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Is the front Driveshaft really strong enough for the rear

offrd3

NAXJA Forum User
Location
new jersey
On here alot of people are using front driveshafts in the rear and doing a hack and tap on the output shaft. But my real question is, is the front driveshaft really strong enough for use in the rear, I want to be able to still tow a trailer in the 4000 pound range, and not have to worry about driveshaft failure. I did a search but have not come up with much, so I thought I would ask what everyone thought.
 
I saw a thread a while back that, while not the same exact question, dealt with a similar concept. it had to do with removing the rear shaft and only running the front shaft in 4hi to effectively get front wheel drive.
people were concerned with the fact that the front shaft was not designed to get 100% of the torq, but 50 at most.
I think the consensus was that you could do it and it would handle it, but you should really do it the right way and get a new shaft(tom woods for example).
i might be remembering it wrong, so I would search and tailor the search to the thread I brought up. you should find some info there.
 
No problems on mine. The front shafts are heavier than the stock rears too. Ive never seen a front shaft twisted but have seen rears twisted in half multiple times.
 
Yes it is. Unless you have some really different circumstance than most of us, you have nothing to worry about.
 
On the left, a Tom Wood shaft. Look at the size of the splined section, and while you can't see it, there are 6" of splines.

On the right, a stock front driveshaft. 3" of smaller splines, and it necks down from there. This doesn't even begin to address the difference in tube strength..

On my rig, I don't even trust the front driveshaft .. on the front.

driveshafts.jpg
 
On my rig, I don't even trust the front driveshaft .. on the front.

driveshafts.jpg

I agree...

Really depends on the type of wheeling you do though. If you like big rocks like my good friend Cal and I, you'll break it.
 
On the left, a Tom Wood shaft. Look at the size of the splined section, and while you can't see it, there are 6" of splines.

On the right, a stock front driveshaft. 3" of smaller splines, and it necks down from there. This doesn't even begin to address the difference in tube strength..

On my rig, I don't even trust the front driveshaft .. on the front.

driveshafts.jpg

Holy crap, we agree on something. :D I'm sure it would hold up for most, but I don't trust putting the smaller shaft of the rear of mine either.
 
been running one in the rear now for years, locked on 35s, and 38s, and beating the snot out of it. it held up in stock form perfectly. but when i got it lengthened i went to .250 wall.

im a fan of the front DS in the rear. unless youve got 250 burning a hole in your pocket, its cheap, easy, and strong enough for 95 percent of people doing a SYE
 
aftermarket shaft tubes are always beefier than the stock front though. But I did do it for some time with no prob.
 
thanks for all the great replys, I'm trying to save some money here and front drive shafts are only 20 bucks at my pick ur parts, I only have a two inch bugget boost and 29" allterains on my 98. The jeep spends 80% of its time on the highway and only 20% of the time towing my boat and offroad. so I think it might work well.
 
been running one in the rear now for years, locked on 35s, and 38s, and beating the snot out of it. it held up in stock form perfectly. but when i got it lengthened i went to .250 wall.

im a fan of the front DS in the rear. unless youve got 250 burning a hole in your pocket, its cheap, easy, and strong enough for 95 percent of people doing a SYE
exact same case for me. been working great for about 2 years.
 
thanks for all the great replys, I'm trying to save some money here and front drive shafts are only 20 bucks at my pick ur parts, I only have a two inch bugget boost and 29" allterains on my 98. The jeep spends 80% of its time on the highway and only 20% of the time towing my boat and offroad. so I think it might work well.
for a 2" boost, why are you doing an SYE?
 
I have a new np242 transfercase in my garage waiting to go in and i figure i would do the hack and tap while it was easy to do. Then if I go bigger in the future everything would allready be in place.
 
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