JAMES!
so here is what i am working on. this jeep really is more of a street rod, i really didn't want the weight of a 1-ton axle up front. the spider9 housing might be lighter than a d60 housing, but are still REALLY heavy vs a stock 9" housing or even vs a d44. i built a junkyard 944 with a stock stamped housing and machined stock knuckles recently that made a shockingly light housing. plus the fab'd 9er housings are all like $1000+ now, not the $350 they used to be. got me thinking, can i just build a light weight version and for way cheaper?
so the housing is built to "stock+" strength, while still looking sexy, easier to fab on mounts, and generally being a fun project.
i found the 3rd for download and built off it. i designed a few check gauge plates to verify bend angles, and should only need the jig rod i use for welding on axle ends to fixture it all.
then a completely different direction ... one of the guys said "what if we used the entire tube with welded spindle from a 14b" basically just cut off the cast housing and weld em into my center housing. so i designed a center with heavier plate, wider in case the tubes aren't long enough (investigating), and for the bigger 3.5" tube dia.
i built the model as a top-down, so a few changes and all the parts updated around it. i love it when a plan comes together!
