Rear axle and wheels

[Dennis46PU]

Beings I have a bent front wheel and need to replace the rear axle, what axle and wheels should I look for.  My rear axle is an original and leaks out both hubs.  I decided long ago I would be better off looking for a new rear than trying to find a machine shop to fix what ever needs repaired.  It's been a long time since I had the hubs off and at the time figured new seals wouldn't last long but I went ahead and installed them anyway just to get it moved out of the way and an occasional drive over to Home Depot.  It lasted a couple years and few miles.  Even if I do fix the rear axle, I need to find another rim and I could also use one for a spare since I don't have one.  Anybodies help is appreciated.

[MBF]

A friend of mine used the rear axle from a Jeep Cherokee.   If you're working on a half ton, the Cherokee's rims will bolt up to your hubs and vice versa.   

[ehadams]

Do you know what year Cherokee?

[Jeff Balazs]

Mid 90's models are quite popular. I swapped in a early 2000's out of a Grand Cherokee into my 3/4 ton. Got 3.55 ratio and rear discs at the same time. So there are choices..... Need to save the shock mounts and reuse for the swap.

Hth, Jeff

 

[Merle Coggins]

Jeff, 

Does the Grand Cherokee axle have a 5X5” bolt pattern, same as our 3/4 ton trucks? I believe I read that somewhere a while back. The regular Cherokee is 5X4-1/2”, like the 1/2 ton trucks. 

[Radarsonwheels]

I have used a ZJ axle- it was 5x4.5” and had disc brakes. The ZJ is a model of grand cherokee. With american racing steel  wheels and 10.5x31 tires I needed to run billet spacers to get the tires to hit the tubs right. With flathead power you could probably use a chrysler 7.25 which is a common axle to swap out of a muscle car when adding v8 power. 8.25 would work too. Don’t forget the ford 7.5 axle they are cheap and work great and the right bolt pattern is out there:

 

Whatever axle you get pay attention to the offset of the pinion (driveshaft pushed toward passenger side of middle) should be real close or you will get some vibrations. 

[Radarsonwheels]

Oh and with the ZJ I was able to weld the parking brake cable splitter under the crossmember under the bed and use ZJ parts from there back- it had the discs with little tophat mechanical drum parking brakes inside. 

[Radarsonwheels]

A lot of torch work getting all the jeep brackets off

[Radarsonwheels]

And ready to install

[Jeff Balazs]

Merle;

Yes I believe it did come as a 5x5 pattern. I just crawled under to have a look and discovered that I have a leak at the driver side seal.

I wonder when that started and how hard it is going to be to fix it? I bought the axle used and have put 15 thousand miles on it. Guess it was bound to happen.

Jeff

[FlashBuddy]

I like how you did the brake lines. I followed the original but had a helluva time attaching to the cylinders. Next time I'm copying you!

[Radarsonwheels]

That jeep rear is probably an 8.25. To seal up an axle you pull the cover, unscrew the pin in the cross shaft, push out the cross shaft with your finger, then the axles will push in and give up their C clips- they just fall out. if you're not doing bearings just seals at that point you can pull the axles right out and the seals just pry out and carefully pound in. improvised tools will work just fine. It's a two hour job at most including jacking, cleanup, and fresh gear oil, with coffee breaks!

 

Oh and my mid 90s zj axle was already 5 on 4.5, as was my 54 3/4 ton

Edited October 6, 2018 by Radarsonwheels

[Radarsonwheels]

On 10/5/2018 at 10:25 AM, FlashBuddy said:

I like how you did the brake lines. I followed the original but had a helluva time attaching to the cylinders. Next time I'm copying you!

Thanks it worked but if I put the splitter on a 45 it would have been much cleaner. The one I'm doing now (9.25) is getting these brakes off the jeep axle and it will get tabs welded to hold the lines. As long as they don't hang down to catch road obstacles and rip free they're good. I cheesed out when I installed this axle and hose clamped the lines to the tubes. Hey it works for the city when they hang boxes on telephone poles...

[Ram Man 02]

I researched this for myself few years ago. if you have a half ton as well get a 97-01 cherokee axle in what ever ratio works best for your needs. 3.55 or 3.73 are probably what youre going to want. those years were a chrysler 8.25 with a higher spline count (maybe 31?) and were considered almost as good as a dana 44. should be readily available and i picked one up for only $150

[Jeff Balazs]

On 10/6/2018 at 12:28 PM, Radarsonwheels said:

That jeep rear is probably an 8.25. To seal up an axle you pull the cover, unscrew the pin in the cross shaft, push out the cross shaft with your finger, then the axles will push in and give up their C clips- they just fall out. if you're not doing bearings just seals at that point you can pull the axles right out and the seals just pry out and carefully pound in. improvised tools will work just fine. It's a two hour job at most including jacking, cleanup, and fresh gear oil, with coffee breaks!

 

Oh and my mid 90s zj axle was already 5 on 4.5, as was my 54 3/4 ton

Well that process seems completely different from a couple of You-tube videos I watched. In those there was a retainer and bearing race that needed to be cut off. They did not say anything about C clips either. They were saying that it is a good idea to replace the bearings while you have the axles out.....

Jeff

[CO54]

From what I can tell that is a Dana 35C rear axle.  Just a tough angle to tell on the finished product when looking at the cover.  Of course the model number may have been on a tag when removed, but is also stamped on the left front side of the casing by where the casing and shaft meet.

[Radarsonwheels]

I don’t know what to tell ya- I personally  unbolted it off a ZJ jeep. It has 5x4.5 bolt pattern axles and I pulled them to get the disc backing plates before I gave my 1954 chassis to my buddy- they were definitely a c-clip style

 

chrysler 8.25 top

dana 35 bottom

[Dave72dt]

If you have a back cover on it, you'll probably  have to pop the cover and do the pin and c clips.  If there is no back cover, it's all done at the outer ends of the axle.  Drum brakes may still require you the remove the backing plate to get to the seal.  Disc brakes, you'll still have to deal with rotors and calipers.