Removing a spool AMC 20 rear end/axle swap?

[77badcj5]

Hello all, I recently purchased a 1977 jeep CJ5 , the previous owner installed a spool in the rearend which is an AMC20 , the issue is that it works great in the dirt, but street driving is horrible and the tire chirp is getting old. What would be the best cheapest way to get rid of the spool and if I were to swap the complete rear axle, which axles would be a direct bolt on swap? Keep in mind, I don't do any hardcore wheeling, mainly just fire roads. Any info would be great.

 

[IOPort51]

does the one you have have one piece axles? if so i would consider a used AMC20 with your axles installed. Of course that depends on what gears you have. That is going to be about the only "bolt in" option you have. I think pretty much every thing else will require cutting and welding the spring perches.

 

[Tinman22]

Have you looked in there?

Is it a full spool or a mini spool?

If its a mini you can pull it out a buy a spider gear set and u be in bidness!

But with a full spool a model 20 swap would be the way to go if you can find a cheap one.

 

[77badcj5]

Thanks for the info, how do you ID which gears im running, what is the stock gear set-up? Also, is the AMC20 a decent axle? Thank again for the info.

 

[Tinman22]

You can either open it up and count gear teeth

Ring divided by pinion or there is an axel code stamped into yhe tube just to the left of the rear cover google the codes are post em here

Or jack it up mark the driveshaft and mark the tire, turn tire one complete revolution while watching the shaft 1 turn on the tire and 2 3/4 on the shaft 2.75= 2:72 gears,3 3/4 = 3.75 or 3:73 gears and so on

Stock gear setup for your jeep could be anywhere in the available option range but the most common ones I've seen are 2:72,3:31 and 3:54

The 20 is a good axle with some setbacks

1 weak axle shafts-replace with 1 piece shafts
2 thin tubes that bend-truss
3 tubes that spin in the housing-fill remaining plug weld holes,weld tubes to housing