buy a 20 . forget trying to use the 18 parts

 

^This.
20s are 3x cheaper than what you'd have into the 18 swap.

 

cool. thanks.

also, will the driveshaft yokes need to be changes or new driveshafts altogether for the axle swap?

 

What year do the narrow tracks come out of?

 

Ignore driveshafts until you figure out how everything fits. Tom Woods will make you a fantastic value priced shaft that will be perfect. It will cost a bit less than 300 bucks, but worth every penny. Don't build your jeep around a wore out shaft.

 

I agree on not building around an old shaft. I was more asking to see if it was a quick swap or if I needed to plan accordingly before making the move.

 

Picked up the axles today. Fronts have disc brakes. I was mistaken in the pic. The slow process of gathering parts and rebuilding will now begin.

 

With disk brakes, they are '74 or later. The fronts are GM (Delco?) disk brakes, and the rears drums are Delco. The Delco drums are easy to service, but they are not the same as the Bendix brakes often found on CJs. Should be 6 lug - you'll need new wheels.

 

It is a 6 lug and they came with some dry rotted rollers on 6 lug wagon wheels.

 

1974-1979 for passenger drop with disk brakes. Later Wagoneers were driver's side drop. Automatic transmission rear axles were typically offset (with Quadratrac) and manual transmission axles were centered.

Wagoneers were geared for the highway ... 2.73, 3.07, 3.31 and 3.54 were typical ratios. I believe the 2.73 gears did not arrive until after 1980, however.

 

looks like the tags say its a 3.54 set

on the brakes, being a GM part, does that cross reference to something like a c/k10 part? is there a conversion available that uses the same discs and calipers on the rear for the sake of spare parts?

 

We're 3.73s available? I had a wagoneer front axle in my PU with 3.73s. I assumed it was factory gearing.

 

Depends on the year and model. I don't think there were any Wagoneers with open front axles that were any better than 3.54. The TSM has a table, but we'd have to look at the book for every possible year to say 100%. Closed knuckle, probably yes.

What kind of truck? A Wagoneer front axle is too narrow for a J-truck. You could put it in there but the wheels would be way in from the fenders. It'd look strange.

 

'52 Willys

 

It can be done, but it's not a simple junkyard swap. There are aftermarket kits that give you a bolt-on bracket and some special rotors. The main problem is the parking brake; typically the kit will use the El Dorado calipers with a mechanical brake built in, but apparently they are a pain. Search the Wagoneer sites ifsja.org and fsjnetwork.com

IMO the Delco drum brakes are fine for the rears. Most of the braking is done by the front wheels, since most of the weight transfers to the fronts in heavy braking. The hard part is to keep the rears from locking up with hard braking, not to apply more force. These Delco drum brake parts are cheap too.

 

well, the full size bronco i bought looks like it will not have a title so there is a 5.0 efi engine and T19 transmission to drop in as well