Narrow verses wide track

Narrow verses wide track
driver007

driver007

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Canada
Vehicle(s)
1981 cj5 304 v8, 300 Dana,model 30 Dana and model 20 AMC rear end
Could someone tell me how to tell the difference between narrow track and wide track? I have a chance at a narrow track 44 rear end and I would like to double check to make sure before I purchase. How or what would you measure? Thanks for any info!
 
narrow track is 4 inches narrower than the wide track. you should have the narrow track under your jeep, unless a po swapped it out
 
Umm...I think it's 4" on the rear axle and 3" on the front
As posted above.
 
Could you tell me what wms means? And if you mearsure wheel to wheel would it change with rim size?
 
driver007 said:
Could you tell me what wms means? And if you mearsure wheel to wheel would it change with rim size?
Click to expand...
WMS is Wheel Mating Surface. The width of an axle is measured from Wheel Mating Surface to Wheel Mating Surface. It is independent of the wheel width.
Now the backspacing is separate. That's the distance from the inner edge of the wheel to the Wheel Mating Surface where the wheel bolts to the brake. If you use wheel spacers or wheels with less backspacing it's another way to get a wider stance.
 
Thanks BusaDave9 and others for the info I will check it out to night I think I have a narrow track but with my luck. Lets just say if you wanted to buy a good item you would wait tell I have bought one then go get it, For sure I would have the dud and you would be real happy with yours.
 
nothing wrong with a narrow track Jeep
If you ever saw an original Jeep MB you would wonder WTF

and that MB is what started Jeeps reputation. What we have now is bigger and better brought on by the public asking for it

but remember, In WWII GIs depended on that SWB Super Narrow Based Jeep for their LIVES. and when they got back to the states, they wanted the little scout car that did everything, the Jeep

I agree that wide track is better, but I still Wheel 2 Narrow Track Jeeps and go everywhere.
 
Jeep went to the wide track as a way to add stability to the CJ after Ralph Nader and his gang of goons drummed the CJ5 out of existence.
 
I believe that the NT will not have shock mounts on the front axle the shocks will mount to the spring plate and that the rear pumpkin will be offset. Where as the wide tracs will have shock mounts on the front axle and a centered rear pumpkin. If I am right it would be a much faster way to tell than measuring......

Edit:
Widetrac axles
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/DRTRAYDEUCE/Picture2132.jpg

Narrow Trac axles
1978 CJ7 Axles :: 1978 Jeep CJ7 Axle, Narrow Track, Pic 2 picture by robbie181 - Photobucket

I pulled those off a google image search the front axles on the narrow trac definitely does not have the shock mount.... The rear pumpkin may be centered on later CJ5 that were equipped with a Dana 300 but I have never seen n/ts with a centered rear pumpkin
 
no not fully right
yes the front narrow track in earlier NTs have the shock mount on the spring plate but the front axle has a passenger offset pumpkin no matter what year in a CJ.
now rear pumpkins are all offset till 72, then they are only offset for a certain Transfer Case , the best way to figure it out is to measure them
 
BajaEdition said:
no not fully right
yes the front narrow track in earlier NTs have the shock mount on the spring plate but the front axle has a passenger offset pumpkin no matter what year in a CJ.
now rear pumpkins are all offset till 72, then they are only offset for a certain Transfer Case , the best way to figure it out is to measure them
Click to expand...

I didnt say that the offset front pumkin was unique to the nts
 
the offset rear is not unique to NT either, there were plenty of apps that had offset rear, Jeep does not hold the exclusive rights to an offset rear pumpkin.
And they also made centered rear pumpkins in NT, so the statement of looking for a offset pumpkin does not hold as you can find NT in both.
 
The QuadraTrac TCase has the offset rear output. They only came with the automatic tranny. If you got a manual tranny during the same years you would not have an offset rear output.


The Dana 18 also had a offset rear output but they stopped putting them in Jeeps in 1971 so they were never in a wide track.
 
however they also used the Dana 20 with NT centered axles

there fore saying if it is offset it is NT and centered it is not does not hold water.
 
BajaEdition said:
however they also used the Dana 20 with NT centered axles

there fore saying if it is offset it is NT and centered it is not does not hold water.
Click to expand...

True. We're on the same page Baja.

If you have an offset rear output you probably have a narrow track.
If you have a centered rear output there is no telling what axles you have. They made TCases with centered outputs for years before and after the factory went with the wide track.

Dana 20 and Dana 300 have centered rear output.
D18 and QuadraTrac have offset rear output.
This has nothing to do with whether or not you have wide track.
:chug:
 
BusaDave9 said:
True. We're on the same page Baja.

If you have an offset rear output you probably have a narrow track.
If you have a centered rear output there is no telling what axles you have. They made TCases with centered outputs for years before and after the factory went with the wide track.

Dana 20 and Dana 300 have centered rear output.
D18 and QuadraTrac have offset rear output.
This has nothing to do with whether or not you have wide track.
:chug:
Click to expand...

Ok I retract what I said, which I still maintain the fact that I said i think (based on the fact I have never seen CJ nt axles with a centered pumpkin)

I still stand by that assuming the jeep has actual stock cj axles if you want to know if its NT just look at the front axles cause I know that no CJ NT axles had shock mounts on the housing and the W/Ts do. I guess then you wouldn't know for sure the rear is NT or not but it would be very likely. And looking for shock mounts would certainly take less time than pulling out a tape measure and crawling under the jeep to measure WMS to WMS.
 
funny. all those cj5s with Corp. 20 axles are narrow track
remember the centered pumpkin came in 72, the wide track came in 82 so there are 10 years of narrow track centered pumpkins.
you probably have been under a rock not to see any
 
BajaEdition said:
funny. all those cj5s with Corp. 20 axles are narrow track
remember the centered pumpkin came in 72, the wide track came in 82 so there are 10 years of narrow track centered pumpkins.
you probably have been under a rock not to see any
Click to expand...

I really never have. There is no reason to call me out for living under a rock.
 
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