2 Even after blowing a front driveshaft on one trip, we still decided to take a try at mudrunning. With the 47-inch Pit Bulls about halfway submerged in mud, we were doing pretty well until we hit a rut and couldn’t turn the truck to get out of the mud.
On a side note, this little stint very likely helped lead to the demise of transmission No. 1.
3 After Orange County Transmissions got the 727 transmission back in working order, we still had some severe front driveline angles to deal with and not quite enough gearing in low range. The easiest and absolutely best solution was adding a Klune-V underdrive unit. With the 4:1 Klune-V between the tranny and the Dana 300 transfer case, we were able to get 1:1, 2.6:1, 4:1, and 10.4:1 gear ranges between the transmission and axles. We also added an Advance Adapters 32-spline output to our Dana 300 T-case to ensure its strength. The control and ability to climb obstacles with 47-inch tires is now amazing.
With the Klune-V in between the transmission and transfer case, the driveshaft outputs were moved further back in the vehicle, necessitating a shorter rear ‘shaft and longer front ‘shaft. The longer front cleared up any and all driveshaft angle issues, and the shorter rear one was still in a safe zone.
J.E. Reel also recommended using long slip yokes on the driveshafts if we saw a lot of forward and rearward movement of the axles.
4 Right from the get go, Deaver multi-leaf-spring packs and Rancho Pro Series shocks were used on all four corners in this suspension and have really worked excellently on this Cherokee. The rear springs were actually take-offs from another vehicle (thus why we have lift blocks instead of a full-spring lift) but they flex well and support the rear weight.
The Deavers don’t give much more than a 6- or 7-inch lift to Matilda. But the lift, combined with a generous amount of fender trimming, allows for the 47-inch Pit Bulls to actually clear pretty well at all four corners. Due to the rear blocks, the big Cherokee did have some axlewrap (before adding some upper anti-wrap bars) that allowed a Pit Bull tire to get gouged beyond safe use.