That’s quiet the discrepancy in weight.

 

I have had the orange scale a few years. I just bought the blue one to confirm the weight. I weighed the axle a few times with each scale, , and the numbers were almost exactly the same on each.

 

nice to see some solid info about this wight....... ive been wondering how much axle weight ive been dealing with. thanks

 

It is going under a lightweight buggy. Truthfully, I did not know newer Rams came with bigger tubes etc., I got a good price on this one, and it will be narrowed.

 

I have a front axle on the way out of a 2015 Ram 3500. I will weigh it loaded, then with brackets and brakes off.

 

just wondering why you went with the early small tube version ? is it the exact width you need ? got it for a hell of a price ? u joint size matched what you need ?
the later versions like on the ram 3500 have 4" tubes , more gusetting on the pumpkin and the 1555 joints. but maybe theyre harder to find or expensive or the wrong width for what you need

 

i believe the rams were 4" tubes all the way back since 2003 or when ever they switched to aam. gm eventually went to the larger tube but the early years were 3.5". for a buggy it should be plenty strong enough. what gears you putting in there ?

 

dii
It has 410 gears , and the G80 Locker, am using them.

 

nice project. if you ever try anything else , the elocker from a 14+ power wagon 11.5 may drop right in yours. its got a torson built into the locker carrier. the front locker would for sure fit yours but thers no torson on it. rcv has one piece chromo shafts if you didnt know

 

nice project. if you ever try anything else , the elocker from a 14+ power wagon 11.5 may drop right in yours. its got a torson built into the locker carrier. the front locker would for sure fit yours but thers no torson on it. rcv has one piece chromo shafts if you didnt know

Thanks, I would prefer to have an E-locker, or a Detroit locker etc, instead of the G80. I will look into it.

 

I am narrowing the 11.5 rear, and made my own jig. I did not want to pull the carrier as it is perfect .
I bought a longer used axle shaft And cut tHe flange off. I took a spindle nut, and welded a solid round bar to it. I have a lathe, so I turned it, and bored it slightly over size of the ankle shaft diameter. There is very little play, a piece of .003 shim stock wrapped around the shaft makes it a perfect fit.
Since the shafts splines engage the side gears, it does not spin freely. By leaving a little wiggle room, as I tack weld and finish weld in stages, the wiggle room will stay the same if the tube does not warp.

 

nice! def interested to see how your home brew tooling works out for this project. ive been eyeing a custom 11.5 axle idea.

 

The tool I made worked perfectly. The original axle shaft can be used, the flange cut off. As in the line up tools that can be bought, the tool I made is simply an indicator to detect ant warpage. I used very tight fit sleeves, and plug welded them on both sides of the joint. The sleeves help to counter any warpage. I will post pics soon as it is in the painting process now. I am going to use the original axles, bore out the flanges for a press fit on the shafts, and add an outside tube on the flanges, to get more surface area to weld for strength.

 

Here it is finished. The line up tool I made to narrow the axle worked perfectly. WMS to WMS is 57 inches, same as a CJ5. It will be a two seater. I decided to use hydraulic assist cross over steering and make it street legal. It will get headlights anyway, has the E-brake, so, no big deal. Whether or not I will ever street drive it, who knows.
It is beefy. It will have chromoly axles, made by Dutchman.

 

nice work! that looks beefy.

 

Tires came, Super Swamper 42.5X13.5-20 and wheels. With the tires on the narrowed axle, the overall width will be about the same as the rear tire width on my Silverado 2500.

 

I modified the stand so the tires are almost touching the floor. I am waiting for the engine, a 350 Chevy before I start on the frame.

 

Here is a Street Rod look. A friends tires.

 

I decided to make it into a Mad Max buggy, the hell with the weight. Will be street legal anyway. Shocks are 3 inch, 16 inch travel Kings that I had left over from another build. Steel is 3/16 wall, accept for the shocks mounts which I made using 2x5-1/4 wall tube.

 

So, the narrowed 11.5 axle became a stretched axle. I will say that the line up tool I made worked perfectly to check for warpage on the tubes, and sleeving the tubes [in my opinion] is the way to go when narrowing or stretching an aX le;

 

Built a bumper, 1 inch bolts for sling attachment, Griffon radiator and mesh guard, almost finished building the truss for the widened front axle. Engine up higher with the stability from wider axles. Fitting the Patriot side pipes.