64 Wagoneer axles on a 61 CJ?

Local Craigslist has a 1964 Wagoneer rolling chassie 4WD.
I know JP magazine talks about 74-79 narrow track wagoneer.
Woulda, coulda, shouda?

 

That would be a closed knuckle axle and not an upgrade. My brother in-law has a 64 wagoneer that has a swapped in open knuckle 44 in front. That is prob what JP is talking about... Hopefully someone with a lot more knowledge will weigh in... Guess you could check it out and see if the front has already been swapped with an open knuckle...I believe originally came with a Dana 27, that's not an upgrade if that's what you are looking for.

 

Yeah, not an upgrade. You're going to have to do some significant work to make Wagoneer axles fit (move perches on the rear, outboard the mounts on the front), so you may as well pick some axles that are a significant upgrade.

A '64 will have a tapered rear 44 and a closed-knuckle 27. Wider, but not an upgrade.

1974 was the first year for front Dana 44 axles with open knuckles and disk brakes. The rear axle changed to one-piece flanged D44 axles ca '69-70. These are likely the earliest axles you should consider. The '74 axles are 6 on 5.5", but you can convert the front axle to 5 on 5.5" with Ford hubs. If you need new wheels, just go with the '74 or later axles.

 

All said is true. Not an upgrade.

The good Wagoneer axles (mid 70s & up) are not that expensive. I paid $50 for my J10 D44 rear axle (30 spline, flanged 1 piece) and $175 for my 79 Waggy D44 open knuckle, disc brake front axle. As stated both need a fair amount of work before they will fit comfortably under my 57 cj5, they are wide trac axles (63" WMS front - 60" WMS rear) The narrow trac require much less modification and may cost you a bit more. I believe the narrow tracs can run their existing WMS dimensions.

Choosing wheels carefully with a lot of back spacing can solve much of the width issues, without having to cut axle tubes and buy custom lenght axles. A wide axle with deeply back spaced wheels will run a bigger tire with less lift and fender triming than a narrow axle and wheels that have very little back spacing (like most after market mags)

A bit of research will run down a set, patience will run down a set for small dollars.

 

Thanks to all for the great info.

 

Have to add my 2 cents here. Is a closed knuckle 44 an upgrade? Be any definition-absolutely. You get the standard 44 ring/pinion/spiders which are much stronger than the 25/27 counterparts. You also get weak axle shafts, u-joints, and the more limited turning radius of the closed knuckle. The question should be is it a worthwhile upgrade. The answer to that is clearly no as it will take the same amount of work that you would have to do for a open knuckle 44 installation. There is one place where I would still use a closed knuckle 44: a restoration of a Willys wagon or pickup where it would still look stock and even then, I think you would have to use one from a wide gauge FC 150 to get the proper length.

 

Waggy yes, same equivalent in J10 is a 44. I probably have a half dozen closed knuckle 44's in my bone pile, most are either FC 170's or early J10 material. The 4.10 ring and pinion out of one of them is in the rear of my 3B.

 

It's true that the J-trucks had closed-knuckle 44s. The 8-lug trucks had D44HDs front and D60s rear. Some 5-lug trucks had the rear D53 (zero parts support now - avoid) or the D60-2. But, IMO, the J-truck axles are too wide for a CJ. They are really wide. Most people would look for Wagoneer axles, which are about 6" wider than the CJ axles.

CJ (w/ NT D30): 51.5"/50"
Wagoneer: 57"/57"
J-truck: 64"/64.5" (roughly).

If you want 5-lugs on a 5.5" circle, a narrowed D60-2 with a '74-on D44 front converted to Ford hubs would be a neat setup. The flanged 57" 5-lug D44 rear (ca '70 to '73 Wagoneer) is not a bad option either, and more available than the D60-2. The '70-73 Wagoneers had a front closed-knuckle D30, which is very slightly less of a cigar butt than the 57" D27 or the tapered 57" Wagoneer D44 rears.

These Wagoneer D27s and D30s have a 2-hole passenger side knuckle, which is worth saving.

IIRC there were some early light-duty J-trucks that had the front D27, but most are D44 or D44HD.