[Guest]

Hi all, I know that this stuff has been covered before, but I really need some help quick and I couldn't find the old posts about it.

I went to the junkyard today to look for some upgrade axles for my '94 YJ, and here's what I found:

Front: Dana 44 from an 81 Wagoneer Quadratrac (I think). It has a driver side differential, on which the center of the yoke is 5.5 inches inboard of the inside of the driver side leaf spring. I haven't measured this dimension on my Dana 30 yet, so I'm not sure what it is. The axle is about 61" wide between the wheel mounting surfaces on the rotors, and the spring perches are about 31.75 inches apart. The drag link is approx 26" long, But I haven't measured the YJ's yet. According to my measurements so far, everything seems to be darn close to the YJ's diensions. This axle has no hubs, could I put regular lockouts on it?

Rear: dana 44 from a 78 Wagoneer Quadratrac. The measurements between the spring perches and the overall width are almost exactly that of the front axle above.

Questions: What would be involved in this swap? See below:

-Steering considerations - would I have to grind the knuckles and rotate to get a good caster angle, or would they work OK as-is? What about the drag link? Any ideas?

-Do my measurements seem right? This appears to be too good to be true.

-I forgot to check the axle ratios. Any idea what the stock ratios are, or at least what they could be?

- Pinion yoke - will I have to change them, or will the ones that are on there work? If I have to change them, what would I need?

-What else would I need to accomplish this swap? If anyone has part numbers of stuff that I would need, that would be great.

I hope I've covered everytihg here. If anyone has suggestions on anything else, I would appreciate it. I realize that I would have to get new wheels, but that's OK...

Thanks a lot for your input...

Both have 6x5.5 lug patterns

Marc
Contagious Off-Road

 

[251]

the Quadratrac rears are usually offset, the diff isnt centered..

the quadratrac used after 1980 was an altogether differnt beast..

gear ratio for the late 70s was probably 3.54, for teh 81 maybe 3.31 if it had a factory towing package, 2.72 otherwise...

the 1981 front axle SHOULD have front hubs, unless it has a vac motor on it ( I think thats later in the 80s though)
why not just go ahead and grab the rear from the 81 too? then they would match gear ratios, and the model 20s used in FSJ had thicker axle tubes than CJs and one piece axleshafts...




OzarkJeep
NW Arkansas

 

[Guest]

Hi Ozark,

Is the offset obvious? It sure looked like it was in the center. Maybe I didn't look hard enough.

Is the model 20 worth swapping? Doesn't seem to be a very popular swap. Also, you seem to know your Wagoneers - do my measurements sound like they are correct? Is this really a "bolt in" proposition? Any idea about the steering situation for the front?

OK, another questions for y'all. There are a ton of older Ford Rangers (compact) with 8.8's at this yard. I found an '85 with an 8.8 that looked to be in pretty good shape. I know that the 8.8 will bolt in, but were there any changes over the years? is this axle worth it?

Also still looking for more info on the Dana 44's.

Thanks!

Marc
Contagious Off-Road

 

[Guest]

Can't use the Quadratrac rear axle because of the offset, but go for the front axle...I am in the process of swapping in a 86 FSJ axle right now and will have a write up on my web page in a couple weeks...any ?'s just email me.

Chris
[email protected]
http://www.extreme-jeepin.com

 

[251]

I just told you about all I know about FSJ axles Marc!

I go outside and measure for you but, Mine is a Widetrack Cherokee ( almost the width of a J truck) way wider...



OzarkJeep
NW Arkansas

 

[CJDave]

/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Hi Marc. I don't have all the answers that you need, only a few. The Quadra-Tracs that I am familiar with are passenger side drop only, if it is THEE Quadra-Trac, but that doesn't matter to your project. Also, AS THE TRANSFER CASE RISES relative to the front axle......as in a lift upgrade...the pinion yolk on the front axle must follow it like a guy with an artillery piece, he just keeps dialing in the elevation. OBVIOUSLY, this would rotate the housing, and therefore the knuckles in the same direction as the tires rotate in forward gear. That would louse up the caster, and would require a grind-out and re-welding of the knuckle forgings to recover the caster angle. A big job, yes, but one that cannot be ignored if the axle-swap/lift kit is to work well together./wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

CJDave
I never believe any statistics unless my moonguys /wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif made 'em up themselves.

 

[Guest]

The 82 wagoneer front axle is what I have under my wrangler. If it had auto hubs, yes you can put lockouts in there place. As for the width, the overall should be around 65" wheel hub to hub. I narrowed mine by cutting 1 1/2" from the drivers side and 3 1/2" from the pass side. When I cut the knuckles off of the tubes I rotated the pinion up a couple of degrees before I welded the knuckles back on in order to help my front drive angle. On the steering linkage, I used the wagoneer parts and cut down the drag link 5" and sleeved it and welded it back together. The steering arm is also wagoneer that I formed to fit the amount of offset from the pitman arm down to drag link, no cutting required there. I used a grand cherokee steering box with pitman arm so as to get a lower arm and an updated box, so the wagoneer parts fit the adjuster at the pitman arm. I'm running it all with a SOA and it seems to work and handle very well. Personal opinion on the rear axle, I'd run a dana 60. Steve

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

 

[130]

Is this a Grand Wagoneer or a Wagoneer you are looking at? The axles should be about 5" longer than your stock YJ axles, this can be adjusted for by using rims with a different offset to pull the tires in. The X-case is most likely a Selec-Trac of some sort, wich uses a driver-side offset and centered rear diff. The Axles gears are in the 2.72 range unless it has a towing package, but then it is only a 3.54 gearing, still not that great. Check in the glovebox to see if there is a sticker that says the rear axle has a limited slip- quite a few of these trucks did. The rear axle will be spring-over and the front spring-under, which means you will have to relocate some spring perches, and I dont belive they will bolt directly up...not positive about this though- measure your YJ! I am also considering this swap as well.... The front hubs aren't going to be manual if it has a driver's side offset...I dont know of any Jeep with manual hubs and a driver's side offset at all. The X-case is FULL TIME (some selec-tracs have a 2-wheel drive option, but it is only in the X-case) so it will have solid axles, no disconects. Manual hubs should be a VERY easy installation, Warn makes a great kit to convert these for a "reasonable" price. I dont see why manual hubs from an older Wagoneer wouldn't interchange, as long as the bolt pattern are the same. Check into it. A good friend and I may be getting together and buying a junkyard '86 GWagon. He needs the engine, transmission, steering components, and seats for his '75 J-20 and I need the D44 axles in the front and rear (rear LS too!) for my YJ. A new set of 4.11R&P and Lockright in the front, rebuild the rear LS, Warn hub conversion, and move the spring perches around and hopefully by March we will both be cruising to Seabring in some beefed up rigs. Also the Wagoneer tie-rod is about twice as strong as the stock YJ's tie-rod. I hope all this helps ya, it is a excellent swap for running everything up to 35" tires on your YJ with an I-6. Once you tread into V-8 territory and 35" tires you need to watch how much gas you give it and where....

 

[Guest]

Hey Sycho - are you axles from a widetrack or not? The Wagoneers that I'm looking at do not have flares - I thought that that was the determining factor - the ones that od not have flares have axles that are narrower?

What about the AMC20? And where would I get a Dana 60 that would bolt in?

Thanks!

Marc
Contagious Off-Road

 

[Guest]

I have a 90 YJ dana 44 frontend, SOA, its Wrangler width, (60) inches, 30 spline axles, powerlock, 4.56 gears, inner and outer knuckles, ( no brakes or hubs) using on new project, will through in new tie-rod and drag link, also has the Rubicon Express Anti-wrap spring perches on it, every thing set up by Tom`s Bronco of Medford Or. $900.00 Jody at [email protected] Or (541)832-2723 Fontend has only been used for 3 months MINT CONDITION

 

[Guest]

If I am mistaken and the '78 is not a Quadratrac, would it be a centered D44 in the back? IN other words, do earilier non-Quadratrac Wagoneers have centered Dana 44's?

Thanks,

Marc
Contagious Off-Road

 

[251]

yes MARC, early non quadratrac rears have a pretty close to centered diff

Sycho had some good info, but also some TOO broad assumptions ( these trucks are ever worse than CJs for parts changing mid year!)

there are LOTS of part time driverside diffed front axles in FSJs out there,WHich means they have lockout hubs, the gear ratios are 2.72/3.31 in Wags after 1980 ( down to 4.09 in J trucks)

the fender flares dictate either a widetrack cherokee or a J truck ( should be pretty obvious which!) Grand wags never had those types of flares from teh factory SO, all Grand Wag/Wagoneer axles are the narrowest of the FSJs..

a matching 44 front with lockouts, and rear dana 60 could be found pretty easily in a J20 ( 3/4 ton truck), BUT theyll be too wide without narrowing for a CJ YJ...

Check the tech info at the IFSJA site located here on ORC I think, its moved recently, do a search and youll find it, there is even a FSJ webring..

OzarkJeep
NW Arkansas