I've had this idea kicking around in my head for a while now...like most ideas I have started small and grew bigger until it's where it is now.  I've been kept busy with finishing my shop (still not finished), replacing my wife's totalled Jeep (thanks to the 1 ton dodge that didn't see my brake lights, thanks to my trailer for saving my life), and trying to keep my business going.  Last week I finally started some of the work, so I figured I'd start this build thread.

For a long time I had a Samurai...went through lots of transformations and finally ended up with a turbodiesel, dual cases, etc. etc.  Liked the rig...but no space for my wife and son to ride along though.  So I decided to look for something bigger.  After a few hints and suggestions from people at Powerfest '06, I decided on building a Vitara.  I found this little gem for $3k with a weak tranny:

The initial plan was to do a Toyota SAS, run 35" tires, and call it good.  However, with some prodding from a couple of buddies I ended up with a set of unimog 404 axles and a crazy scheme to put them under the Vitara...after some contemplating and a little web wrenching here is the plan I came up with:

Engine:  Stock 2.0L

Drivetrain:  Toyota W series transmission and gear driven t-case, with a "lefty" billet housing from inchworm gear.  This tranny is made possible basically with the RingR adapter from SOS and a strange combination of clutch parts from various vehicles; more details when I get all of the parts in my hands.  One of the major benefits of this combo is that it is a few inches shorter than the stock vitara drivetrain...helps with those huge unimog axles.

Axles:  Unimog 404 axles, narrowed 7.5", with pinion conversions and 1410 yokes, and 8 lug disc brake conversions with corvette 4 piston calipers, and full hydro steering

Suspension:  4 link front and rear with XJ coils

Tires:  Looking for some now...37"-40" is the diameter I'm looking to run

Keep in mind; some of this is subject to change as I get deeper in the project.  There are some obstacles I surely haven't thought of, and some costs I haven't figured in yet.

We'll start with the axle buildup.  Before I go any further I have to thank Kabuki (from the pirate4x4 board) for lots of help with these; in exchange for the use of my bender and my axles as test beds for prototype parts, he did some of the machine work I needed.  Also thanks goes out to Ben; he let me use his lathe freely as I needed it and set up some group buys that saved me some $$.  I purchased this set of unimog 404 axles on ebay; bright orange ensures they won't be looked over 

Started by purchasing pinion conversions for a guy in Germany; they are fairly easy to find.  You can see the pinion flange in the pics; they are machined to accept a 1410 yoke.

Next I cut 7.5" out of the long side of the rear axle (this centers the diff) and 7.5" out of the short side of the front axle (this offsets the diff more to the driver's side for added clearance for the engine).

Then I had the flanges I cut off machined to slip over the inner axle tube on the housing.

Next, the outer tube on the axle housing was cut back an additional 1"; this allows the flange to slide over the inner tube and butt up against the outer tube. 

The edges of the tubes are bevelled for good weld penetrations, and after a bit of time with levels and angle finders, the flange is welded back to the housing.  A couple of passes with the Mig welder on the outer housing, and a pass with the Tig welder on the inside (prevents splatter on the surface where the portal box housing slides into)

You can see the rear housing is now centered.   The inner portal boxes are bolted on, and measurements taken for shortening the axleshaft.

Front axleshaft is narrowed first; basically the 7.5" is taken out of the shaft, a sleeve is machined to slip over the 2 pieces of the shaft, the shaft is aligned with a small dowel in the center, the 2 pieces are TIG welded together, then the sleeve covers the weld and is welded at both ends.  Is it as strong as a custom shaft?  Probably not.  One advantage of the portal axles, however, is the additional 2:1 reduction at the portal boxes.  This means that all of the components upstream of the boxes will only 1/2 of the forces that a conventional axle would see.  Will it hold up behind my 120 angry squirrels?  I think so...time will tell.  If it doesn't, I'll have a new shaft made 

Front housing is completed, knuckles and portal boxes are sandblasted.

 That is some seriously cool stuff! Keep up the thread, anticipating  a great rig here.

Man I knew I should have stoped by your place< we were just down |removethispart|@ Seal rock for a week

Ryan

Thanks again to Ben for letting me use the lathe this weekend; got some more work out of the way. 
First project was to turn the driveshaft tubes off of my Toyota yokes.  Next project was the input shaft cover for the Toyota tranny I'm using.  I took about .070" off to allow the Sidekick throwout bearing to slide on it.  I'll post the rest of the pics of the drivetrain when the rest of the components arrive...

Man I knew I should have stoped by your place< we were just down |removethispart|@ Seal rock for a week

I found a mog wheel center so you could make your own wheels
http://copperheadfab.com/index.php?action=productview&productid=161

Ryan

I thought about using the stock mog parts and doing the wheel conversions, but I didn't want to stick with the drum brakes that come with 404's.  Their weight is completely absurd...don't know how much they weigh for sure but each drum is about 60lbs or so (from my memory), and they severely limit airflow to the portal boxes.  I figured that, if I was going to do a disc conversion anyway, I may as well change the lug pattern to 8x6.5 to open up my wheel choices.  Thanks for the info though...I might run into a need for help like that during this build...

Next project was to shorten the rear axleshaft; similar to the front, I cut 7.5" out of the shaft, machined a 5/8"" protrusion into one shaft and a 5/8"" hole in the other shaft for alignment.  Then, I machined a sleeve to fit over the joint.  I chucked up the whole thing in the lathe, and tacked it into place.  Then I checked it for runout and made a few adjustments, then made one pass with the MIG welder.  The rest of welding will be finished up with my TIG welder. 

Just straight up impressive.

Did you preheat the axle shaft before welding?

Amilla

Impressive work. 
With the massive hp you are using, you might get away with the welded axles, but I fear they will break at the welds.  It would have been better to cut and have them resplined, as it appears the splines are smaller than the shafts.  No loss in temper then.