1 ton Eaton axle worth the swap?

I've got a friend who has one as is willing to give it to me for a cheap price. It came out of a 60's model chevy, and it needs the pinion worked on. Would this be considered a good swap? Or should I concentrate on something else like a ford 9 or better?

xjj33p3r said:

I've got a friend who has one as is willing to give it to me for a cheap price. It came out of a 60's model chevy, and it needs the pinion worked on. Would this be considered a good swap? Or should I concentrate on something else like a ford 9 or better?

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It's huge, it's obsolete, it's heavy. Gear and locker limited, but it's very stout.

A 14 bolt is a better choice if you want to go big. More gearing options.

Sometimes those old Eatons came with 4.56 and a Detroit from the factory, check to see if it has these, and it may be worth your while.

my understanding is you can actually use 14bolt guts in them, so there are some decent gearing/locker options (5.13/detroit, 5.38s and ARBs soon)

I also seem to recall them being a stamped steel housing, so it would be easier to shave for clearance and probably lighter than a 14bolt.

Seems like there may be advantages to this axle then. Any other kind of advice?

how big are you building? I wouldn't run a 14bolt or Eaton on an XJ with less than 39s and with subframing tied into a cage.

This axle would most likely go into storage before I go that big, but I was looking for an axle upgrade that would keep me semi-secure with considerations of strength. If anything, my next upgrade would be 36" irocs, but with stock axles, that just won't do. I've got spare axles in the back of my jeep, complete ones, but for the rear, I really wanted something that would stand up to abuse. Apparently, the eaton would be able to stand up to it, but sub framing isn't what I'm looking to do yet. Would it be worth snagging for future plans?

By "future plans" I meant, WAY in the future, when I upgraded from the 36" irocs to maybe 39's

xjj33p3r said:

By "future plans" I meant, WAY in the future, when I upgraded from the 36" irocs to maybe 39's

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depends on price, how far in the future, etc...

only you can make that decision.

For 36s, I think a 9" would be a much better choice, and you actually could build a 9" to handle 39s as well.

xjj33p3r said:

By "future plans" I meant, WAY in the future, when I upgraded from the 36" irocs to maybe 39's

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Since you are not in a hurry, I would hold out for a more "mainstream" axle at a good price. That antique won't do anything that a number of other easily attainable axles can't do as good or better.

That is, unless you are one of those guys that just loves to have something different.

BrettM said:

depends on price, how far in the future, etc...

only you can make that decision.

For 36s, I think a 9" would be a much better choice, and you actually could build a 9" to handle 39s as well.

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That's very true about the 9", but if I ever went as high as 39's with a ford 9, would I need a sub frame as well?

This axle is really teasing me though... my friend is going to get rid of it since he doesn't need it anymore, it's in decent shape, and getting some wheels for them would be a snap. I was recently looking at h2 take off wheels, and for $200 a set, it ain't too bad. More research will yield a much clearer answer, but I appreciate the advice coming along

Correction, apparently the axle is a half-ton Eaton, and not the 1 ton. What differences in weight and durability should I expect from it?

no clue, never seen the 1/2 ton.

pull a shaft and measure and count the splines, figure out the gear ratio, call some drivetrain shops and see what is available for it... etc

Cool, thanks Brett

Don't know about the 14 bolt guts working in the Eaton but the Detroit is discontinued so check to see if it has one in it already. My local junk yard has d D60 rear with discs for $200. The deals are out there as long as you look hard enough.

Matt

Local junk yards in my area are usually picked clean of the good stuff by guys like us. I just got into the game a little late. I'll have a ton of time to look around and see what will work for me, but this one seemed like such a great deal. A heavy duty axle for $100 almost seemed to good to pass up.

ok, time to clear a few things up...

There is no 1/2 ton eaton, they came in 3/4 and 1 ton pickups only. They are models HO52 (3/4) and HO72 (1ton).

They are fairly big axles, but they are a good bit lighter then a 14bolt any day of the week. They have stamped sheetmetal housings which shave a ton of weight off of the axle. Its very common to see a disc'd eaton weighing in at 300 lbs, and a shaved one just under. I would LOVE to see a 14bolt touch that.

From the factory they have beefy 17spline shafts IIRC they are 1.75 and neck down to 1.5. As for the 14 bolt internals bolting in. This is fully correct. You can swap in a 14 bolt detroit and 14 bolt shafts and be good to go. You can also just swap the spiders and shafts if you are just looking for an open rear (not too sure why, maybe to weld it)

Needless to say this is one hell of an axle, I have two of them and one will end up under my XJ in the next few weeks to comliment my 3/4 Ton dana 44 thats going up front.

So all in all, you have a 14 bolt strength with a fraction of the weight. I am not going to complain about that =)

Also 14 bolt disc brake kits mount right up, there are a few bugs you need to work out, but I am currently fighting with.

As for parts and gears, you are pretty much SOL, there is NO aftermarket parts except for wheel bearings. So if you break / wear something out, better start looking in the junk yards.

Logan has one under his 88 MJ as well.

The other advantage of the Eaton 12-bolt is it is a drop out third member (like a 9-inch). Think of it as an obsolete factory full floater 9-inch on steroids. It has a formed steel housing that is much easier to weld and fabricate linkage brackets, that many people consider stronger than a 14-bolt composite cast housing with pressed-in tubes (some even had a true banjo style removable cover as well, but they are considered a weak housing).

The 14-bolt axles and side gears (or full Detroit) bolt into the drop out carrier. The 14-bolt disc's can be modified to work. The stock 17-spline axles are plenty stout, but if you prepare a spare drop-out with 14-bolt internals and have axle shafts on hand the swap is fairly quick (if you twist the splines off the end of a shaft).

Many early 60's 283cu 1-tons came with the Eaton 12-bolt with factory detroits and 4.56 or 5.13 gears (some late 60's trucks came with 3.73 ratio gear sets). The gear ratios were the main limitation (you had to match a front axle limited to one of these ratios). The Eaton 12-bolt was the most popular tractor pull axle until the heavy Rockwells became accepted.

The Eaton is overkill for 36's but depending on price it has great potential.

Acutally there was never a 3.73 ratio, There were only 3 ratios that were put into the ho52 and ho72's FROM THE FACTORY. They were 4.10, 4.57 and 5.13. Now there was a set of aftermarket gears that was released in a VERY small batch in the late 90's by some guy. They were 3.90's and are beyond rare to come across.

I'm beginning to reconsider this entire deal, since my plans have slightly changed. I have decided to keep my current jeep as is. It's pretty capable, and it can get me through some tough stuff, but all in all, it's my daily driver. I don't want to be worried about having to drive it to work after snapping something pretty important, or even rolling it. I've decided, along with pops, that it'd be best to buy another cherokee in the future, and just drop all my money on that and build a trailer queen. The axles, suspension, new motor, tcase, cage, the works pretty much. Now, this will be years from now, and I have begun to reconsider my options. It turns out the d44 that comes matching with that eaton is closed knuckle, and isn't really recommended over 37's, which I plan to go over.

All around, I want to go with bigger axles. I could possibly use that Eaton by itself, and something else up front, but would another combination be better for say, 39's or 40's?

I was thinking of using dana 60's front and rear, but what is a donor vehicle that I can try looking for to get these axles? I know that the parts for these axles will be costly, but for the assurance, I think I can deal with it. I want to start researching more and more about what I need for this sort of setup, so whatever advice yall have would be much appreciated.