Wagoneer Axles In 69 Cj5

Hi, I got a set of 74-79 wagoneer axles from my son to put in my 69 cj5, any ideas of how to outboard the front springs? I have a fairly new set of lift springs in my jeep, 1 3/4" wide, planning on keeping those, im keeping it spring under also....Im putting wider axles for stability on the road , I rolled a jeep on the street years ago, dont like how narrow they are...and I want stronger axles for offroading , though i wont be using it alot off road, I live near the Rubicon and will be going there with my son occasionally...

 

You’re sort of at the mercy of the spring stance on the axle, since the DS pad is integrated into the housing. And keeping the narrow springs at that point would be more trouble than it’s worth, since the pad casting is wider. You’ll be making all new spring/shackle mounts anyway, it would benefit you to use wider springs for stability purposes anyway.

Measure the center-to-center width of the spring pads on the axle, that’s how far apart the spring mounts need to be on the frame. Easy concept, lots of fabrication and geometry involved.

 

yeah i saw that the perch on the passenger side was built in, figured id have to put 3/8" metal plate on both sides of the spring to take up the space.....what springs would you suggest if i go with the 2 1/2" springs but staying spring under...I am going to just be runnung 33" tall tires?im not sure what the lift is on it now but dont have 33's on it now..... I saw a pic that someone posted they used some angle iron to come off the frame with, im most likely going to do the same, may plate the inside and outside with 1/4" plate to strengthen it first, if i have room for it on the outside...I plated part of the inside already , for the power steering mounting plate and the side engine mounts, its a chevy 283 , may try and plate the entire inside of the frame eventually

 

Others with more firsthand knowledge will chime in, but I think 2 1/2” - 4” lift springs for a YJ would be ideal, but they’re longer than stock, so frame horn modification will be necessary. A standard lift using those springs is ok because it keeps the springs directly under the frame, but outboarding them will add torsional stresses to an already weak point.

 

i will have to outboard the springs no matter what i use, because of the wagoneer axles...so will try and beef things up and brace things

 

On my old 73 I lined up the short side perch & chopped the long side of this axle/moved the knuckle in. It was equivalent to running 2" wheel spacers and kept my springs where they were. Had the long side axle resplined by Moser. Then I ran 2" spacers on the back D44 that was under the Jeep.

 

thanks , but i want the extra width for stability

 

I helped a buddy do something like this years ago; we installed Wagoneer axles under his YJ. Had to outboard the spring perches about 1/2" on either side if memory serves me. We carefully cut them off, re-positioned and re-welded them to the frame and added some gussets for support. If memory doesn't serve me it was when we put Chevy axles under that same Jeep. Either way it worked out fine and he beat the life out of it on the trail to no ill effect.

 

well i got the wagoneer axles in and with the wider axles and big tires, 33-12.50-15 it looks great!! just wanted to say that i had to outboard the rear springs also, my 69 cj5 has the same width frame all the way back...guess the cj's in the 70's had a wider frame in the rear? anyway, it was alot more work but its done, its driveable finally, just have to get the brakes working correctly....also, the power steering was a big chore adding that, but its done......next is having the gears changed in the axles, not sure yet what i want.they have 3.07 in them ...also i want to put lockers in them also.....maybe go with an elocker in the rear? aussie locker in the front ?

 

4.88 or 5.38 are great mountain gears, but you won't go 70 on the freeway, which is probably a bad idea anyway. I'd stay away from the air locker, too many problems. Hope I don't rile up the faithful, but I say Detroit and don't look back.

 

Only if they aren’t set up correctly.

 

ok thanks on the gear suggestions, I wont be doing over 55 or 60 on the road, lol....I have the warn overdrive so dont have to worry too much about the gears ....ill look into a detroit locker, can you run one in the front also?

 

I checked them out, they are pretty cool, like that they are manually operated with a cable

 

If you use a front locker, when under throttle the front end won't want to turn/steer. You have to back off, coast thru a turn and get back on the throttle.

 

so i need a selectable locker in the front, one i can engage and disengage...makes sense

 

To each their own but I absolutely hated the Detroit in the rear of my 3B. And just to be sure, I tried it twice-----I went with ARB's on both ends. The Detroit worked well on the trail but that's the only place it worked well. The rest of the time it was tying to get me dead.

 

I have ARB air lockers in my '79 CJ. Unlike Tim's experience, I thoroughly enjoy my F&R selectables. YMMV.

I have a Detroit in the 9" for my hot rod '61 Vette. It's a violent locker, banging, clanging, thunking and scaring the brown stuff into your bloomers when cornering. Great if y'all want the total locked action of a spool but the ability to corner.