spring over and axles

[jamie]

im thinking about taking out the 4 in lift springs in my CJ5 , and doing a spring over with a pair of stock 1995 wrangler springs. at this time i would most likely do a shackle reversal as well. i have an axle from a 73 blazer, Dana 44 i think, that i was going to use in the front. how much wider is the blazer axle than the stock widetrack axle? i would measure it, but its at my friends house. and my next question is, if i do run this axle, would a 14 bolt rear be the same width? and how do i change the lug pattern on said axles to the stock jeep pattern?

 

[Old Dog]

I don't know how wide the blazer is for sure, but I'm betting it's around 10" wider than the WT axles.
They put 14 bolts under a lot of different things so it's hard to say how wide it might be. If it's out of a pick-up it might be the same as the blazer.
Not sure on changing the bolt pattern.

 

[CJKrawler]

You would need to find a rear axle to match. I would ditch the 14 bolt idea. They are big, heavy, and have no ground clearance. Find yourself a 9 inch from a Ford pick up. They have the same bolt pattern, and are plenty strong for the weight of the Jeep. The front Chevy axle will need to have Ford outers put on it to match the Jeep bolt pattern. This website Mr.N's Dana 44 Flatop Knuckles provides a pretty in depth look at it. This is on my to do list, but not until I get a motor back in it.

I don't recall what the width difference is, but you will need to do a full width kit as well.

You could also think about a spring over in the front and spring under in the rear.

 

[gert]

Wow.......cj5s are short isnt a spring over to high? I am currently doing one on my CJ7 and its a lot of height....anyway if I remember correctly the chevy Dana 44 front I had was 67/69 inches make sure you look at the cover good because they used a lot of 10 bolt fronts. I agree with not having a 14 bolt rear its HUGE and HEAVY I also reccomend a Ford 9 or 8.8 they are smaller lighter and the correct bolt pattern

 

[jamie]

well, i have a set of axles from an early ford bronco. Dana 44 and 9 in rear. mabye ill use those, although i dont think they are any wider than what i have. plus, they were supposed to go on my 68 bronco project. ill find something. right now the axles i have are narrow track, and im worried about them being too narrow. what does everyone think about wheel spacers? im trying to fit 35's and still be able to turn around without making a 7 point turn

 

[CJKrawler]

try to stay away from wheel spacers, if you can. And the Bronco axles will be a little bit wider, maybe a few inches. Watch out for the Ford front axles, most of them are drivers side drop, you should need a passneger side drop

 

[bdunnam]

I would hold on to the 14 bolt it may be big and heavy but they are super good for people that are building, rock or mud buggies, and they can be shaved on the bottom to have as much ground clearance as a Dana 44 , but i would do the bronco axle swap, its simple they will be just a little wider than the wide trac axles but they would work for your application if you dont want to go through cutting them down, and the fronts theres a simple fix pull the axle tubes from the housing and swap side and then you have a passenger side drop ford Dana 44 front just one thing you will want to do if your doing a spring over i would cut the spring perches off and rotate the axle till you get the right camber, then weld your perches back down

 

[Cheepjeep85]

unless you intend on flipping your Transfer Case you'll need a chevy front axle. which would be a hell of a lot easier than tearing apart a ford axle.

 

[BigAl77cj5]

also if you are going to run wider axles you are going to have to outboard the front springs. I am planning on doing a spring over lift with my CJ5 soon, and have considered this. just want to make sure you know what all you are getting into.

 

[IOPort51]

Please don't waste a 68 Bronco to ruin a CJ with a SOA.

 

[mylittlecj5]

I would hold on to the 14 bolt it may be big and heavy but they are super good for people that are building, rock or mud buggies, and they can be shaved on the bottom to have as much ground clearance as a Dana 44 , but i would do the bronco axle swap, its simple they will be just a little wider than the wide trac axles but they would work for your application if you dont want to go through cutting them down, and the fronts theres a simple fix pull the axle tubes from the housing and swap side and then you have a passenger side drop ford Dana 44 front just one thing you will want to do if your doing a spring over i would cut the spring perches off and rotate the axle till you get the right camber, then weld your perches back down

that has got to be the longest sentence I've read all YEAR!

 

[jamie]

im not going to butch the 68 bronco. it had spare axles when i bought it. just looking to get some extra width. where can i get spring perches to weld on after i cut the coil mounts off?

 

[imbobbbb]

im not going to butch the 68 bronco. it had spare axles when i bought it. just looking to get some extra width. where can i get spring perches to weld on after i cut the coil mounts off?

The front driveshaft is on the wrong side on the bronco front.Your original '73 blazer 44 idea makes more sense.You can bolt an f150 ford hub/rotor assembly right on the '73 chevy Dana 44 to get the jeep bolt pattern.You can keep the chevy splindles,calipers,knuckles.In '77 or'78 chevy changed the wheel bearing size but all '76 and earlier use the smaller bearings that are compatible with the ford hubs/rotors which gets you the same 5 0n 5.5 bolt pattern as the cj.

 

[CJKrawler]

where can i get spring perches to weld on after i cut the coil mounts off?

I just picked up a set from Blue torch fab, $40, pretty stout.

 

[gatorman]

1981 CJ5 with 33 and a shackle lift would like to go a little higher