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AMC 20 Dana 44

9

94XJ4x4

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bitburg, Germany
Does anyone know anything about The old AMC 20's like the ones in cj7's. How strong are they will it be worth just cleaning up and reusing in my cj. also does anyone know if i can take a dana 44 out of a mid sized cherokee and swap with the rear end of my cj. (put the dana 44 into the cj) Just trying to get ideas for when i tackle this project. i have a CJ7 chassis waiting for me to restore it and turn it into a complete vehicle again.
 
they are actually much stronger than a 35 provided you upgrade shafts to one piece units. and they are only substantially narrower if they are a narrow-trac. I have seperated a 2 piece shaft on my 20, but the one piece moser kits are hella strong:)
 
open front diff, and 33's ok...don't get too rambunctious on hard surfaces. rear 20 with one piece shafts...no worries. rear 20 with factory axles.....you will seperate an axle off road, especially if you need to "rock" the vehicle in the mud.

one piece shafts are typically about 300 bucks. but get them installed by someone who knows them, I did mine myself and they slid out as I was going down the road. got them in right and they were fine with 35's
 
OK Ok Maybe some people have luck with them... especially if you put money into them.

With 32 inch tires, I spun one apart on a log crossing one day, and another pulling into traffic.

My experiences...
 
quote:/With 32 inch tires, I spun one apart on a log crossing one day, and another pulling into traffic./quote

hence the one piece shafts, the ring and pinion/ axle diameter are far greater than the 35, worthwhile to upgrade the shafts, and a lot cheaper than an axle swap.
 
AMC 20 center sections are beefy, the R/P are slightly larger than a D44, which everyone seems to use a the standard for beef. The CJ 20's weak points were thin axle tubes and 2 piece axles shafts. To truely make the unit tough, you can replace the tubes or at the least, fab a truss to prevent them from tweaking and then fill them with good 1 piece shafts.

A buddy of mine used to punish his CJ5, using lots of throttle and a swapped in 401 turning 38's and he never broke an axle shaft after he install 1 piece units......driveshafts however, were a consumable............
 
There are two AMC 20's, the CJ ones mentioned already and the heavy duty ones found in Waggies. They have one piece axles, thicker axle tubes (if I remember correctly), and are slightly wider than stock XJ. The only downside is 4.88 is the lowest gears available. I am putting Waggie D44 front and a AMC 20 in the rear in my XJ once I get some money for 4.88s and Detroits.
 
By the time you get 1 piece axles shafts and truss it etc and gear and lock it etc. You should just get a dana 44 from a Scout or Wagoneer and the you have an axle worth putting some $ into. The Waggy AMC 20 is a 1 piece and quite a bit stronger in the housing, tubes, etc than the CJ 1, but still I would look to swap in some Waggy dana 44 front and rear and then gear and lock those things. Don't polish that turd too much.
Troy
 
Actually, there are 3. 86 Comanches could be had with an AMC-20 that was unique to the MJ. One piece shafts and the XJ/MJ width and wheel bolt pattern. :)
Jeep on!
--Pete

ComancheClub.com


bigmatt said:
There are two AMC 20's, the CJ ones mentioned already and the heavy duty ones found in Waggies. They have one piece axles, thicker axle tubes (if I remember correctly), and are slightly wider than stock XJ. The only downside is 4.88 is the lowest gears available. I am putting Waggie D44 front and a AMC 20 in the rear nin my XJ once I get some money for 4.88s and Detroits.
Click to expand...
 
Righto Pete......I'm running an MJ Model 20 in my XJ with an SVO disc kit. Mucho beefo....stopo greato
 
My first rig was a '78 CJ-5 with narrow track axles (front D30 and rear AMC 20). I had 4.10 gears, ARB's, one piece rear axle shafts, 33 BFG's and ZERO breakage. That's with 5 trips through the Rubicon. These axles get a bad rap, but they will hold up to 33's just fine. If you're going to use an AMC 20, go with the ones used in the Waggy's. As mentioned above, they have the thicker axle tubes and one piece axle shafts.

As far as swapping a rear Waggy 44 into a CJ, the bolt pattern would be the primary hurdle. You'd could conceivably take the outter knuckles on the front Dana 44 of the Waggy and put them on the CJ's front D30. The inner knuckles on a CJ Dana 30 are compatible with all Dana 44 outter knuckles. Besides the difference in bolt patterns, the rear Waggy 44 is also wider. I think it's only a couple of inches if you have the wide track axles.
 
Capt. Nemo said:
My first rig was a '78 CJ-5 with narrow track axles (front D30 and rear AMC 20). I had 4.10 gears, ARB's, one piece rear axle shafts, 33 BFG's and ZERO breakage. That's with 5 trips through the Rubicon. These axles get a bad rap, but they will hold up to 33's just fine. If you're going to use an AMC 20, go with the ones used in the Waggy's. As mentioned above, they have the thicker axle tubes and one piece axle shafts.

As far as swapping a rear Waggy 44 into a CJ, the bolt pattern would be the primary hurdle. You'd could conceivably take the outter knuckles on the front Dana 44 of the Waggy and put them on the CJ's front D30. The inner knuckles on a CJ Dana 30 are compatible with all Dana 44 outter knuckles. Besides the difference in bolt patterns, the rear Waggy 44 is also wider. I think it's only a couple of inches if you have the wide track axles.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Waggy 20s are pretty strong. If you swap in a rear 44 from a waggy, I'd swap in both the f/r at the same time to get a little more width and the 6 on 5.5 bolt pattern. This is a very common swap. You need to look for a waggy that is 79' or older to get the pass drop. If you have a dana 20 t-case in the early CJ7 I think from 76-79' then the dana 44s from the waggies are really easy to bolt in I read.
 
Now that you guys have bashed the amc 20 I've yet to see anyone say anything about running 35's I built an amc 20 narrow trac 4.56, detroit, and 2 pc axle with 4" lift and 35's on an 80 cj5 wrong answer. With the lift and tires it was too narrow for the side hilling. Plus I was on flat dirt and spun the right shaft. I later went to wide trac with the same gears and locker but with the 1 pc axles and the 35's and I wheel very hard and have had no problem and the axle is a CJ amc 20.
 
Just a recap on the CJ Model 20 info. The weaknesses are the two piece axles, the thin tubes, and the tubes can spin in the pumpkin. The ring and pinion are pretty stout, and the one piece axles seem to hold up well to 35's. If you weld the tubes to the pumpkin (couple of stitch welds), add a truss across the top (pretty simple to do if you have a welder), and run one piece axles they're pretty good for 35's. The bottom of Model 20's can also be shaved for a decent axle clearance.

BTW, if you're running the two piece axles they can hold up pretty well if you remember to regularly tighten the big nut on the end of the axle flange. Most people don't know to tighten it regularly which is a cause of a lot of two piece axles breaking.
 
Don't forget the diff cover which seems to be made of tinfoil. You should put a diff guard on it.

Goatman said:
Just a recap on the CJ Model 20 info. The weaknesses are the two piece axles, the thin tubes, and the tubes can spin in the pumpkin. The ring and pinion are pretty stout, and the one piece axles seem to hold up well to 35's. If you weld the tubes to the pumpkin (couple of stitch welds), add a truss across the top (pretty simple to do if you have a welder), and run one piece axles they're pretty good for 35's. The bottom of Model 20's can also be shaved for a decent axle clearance.

BTW, if you're running the two piece axles they can hold up pretty well if you remember to regularly tighten the big nut on the end of the axle flange. Most people don't know to tighten it regularly which is a cause of a lot of two piece axles breaking.
Click to expand...
 
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