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Need alxe advice!

1K views 18 replies 8 participants last post by  Shaggygto 
#1 ·
I drive a 79 CJ5 with a 258/dana20/t18 combo on a dana 30 front and AMC 20 rear axle. I am running about 4 inches of lift and 33" MTRs. I have a 360 in the shop ready to be dumped in the jeep. But I have been wondering if my axles will stand up to a V8?

What do you think. I mostly wheel in the mud, some sand and a few rocks.

I am fairly sure the 20 wont handle the stress of the v8 in its stock form and I dont know about the dana 30.

Here are the options that I see. Please give me any feed back that you have keeping in micd that I am on a limited budget, and I cant set up ring and pinion gearts my self, so if re gearing is needed it is going to stretch the heck out of my budget.


-I was thinking leave the 30 in the front maybe put a lock right locker in their and put 1 piece shafts in the 20, also truss the rear axle to strengthen it.

-Next option would be maybe find a set of Dana 44s out of a vehicle with usable gears higher then 3.54s for sure? Maybe a scout set? dont know much about what they came off of.

-Also I have a 80 cherokee that I am getting the 360 out of and could use the AMC 20 HD out of the rear of that. It has the 1 piece shafts and heavier tubes. I wouldn't mind running it at full width. The front dana 44 on the cherokee has the differential on the wrong side. So find a 44 out of a different rig that is the same width and run it with the model 20 HD.

-Thought Maybe a 8.8 and some other front. I think my narrow track CJ 30 is to narrow for the 8.8

-Are any rear dana 44s avilable out of older CJs with 3.54 gears to match my front 30? I am most worried about the rear axle breaking.

Let me know any other options you have.

Thanks very much
Tony
 
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#5 ·
cjhunter said:
can I get a 44 out of a cj with 3.54:1 gears? I dont know how to set up ring and pinion and cant affrod to buy the axle and get the gears set up.

would this 44 stock be stronger then a model 20 with 1 piece shafts?

thanks for the input.
Tony
44 stronger than a CJ 20 with 1 peice=YES
44 stronger than a FSJ 20 with 1 peice and thicker tubes and a truss=NO WAY

20 has bigger ring gear than a 44. so really a FSJ model 20 is stronger than a 44 cuz it has the 1 peice shafts and stronger tubes
 
#8 ·
Keith Strong said:
44/60 minimum, but 60/60 if you can afford it
:)
haleluya & amen at the same time.

the D-30 w/locker will die soon enough if you
throtle in the mud or push it a bit elswhere, and the 20
was never cut for big hp and lb/ft.

it's just a matter of time until you'll find
yourself looking for a f & r D-60s. so why pay twice?

as you(and i) should allways remember - poor people
just cannot afford to buy cheap ...:D :D :D
 
#9 ·
I have a rear dana 44 with 3.54's if you want to come and get it, it is slightly offset, from a cherokee..I have a dana 30 with 3.54's if you want to come and get that too for a back up.

People say get 60's but I dont think that is needed for what you are doing.

All i ever had to play in was mud and sand and I ran a 1 peice model 20 and stock dana 30 with 38.5's all summer and never broke a thing...It was under the power of a SBC 305. I tore second gear out of my old tranny and wasted the 2 peice axles in the first 5 minutes.

It all depends on what you want to do. I decided to stick a 44 in the front and keep the one peice model 20 in the rear and go down to a mild 35.

I have a lifetime warranty on my one peice axles, the housing is getting trussed and once I get the money I will buy a full detroit to replace the weak carrier.

I will run this set up with 35's and I dont see me having a problem with the mud and trails.

If I was in CA and had a bunch of rocks and such I would go 14 bolt and dana 44 with CTM's and warns shafts...but Im not so I will keep my money.
 
#10 ·
I am in CA, but way up north on the coast and their are not a massive amount of rocks here, but a few. Tons of mud and lots of sand.

I dont think I need 60s. I think a pair of 44s would be perfect, but I doubt I can afford it? I was thinking of making the back strong so that I can atleast get home.

Hope fully I wont break the front end so bad it wont drive. Hey hopefully I wont break the front end at all.

What year CJs had dana 44s?

what is the deal with scout dana 44s? Are they set up for SOA? I heard they have zero caster so this has to be fixed? What gears did they come with? What bolt pattern? Do the spring pearches work with stock CJ spring locations?


Thanks
Tony
 
#11 ·
Unless you like to be scared I would suggest staying away from a scout dana 44 and soa unless you want to adjust the caster, that is easy to do if you can weld but it is time consuming.

If you would like to know how, do a search, if you can t find anything I will do my best to show you how.

I used a 79 cherokee 44 for mine, it was the last year that they were passanger side pigs.

If you were closer to me I would have all kinds of stuff for you, thats how it goes though.

I would suggest you use the HD model 20 and get a 79 or later cherokee or waggy axle to match it in lug pattern and width, you should also find one that has gears that match up.

I got lucky and the first one that I looked at matched up perfect.
 
#13 ·
Brad said:


44 stronger than a CJ 20 with 1 peice=YES
44 stronger than a FSJ 20 with 1 peice and thicker tubes and a truss=NO WAY

20 has bigger ring gear than a 44. so really a FSJ model 20 is stronger than a 44 cuz it has the 1 peice shafts and stronger tubes
You are about 95% correct. The AMC 20 also has a larger axle shaft diameter. Granted, it is not much larger, but it might make a difference when both axles are brought to their max stress point.

I say go with stronger axles front and rear. You will be happier in the long run.

-Do it right the first time or don't do it at all.
 
#14 ·
I think what i will do is just drive the fing thing. I will look for a 44 front with the same gears as my model 20 HD, and while looking I will just drive the jeep. When the axle init finally give out then I will find and swap in a 44 to the front.

What about the spring pearches. Is it as simple as moving hte perches in and welding them on.

Thanks for the advice
Tony
 
#17 ·
CJ-Jeeper said:
On the front you can't just move the perches in. You have to outboard the springs, which is'nt too hard. Or you can cut 4" off the long side.
You won't have to outboard the springs unless you are running a wider axle (like full-widths) in the front. A waggy 44 will fit the front just fine if you grind the housing a little. Cutting 4" off the long side is alright if you just have to have the skinnier vechicle. Of course you better take a bunch of extra axle shafts because getting a custom axle shaft when you are on the trails is going to be a pain.
 
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