What axels?

[SDCJ]

Good morning folks,
Looking for some advise. I'm in the process of building a 383 stroker and 700R4 to put in my 83 CJ7 . The Jeep will see 90 to 95% on road use. I want to run 35's or 37's. (I admit it, I like the look). Don't know what the stock axels are but there are many posts stating that more horsepower + larger tires = broken axels.
I have heard Toyota axels are a good swap candidate but haven't seen it in here and not sure I could go that route. Chevy axels and Transfer Case seems like a robust enough application but are SOOO wide. I appreciate any advise from those who know and or have done a similar swap.
Thanks.

 

[BusaDave9]

You could get Dana 44s. Actually IMHO you could get by keeping your OEM axles if you install one piece axle shafts in the AMC20 rear end.

I would be more worried about that T-5 Transmission . That would die a merciless death behind a V8. Maybe you already know that but it's just something I noticed in your profile.

Your Transfer Case is a Dana 300 . That should hold up to even a strong V8.

All this is assuming you are not looking for extreme horsepower. A stroker used for street shouldn't be too hard on your drivetrain with the 2 exceptions I mentioned.

EDIT: Oops, I now see you plan on replacing the tranny.
I run 36 inch tires, a AMC 304 V8 (much smaller than what you're intending) and one piece axles in my OEM axles

 

[SDCJ]

Thanks for the reply. I would much rather keep the stock housings. Are the 1 piece shafts that much stronger? I assume the stock front end would be ok with Limited off road use. Quadratec has a kit for $199 or drivers side and passenger side for $149 each. I saw an earlier post saying use only Moser or Superior. The Superior kit was $273.99 for both axles. What 1 piece axles are you running?

 

[Kane]

The Moser axles are stupid strong and have handled my small block for the last eight years. Moser has a long racing history and it shows i their products. I am running about 375hp at the crank with a manual tranny without issue so the slush box 700r4 will be a little nicer to your axles from a shock load stand point. Spend the money on good axle shaft since you are doing so much to the motor. Remember the axle needs to be the strongest point of the drive line.

 

[BusaDave9]

The one piece axle is a very common mod. Take off the wheel and see if a one piece has already been installed. If you have a big nut in the center of the rear hub then it's OEM

From the factory there is a plastic cover over this nut. This 2 piece axle is a very poor design. Even with a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l it is very possible to spin this axle shaft in the hub. It happened to me with a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l . IMO even a cheep one piece axle is vastly superior to the 2 piece design.

 

[SDCJ]

BusaDave thanks for the pic and the info. That helps a lot! I'll check it out this weekend.

Kane, thanks for the info too. The Moser axles were only a couple bucks more. I'll order them if mine are stock. I bought the 5.7 TPI and 700R4 as a package. Since my CJ will see so much freeway here in socal I decided to stay with the Overdrive tranny.

 

[CJim7]

I agree. With this Jeep being 90-95% on-road, a simple 1-piece conversion for the rear will suffice. Even offroad, you will probably be alright as long as you take it easy.

Im running stock axles with a 1-piece in the rear and lockers at both ends, 36" swampers and 430hp...and this is mostly an offroad rig, Im not kind to it. My only problem is blowing up Dana 30 U-joints a couple times a year

So yeah, you can make the stock axles work.

 

[Scooter402]

The stock axles will actually handle a lot. I had the Dana 30 /20 combo in mine when I first got it. They stood up to a healthy 360, then a SBC 383 with a T-176 tranny. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly kind to the axles. I only had 33s on them, but I was racing Mustangs (and whipping the snot out of them, by the way ), seeing how long I could roast my 33s for, etc. I never broke an axle shaft, but I did twist of many driveshaft yokes, bust off u-joints, etc. I don't know how stout you plan on building the engine, but if your road manners are good, you'll be happy with the combination.

Also, like Kane said, the auto will be much nicer to the axles and drive shaft than a manual will be. Good luck!