Artec Industries 1-ton axle swap: Who has done it?

Stuckless

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So to make a long story short, I have been present the opportunity of a set of freebie 1 tons from a 2012 ford F-350. Dana 60 front and sterling 10.5 in the rear, Been looking for swap kits and truss but the only thing i can seem to find are from Artec Industries. Anybody use these kits? Anybody done the triangulated 4 link? i would like to see how extensive a project like this would be before i become to committed. driving an 03 sport.
 
I'm assuming with that sort of setup you plan on running 37s or larger, stretching the wheelbase, and the works?

Because yes, what you're talking about doing is an extremely extensive (and expensive) project to say the least (y)
 
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I'm assuming with that sort of setup you plan on running 37s or larger, stretching the wheelbase, and the works?

Because yes, what you're talking about doing is an extremely extensive (and expensive) project to say the least (y)

Free axles=30k in mods. Not to include the tow rig and flat bed to take it to your spot.

so, set aside 80k easy if you want it all done “right”, with supporting mods. Been down this road, re-evaluate your needs. If 1tons are needed you wouldn’t ask what kit to bolt them into your Jeep. Not a slam, just saying it gets REAL when you go down this road.
 
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Last year I installed 1 tons & 40s under my LJ. I used Artec trusses & brackets. Excellent quality at a very reasonable price. Would recommend them to anyone. But @Chris and @Rubi04 are right. I did all the work myself (lots of welding). Spent months doing research. Took 4 months to do the actual work. And it still cost about $17,000 and can easily cost far more. If done right, you won't have to trailer it everywhere, but that more research.

Free 1 tons is a pretty sweet deal, but it's the tip of the iceberg of effort and money that you'd have to put in if you want to make use of that deal.
 
Free axles=30k in mods. Not to include the tow rig and flat bed to take it to your spot.

so, set aside 80k easy if you want it all done “right”, with supporting mods. Been down this road, re-evaluate your needs. If 1tons are needed you wouldn’t ask what kit to bolt them into your Jeep. Not a slam, just saying it gets REAL when you go down this road.

I agree. While I have no doubt some fabricator could probably do a junkyard scrap build for cheaper, the majority of us would spend easily upwards of 30k to do this “right”.

It’s a rabbit hole of epic proportions, just ask @toximus.

Coilovers, steering, stretches, etc. it adds up really fast.

I’m obviously not wanting to discourage you, but if you plan on going this route, you must be planning on running 37s at the smallest (like I said earlier), since there’s no need whatsoever for this sort of setup with 35s or smaller.

Sorry if I’m not being helpful. Just thinking out loud.
 
Last year I installed 1 tons & 40s under my LJ. I used Artec trusses & brackets. Excellent quality at a very reasonable price. Would recommend them to anyone. But @Chris and @Rubi04 are right. I did all the work myself. Spent months doing research. Took 4 months to do the actual work. And it still cost about $17,000. If done right, you won't have to trailer it everywhere, but that more research.

Free 1 tons is a pretty sweet deal, but it's the tip of the iceberg of effort and money that you'd have to put in if you want to make use of that deal.

And 17k isn’t even including your labor ;)

I mean if you were to assign a dollar value to your time, I assume you’d be adding on another 17k to that price 😜
 
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And 17k isn’t even including your labor ;)

I mean if you were to assign a dollar value to your time, I assume you’d be adding on another 17k to that price 😜
lol. For sure! It's funny when non-Jeep owning friends ask me if I'd ever buy a new Jeep, I'm like, F NO! I'm taking this one to my grave because I'm not putting that time into another one, and I can't afford to pay someone else. lol
 
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Last year I installed 1 tons & 40s under my LJ. I used Artec trusses & brackets. Excellent quality at a very reasonable price. Would recommend them to anyone. But @Chris and @Rubi04 are right. I did all the work myself (lots of welding). Spent months doing research. Took 4 months to do the actual work. And it still cost about $17,000 and can easily cost far more. If done right, you won't have to trailer it everywhere, but that more research.

Free 1 tons is a pretty sweet deal, but it's the tip of the iceberg of effort and money that you'd have to put in if you want to make use of that deal.

Yep. And I’m sure you are a great fab guy with all the tools (another cost many don’t have!)

and again, not saying you need trailer it, but when my rigs hit the 38-40” tire range, I didn’t want to drive it 30 miles a day anyway and even though it can do it, don’t plan to burn up $3k in tires a year daily driving it! I put creepy crawlers on my last trailer rig...and it killed me to drive to work on those tires and not hitting rocks.

you got this man, just go in with open eyes!
 
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Thanks! Just reading the descriptions on the artec truss kit makes it seem so simple.. " lower controls brackets may need modifications" & " you will need to purchase a new track bar as factory length is to long"... but you ask if i could justify it? absolutely would love to run a larger tire. I mean im an auto tech so i understand they don't slide under the jeep and bolt in with a couple nuts and bolts, I realize there's gonna be custom driveshafts and hydro assist steering needed etc. I guess im just not thinking about the real nitty gritty of it. I do have a shop with a hoist, tools etc. not that i can't do it but it seems to be more $$ then i had imagined.. Ill deff put the axles aside and do my research, maybe someday i might tackle it.
 
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Thanks! Just reading the descriptions on the artec truss kit makes it seem so simple.. " lower controls brackets may need modifications" & " you will need to purchase a new track bar as factory length is to long"... but you ask if i could justify it? absolutely would love to run a larger tire. I mean im an auto tech so i understand they don't slide under the jeep and bolt in with a couple nuts and bolts, I realize there's gonna be custom driveshafts and hydro assist steering needed etc. I guess im just not thinking about the real nitty gritty of it. I do have a shop with a hoist, tools etc. not that i can't do it but it seems to be more $$ then i had imagined.. Ill deff put the axles aside and do my research, maybe someday i might tackle it.
Great attitude!

You can store them, great!

it’s just a lack of understanding what a can of worms this opens...when you are ready, you are miles ahead of a dude that doesn’t have your ability, tools or research which will help not sell off a pile of parts.
Cause I bought three rigs like that. My benefit, not theirs.

you got this!
 
Great attitude!

You can store them, great!

it’s just a lack of understanding what a can of worms this opens...when you are ready, you are miles ahead of a dude that doesn’t have your ability, tools or research which will help not sell off a pile of parts.
Cause I bought three rigs like that. My benefit, not theirs.

you got this!

Thanks, Artec really makes is deceiving tho..

Copy and Pasted from there kit description:
TJ 1 TON - Superduty Front 60 Swap Kit
All the brackets necessary for the Super Duty front 60 ('99-'04 or '05+) axle
swap into a Jeep TJ Wrangler ('97-'06), LJ Wrangler ('03-'06),
XJ Cherokee ('84-'01), ZJ Grand Cherokee ('93-'98), MJ Comanche ('85-'92)


and the kit runs at $429.99.. smh.
 
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Thanks, Artec really makes is deceiving tho..

Copy and Pasted from there kit description:
TJ 1 TON - Superduty Front 60 Swap Kit
All the brackets necessary for the Super Duty front 60 ('99-'04 or '05+) axle
swap into a Jeep TJ Wrangler ('97-'06), LJ Wrangler ('03-'06),
XJ Cherokee ('84-'01), ZJ Grand Cherokee ('93-'98), MJ Comanche ('85-'92)


and the kit runs at $429.99.. smh.

Width? Wheels (gonna run 8 lug wheels), steering? Brake MC, driveshaft? Tire size? Going one ton, like Chris said if your not going 37’s or larger.....why?

and at that height a stretch is mandatory.

Marketing.....
 
Thanks! Just reading the descriptions on the artec truss kit makes it seem so simple.. " lower controls brackets may need modifications" & " you will need to purchase a new track bar as factory length is to long"... but you ask if i could justify it? absolutely would love to run a larger tire. I mean im an auto tech so i understand they don't slide under the jeep and bolt in with a couple nuts and bolts, I realize there's gonna be custom driveshafts and hydro assist steering needed etc. I guess im just not thinking about the real nitty gritty of it. I do have a shop with a hoist, tools etc. not that i can't do it but it seems to be more $$ then i had imagined.. Ill deff put the axles aside and do my research, maybe someday i might tackle it.
I would start by going to pirate4x4 and reading through the 1 ton TJ build threads. The site in general has lost a lot of it's traffic and a lot of threads are less valuable because of broken pic links, but there's no better archive of significant. non-bolt on Jeep mods.

This is where you get into the difference between squeezing 1 tons under a Jeep and doing it right. Artec's description results in those axles physically attached to a TJ, and if you want to drive it to the mall, that's sufficient. Rubi04 mentioned some issues. The stretch is a big one. Stretch in the rear and you probably have to move to a fuel cell in the trunk. Stretch in the front and you run in to issues with the steering gear location. TJs usually need both. Unless you want way to be super tall, you'll need high line fenders too.
 
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Let me add this as well.

Built a few rigs. None were perfect. Most wanted to be on 1 tons. 40” tires. Hero of the trail.

they never made it and all got sold. Money was tight and couldn’t continue: I couldn’t built a buggy. Couldn’t figure out where to stop: where do you stop? Internet hero? King of the hammers? Broke average dude with a divorce? 😂

just saying, my current rigs have 33’s and do all I want them to do. If I go to the rubicon or Moab, I will bypass and pocket the 50k and watch the ballers hit it!👊👍
 
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As someone who got caught up in the "I have to have 1 tons and then it just snowballed". I started with a 4cyl TJ and enjoyed being the underdog but then got caught up with I need a bigger engine. I spent way too much money when I first built my TJ and thought I would then enjoy it for the next 10-20 years with only having to do maintenance on it. After 5 years of getting to enjoy my TJ I had MAJOR issues with the swapped in engine.

I have a HP60 rear and a HP44 front that have worked well for me except that I have broken 2 ring gears in the rear. I don't think anyone is trying to tell you not to do this if it is what you want but you need to know it isn't a cheap endeavor when you start doing this amount of modifications to your TJ.

I'm not going to tell you that you need to stretch your TJ if you want to go to 37" or taller tires. But as many will tell you it does make a difference if you do stretch your rig. And as some members on here will tell you there is a balance between tire size and WB. Now I have been running 38" TSL SX tires on my TJ and feel like it made the Jeep a better rig by going to the larger tires. And I have a stock WB. If you do plan on going up to 37" or taller tires then you need to be looking at going to 100" or longer WB. As others have said if you try to stretch the front about the max you can do with stock steering is 3". So that would bring you up to a 97" WB. So the rest has to be done in the rear or you have to go to full hydraulic steering to move the front farther forward. You can stretch the rear about 5" and still keep a fuel tank if you go with a GenRight tank.

There are a few build threads on here with people who have put the Ford tons under their TJ's.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/superj-2004-lj-1-ton-project-superduty-swap.30904/
Just to add a little more here is a thread on Pirate.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jee...-superduty-dana-60-tj-beta-tester-review.html
 
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lol. For sure! It's funny when non-Jeep owning friends ask me if I'd ever buy a new Jeep, I'm like, F NO! I'm taking this one to my grave because I'm not putting that time into another one, and I can't afford to pay someone else. lol

I know that feeling all to well.

Not to mention I think about all the money you could spend on a new Jeep and add it to the base price of what a new one costs, and it just ends up being 3 times more :ROFLMAO:
 
they never made it and all got sold. Money was tight and couldn’t continue: I couldn’t built a buggy. Couldn’t figure out where to stop: where do you stop? Internet hero? King of the hammers? Broke average dude with a divorce? 😂

That's where I finally hit the wall on my last one as well. Where do I stop? With the way I was going it was going to end up being some sort of barely street-able rock crawler.

But then I started looking at some of these other threads where guys have gone over the deep end with their builds, and I started thinking, "Hold up, if I want something like that, I'll go build a purpose built buggy and not have to deal with any of the limitations I'll encounter from a Jeep."

Not to say it isn't fun to see some of these insanely built Jeeps. But at what point is it just easier (and more cost effective) to build a tubular buggy instead?

Anyways, doing this right isn't cheap. I keep looking at @toximus thread, and while I don't know how much he's into it, I know it's got to be a substantial amount of money, and he's still using the 4.0! Throw in a V8 and you'd add another 15k or more to the cost 😲