- Location
- In the islands
If you guys were to change an axle width from 58" to 66", how would you do it?
Wheel spacers! Lots of them.
Shorten the axle tubes and axles!!!
Sorry. I was channeling my inner facebook tech.
get some JK D44s, or tons
hrmm do portals, I havnt seen those done
I have an idea what portals are but have not seen them.
My XJ is 95% highway so I would like to keep it easily serviceable using over the counter parts. Also, weight is a definite concern.
My thoughts go like this,... cut axle tube somewhere in the middle, i.e. between the center section and the outer end. Insert a sleeve and weld it back together. Add an truss. Done.
I like changeling my self to be different, to do something different.
Everyone talks about shortening an axle. Who deer to be different?
The correct way would be drill plug welds in center section, press old tube out, press new tube in and reweld. Ideally some sort of fixture would be used to verify the thing is still kinda straight too.
Your described procedure is the best procedure by far. However, there are many Chevy driver side drop front D44 that have been modified to a passenger side drop without the expense of getting the center section to a professional shop with a jig to have it re-tubed.
The simplicity of this modification is stunning. The long side tube is cut to the desired short length. The remaining long side tube is then added to the original short side. An inner tube or sleeve is inserted into both original short tube and the added on piece that was removed from the long side and they are welded together. The major difference here is, both tubes will be welded. Nothing that a skilled welder cannot handle,...I think,...
I must admit that I not heard it done to a rear non steerable axle. And that is the reason I am trying to get a feel for what others think. I may visit some local 4X4 shops and throw my idea at them.
Your described procedure is the best procedure by far. However, there are many Chevy driver side drop front D44 that have been modified to a passenger side drop without the expense of getting the center section to a professional shop with a jig to have it re-tubed.
The simplicity of this modification is stunning. The long side tube is cut to the desired short length. The remaining long side tube is then added to the original short side. An inner tube or sleeve is inserted into both original short tube and the added on piece that was removed from the long side and they are welded together. The major difference here is, both tubes will be welded. Nothing that a skilled welder cannot handle,...I think,...
I must admit that I not heard it done to a rear non steerable axle. And that is the reason I am trying to get a feel for what others think. I may visit some local 4X4 shops and throw my idea at them.
First, GM D44s are passenger drop. But I know what you meant.
What you're wanting to do is not a terrible idea for a front axle. Ideally you want the inner sleeve to be a nice press fit into both tubes, so you can plug weld it into one side then press it together, plug weld it into the other side, then weld up the butt joint. You're not going to have a perfectly straight housing after you do this, but most front housings (and lots of rears) are really not that straight after they've done 20 years in service or somebody has welded a bunch of brackets or trusses to them. However, a front axle has a fair amount more leeway in how straight it needs to be just by the nature of their being a u-joint in it, and that they're not as likely to be driven at all times (manual hubs or pulling drive flanges). With a rear axle having the housing less straight is more likely to show up as problems.
That said, you can buy an alignment bar for not that much money, and there is a lot of badly bent rear axles out there that are in service. You'll see guys with FF axles that can't keep their axle shaft retaining bolts from coming loose, and a bent housing (or shaft) is often the culprit...
What axles are you intending to build? I run full width axles (Ford HP D60 and a Chebby 14 Bolt) with 37s and the width is nearly perfect, they could be maybe 2" narrower at most (and I would need different wheels, the tire position would not be changed).
Have you read into this? Any links? I'd like to see what others have done and how it worked.
The simplicity of this modification is stunning.