3B front axle

After kicking around the old "what to do?????" with the front axle under the 3B for a couple of weeks (sheared the end off of the right side shaft at the side gear), I just spent a bunch of money at Rich & Paul's. Ordered a wide track 44 housing and a set of 4340 shafts. The rest of it will be a set of Reid knuckles, Scout II outer's/disc's, and an ARB. Eventually there will be a 9" or Dana 60 in the rear, but for the interim, just going to use some 2" spacers on the full float to get the widths somewhat similar. I did receive a replacement D25 shaft form Daryl (thanks) but the more I thought about it, the odds were that I would likely be needing something else in the 25 on a regular basis and, with enough metal flake in the bottom of the housing to paint several cars, I'm not too trusting of anything else in there either. Just not worth the $ to fix it.

It was time to just bite the bullet and get it done right. On the plus side, I already had purchased all the bearings/discs/pads/knuckles/ARB so there should be too much for other expenses. I will need a set of normal rotation 4.09 gears but there may be a set of usable ones in the 68 J3000 that is rotting away by the shop. I even have a like new set of 27 spline Loc-O-Matics for it.

 

4.09 R+P for Dana 44 are kinda hard to come by.
I saw some the other day.
But not sure if they are still around.

 

Actually, I believe there should be a lot of those around. 4.09's were fairly common in the Chevy/GMC 44's. Not going to even be in the same game with finding 4.09's for a D25.

 

??? What

 

Just my personal opinion but nobody buys aftermarket gears do they ?

Well I just saw 4 sets of NOS Dana 4.09's over on eBay.
But the cheapest of those was still $225.
The set I saw the other day was genuine Dana 4.09 gears for like $125.
I just don't see them around here that often at a decent price.
But then again I really was not searching for anything but OLD Jeep parts.

 

4.09, 4.10, and 4.11 are readily available. Spicer and aftermarket. Yukon are decent aftermarket gears. They set up nice and hold up well. I've installed lots of them with rarely an issue.
Not everyone needs OEM original Jeep gears Oldtime.

 

Well that's really what I meant it's just my own personal preference.
I figure if I can still find Dana gears then why not ?
Actually Dana never even cut their own gears prior to the mid 1950's.
Those early Jeeps typically all have "Salsbury" gears.

Never used them myself but I also hear that Yukon has a good reputation.

Anyway it sure sounds like John has a definate plan underway.
Big engine and big axles to match; all that stuffed into a little Jeep.
Hope it all goes together well.

 

Oh, I agree Ken. Spicer are definitely top tier and I use them whenever possible. The point was 4.09, 4.10, and 4.11 were used in lots of vehicles other than Jeep vehicles therefore are not all that hard to find if you are patient.

Salisbury are definitely a bit "different" but good quality as well.

Glad you got a good game plan going on Duffer. I never regretted upgrading to a 44 from the 25 I had. Definitely gives a bit more piece of mind.

 

Any old Ford highboy D44F from 67-77 will have a standard rotation 4.09 gear. Probably a half dozen within throwing distance anywhere in Montana.

 

You do realize many of those had high pinion 44's in the front right? That used reverse cut gears and 3.54-1 was much more common?

 

F-250's ("highboy") almost universally had 4.09 gears in that era.
F-150's had the reverse cut 3.54's....

 

But as Nick said, at least the later part of that era, all the F250's were high pinion 44's. I actually have that axle (and a set of reverse rotation 4.09 gears) and was going to use it for this project but in addition to some severe whittling on the center to made it work with spring under and a truss to make up for lost strength, the left side axle tube would need completely replaced. Along with the usual moving the knuckles in and cutting the extraneous stuff off. That and I wasn't too sure the driveshaft was going to clear everything at full stuff. In short, a real project. The assemble and bolt-in R&P housing had a lot more appeal and a lot less uncertainty involved.

 

I think (and my memory's a little fuzzy so don't take this as gospel) that F250's didn't go to high pinion axles till '78 when the trucks were lowered. I know the late 60's-early 70's trucks were low pinion.
They were also closed knuckle up till at least '75, so I certainly wouldn't suggest trying to cut one of to use down to use in a CJ.
But it might be a potential donor for a ring and pinion...

 

The R&P housing and Dutchman axles are sitting in the garage now. I guess I wouldn't consider a D44 a big axle, no doubt nearly twice as strong as a D25/27, but not big. Big to me is D60/70/80, any of which would be totally ridiculous for my application. Nick, this should end up being close to 56" WMS/WMS. Still thinking full float 9" for the rear, probably a next year project.