Possible front axle swap

RHanna

RHanna

TJ Enthusiast
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Oct 27, 2020
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Gallatin, TN
Someone local is selling a bunch of stuff that's under there YJ. I'm interested in the front axle HP dana 44, it's already geared to match my rear, has a ARB locker and RCV shafts.

I haven't confirmed with the seller which donor vehicle it came out of but I'm guessing a f150 or f250.

Right now I'm running stock width currie dana 60 in the rear. How much wider can the front axle be before it becomes too much? I'll probably add an adaptor to the rear so I can match the lug pattern. How much adaptor/spacer would be safe?

They are running a long arm kit and coilovers under their YJ. Do you think I would have to cut off all of their brackets and buy some sort of axle swap truss?

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I'd like to see better pictures to tell you more. You could run a truss/mount brackets or just mount brackets which ever way you wanted. TNT Customs sells truss kits for a full width axle.

I think the axle width is 65-67" wide but not 100% positive. I don't know if you could run wide enough spacers or not to make up the difference in width.
 
Wildman said:
I'd like to see better pictures to tell you more. You could run a truss/mount brackets or just mount brackets which ever way you wanted. TNT Customs sells truss kits for a full width axle.

I think the axle width is 65-67" wide but not 100% positive. I don't know if you could run wide enough spacers or not to make up the difference in width.
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I think the f250 is 67.5 and the f150 is 65.5. If they were the 67.5 I would have expected them to stick out more on a YJ.
Either way doesn't matter that much I just need to drive over and take a look in person.

I know I wouldn't get the same width but just didn't know if 7" was too much. If they are the f250 axles and I used 1" wheel adaptor in the rear then I would be 5"


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rhanna said:
I think the f250 is 67.5 and the f150 is 65.5. If they were the 67.5 I would have expected them to stick out more on a YJ.
Either way doesn't matter that much I just need to drive over and take a look in person.

I know I wouldn't get the same width but just didn't know if 7" was too much. If they are the f250 axles and I used 1" wheel adaptor in the rear then I would be 5"


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You are aware that the bolt pattern is different if you have the stock BP on your rear axle.

You can also narrow the housing pretty easily if you want to.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...nion-dana-44-front-axle-to-waggy-width.19445/
What rear axle to do have and what gears?

Edit: Sorry went back and reread your 1st post. You have a stock width Currie Dana 60. And yes I think you have your numbers correct on the widths.
 
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Is the 60 a full or semi float? You can get away with a bigger spacer on the full float, but not so much on the semi.
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
Is the 60 a full or semi float? You can get away with a bigger spacer on the full float, but not so much on the semi.
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semi, how much do you think I could get away with? I was hoping to put 1" on each side and then that would give me 3" difference if it was the f150

Even if it's the f250 axle I think the difference is in the knuckle/hub and thats where the 2" difference comes from. I wonder if I could switch to the f150.
 
Wildman said:
You are aware that the bolt pattern is different if you have the stock BP on your rear axle.

You can also narrow the housing pretty easily if you want to.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads...nion-dana-44-front-axle-to-waggy-width.19445/
What rear axle to do have and what gears?

Edit: Sorry went back and reread your 1st post. You have a stock width Currie Dana 60. And yes I think you have your numbers correct on the widths.
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I've thought about narrowing. The biggest downside would be then I would have to get new shafts. Not necessarily custom if I narrowed correctly but I'd still have to get new shafts. That and I would be very nervous cutting it in half. I'd have to get someone else to weld everything back together.
 
rhanna said:
I've thought about narrowing. The biggest downside would be then I would have to get new shafts. Not necessarily custom if I narrowed correctly but I'd still have to get new shafts. That and I would be very nervous cutting it in half. I'd have to get someone else to weld everything back together.
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Yes if you narrowed it to Wagoneer width you can then get off the shelf axles instead of custom.
Since it's already got RCV shafts I wonder if they'd cut and respline them? And what the cost would be?

If you follow how I narrowed mine you cut the C off then narrow the tubes and weld the C back on.

But if you plan to go to larger tires then the 65" width is where you want to be.

Lots of things to consider.
 
rhanna said:
semi, how much do you think I could get away with? I was hoping to put 1" on each side and then that would give me 3" difference if it was the f150

Even if it's the f250 axle I think the difference is in the knuckle/hub and thats where the 2" difference comes from. I wonder if I could switch to the f150.
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Well, I ran 1.25" Spidertrax spacers on my full-float 60 for years - and bent a few chromo shafts. I was also running a 3.5" backspace wheel, so the combined leverage likely did the shafts in. I'm not positive that was causal, but I've always suspected.
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
Well, I ran 1.25" Spidertrax spacers on my full-float 60 for years - and bent a few chromo shafts. I was also running a 3.5" backspace wheel, so the combined leverage likely did the shafts in. I'm not positive that was causal, but I've always suspected.
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That would suck, I don't plan on moving up from 35s right now so hopefully that would keep me in the clear. I know the HP44 up front is overkill but it's a pretty good price
 
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rhanna said:
That would suck, I don't plan on moving up from 35s right now so hopefully that would keep me in the clear. I know the HP44 up front is overkill but it's a pretty good price
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I was also on the fodeez, so my guess is with 35's your shafts would certainly hold up better.

I've got a set of Spydertrax spacers I am happy to send yo....ahh, wait a minute - they were around here somewhere. What the hell happened to my spacers ????
 
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the 8.8 we are known to deal with is narrower than a TJ axle , what are they running on it to even the spread? or how much offset front to rear do they suffer currently?
 
NashvilleTJ said:
I was also on the fodeez, so my guess is with 35's your shafts would certainly hold up better.

I've got a set of Spydertrax spacers I am happy to send yo....ahh, wait a minute - they were around here somewhere. What the hell happened to my spacers ????
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Are they the ones you sent with the rims or?
 
NashvilleTJ said:
Yeah, I was just funnin' to see if you were paying attention... ;)
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Well we know where they are at.

rhanna said:
That would suck, I don't plan on moving up from 35s right now so hopefully that would keep me in the clear. I know the HP44 up front is overkill but it's a pretty good price
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WOW if you're running a Dana 60 rear already I'd say that is overkill for 33" tires too. The HP44 (old school) IMO is strong enough for 37" tires. Or at least it held up to me wheeling those TSL SX 38x12.5x16.5 which measured out to just under 37". I was running Alloy USA shafts with Spicer u-joints and took out the passenger side one on a snow run.
On 35" tires I'd say you shouldn't have any issues.
 
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Wildman said:
Well we know where they are at.



WOW if you're running a Dana 60 rear already I'd say that is overkill for 33" tires too. The HP44 (old school) IMO is strong enough for 37" tires. Or at least it held up to me wheeling those TSL SX 38x12.5x16.5 which measured out to just under 37". I was running Alloy USA shafts with Spicer u-joints and took out the passenger side one on a snow run.
On 35" tires I'd say you shouldn't have any issues.
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Yeah prior owner installed the 60 which is nice and I should be ok with my Yukon shafts in the Dana 30. I just figured it would be nice to worry less and have a selectable locker.
 
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Just talked to the seller. The front axle dana 44 was narrowed to match the 8.8. The jeep runs 2" spacers on all 4 tires. I guess that's to fit the 42" tires. He's never measured the wms so I'm not sure how to tell which 8.8 it is. He said it's out of an explorer.
 
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rhanna said:
Just talked to the seller. The front axle dana 44 was narrowed to match the 8.8. The jeep runs 2" spacers on all 4 tires. I guess that's to fit the 42" tires. He's never measured the wms so I'm not sure how to tell which 8.8 it is. He said it's out of an explorer.
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If it's out of an Explorer then it's 58.5" wide so hopefully they narrowed the axle to Waggy width? If you want I can get you the measurement off mine so you could tell.

Back when I did mine Rubicon Express was about the only company offering the front brackets for a HP44. There are more now.
 
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