Rear Axle Question,,,Options!!!!!!

[OJTDJPR]

Ok my question, on my 69 J3000, it has a Dana or Spicer 53 rear, Not sure which because I have seen it listed both ways. The problem is the key stocks are spun in the axle shafts. :(

How hard is it to find a differant rear axle for this with 4:27 gears to match the front?

Or what other options do I have if I keep the axle to make it stronger? :confused:
Any advice is greatly appreciated :D

[Stuka]

Dana/Spicer are technically the same for the most part. Same company.

If you have a 8 lug paternn I would go with a D60 out of a newer J-truck and put 4.27 gears in it. If you have a 5 lug patern you can go with a D44 or a D60-2. You may have to move spring pearches for the D60-2 to work.

[joe]

D53 parts are pretty much made of unobtainium. The semi-floater 5 lug D53 was later replaced by the semi-floater 5 lug D60-2 but a lot of parts for it aren't avail anymore either. Depending on your needs I would look for a D44 or full-floater D60 from another truck for a replacement. A pre-74 D44 will still have the 5 lug wheel pattern but a D60 won't. Also finding any replacement axle w/4.27's is going to be tough. It was an optional ratio back then and not real common. Most of the earlier axles came with 4.09's.

[Rande]

Some pre-74 Dana60 axle did have the 5 lug pattern. You'll find those in the J4000 trucks. There were several load ratings for the J4000 trucks. The lighter rated one came with the semi-floating, 5 lug Dana60-2. The heavier ones came with the 8 lug full-floating Dana60.
So, look for a J4000 with the 5 lug wheels. The axle will have 60-2 on it in a couple of different places so it shouldn't be any trouble confirming what it is.
Nice thing about them is, they have the large 1.5", 35 spline axles. Even though they are a semi-floating design, they are very strong.

[joe]

As Rande mentioned the D-60-2 is a good axle BUT as I mentioned above it's getting hard to find parts for also. I went through one in a 73 J-4000 a couple of years ago and even the wheel bearings were hard to find. I hunted them down through a nation wide computer linked shop. Got one bearing from the left coast and a week later found another on the right coast. I never did find bearing retainers and had to have those made up in a machine shop. Well I did find one but had to have the other made. Just me here but if I were to go to the trouble of buying and swapping an axle I'd get a newer version, one you can still get parts for easily.

[blt2krl]

I agree with JOE. The availabilty of parts should be srongly considerd.

[scotty]

yup. ditto on that. its exacctly why im runnin a corp 14 bolt rear axle and jeep wide trac front 44. both are pretty common.

[OJTDJPR]

Yes this is 5 bolt pattern.

So Could I use a set of axles out from under say a Chevy full size? Or are they to short?

I would really hate to run a 8 lug rear axle and a 5 bolt front. Kind of makes rotating tires a pain.
I have found a D44 out of a 69 Gladiator with 5 bolt lugs for $100, plus shipping. Can I get one peice axle shafts for these or would I still be stuck with the two peice shafts even in a D44?

Thanks for all your input.

[Stuka]

OJDT: chevy's use 6 lug on there half tons. ford uses 5 lugs. a ford 9" would work well out of a full size ford truck smile.gif

EDIT: 5 lug D44's with flange axes where used 71-73. 70 may have had them...i dont remember.

[ October 19, 2002, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: Stuka ]