A follow on to my "Pondering" thread

[Hedgehog]

As stated in the earlier thread I would really like to go with 3.31 gearing in my Jeep. No arguing please for me my logic is sound.

So what about going the wide track route? I have the oppertunity to swap out my axles for a set of wide track axles. They have disk brakes in the front and are geared with 3.31's. Of course they are the standard set of axles that came with wide track Jeeps. A Dana 30 in the front and a 20 in the rear. The main problem as I see it is that I've rebuilt my superior narrow track Dana 44 and I hate to get rid of it.

Is there an advantage to the wide track axle that I'm not aware of?

 

[rufus1138]

ur gonna lose some turning radius

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

As stated in the earlier thread I would really like to go with 3.31 dearing in my Jeep. No arguing please for me my logic is sound.

So what about going the wide track route? I have the oppertunity to swap out my axles for a set of wide track axles. They have disk brakes in the front and are geared with 3.31's. Of course they are the standard set of axles that came with wide track Jeeps. A Dana 30 in the front and a 20 in the rear. The main problem as I see it is that I've rebuilt my superior narrow track Dana 44 and I hate to get rid of it.

Is there an advantage to the wide track axle that I'm not aware of?

The stance looks better aesthetically? Stability due to wider foot print. Fronts have disks. Thats all can think of.

 

[Hedgehog]

I've talked very little to my Jeep guy about this, but he said the difference in width is only about 2", they aren't full width like an F-AMC 150 . I wonder how much turning radius is actually lost.

I imagine wider has it's goods and bads. Out here we travel a lot of 2 track roads. It can be a pain when your Jeep constantly hunts where it wants to be.

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

I've talked very little to my Jeep guy about this, but he said the difference in width is only about 2", they aren't full width like an F-AMC 150 . I wonder how much turning radius is actually lost.

I imagine wider has it's goods and bads. Out here we travel a lot of 2 track roads. It can be a pain when your Jeep constantly hunts where it wants to be.

You know. On the FSJ models. The N/T and W/T models are only different in the front axle. The rear N/T was the same or close to the same size as the rear used in the W/Ts. At least thats what I remember when I swapped my GW to W/T. I wonder if the cj is the same?

 

[Petescj]

Your going to have to find a wide track Dana 44 or upgrade the wide track AMC20

 

[biggwrench]

I personally think the wide track looks bad. too wrangler for me..

 

[Old Dog]

I've talked very little to my Jeep guy about this, but he said the difference in width is only about 2", they aren't full width like an F-AMC 150 . I wonder how much turning radius is actually lost.

I imagine wider has it's goods and bads. Out here we travel a lot of 2 track roads. It can be a pain when your Jeep constantly hunts where it wants to be.

The WT will help, but as you pointed out, it is still not the same as full size trucks or cars, so you still won't be fully in their tracks. For you I think it would be a matter of looks more than tracking ability.

 

[Hedgehog]

Peter - yes I have an oppertunity to get a set, Dana 30 front, AMC20 rear. I sorta hate to give up on the 44 rear. Did a CJ come in a wide track 44?

 

[Techlight]

Did a CJ come in a wide track 44?

They did, but I hear they are "rare". They were offered as a Heavy Duty option and AMC used them randomly when they were out of 20's so finding them is a hard thing to do.
Here's a link from this forum that covers all the axles in CJ's:
http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f105/cj-axles-12186/

And here's a good write up from JP magazine on the benefits/weaknesses of the AMC20 and how to address them.
AMC 20 Axle - Tech Articles - JP Magazine

 

[Petescj]

Only in '86 when Amc ran out of the Corprate 20s and used the Dana 44 in the last of the Cjs.

Peter - yes I have an oppertunity to get a set, Dana 30 front, AMC20 rear. I sorta hate to give up on the 44 rear. Did a CJ come in a wide track 44?

 

[Hedgehog]

This morning at about 3:30am I came to realize that constantly mulling over the options was getting me nowhere. Unless I did something, nothing would be done.

Today I pulled the trigger on the original Dana 30 narrow front axle with 3.31 gears. Rob is looking for a used set of 3.31's for my Dana 44 . After looking at the cost of regearing ...... OMG! 2 axles = ~$2800 .... I decided to do it myself, Rob has done a bunch of these and he says I can do it easily enough. The gears are turning and I will get this done.