Topic: best axle set?

[YJmechanic]

I think I'm going into they axles soon but what do you think is the best combo?  I going to 36" tires now and need something to hold them.  I thinking of a ford 9"rear with 488 and selectable lockers or lsd and d44hp front and 488 and constant lockers.  let me know what you guys think.

[Jeffy]

I'd gear to 5.38's you might as well gear it lower with all that extra weight.  5.38's work well with 35's.  Actually if you want to take a hit in highway performance again, you can run up to 38.5's.

You can run 44's front and rear then if you want extra strength use hardened aftermarket shafts.  The Ford 9" is a bit large unless you shave it.  It does have the advantage of being lighter because of the housing.  You might also check out the Toyota 8". There are at least 3 different types that aren't interchangeable.  The standard 8", the V6 8" and the Taco 8".  All good axles and use third-members like the 9 but without the low pinion and huge housing.

Honestly, if I was going to swap axles again, I'd consider a toy 8.  Setting up gears on them is a lot easier and you can have two 3rd members then swap gear ratios in no time.

Another consideration is bolt pattern.  If you're planning on a SJ D44 then it will have 6 on 5.5" bolt pattern.  It would be better to keep this over the 5.  If you can find a matching set of D44's from a SJ that would be good.  Beware that 83-86 SJ's have a HD AMC20 rear and some front D44's have vacuum disconnect.  You don't want the vacuum disconnect.  You cna tell by the extra lines going to the housing.  I believe the diff cover might also be slightly different too.  SJ D44's are easier then finding a Early Bronco D44.  I believe the rear of the EB is a 28 spline 9"

Oh yeah, I forgot about one other option.  Go full-width.  This will open up a few more axles.  Ford F250, late bronco, etc.  You can bring the tires in a bit by using wheels with a lot of negative offset.  Many use OEM ford wheels which don't look half bad.  Some that go with the 8 bolt pattern use H2 wheels.

[SMC4WD]

This opens up that classic 'can of worms' topic of 'What's the best axle'.  Tell you one thing, the best axle is the most expensive axle out there.  It's the one that you drop your gold card and pay someone else to install it.

Currie, Dynatrac, Rockcrusher and Terraflex are just the tip of the iceberg.  Pony up some big, big bills and you'll end with one of the best axles on the market.  And with 36's, you'll never break it.

Then, for the budget minded consumer (all the rest of us in the country) shop around for what's local, close to you and easy to build.  Having a YJ is much easier to pick up any axle out there and weld on some spring perches.  I think the idea of looking around some junkyards or your buddies backyards and see what you've got out there.  And build from there.

I pickep up a Ford 9" from a friend that came out of a Lincoln Contential.  It had disc brakes in the rear.  So it took forever but I got some 31 spline truck axles and had them drilled to the 5 x 4.5 bolt pattern (and 5 x 5 was still there).  I got an ARB Air Locker and 4.88 gears.  I looked that the pinion angle, set the axle where I wanted it to be and tacked on the perches.  Took it all out and welded it on.  

With 35" tires and a 4 cyl., there is no way I'm breaking that.  

But if I was to get a D44 for free, I would be running that.  

Everyone talks so highly of the 8.8 axle.  There's nothing wrong with that one either.  But let's talk money.  How much could an 8.8 cost?  And lockers and brakes (yes, some have the explorer discs).  How much is a R&P.  Add that all up and then add up the price for a 9" (.2" bigger).  Or a D60...  

It's all relative to how much you wanna spend.

[SMC4WD]

Jeffy...  you beat me to the reply by mere minutes!!  

You're good!!

[Erik]

why settle for 44's front and rear?  sure you can get waggy axles and basically bolt them up but if you are comfortable working with axles and fab work you can pick up a set of 79ish ford axles and work with them.

i just got my set for $500 and there is nothing wrong with them.  even had a disc conversion on the rear dana 60.  

-Erik <--- wishes the ford had a dana 60 front instead of this 44, but it'll work

[Jeffy]

why settle for 44's front and rear?  sure you can get waggy axles and basically bolt them up but if you are comfortable working with axles and fab work you can pick up a set of 79ish ford axles and work with them.

i just got my set for $500 and there is nothing wrong with them.  even had a disc conversion on the rear dana 60.  

-Erik <--- wishes the ford had a dana 60 front instead of this 44, but it'll work

One of the reason's people seem to settle on 44's is weight, overall width, and cost.  Going to 60's is a big jump.  If you're not going to swap engines then 60's would be overkill especially if it's still a daily driver but it would make for a practically bulletproof drivetrain.  Some places seem to think a 60 is made of gold too.     I think I'd rather have a 14Bolt then a 60 rear.  More common cheaper and stronger.   Finding a 60 front can be a bit of a pain.  Most of the ones I've seen are passenger side drop.    Oh and many people think going full-width means having the tires stick out really far which can be illegal depending on were you live.  (mentioned how to get them under the flares previously.)  Having the tubes and axleshafts cut down can be a PITA especially if you have them cut to some oddball length where you can't order up OEM shafts lengths. :)

[Erik]

the full width axle "problem" can be fixed with correctly offset wheels though.... and for not much money those wheels could very well be H1 beadlocks.  a little welding and you could change the offset and be set.

problem with the 14 bolt is it's so huge.  without 40+ inch tires i'd be afraid of it hanging up on a rock or something.  they're definatly easier to find and cheaper almost all the time though.  and a bit stronger in stock form... but who keeps axles stock anyway... first thing most people do is upgrade the shafts anyway... and unless you are making crazy otrque and in a really sticky situation the 35 spline shafts are great.... then again, you guys deal with TOTALLY different wheeling then we do over here so i guess that may change things.

[Jeffy]

I think a 14 bolt looks fine with 37's on there.  Throw on some HMMWV wheels and the tires don't stick out much further then on a D35 with 3.75" BS.  Although the hubs are a bit more exposed.  Still, I really like the look.

I haven't seen too many run 40+ tires out west.  The tallest I've seen are usually 38.5's.  I think that's the limit on most comp. vehicles.  Here's one on a 60/14 that I saw when he moved to Hawaii.  I really like how it looks with the wheels.  Without gearing to 5.38 or even 5.89, I think a 2.5L would be really slugish with all that unsprung weight onroad.

[Erik]

thats a sweet looking cj... definatly has some time and money in it.  i'd be afraid to take it on a trail ride through the woods let alone"hard" stuff in fear of scratching it


the unsprung weight i'll be picking up will be a few hundred pounds if i had to guess... i've never looked into it... don't really care to be honest... but yea it would probably slow me down a little....

but... now i'm running 4.88's and 39.5" boggers.  when i get the axles i'm going to get some h1 wheels (or i might go with some eagle alloys if i have the money...  i don't need beadlocks anyay) and step it down to 38" tsl radials... also going with 5.38 gears so i'm thinking the jeep will be a bit peppier than it is now.  

if it doesn't get peppy enough to satisfy me i guess i'll keep saving for the ls1 swap instead of spending that money on bumpers and sliders like i hope to.

-Erik <--- doesn't really wanna ditch the 4 banger... that's what makes my heep unique

[YJmechanic]

I love my 2.5 and spent tons of time building it so I guess I'll just get a set of d44's for my jeep and set them up.  Do you really think I need to go past 488's for 36's though.  that seems really low and I still drive the jeep alot and I can't imagine  5.38 to be too streetable.  Does anyone have 538's now?

[Jeffy]

I usually recommend 5.38's for 35's.  It may seem low but it's not.  If you went with 4.88's you'd definatly want to go lower.  I run 4.56's and 35's which should be about the same as running 36's and 4.88's.  It's not optimal and at best, it's managable.  3000rpm's at 65mph in 4th.  (This would be optiman for a 4.0L but for a 2.5L you need the extra RPM's.)

A fewl of my friends that I recommended 5.38's to use them with 35+ tires.      They say it's perfect.  I'm stuck with my D30 so I can't regear until I get rid of it.  Although I've thought about regearing the rear and leaving the front so I can have gears sooner.

If you go to http://www.jeeptech.com/javaAps/gta.html you can plug in your gears and see what RPM's at what speeds you'll likely see.

[Erik]

the only problem with running a 5.38 might be highway travel....  do you do much hwy driving?  i mean, you might be able to use 5th gear, who knows, haha

[Jeffy]

5.38's should be fine on the highway and give you full use of 5th.