I have searched many threads on Rockwell axles and have a coupla questions still. I know I'm gonna git flamed but I figure ... OH WELL! :flipoff2:

The Rockwells apparantly have only the one R&P ratio of 6:72. This leaves you with not too many sizes of tires to choose from unless you have a trailer queen. For us with the DD types, we have a small selection of rather expensive tires, especially when a lot of them don't last too long. What I'm getting at is what does it take to get a higher ratio made? 6:72s mean 44" - 48" meats. What about those like myself that would like to start out a bit smaller say around 38" - 39.5"?

What do you 4 wheeling business owners here on the PBB think about this? What kind of demand does it take? Devil's advocate would play out that once a more desirable gear ratio was available that the Rockwells would go up in market price. Any comments?!?

:beer: T I A! :beer: even for you fawkers that are gonna flame on.:flipoff2:

run a double OD or a reversed 203

Originally posted by mj
run a double OD or a reversed 203
As of now the plan is a 360 to the TH400 to a 203/205 doubler to 4:56 ratio 60/14 combo on 38s. Which OD unit would give me the correct ratio for the freeway? That is what I am up against with the Rockwell 6:72 ratio.

I'm kinda interested in this too.. Hmm... 2.5 ton pathfinder? hmm..

why run a rockwell if you are only going to run 38 to 39.5?
there are people running 38's with a dana 44
and though they are not getting crazy as some they are still having fun
rockwells are great for the big tires, but if you don't want to go that big then why get such a big anchor, I mean axle?
wouldn't a dana 60 be just fine for you?
especially if you are running it as a daily driver?

i agree fcfred. Not only do you have the low ratio of the rockwells but you have to deal with all the clearance issues too. Seems like a total waste of time and money.

-Steve

Originally posted by fcfred
why run a rockwell if you are only going to run 38 to 39.5?
there are people running 38's with a dana 44
and though they are not getting crazy as some they are still having fun
rockwells are great for the big tires, but if you don't want to go that big then why get such a big anchor, I mean axle?
wouldn't a dana 60 be just fine for you?
especially if you are running it as a daily driver?

Ditto.

You'd have to lift that Cherokee soo high to clear the rockwells it'd tip over in the parking lot with 38's. Rockwells are a lot cheaper than 60's, but there is a reason...

get a brownie box or a gearvenders O/D :D that's get you there or at least close.

Ian from extreme offroad used to run a 305 - th400 - dana 300 - d60's w/ 6.17's and 42's. It wasn't unliveable on the road but you kinda hang w/ the slower crowd on the highway.

42's actually drive pretty damn nice on the road...he had new 42's that I grooved and ran mrt 36 bolt bead locks and they didn;t bounce or anything w/ no wheelweights.

Okay, I guess its gonna be the 60/14 for now then.
Originally posted by IronBenderII
You'd have to lift that Cherokee soo high to clear the rockwells it'd tip over in the parking lot with 38's. Rockwells are a lot cheaper than 60's, but there is a reason...
If you are referring to clearance issues ... shaving Rockwells is rather easy with a bunch of gain!! When I can get the 42 - 44s the Rockwells will be a comin'.
Originally posted by IronBenderII
You'd have to lift that Cherokee soo high to clear the rockwells it'd tip over in the parking lot with 38's. Rockwells are a lot cheaper than 60's, but there is a reason... I am already working on that now. Custom fabbed 4" lifting towers, custom inner fender wells, raised powertrain, etc. will lend to the conversion nicely. Just a few other hurdles to overcome. But the 60/14 combo will hafta do until I work them out. Stay tuned. :beer:

When he said clearence issues he meant top of the axle to the oil pan of your motor. not the bottom.

I would be considering a 700r4 tranny at a minimum and the cheaper military tires, not quite as aggressive but they look to like they would work.

I did some guesstimations on my rig the other day and on the fron I would have very few clearance issues now and with the 8" lift I am going to I should have an acceptable amount of uptravel with the tracbar bracket/crossmember being the ultimate limit upwards. If you ever look under the hood of a 2.5L TJ you should notice the 2.5' of extra space infront of the engine, well it looks as though it was designed for a op loader. :D The rear would have to go fuel cell in the bed.

My real issue is the damned with of the things, even with hubs flipped in and pinion break they are pretty friggen wide, dunno if I can handle that.

It all come down to $, I can get 2 Rockwell steering axles for less then one good steering 60.

call boyce equip. and ask them about an REO axle. i heard a rumor about these axles. supposedly the gov. contracted this other company to build rockwells, or at least copy them. kinda like when ford built jeeps in ww2. anyways, they supposedly have a 5.50 or so ratio, instead of 6.72. this is just heresay, however. call boyce they would know.

and definitely put rockwells under there, you will love them...

Originally posted by Daniel
70 inches WMS to WMS thats too wide?



No man it isn't all that bad but some of the switch backs and cracks I can run though now would probably take a little more presion to get through. Dunno though, its all still guessitamtion until I can stop by and see ya and put a tape to one. I must say it would be an odd thing to see a late model 4 banger with 2.5 ton running gear on 48" miltary tires and 20" rims :eek: . Failure would be the least of my concerns at that time. :D

I am also not sold on the fuel cell in the bed thing, as my back seat gets used occasionally and I smoke like a chimney. The whole pinion brake thing is still up in the air to me because this is a daily driver and I don't want to compromise it beyound use as such.

Have you had any new developements in the pinion brakes you use? I have heard someone is running around with dual calipers on a thick @ss rotor but I haven't seen anything.

As far as running multiple overdrives, backwards 203s, etc, I wonder if you would run into problems with the pinion bearings, etc, as they were never designed to spin this fast. Does anyone have a setup like this with a lot of miles on it?

Pete

Any of the idea's sound doable except one.

Daily driver and trail rig? That is the only flaw. I can't imagine any rig with 38's, 42's, 44's and getting driven any farther that 5 miles or so a day. I drove my brothers play truck to work for 2 weeks after I sold my Impala and ordered the Jeep. It's a F250 on 38 inch TSL's. 40 miles round trip everyday feeding the health 460 was killing me. I grew to hate that truck. :D My ass was numb, half deaf and my wallet was empty. Add in beating on it playing on the weekend and it only gets worse.

I plan to take mine to work a few times a month just so I can drive it, but everyday would be no fun. :D

Originally posted by Daniel
Yes My 2 1/2 ton has 68000 miles now and still no pinion problems, but think that no matter how you gear it the pinion still only spins relative to the vehicle speed!


But with smaller tires, the pinion would spin faster for a given road speed. How tall are the stock tires, and what kind of speed can you get out of a stock truck? The whole idea behind the overdrives and reverse-203s is to increase the pinion speed.

Pete

Originally posted by TEAM X-TREME
When he said clearence issues he meant top of the axle to the oil pan of your motor. not the bottom. :rolleyes:not the bottom:question: really?!? :flipoff2:
Originally posted by Tigger4x
SNIP ... Custom fabbed 4" lifting towers, custom inner fender wells, raised powertrain, etc. will lend to the conversion nicely. The lifting towers and custom fender wells are to help compensate for the larger tires along with 44044 springs and the "raised powertrain" is to help make room for the Rockwell pinion.
Orginally posted by elf_cruiser
call boyce equip. and ask them about an REO axle. ... they supposedly have a 5.50 or so ratio, instead of 6.72. this is just heresay, however. call boyce they would know. vewy vewy inn-teh-res-tink!! :evil::laughing:
... and definitely put rockwells under there, you will love them Iffin there really is such a 5:50 ratio those Rockwells are as good as in. ;)
Originally posted by MattS
Any of the idea's sound doable except one. Daily driver and trail rig?
That is the only flaw. I can't imagine any rig with 38's, 42's, 44's and getting driven any farther that 5 miles or so a day. ... My ass was numb, half deaf and my wallet was empty. I had 36" swampers on it before and they were noisy as all hell. Any more than 15 - 20 minutes would have my ears ringing. That is why I am running with two sets of tires... ATs for the street and the MTs or whatever for the trails.


Gonna hafta call Daniel and iron a few of these details out.

why not talk to daniel and run a set of radial hummer tires for the road and a set of the 42 inch michelins for teh trail........sure it might look a little funny during teh week, but how hard would that really be?

Rockwells are certainly not for the regular Joe, I would know.:beer:

Originally posted by mkbruin
why not talk to daniel and run a set of radial hummer tires for the road and a set of the 42 inch michelins for teh trail........sure it might look a little funny during teh week, but how hard would that really be? I'mma thinking thats as good as I was thinking of before, I guess.:rasta::D I was already gonna be running two sets while on 38-39.5s anyway, so why not run the Hummer MTs and then another set with the BIG BOYS on. AFAIK, I am going to hafta run about 44" MT types or I am not gonna do so well because of gearing. Now wouldn that mean I would do better or worse with smaller street tires?!? Its kinda late and I'm dead tired and this is making less sense as the minutes pass. Anybody got two cents to throw at this? :beer:

hehe, i just realized with tires mounted on them those axles are longer then my sami :D :D