More front D60 questions

[jpotts]

I've been looking for a donor D60 for the front of my TJ and have a couple more questions. I know that 78 and 79 Ford high pinion axles are the best donors for a TJ, but do I really need one from these years? The D60s from other model year Fords don't have the same offset, right? Some have ball joints instead of kingpins. Can I have another kingpin axle narrowed? Can I just cut off ball joint knuckles and replace them with some aftermarket kingpin knuckles? Are there any other things that I need to be concerned about?

Thanks for any help.

[TRLR8TDTJ]

You can run one from 81-91 if you run coilovers, or air shocks. My plan is if I cant find 78-79 I am going to get pre 91 these are still king pin. I will cut down long side to be the same as long side on 78-79. Then I can get over the counter shafts, and be at like 67wms or so to match the rear. I have seen this done before on Pirate4x4.

Kyle

[desertfabmotors]

I've been looking for a donor D60 for the front of my TJ and have a couple more questions. I know that 78 and 79 Ford high pinion axles are the best donors for a TJ, but do I really need one from these years? The D60s from other model year Fords don't have the same offset, right? Some have ball joints instead of kingpins. Can I have another kingpin axle narrowed? Can I just cut off ball joint knuckles and replace them with some aftermarket kingpin knuckles? Are there any other things that I need to be concerned about?

Thanks for any help.

Answer to your questions.? is Yes

[1toughxj]

85-91 is still kingpin although the diff is roughly 3.5 inches over to the driverside. This doesn't make it a good candidate to run full width on a TJ/XJ.... I took an 85-91 HP D60 and narrowed roughly 3" off the long side which puts the diff in the right place.

[jpotts]

You can run one from 81-91 if you run coilovers, or air shocks. My plan is if I cant find 78-79 I am going to get pre 91 these are still king pin. I will cut down long side to be the same as long side on 78-79. Then I can get over the counter shafts, and be at like 67wms or so to match the rear. I have seen this done before on Pirate4x4.

Kyle

The 78-79s that I have found are mostly all from the rust belt and look like crap. They're getting old. the decent ones that I've seen are going for like $2000. I think I'd rather buy an aftermarket assembly before dropping $2000 for an axle that I'll still need to modify to get in my rig.

I do plan on running coilovers, so that's cool. There are a lot more options given those years.

Thanks