axle questions and old cj left to rot in woods

Hello all. I hail from NAXJA.org with my daily driver 1989 XJ on 3" and 31s, locked front dana30.

I acquired a 1968 cj-5 from a friend's friend. He purchased it to use the working motor/trans/tcase in his cj-7 or 6 build.

I trashed the body and everything i could manage to remove.

at the moment it is a rolling frame with suspension on axles, with a bent steering column.

My only goal with this cj5 is to have a small beater trail toy my XJ can comfortable tow around, and I'm tired of breaking the daily driver and bumming a ride to work the next morning.

-from searching i figured out that i have a dana25/27 front, offset 19spline dana44 rear.
-the truck came equipped with the v6, the engine mounts have been torched off
-my understanding is that these axles handle 31s and can be locked comfortably
-the frame is in one piece but it likes to flex a bit, im considering a one off simple boxed frame

can any one confirm or elaborate?

PART TWO!

i went to north jersey to wheel with a friend, up in the "Jackson Whites" country. we went to clean up the land of old tires and dumped crap and did some trail riding. i came across a blue abandoned early CJ with a 4banger and 3 shift sticks on the floor (atleast i remember 3 shifters). it looks to have a slightly bent front end with a rotted out tub.

is it worth my time to take another trip with a trailer with mounted winch and recover this truck. use the drivetrain in my rolling frame and just toss a grill for looks, some tubing for a roll bar and seat mounts/floor panel and trailer this hunk of junk to and from trails?

take it as you will but im loving the small size of my cj, originally i was keeping an eye out for a fuel injected samurai but i feel daring and would like to jump into a carb'ed historic jeep instead.

does this make sense to anyone else but me?



thats the cj5 before being stripped to nothing.

 

Looks like a good catch to me!

 

Sounds like a good plan.

 

I'm running a D25/D44(19-spline) with 5.38's using lock-right lockers in both with 33's. I just got back from MOAB,UT where we ran Golden Spike which is an extreme trail. The axles will hold up as long as you don't go crazy with the throttle. These things are great fun and are super simple to work on. I think you'll have a blast with that little jeep.

 

I'd go get the other jeep. But then again, I'd have rebuilt the jeep pictured above.

Save all you can.

 

X2!! Even though the tub might be toast, the other parts may save the life of another Jeep!

 

As it's said over and over, asking if you should buy a jeep here is like asking crack addicts if you should buy more crack.

Personally, if the price is right I'd drag that other one home. People on here have started with less.

 

instead of starting another thread:

is lockright the only company making dana25 lockers? i ask because that is all im able to find through various searches

what about rear axle options?

 

Aussie Locker also is making them for the 25/27. They make them for the 19 spline rear axles also. Nickmil

 

I run 31s and lockers, in my 25/44 and have had only one problem with this setup- trashed the old style ujoint in the axle. easy to upgrade to newer type cardan cross find axles on epay all the time.

 

Here's a pic of the different types of ujoints.

 

Though they never appeared in the CJ front axle, if I’m recalling correctly, other models of truck with the Dana 25 front axle had the Power Lok limited slip in them.
A Power Lok for the 19 spline rear is comparatively easy to find, there’s probably one for sale on Ebay right now.

 

I'm running 31x9.5 Super Swampers on my '61 and have no problems.

 

Cool, I never knew that. I thought they were an option for the rear only in CJ’s.
Learn something new every day.

 

"We appreciate your interest in the Aussie Locker. Currently we do not have the older locker models in our new product development schedule. We apologize for the inconvenience."

quoted directly from Aussie.

bummer too, the unit in my 1989xj dana30 has served me well.