Hi pinion dana 35

O.K. I was just sitting around thinking, maybe too much, what would happen if the gears from the front of a ranger were put into an XJ rear housing that was flipped to be hi pinion? I know about the lube issues, and the spindley axle stuff but was just thinking if it had been tried at all and if it would even work. Before I get flamed, it was just a thought, a turd is still a turd no matter what. Anybody actually tried this?
Bill

you would still have wimpy axle shafts.

not worth it.

What about that same concept on a D44? Or a D60 for that matter?

And the point of this would be ... what?

A high pinion axle in the front has reverse cut gears because the front diff is rotating "backwards" when the vehicle goes forward, so they cut the gears "backwards" so that they WON'T be running on the back side of the gear teeth.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, you want to take gears made to run "backwards" and run them forwards. They'll be running on the "back" side of the teeth, and therefore weaker than a normal D35 rear axle.

couple things. first off, reverse cut model 35 gears for a ranger and explorer are $$$ the cheapest ones over $200. (genuine)

next the gears for a high pinion housing will not fit in a standard housing. flipping doesn't work.
the model 35 has the same size shafts as a D30 so there is no gain..

Eagle said:

And the point of this would be ... what?

A high pinion axle in the front has reverse cut gears because the front diff is rotating "backwards" when the vehicle goes forward, so they cut the gears "backwards" so that they WON'T be running on the back side of the gear teeth.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, you want to take gears made to run "backwards" and run them forwards. They'll be running on the "back" side of the teeth, and therefore weaker than a normal D35 rear axle.

Click to expand...

The point would be high pinion clearance and better driveline angles. This is exactly the concept with the Currie high pinion 9", which uses front IFS 8.8 gears off an Exploder in conjunction with a custom 3rd member and 9" housing and axles. The high pinion D60's are the same thing: running on the weak side of the gears to gain pinion height. The R&P on these axles is not a weak spot, so you can afford some loss of strength.

You lose 20-30% of the ring gear strength, which is why, for example, a Currie HP 9" is rated to 36" tires at best and is probably best run on 31 spline shafts and not the 35 spline...you want a shaft to go before the R&P. HP 60's have even less of an issue...I don't know if they even bother rating them for tire size.

Now running a D35 gearset on the weak side of the gears? That doesn't even need an answer except to satisfy the curiousity of "can it be done?".

Nay

I really didn't care except theses kind of thoughts do pop into my head from time to time and thought what a better forum to present it in. I was just daydreaming, I have no intention of polishing a turd and my original post should have made that point. Thanks to all who satisfied my curiosity,now for my next trick.................

Bill