A firend of mine wants to put a D60 axle in the rear of his 98 XJ Jeep. And he thinks it will be fine to drive it around with one axle wider than the other. Where can I find proof that this causes the truck to be unstable. We have been friends for a couple years, and I would hate to see him hurt anyone or himself by doing this. :shaking:

you do know that almost all manufactures put different width axles in their vehicals from the factory right? chevy put trucks out for years with a 69" wide front axle with a 65" wide rear axle.. duhh.. come on dude..

i have never heard that it makes them unstable, his turning radius will suck the major ass with a wider rear axle. if you notice, all rigs are setup wider in the front to make a tighter t/r

Yup, turning radius will suck, but it can be done. A friend of mine had a CJ with a full width 9" and a waggy front D44. He got the axles free, so he couldn't complain!

I drove around like that for a few months, wider rear 1 ton axle. This had to be done while waiting to finish my front swap. I had no problems but yes, u-turns sucked...

Dually pickup trucks? Not saying that the axle width is wider, but the overall width is.

Actually, makes it more stable. Think triangles and trapezoids...

A firend of mine wants to put a D60 axle in the rear of his 98 XJ Jeep. And he thinks it will be fine to drive it around with one axle wider than the other. Where can I find proof that this causes the truck to be unstable. We have been friends for a couple years, and I would hate to see him hurt anyone or himself by doing this. :shaking:


lmmfao.

you're kidding right?

i dont think theres a car on the road that has the same track front and rear.

Dually pickup trucks? Not saying that the axle width is wider, but the overall width is.
the center of the point of contact is the same though. The pivot would be right in the center of the duals, where a sigle wheel would sit.

I had a 67 inch rear and 59 inch front for a few months too.
nothing wrong with it, just looks stupid.

It will be fine. My front d60 is way wider than my eaton rear

Fresh snow it might be an issue. Doubt it would matter in anything else.

Whoever gave you that idea has been fooled. We're not talking tricycles here.

He won't get hurt from it. He will probably get made fun of a lot though. Is he planning on a full width front end real soon? Is his current rear shot? If neither of those is an issue then I wouldn't do it. It won't be any fun on the trail. Try picking a line with that set up.

I think the turning radius would suck because you are screwing up the original ackerman angle by pushing the rear tires out further. But who gives a shit, it will probably handle better than any stock twin I-beam ford out there:flipoff2:

He won't get hurt from it. He will probably get made fun of a lot though. Is he planning on a full width front end real soon? Is his current rear shot? If neither of those is an issue then I wouldn't do it. It won't be any fun on the trail. Try picking a line with that set up.


It would be more of a challenge haha :flipoff2:

Yes he is planning on running it like that for a couple months.

brector and welndmn have first hand experience, which came out fine. Thanks. :D

the center of the point of contact is the same though. The pivot would be right in the center of the duals, where a sigle wheel would sit.

On both of the last two dually pickups I've owned, the fronts are approximately lined up with the rear inners, not on center with the duals.

I've run a wider rear axle than the front in a 'wheeler before too, on the trail and street, and it's fine. It'll actually be more stable than it was stock, just by virtue of a wider stance (even if it's only on one end, so of relatively lesser benefit), and I didn't even notice a difference in turning radius. Just to settle the other comments, yes, I swapped to a wider front eventually too, and it was the plan all along, but I didn't do it all at once.

I dont think the problem is from an increased turning radius, only that the rear tire will hit what the front tire clears when turning.