Custom AMC20 Full Floater

[hole]

I'm asking this for a friend who has an 83 CJ7 with bent tubes on his AMC20 and would like to get the groups thoughts. He tried joining the board weeks back to ask this himself, but a snafu locked him out and he cannot log on until it gets resolved. His question:
" I am looking to use front spindles for making a rear full floater. Has anyone heard of this? I would have to make flanges and tube for center housing"
He is a fabricator by trade and the only outside help he would need is someone to make the axles. He put a Dana 44 up front last year so he has the Dana 30 laying out back to harvest the spindles off of.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

IMO-The AMC20 rear has way to much tube flex, because of the thin axle tubes to be a candidate for this mod.
A 44 would be a far better choice for a f'floater.
LG

 

[hole]

Thicker tubes and a truss would be part of the upgrade, I should've mentioned that.

 

[Hedgehog]

Wild idea here - if done correctly he wouldn't be far from a 4 wheel steering situation just like the BIG boys have, now that would be cool. I bet a steering rear end would compromise the over all strength of the rear end though. With him being a fabricator what he's proposing seems very doable.

 

[Bent]

If he is set on the AMC20 because he already has a locker or something he would need to get a large tube M20 from a FSJ. Narrow it, weld on the old style Dana 44 circular bearing flange, and use mid 1970 Bronco front spindles and drums with Dana 44 brake backing plates that are set up for the e-brake cable. The old Dana 44 bearing flange and the Ford front spindles have the same bolt pattern. The spindle would probable need to reduce the spindle where it fits the knuckle so it will be a slip fit into the bearing flange. custom axle shafts also.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

If you do this mod-Sure hope you upgrade those little brakes the 20 uses.
One of the things I like the most about my F/9", is the 11x2 1/2" brakes.
LG

 

[Bent]

Correction to my earlier post. You need mid 80s Chevy Blazer spindles and ford five bolt hubs. They have the same bolt pattern as the old Dana 44 bearing flange.

Here is a good write up. The write up is about half way down the page.How To | eWillys

 

[Torxhead]

Sounds like a great project Hole, maybe you should get in on it. Somehow I think cutting the splines in those axles and heat treating is not really a garage project.

 

[stich]

Maybe harder to find, but easier fix is a Warn full floater kit for the AMC20 . I found a set a few years back for my Willys and after welding the tubes and (going to) truss it, I'll put it up to any Dana rear end. Nice to have locking hubs in the back so I can tow it behind the motor home.

 

[hole]

If you do this mod-Sure hope you upgrade those little brakes the 20 uses.
One of the things I like the most about my F/9", is the 11x2 1/2" brakes.
LG

Lumpy, he currently has the disc brake conversion, pretty sure he will find a way to keep disc's

Correction to my earlier post. You need mid 80s Chevy Blazer spindles and ford five bolt hubs. They have the same bolt pattern as the old Dana 44 bearing flange.


Here is a good write up. The write up is about half way down the page.How To | eWillys

Bent, thats an awesome write-up you linked I'm sure he will find it Very usefull!

Sounds like a great project Hole, maybe you should get in on it. Somehow I think cutting the splines in those axles and heat treating is not really a garage project.

Torx, my friend has a shop and can make and or modify darn near anything made out of metal with the axles being the limitation, those will get sent out. He also has an awesome habit of spec-ing everything out for future referrence, so if I happen to bend mine, we wont be starting from scratch.

Maybe harder to find, but easier fix is a Warn full floater kit for the AMC20 . I found a set a few years back for my Willys and after welding the tubes and (going to) truss it, I'll put it up to any Dana rear end. Nice to have locking hubs in the back so I can tow it behind the motor home.

Stich, the Warn kit is part of the inspiration, but since its obsolete my friend wants to create/adapt to parts that are readily available

 

[hole]

Wild idea here - if done correctly he wouldn't be far from a 4 wheel steering situation just like the BIG boys have, now that would be cool. I bet a steering rear end would compromise the over all strength of the rear end though. With him being a fabricator what he's proposing seems very doable.

Not a bad idea Hedge, might be a little scary on such a short wheelbase though

 

[Hedgehog]

Not to many years ago it seemed that 4 wheel steering would become all the rage with at least one factory offering it on one of their sedans. I always wondered how it worked. Must be it didn't work well for the average driver because you never hear about it now. A jeep crabbing sideways out of trouble would be cool. Not something I'd use at highway speeds though.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

That was Honda-The rear steer was only 10% of what the front was doing.
LG

 

[Hedgehog]

I figured it was something like that. Did it always work or was it saved for slow speed maneuvering?

I'm not much of a Monster Truck guy, but you see rear steering all the time with those, but seemingly not all the time. Only when turning at the end of a crushing/jumping/mud splashing run.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Only at low speeds would it work.
It was an alignment nightmare, and Honda drop'd it.
LG

 

[Destroyer1]

thank you Hole for posting this for me
Hello all thanks for the imput
question for Bent why use Chevy Spindles and not stock Jeep spindles
parts would be the same to carry spare parts for front and rear?
i would only be keeping the AMC20 center section new heavy tube and flanges, does anyone know what grade of steel is used for tubes and flanges/

 

[Torxhead]

My first guess would be a C1018.

 

[hole]

Folks, Destroyer1 (my friend whom I started this thread for) has been locked out of his account here again due to a site glitch, so to keep from creating a new user-name to be able to respond to this thread each time he will be using my account with the blessing of a Moderator. My friend tried joining us last month but was immediately locked out after joining. He called me to find out what happened and I PM-ed a Mod about it and was told that there was a site problem causing this and it is being worked on to correct the problem. A suggestion was made by a Mod and he was locked out again after posting. So, until the problem can be corrected, Destroyer1 will be logging into my account and will announce at the start of each response or question in this thread that is him and not me. I'm posting this to try and minimize any confusion and keep the thread moving along as Destroyer1 has comments or questions for all of you.
With that out of the way, lets get back to talking about building a full floating AMC20

 

[Torxhead]

This is the layout of my now obselete rear Warn setup, with drum brakes. I know Jeff's plan is a bit different, but the basics are the same.

 

[Bent]

thank you Hole for posting this for me
Hello all thanks for the imput
question for Bent why use Chevy Spindles and not stock Jeep spindles
parts would be the same to carry spare parts for front and rear?
i would only be keeping the AMC20 center section new heavy tube and flanges, does anyone know what grade of steel is used for tubes and flanges/

The chevy spindles have the same bolt pattern as the old Dana 44 axle flange and the same bearing and seal surfaces as the ford spindles. This lets you use ford hubs and keep the 5 lug wheels. The ford spindles don't have the correct bolt pattern on the spindle to bolt to the circular Dana 44 axle flange. Jeep spindles don't have the same bearing surface measurements as the ford hubs so you couldn't use the stronger internally splined full size truck hubs and larger brakes. Good luck with your project.