OK, so I end up with a leaf-sprung Salisbury axle.

Is it enough of a strength upgrade to justify the heroics necessary to put this in my Disco? Cost of this axle was almost zero.

No
Halfshafts/CV's are same diameter/size as Rover ones only the Diff is larger.

Ditto on the no. With some HD axleshafts in the Disco rear it will actually be (significantly) stronger than a stock Salisbury. Reason being that the weak link on both is shaft size, and they are both the same size.

The disco center section will never be as strong as the sals. and you can upgrade the shafts well beyond the disco axle. The leafsprung axle is narrower than the coilsprung axle though and you'll have to fab all the mounts. Send it my way.
-Ike

Or my way, I would wrangle it into a project I'm sure and Ike already has a few IIRC :flipoff2:

The disco center section will never be as strong as the sals. and you can upgrade the shafts well beyond the disco axle. The leafsprung axle is narrower than the coilsprung axle though and you'll have to fab all the mounts. Send it my way.
-Ike

How much too narrow? Is the coil sprung Sals the same width?

coil sprung should be about 62", leaf sprung about 58"

I'm assuming you're talking rear axle? As Ike mentioned, you're problem will be the width. Its still going to be stronger than ANY Disco bit with some modification. yes, if you use stock shafts, there is no real benefit beyond the r&p ... but even upgrading the 24-spline shafts to a 1.25" 24-spline will give you shafts as strong as the strongest-built 'regular' rover housing & you'll have a stronger r&p. That sals is essentially a Dana 60. We've built several up with Dana 60-style 1.5", 35-spline shafts .... even installed one under a Disco ... albeit, every one we've built for a coiler has been a coiler Sals.

So, yes, if you can get the width issue worked out & are willing to do some mods (read: it will take a little $$$), you'll have one of the strongest axles available for any light truck. Its hard to go wrong with 1-ton running gear that's then been upgraded.
T

... and, FWIW, you'll lose ~1" of ground clearance under the diff compared to a stock Rover housing.

YES, YES and YES. This would be a great mod since you got the donor axle for the right price.

You have to lengthen ONE SIDE ONLY (long side) by somewhere between 4-6" - the short side axle tube and shafts on a Series and 110 county/D110 are the same length, just the long side needs extending. The coil and drum braked 110s have different length halfshafts as well - so you may need to mix and match hubs to get the drive flange in the right spot - or make a spacer ring between the drive flange and the hub.

So to do it the CB way...

You could just get a std 110 long side axle - the rest is fab work and bolting on bits I assume you already have.

But since you need a new axle you could upgrade to 30 or 35 spline if you think you would need them. But seriously, I have 24spl AMS6418 axles from Maxi-Drive in my Salisbury and I haven't seen anyone break these yet (but I'm sure Frankenrover has). Sure the guys over here are only running 33's - 36's and no crawler boxes, but even so... So if you run anything bigger than 36's you might want to upgrade, but smaller than that they will be fine.

If you are fitting std axles - be wary of cheap ones - I broke a cheap non-genuine axle, and know lots of other people who have too. So if you are sticking with 24spl - get a genuine S/H axle or otherwise buy a MD or similar HD alloy replacement.

Oh and don't forget to give the Sals a nice close shave before you install it.

leaf sprung sals has no center mount for A frame, cast in the housing. to much work to put under coil sprung rover.
Drew

leaf sprung sals has no center mount for A frame, cast in the housing. to much work to put under coil sprung rover.
Drew

Any decent welder can weld that on the same time the tube extension and shave are being done, no big deal.

I'm assuming you're talking rear axle? As Ike mentioned, you're problem will be the width. Its still going to be stronger than ANY Disco bit with some modification. yes, if you use stock shafts, there is no real benefit beyond the r&p ... but even upgrading the 24-spline shafts to a 1.25" 24-spline will give you shafts as strong as the strongest-built 'regular' rover housing & you'll have a stronger r&p. That sals is essentially a Dana 60. We've built several up with Dana 60-style 1.5", 35-spline shafts .... even installed one under a Disco ... albeit, every one we've built for a coiler has been a coiler Sals.

So, yes, if you can get the width issue worked out & are willing to do some mods (read: it will take a little $$$), you'll have one of the strongest axles available for any light truck. Its hard to go wrong with 1-ton running gear that's then been upgraded.
T

How did you deal with clearance issues of the rear axle and the Disco's gas tank?

At what point does it cease to be a Salisbury and become a Dana 60? Where is the cutoff when it is easier to just START with a Dana 60?

The biggest benefit of using a coiler sals under a coiler is the perch for the rear A arm ball joint... other than that its a Dana 60... I would sell the series Sals to a series guy and buy a wide 60 and weld on a bridge to hold your A arm joint... Don't waste your time making a series sals longer when it is easier to make an American 60 shorter by cutting and welding on flanges to fit big stub axles to fit big axles... The rest is easyish...

I am having stub axles made currently that we are trying to put together as a "kit" to build a 35 spline Sals with disc's and you can use any Dana 60 guts that you like..


Keith
www.rovertracks.com

At least I didn't get flamed too badly. Maybe what I have will do me fine...

What's it worth to ya Ike?

Peace,
PT

I am in the camp that believes a Salisbury is not "essentially a 60."

I believe it is essentially a 24 spline, drum braked Rover axle with a 60 centersection. The amount of work required to upgrade it to 35 spline 60 status negates any real benefit seen by starting with what is "essentially a 60" in the first place.

Drew .... good point. In my impulse, I didn't even think about the a-arm mount.

As Keith mentioned, its a lot easier to drop a coiler Sals in than to start custom-fabbing a 60.

The amount of work required to upgrade it to 35 spline 60 status negates any real benefit seen by starting with what is "essentially a 60" in the first place.

Depends on what you're trying to do and how much $$$ you're willing to spend. What's harder .... to try to upgrade your stock housing R&P (& axles for that matter) to something truly "strong" (yeah, right ... it can't be done), modify an existing 60, or modify a Sals that already has a 1-ton center section, all the mounts, & room for 35-spline axles. 60s in general will take a fair amount of fab time to drop in an axle ....especially since you're not going to be welding on the pumpkin. That's exactly why a Sals is an 'easy' solution.

And, sure, if you've got the time, know-how, and cash, build up a custom one. Dynatrac, Currie, Rockcrusher ... they've all got great center sections to start from. I believe the Rockcrusher even has mounts cast into the center section.

T