[Guest]

in 87-96 wranglers, the from axle is an "axle disconnect" design in which a solenoid is used to slide a sleeve over that connects the passenger-side axle together. This is used instead of locking hubs. New TJ's, however, have no disconnect feature. This is what allows their "shift on the fly" 4wd. The gears in the t-case are always turning at the same speed. By adding locking hubs, you would decrease wear in the frontend somewhat, although very little, and you would disable the "shift on the fly." It would make the axle no stronger, either. Personally, I would opt for a dana 44 front axle, although some hardcore wheelers might prefer a dana 60 for the added strength. I wish there was a 9" frontend...

 

[Guest]

how exactly does having either 27 splines or 31 splines make that big of a difference? Seems like having less splines would be an advantage, because there is more metal to shear through per spline. Will someone explain this to me?

 

[Guest]

Kind of seems like a smaller spline count should be stronger doesn't it? Look at an old 10 spline 44 axle and you'd think "man that's strong" The thing is though that thickness of the spline is pretty darned unimportant. What matters is the amount of contact surface. One of those old 10 splines has 10 surfaces to handle the torque, adding up to a much smaller surface area than a 31 spline axle would have. Those old 10 splines would wear the corners off the contact face and develop a LOT of slop in the diff, and that slop leads to breakage. In this case more is definitly better. Spread the load out thin enough, and you don't need much cross section.

"My other car is a BULLDOZER"

 

[Guest]

I guess early engineers thought like I did as far as splines went, huh? Took them awhile to figger it out

 

[Guest]

but there has to be an eventual limit to the number of splines you can add to a particular setup. Eventually, if you go too thin with them, they will shear off, right? On the same topic, would the axle/hub setup on an AMC 20 rear be stronger had they used splines instead of a single key? Why don't the manufacturers put the optimum number of splines on all axles they make, instead of switching back and forth from 27 to 31 splines and other numbers? Seems like it wouldn't be all that expensive to build them all that way in the first place....might even save $.

 

[Guest]

Schweeetgy,
The early Wranglers (88-95) have shift on the fly 4wd as well (I believe 87 used a different t-case). The driver side hub is always locked, which in turn keeps the transfer case gears moving at whatever speed the vehicle is going. If manual hubs were added, you would still have the ability to do shift on the fly 4wd, however the hubs would need to be locked first.

-Dorian
88 YJ w/ multi-speed wipers

 

[Guest]

In response to what (somebody) asked earlier, Currie does make a 9" front end. and all the components to go with. it uses any 9" 3'rd member, and standard knuckles and outers. 4WD parts and performance has a jeep chassis with warn coil over suspension with 9" front and rear.. looks kinda sweet, but I don't know how much it costs, they claim its reasonable... I'd imagine for hardcore trails, if you gernaded your rear thrid member, you could slide he axle's out alittle, and swap third members right there on the trail.. but that'd be an extreme situation.

Florida Mud CJ-5
'77 RB304, t-150 D20 4" 35" swampers

 

[Guest]

seems to me that if only the driver side axleshaft is turning, then the movement has either of two places to go: up the front driveshaft, or over to the passenger side axleshaft. Therefore, "shift on the fly" is not possible b/c the gears in the t-case would be spinning at different speeds. The axle disconnect sleeve requires both axle halves to be spinning at the same speed to engage, anyhow. Someone correct me on this, but isn't this how the axle disconnect system works? Why would you add locking hubs, anyway? The only benefit I can see is getting 2wd low, but you could just unplug the wires from the axle disconnect to do that, given you have an open diff

 

[010]

According to my shop manual my 94 2wd 4 cly ranger has a c clip 8.8. According to the book all 93-97 has 8.8's

brownbagg

 

[Guest]

I know there are explorers out there with 4.10 gears because I have a 99 with 4.10s. They are more likely to show up in the 2 door explorer sport with trailer prep package. Steve

Mopar360yj
87yj+20,74CHR.030360,SOA,35BFGATs,46RH,241DHD,
D60-44-4.10

 

[Guest]

BrownBag, I hate to burst your bubble, but MY '94 2wd 5-speed 2.3L 4cyl Ford Ranger XLT longbed has a 7.5" ford rear end. I konw, because my '97 Ford F-150 2wd has the 8.8 The 7.5 is also a c-clip axle, and they are based on the same design, just the 7.5 is scaled down in all respects. Which shop manual are you using?

As to adding the locking hubs, I'd add them AND modify the axle disconect to pull the disconnect sleve over both halves and lock it there (I know several people who've done this to D30 axles). This does several things. First it saves on wear to your spider gears, differential bearings, and other calamites. Also, when in 2wd on the streets, your constantly spinning both front u-joints, the driveshafts, , espically with a locker or limited slip, and are turning components in both the front diff and t-case. I see that as giving poorer gas mileage, chewing parts that don't need to be chewed, and how many times have you gone on a fourwheeling trip where nobody had locking hubs they needed to lock at trailhead? 2wd low is nice, but would be a pain to get the way I use my hubs (if I had a yj, but I twinstick my Cj anyway). Then, you aren't left wondering if the disconect has engadged or not, which is a problem for my friends when brush pulls the connections off the stolenoid.

IMHO :: if you want to run a locker / limited slip in the front of a yj/tj/any veh without locking hubs, put in locking hubs, 'fix' the disconects and then you can run the locker.

Florida Mud CJ-5
'77 RB304, t-150 D20 4" 35" swampers

 

[010]

http://www.fordranger.com/axlecode.html

brownbagg

 

[Guest]

Schweeetgy,
Since the driver side hub is always locked, the front driveshaft is always spinning when that tire is rolling. You can see this for yourself by rolling your Jeep in the driveway and looking at it. This is what makes the t-case gears spin in sync with each other. The passenger side hub is is always locked as well, however it only spins the outer of the two passenger side axle shafts when that tire is rolling. The area where the two passenger side axle shafts meet is splined. There is a sleeve that sits on the center (I think) axle shaft when 4wd is not engaged. Once engaged, it slides towards the outer axle shaft so it covers both, thus making them rotate together. Occasionally when the splines don't match, the outer shaft can't be engaged. Therefore you have to turn the wheels just to make that outer shaft spin a little slower or faster than the center shaft and eventually they will line up making the engagement.
If I am wrong on this, I would like somebody to correct me.
The reasons for adding manual locking hubs are many. I'll let somebody else explain that.

-Dorian
88 YJ w/ multi-speed wipers

 

[Guest]

Ok, well. I don't want to step on anybody's toes. I don't know. There may be some way to get an unusual combination, but I've seen various places on the 'net document that the 8.8 was used in 4wd, 4.0L rangers. If I'm wrong I'm wrong, but it just so happened that you were describing one of my trucks... If you happen to have an 8.8, all the more power to ya, but I'm positive I don't.


Florida Mud CJ-5
'77 RB304, t-150 D20 4" 35" swampers

 

[raymo]

regarding the front axle shaft spinning with the axle disconnect....it only applies if the front has an automatic locker. Otherwise the shaft that is always 'engaged spins the spider, not the entire carrier and drive shaft and related T case parts. That is why when you put a locker in the front you may get more steering drag. I didn't notice it at all.

-ray

 

[177]

Morning All,

Here's some more info on the Ranger/Bronco II's (yes there were a few) and Explorer 8.8 rear's.

All Explorer's have the 8.8 rear. Most of them (except for possibly some of the older ones) have 31 splined axles. They are around 2" wider than the Ranger Axles. They also have the springs on the underside of the axle. If my memory serves me right, they got another 2" wider around '96 when they went to A-Arm from axle setup. But, I do not know this for sure.

Some Bronco II's had the 8.8" rear. However, they are VERY hard to find since they where only with the BII's with a 4.0 motor. I think this was only one (maybe two) years. I also think it is a tad bit smaller than the 90-97 Ranger axles by an 1 1/2".

From 90 up, all Rangers equiped with the 4.0 motor came with the 8.8" rear. In 98, they got around 2" wider than normal. Somewhere around there, they went to 31 splined axles. Otherwise, they are 28 splined. NOTE: Some Cab & Chasis model Rangers prior to 90 came with the 4.0. I do not know if they have the 8.8 rear or not.

As for gears, I have 5.13's in my 92 Ranger S/C with the 8.8 rear and D35 front. This is the lowest gear set I know of. You can go with 4.56's and 4.88's if you wanted to. However, with the D35, no one makes 4.88 gears. But, they do make 5.13's. Sadly, you have to cut the pinion shaft down a bit due to clearance issues.

As for strength, I have a Lock Rite in front and a Auburn LS Pro in the rear. I have wheeled fairly hard in it and the weakest link has been the locking hubs on the D35. They are pretty close in strength to the D44. They share the same stub shafts diameter, they may even share the same hub diameter. I think they even share the same fron u-joint. However, from that point on, they are different.

 

[Guest]

As far as spline count goes, generally axles with a larger spline counts also have larger diameter axle shafts. Bigger is definatly better here.