One piece axle on stock 20 rear

[gillmore]

I have 31x10.5x15 tires, no lift, and the stock 20 rear axle. My Jeep is mostly used on the street and forest trails to reach camping destinations. No significant mud or rocks.

I'm not having any problems, but am wondering if a one piece axle is a significant enough upgrade to warrant preventative replacement. I'd rather avoid breaking down since most of my off road travels are over two hours from home.

Is this a case of "if it ain't broke..." or "do it now to reduce the risk of being stranded" ???

 

[CJim7]

I dont like the 2pc design one bit. I've seen them fail just driving down the street...but usually it's because of an improperly mounted hub onto the shaft. It's basically just a splined shaft that fits into a splined hub, and torqued down with a large nut. The problem with it is that it is tapered and requires a torque spec to seat properly. Any deviance to that will cause failure which is equated to a spun shaft and stripped splines. The axle is trash after that.

If you are easy on it and maintenance is done properly, it shouldnt be a problem. If you are going to offroad it, drop the clutch, install a locker...do a 1pc conversion.

 

[Cheepjeep85]

Mine failed on the street driving normally with 31x10.50, replace it if you got the cash. Its a ticking time bomb, and two hours from home would be a bad place for it to go kaboom. Just my two cents.
Sent from my DROID2

 

[jeffgtoman]

I've had the same setup on my 85 CJ for about a year. I put new bearings and seals in but did not upgrade the axles. I've had no problem yet. I took mine apart while I was working on it and everything looked good. If you want to run the 2 piece, it may help to make sure the nut is tight. Pull the cotter pin and overtorque the nut a little. I'm sure they loosen a little before they fail. Making sure it is tight would go a long way towards preventing a failure.

 

[Old Dog]

IMO replace them now while you are at home and not 2 hours away.

 

[Sasquach]

My CJ went some 64K miles on the stock set up with no probs I am aware of and when I replaced them for kicks I seperated the hub from axle and it took some serious force to get them apart, I would say if you can afford to do the upgrade then go for it but if not I would not get too worried about it, you can't prevent everything from happening. Just make sure they are torqued.

 

[ken98k]

Both my 73 CJ5 and 80 CJ5 still have their original AMC20 axels.

 

[CJ]

Both my 73 CJ5 and 80 CJ5 still have their original AMC20 axels.

Standard and stock 73 Rear axles are Dana 44 's ... One piece... Huh?? Typo?

 

[ken98k]

Standard and stock 73 Rear axles are Dana 44 's ... One piece... Huh?? Typo?

I assumed it was an AMC20 because of the big nut on the outer end of the axel.

What axel is this?

 

[CJim7]

I assumed it was an AMC20 because of the big nut on the outer end of the axel.

What axel is this?

That's definately a Corp 20.

 

[CJ]

[ranton]I have to say!!! WTF! Who in their right mind would swap a Dana 44 for a 20???? Sorry, but stupid owners should just be shot! Damn [/rantoff]

Yep - Corp 20, not available in 73 (wasn't even made then)... Someone swapped out the axle in your 73. That is too bad as the stock original Dana 44 is better / more desireable.

Your AMC20 Can be made into a great axle, it just needs some work.

 

[ken98k]

[ranton]I have to say!!! WTF! Who in their right mind would swap a Dana 44 for a 20???? Sorry, but stupid owners should just be shot! Damn [/rantoff]
Yep - Corp 20, not available in 73 (wasn't even made then)... Someone swapped out the axle in your 73. That is too bad as the stock original Dana 44 is better / more desireable.

Your AMC20 Can be made into a great axle, it just needs some work.

Gillmore, sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your thread
This is all very interesting to me. I knew from the serial # that the tranny had been swapped but, Like CJ ranted "Who in their right mind would swap a Dana 44 for a 20????" I've only had this rig for a few weeks and have done nothing with it so I'm still in the learning stage. (Does that ever end?)

 

[gillmore]

Thanks everybody. I think I'll just check and torque my nuts <ahem...cough> for now.

 

[radman]

gillmore, superior axle and gear is in so cal and will instruct you on
changing to their one piece axle. don't scrimp on new axle.. you get
what you pay for. did mine in a day!
AMC20 is not a bad rear end just needs some help..
radman

 

[priceg]

Mine failed on the street driving normally with 31x10.50, replace it if you got the cash. Its a ticking time bomb, and two hours from home would be a bad place for it to go kaboom. Just my two cents.
Sent from my DROID2

The majority of Jeep axles and hubs I have repaired, were on road failures. Just a cheesy design.

 

[Sasquach]

All this makes me wonder if the people with axle failure was the result of loose nuts? Well the ones with stockish drivetrain anyway. Surely a one peice axle is superior and requires no maintanence but to buy time so to speak keeping an eye on the nut torque might go along way to keeping your 2 peice intack untill upgrading.

 

[Mattduran]

Are you running a straight 6? You really should be fine with those small meats and low hp. If you were concerned maybe get 1 piece axles for it someday. I had a model 20 running 35" meats for two years before I broke it. Snapped from an on pavement peal out. Oh ya had a 360 engine in it and the original 2pc axles. Good luck.

 

[Tommy]

Been running the stock 2 piece AMC20 for years. Rock climbing and other pretty serious offroading. I have an '81 CJ5 with the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . The jeep has been over the Rubicon 7 times without a problem. Had to replace one bearing and that's it. I am now considering putting a lunch box locker on it and will go to the one piece if I do. The locker will put much more pressure on it so I want to beef it up. Otherwise I would keep on going with what I have.

Tommy

 

[Mattduran]

Right on. Bigger isn't always better. If that works for you then keep it simple. I had a problem with my lock right, It would make a clanking noise and would shift the jeep a lil. Turns out tire pressure has to be just right for those. Good luck.

 

[NM4x4]

[FONT=&quot]

I have 31x10.5x15 tires, no lift, and the stock 20 rear axle. My Jeep is mostly used on the street and forest trails to reach camping destinations. No significant mud or rocks.

[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm not having any problems, but am wondering if a one piece axle is a significant enough upgrade to warrant preventative replacement. I'd rather avoid breaking down since most of my off road travels are over two hours from home.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Is this a case of "if it ain't broke..." or "do it now to reduce the risk of being stranded" ???[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When I first stated "using" my '82 CJ7 camping (15 yrs ago) I blew out the driver side Woodruff key on my stock axel about 6 hours drive from home. I had to drive home with only my front 4x4 - kind of scary day down mountain roads in Eastern AZ.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I upgraded to a Summers Bros on piece kit, 4:11s, and a Detroit locker. It has served me well except 4 things.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]a.> Probably the most expensive setup for a stock 20 housing (a lot of other people will tell you not to waste the money and go straight up to a Dana 60 or something).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]b.> I had to fill the forged axel ends (dif side) with welds to make flat and wonder to this day why I feel some slop under initial power.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]c.> I knew a full time locker would be a challenge on oily or snowey roads. I would certainly go with a selectable air locker instead if I did it again after 360 spins in intersections (kind of on purpose though!) I moved to a region with snow recently and am reluctant to even drive it in the winter.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]d.> The inner axel oil seal on the pass side has been leaking for years. (The one inside the axel tube).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So, 15 years later I am here today trying to find the correct, thin, oil seal. By all indication the replacement seal is a Federal Mogul National Seal # inner oil seal 35254 - I think! DOES ANYONE KNOW FOR SURE? I have already wasted more than a week ordering and obtaining the wrong seals.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Lastly, I will say my 4x4 friends are amazed with my 33x12.50 Pathfinders under 10psi air - that rig makes that burnout sound you hear on the asphalt.. I guess that is more locker than anything. Good Luck.

SEE THIS - Broken rear axle
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