This shot shows how I positioned my hand throttle.
You can also see where I mounted my cell phone
After a few trips on the trail & reading through many other Jeep sites
web pages I decided a hand throttle was a good idea for me. I ordered mine
from Rubicon Express as everyone seems to. One of the 4x4 magazines I read
had a detailed installation featured. I also looked at the product review
by Rockcrawler
which is well laid out.
Installation: 1 Hour (it was very simple, I just
couldn't decide how I wanted to mount the cable to the throttle linkage. Since I have cruise control it was a bit more complicated than normal).
Cost: Rubicon Express Hand Throttle $ 29.95 US,
$44.92 CAN. Shipping charges from California $ 20.00 US, $30.00 CAN.
As I'm learning everything seems too expensive, but the product works
well.
As with everything in Jeep's, one thing leads to another & upgrades are
expensive :( When I bought my Jeep, I knew nothing about off-roading let
alone the importance of a solid set of axles, low (numerically high) gearing and
it's relation to performance, speed, crawl ratio etc..... Unfortunately as
a result I bought a Jeep with a Dana 35c rear axle. I was unaware of the
Dana 44 option and my dealer never mentioned it. So as I began to learn
more and more about Jeep's I knew that at sometime I'd be shopping for an
alternative axle to get me and my jeep where I pointed it.
I wasn't actually planning this upgrade for any specific time, especially
when I actually bought it. I knew I was often pushing the capabilities of
my little Dana 35c, but I always was somewhat gentle with it. When I
stumbled across the Dana 44 was the same week I bought Kathleen an engagement
ring!!! But you gotta do what you have to do & any responsible Jeeper
would not pass up a used (1998) TJ factory Dana 44 axle with Trak-loc!! if
the deal was available, would they? I didn't think so, so I scrounged up
the money I bought it.
As you can see it had much to be desired in the appearance
category when I first got it, however it still was only a two year old axle with
all factory control arm brackets, coil perches and complete brakes with
emergency cables. It was not used much at all in it's prior life, still
had original brake shoes, with NO corrosion inside the drums. The exterior
looked ruff as a result of it being stored.
To my disappointment the factory gear ratio of this axle was
3.55 (an odd ratio, leading me to believe it came from an automatic TJ ?).
I had 3.73 installed in my Jeep and was underpowered with them, so 3.55 was out
of the question. I had to do the gears! So, if I'm going to do the
gears what do I do?, do I buy a 3.73 set to match the front but still be unhappy
with the performance? Do I buy 4.10's the proper ratio for my 33" Claws,
committing myself to a 33" tire?? Or do I take this re-gearing as an
opportunity to re-gear & increase the size of my tires to 35"s?????? So I
ordered the 35" tires immediately, sourced
Precision Gear 4.56 gear
sets and install kits from National 4WD
and waited patiently :)
I knew I wanted lockers, the Trak-Loc that came in the axle was
unfortunately unusable since it was below the break size in carriers for a Dana
44. I believe the carrier break in a Dana 44 is 3.92, meaning all ratios
below that use one size carrier, all ratios above it use a different size
carrier. I had to make a decision then, buy a carrier for the 4.56 gear
set or buy lockers, at least the rear? I was constricted by my
responsibility to save some money before getting married, so the lockers have to
wait until next summer :( Oh well I was just excited to get BIGGER tires,
a better axle with a BIG set of axle shafts and some real gears! The Dana
44 axle is a very capable axle, it's ring gear is 8-1/2" in diameter with a
pinion shaft diameter of 1.375" and 26 splines. It's not unbreakable but
definitely capable.
Installation: Installing the gear set
wasn't very difficult, I had the assistance of a knowledgeable mechanic (thanks
Ted) and I read a lot of info prior. Half way through the gear install we
realized that the spider gears from the Trak-Loc carrier wouldn't work in an
open carrier, so I had to quickly source a set!!!!! Luckily I found a used
set within a day! The hardest part of installing the axle once painted &
prep'd was physically handling the monster! I knew going into the install
that I'd have to forfeit the factory ABS braking that my Dana 35c had, but I had
no affordable choice as tone rings for the Dana 44 axle shafts are difficult if
not impossible to find. All went well with the install, lining up the
control arms is always a chore, re-attaching the emergency brake cable is also
lots of fun, but all in all it was just a bolt in!
Cost: Axle was $1500.00 Canadian, the Gear sets and
rear carrier were $975.00 Canadian and the unexpected spider gear set for the
Dana 44 was $75.00 Canadian (used) for a grand total of $2550.00 Canadian.
Site Updated Oct 18th/2001
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