Axles Axles Axles

Well in the post "the Answer to the Big Question" I told you that I was going to keep the front axle and swap out the rear axle, and I am going to do a SOA conversion to clear 35" tires. Well some things have changed. First off I am still doing the SOA and swapping the rear axle. Although, when I got under the CJunk5 to look at the front axle to see what I can do to make it stronger I noticed that it is not the axle I thought it was. I thought it was a Dana 30, which is known for being weak, but it is actually a dana 27 which is far more weak than the Dana 30. So I had to change my plans, which isn't a big deal. Once I noticed it I kept an eye out on craigslist.com for a replacement front axle that might match my rear Dana 44 that came out of a Scout II. With some patience I found one. I found a Dana 44 front axle out of a narrow track Jeep Wagoneer. It is a little wider than the rear 44 I have but I got it for $85, and it is not enough to worry about. The waggy front 44 is 60.5" wide and the Scout rear 44 is 58.5" wide. That equals 1" on either side when they are mounted. So I will just deal with that since I got the set of Dana 44's for $160. Oh, and I am going to post some pictures of the new couple soon.