k frame drop braket

wolfman1722 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:44 am

Has any one tried to do their own k frame drop I was thinking about trying to do my own 2 inch drop because 2000 from jba is just out of my price range

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:28 am

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=12755

However I'd bet you can break $2000 worth of parts fairly easily - so be careful

Jack Ryan · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:41 am

I have a 1 inch drop on my kj. I did mostly what Kjhawaii did except that I used 1 inch steel instead of 1/2 inch steel. You also need longer K frame bolts and a way to fab up a bracket to go between the upper A arm and the knuckle. I can send you pics of my bracket if you want. I did not lower the trans cross member or lower the steering box. I would imagine that for a 2 inch drop you would need to do both.
You can see that JBA's kit is mostly a set of 2 inch bars and hardware for the frame, and A arm/knuckle extender bracket and a trans cross member drop. I'm not sure what they did with the steering shaft. It's difficult to see from the website. So far I have 5 inches of lift and the drop is doing well.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:49 am

Jack Ryan wrote:

I have a 1 inch drop on my kj. I did mostly what Kjhawaii did except that I used 1 inch steel instead of 1/2 inch steel. You also need longer K frame bolts and a way to fab up a bracket to go between the upper A arm and the knuckle. I can send you pics of my bracket if you want. I did not lower the trans cross member or lower the steering box. I would imagine that for a 2 inch drop you would need to do both.
You can see that JBA's kit is mostly a set of 2 inch bars and hardware for the frame, and A arm/knuckle extender bracket and a trans cross member drop. I'm not sure what they did with the steering shaft. It's difficult to see from the website. So far I have 5 inches of lift and the drop is doing well.

Your killing your rear driveline angles without dropping the trans/t-case mount the same as the cradle and will damage your t-case,driveshaft,and rear end since you are now pointing the rear t-case output up and creating more extreme angle that the u-joints will not like for very long.Oh and when you drop the cradle you automatically drop the rack&pinion steering gear since it is bolted to the cradle.Just remember also that any lift(and lift gained by larger tires) is 100% lost with a cradle drop,so basically kinda pointless and to much hassle to deal with all the problems inherent to doing a cradle drop.

Got pics of your KJ? It's odd that myself and a few others live in the springs and have never seen you yet,besides the one failed RK lifted KJ never seen one lifted any higher then a Frankinlifted KJ.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:46 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

Jack Ryan wrote:

I have a 1 inch drop on my kj. I did mostly what Kjhawaii did except that I used 1 inch steel instead of 1/2 inch steel. You also need longer K frame bolts and a way to fab up a bracket to go between the upper A arm and the knuckle. I can send you pics of my bracket if you want. I did not lower the trans cross member or lower the steering box. I would imagine that for a 2 inch drop you would need to do both.
You can see that JBA's kit is mostly a set of 2 inch bars and hardware for the frame, and A arm/knuckle extender bracket and a trans cross member drop. I'm not sure what they did with the steering shaft. It's difficult to see from the website. So far I have 5 inches of lift and the drop is doing well.

Your killing your rear driveline angles without dropping the trans/t-case mount the same as the cradle and will damage your t-case,driveshaft,and rear end since you are now pointing the rear t-case output up and creating more extreme angle that the u-joints will not like for very long.Oh and when you drop the cradle you automatically drop the rack&pinion steering gear since it is bolted to the cradle.Just remember also that any lift(and lift gained by larger tires) is 100% lost with a cradle drop,so basically kinda pointless and to much hassle to deal with all the problems inherent to doing a cradle drop.

Got pics of your KJ? It's odd that myself and a few others live in the springs and have never seen you yet,besides the one failed RK lifted KJ never seen one lifted any higher then a Frankinlifted KJ.

So basically your saying that doing a drop is pointless bc of all the hassel thats going to come and bite you in the stupid?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:53 pm

Quicksilversurf917 wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

Jack Ryan wrote:

I have a 1 inch drop on my kj. I did mostly what Kjhawaii did except that I used 1 inch steel instead of 1/2 inch steel. You also need longer K frame bolts and a way to fab up a bracket to go between the upper A arm and the knuckle. I can send you pics of my bracket if you want. I did not lower the trans cross member or lower the steering box. I would imagine that for a 2 inch drop you would need to do both.
You can see that JBA's kit is mostly a set of 2 inch bars and hardware for the frame, and A arm/knuckle extender bracket and a trans cross member drop. I'm not sure what they did with the steering shaft. It's difficult to see from the website. So far I have 5 inches of lift and the drop is doing well.

Your killing your rear driveline angles without dropping the trans/t-case mount the same as the cradle and will damage your t-case,driveshaft,and rear end since you are now pointing the rear t-case output up and creating more extreme angle that the u-joints will not like for very long.Oh and when you drop the cradle you automatically drop the rack&pinion steering gear since it is bolted to the cradle.Just remember also that any lift(and lift gained by larger tires) is 100% lost with a cradle drop,so basically kinda pointless and to much hassle to deal with all the problems inherent to doing a cradle drop.

Got pics of your KJ? It's odd that myself and a few others live in the springs and have never seen you yet,besides the one failed RK lifted KJ never seen one lifted any higher then a Frankinlifted KJ.

So basically your saying that doing a drop is pointless bc of all the hassel thats going to come and bite you in the stupid?

Pretty much and you gain zero added clearance.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:40 pm

but then why is JBA selling a 2in kit if it doesnt so anything? Like I wouldnt want to get something that does like nothing for my car....

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:12 pm

Hi Jack - Welcome to LOST-
it would be interesting to see some pictures of what you've done and how it's turned out.

As to Quicksilver
the cradle drop by itself doesn't help ground clearance - however by reducing the angle of the CV shafts -
it will allow a larger lift and therefore bigger tires - those improve the ground clearance.

but you're then limited by the strength and gearing availability for the D30A

i.e. 35" tires will kill your performance with only 4.10 gears available and increase the probability of it breaking.

the ~32's you can use with a Frankenlift are about the biggest that make sense unless you change the Diff.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:14 pm

Quicksilversurf917 wrote:

but then why is JBA selling a 2in kit if it doesnt so anything? Like I wouldnt want to get something that does like nothing for my car....

That cradle drop is for the 6" lift to keep the CV's from self destructing,it also includes spacers to drop the tranny/t-case mount to keep the rear driveline from killing itself also.Since 32" tires is about the biggest you can go with the gearing available for the front D30A,and the fact the D30A will not live offroad with anything bigger you gain zero clearance by doing a cradle drop which is the #1 reason to lift and fit bigger tires.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:43 pm

oooooooohhhhhhh ok I got ya. I understand it now.

03Cactus · **Joined:** Mon Mar 09, 2009 8:03 pm **Posts:** 49

Has anyone actually had their front diff fail? I have seen a few folks on this forum talk about their own personal diff giving way but very few. Is this one of those 1 guy talked about it so now everyone knows it to be fact?
For example, on a TJ a D30 front axle is said to be completely unreliable and a disaster waiting to happen with big tires; however, all the SFA's I have seen on this forum use a D30 front axle and are running 35 and 36" tires.

Not judging, just commenting.

Lastly, a bracket drop does have some use. It does gain ground clearance. Just not as much as if a solid axle resided in the front (more things hanging low).

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:14 pm

03Cactus wrote:

Has anyone actually had their front diff fail? I have seen a few folks on this forum talk about their own personal diff giving way but very few. Is this one of those 1 guy talked about it so now everyone knows it to be fact?
For example, on a TJ a D30 front axle is said to be completely unreliable and a disaster waiting to happen with big tires; however, all the SFA's I have seen on this forum use a D30 front axle and are running 35 and 36" tires.

Not judging, just commenting.

Lastly, a bracket drop does have some use. It does gain ground clearance. Just not as much as if a solid axle resided in the front (more things hanging low).

There have been a few front D30A's that have blown,they are aluminum after all.Not one SFA on this board has a TJ front axle in,they all used a XJ HPD30 axle which is stronger then the TJ D30.Oh and most are using 33" tires,one that is running 35" has yet to have problems(but will)and plans on upgrading,the other one sold his SFA KJ with a bent HPD30 housing.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:29 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

the other one sold his SFA KJ with a bent HPD30 housing.

who was that?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:33 pm

Quicksilversurf917 wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

the other one sold his SFA KJ with a bent HPD30 housing.

who was that?

ARBSeth,had the green '02 SFA KJ,sold to a guy in Alaska I believe.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 12, 2009 11:53 pm

Isnt he still on here tho? I remember seeing a few posts?

But getting back on topic....how do you bend your housing even with a HPD30?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 6:46 am

Quicksilversurf917 wrote:

Isnt he still on here tho? I remember seeing a few posts?

But getting back on topic....how do you bend your housing even with a HPD30?

To large of tires for the axle.It's a common problem and a few companies have come up with a fix by using internal sleaves to make the axle tubes thicker and weld on braces for the inner "C's",the also make them for the JK front axles.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:53 am

thats a smart idea. But if your going to go over like 32's or 33's why would u just a do SFA? I mean thats what I would do

InCommando · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:11 pm

Now you see the fallicy of thinking that a HP D30 is "equal to" a better axle, like a D44. I have read that exact thing on the 'net so many times, and I kind of chuckle when I do. Same size axle u-joints in the later years and a more optimal location of the pinion on the ring gear (the only thing the "HP" effects) does not make it the equal to a better axle because of all of the other factors where the better axle is superior. Even a LP d44 is a way better choice. They came under 3/4 ton trucks with 32" tires from the factory, and somehow do not bend. :lol:

There have been enough D30a's explode in the exact same way to show me that there is an issue. Many of them were on stock rigs, at that. But as I have posted before, the D30a is based on the D30, an axle that for 35 years has been considered a weak link good enough just until you could swap it. So the d30a being kinda crappy should not surprise anyone.

SFA guys should get in line with the XJ, Wrangler, Nissan, & Toy folks in trying to find a set of FSJ axles for their swaps.

Quicksilversurf917 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:39 pm

InCommando wrote:

Now you see the fallicy of thinking that a HP D30 is "equal to" a better axle, like a D44. I have read that exact thing on the 'net so many times, and I kind of chuckle when I do. Same size axle u-joints in the later years and a more optimal location of the pinion on the ring gear (the only thing the "HP" effects) does not make it the equal to a better axle because of all of the other factors where the better axle is superior. Even a LP d44 is a way better choice. They came under 3/4 ton trucks with 32" tires from the factory, and somehow do not bend. :lol:

There have been enough D30a's explode in the exact same way to show me that there is an issue. Many of them were on stock rigs, at that. But as I have posted before, the D30a is based on the D30, an axle that for 35 years has been considered a weak link good enough just until you could swap it. So the d30a being kinda crappy should not surprise anyone.

SFA guys should get in line with the XJ, Wrangler, Nissan, & Toy folks in trying to find a set of FSJ axles for their swaps.

or just go D60 :roll:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:42 pm

Nuff said about D30's,LP or HP.......................

And that is why I'm going with a mid '70's Ford HP44 that has 1/2" thick axle tubes,not bending those anytime soon(or ever).

k frame drop braket

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