front axle ID help

Hi,
I don't know much about axles but I am trying to ID mine.The Jeep is a 68 but probably has parts in it from every year CJ ever made. I'm pretty sure the axles are both Dana because they look like the Danas in manuals. They have 3.73 stamped into them. The rear axle has a centered pumpkin while the front is offset to the pass side. I somewhere got the idea the rear is a D44 (from what year and model I have no idea, they do each have an ebrake cable going to them). The axles have drum brakes all the way around.
Now the front like i said is drum. The pitman arm comes down and has a shaft going to the pass side hub/ knuckle, then immediately behind that comes out another shaft which goes to the driver's side. Definately looks like a Dana pumpkin. What do I have Dana 25, 27, 30?How can I tell? Front hubs have Warn premium manual lockers from the pictures on previous posts.

Josh

 

My guess: sounds like Ross Steering + either a D25 or D27. How to tell: the ID is cast on one of the corners of the front pumpkin/carrier. Might need to take a wire brush to the outside of the front cover. Should say "27A" or something like that.

 

I haven't driven it much, is Ross steering any good? Thanks for the ID location.
Josh

 

......that loud noise you just heard was a can o' worms opening....

Many varying opinions on this. Personally I'm quite happy w/ my Ross steering on all my CJs, but many experienced folks here have done what's called a Saginaw conversion. I'd suggest doing a "search" on Saginaw conversion to read up on it more and maybe it'll be something you'd consider doing.

 

running for cover R)

im doing saganaw convertion just because with my motor the exhast( brain fart cant spell that) manifold will be dumping right into the ross box. otherwise the conversion would have been put off.

 

Yeah, I have rear exiting headers, no problem with clearance there. By the way it is exhaust.

 

R) Yeah Jeff. It's also "conversion".

Just messin'.

 

Josh the rear could be either a dana 44 or an AMC 20, the AMC 20 uses a round cover where as the dana cover kinda reminds you of a stop sign. The front if it is a dana 25 or 27 will have closed knuckles, meaning you can't see the axles inside and they have a little plug on the back side of the axle to fill them with oil to lubricate the u-joints and the king pin bearings. Otherwise look for the cast in 25/27 as mentioned above.

I have converted to saginaw steering, but the Ross while it is not perfect and offers a few good flaws can be made to work decent, after all its survived this long, just not with large tires say larger than 31-32", it will work but it will work you pretty good also, especially in the woods and tight narrow trails. I wanted the saginaw for trail use and for the ease of driving down the road along with not really having to fuss with it like the Ross.

 

gees. im way off tonight.

the reason for the exhaust dumping into the rossbox is because im running the chevy V-6 with the ford T-18. so everything is in different places( or so my measuring says)

 

Yeah, I have 235/75/15's that is probably all the bigger I will go. I'm not building bigfoot you know! What exactly do you mean you can see the axles? Do you mean if you look at the inner side of the knuckles from the center of the Jeep? Also, I'm pretty sure that it is a Dana, its not round but more like a stop sign like someone said.

Thanks
Josh

 

On a dana 30 and modern axles just behind the brake drum or disk you can actually see the axle and u-joint inside of the housing, the dana 25/27 have a ball socket here that fully encloses the axle and u-joint.

This is a dana 25 closed knuckle:



This is a dana 30 with the open knuckle:

 

It looks like the 25 but I've never seen one with the twin steering links on the pass side. How to tell 25 from 27?
Josh

 

The one pictured is probably from a full size jeep, like a commando or truck. The only way to visually tell the 25 from the 27 is thru the cast in 25 or 27 in the webbing where the center joins the axle tubes, the 27 has a thicker and heavier center body but it is not so much bigger as to make a huge visible difference.
That knuckle with the twin holes on the passenger side is vary desirable as it helps greatly with some of the jeeps strange steering problems when it is properly hooked up.