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so if I am to understand you correctly the 96-97 axles are 38mm per side wider... which equates to roughly 1.5" per side... making the axle a total of 3" wider going from ~59.5" to 62.5" wide.

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I am just going to have to check that out. 3" of difference should be fairly noticeable and I have a 96 rodeo to make a comparison to.

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You shouldn't have any trouble at all confirming the difference with a side-by-side comparison... But you might not even need a tape measure – since you’re already well-accustomed to the 59.5” axle, the extra space between the leaf springs and the hub assemblies will probably catch your attention right away

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My ‘new’ 1996 Rodeo axle should be arriving either today or tomorrow

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I just called-in my tracking number... Make that tomorrow.

Looks like it's gonna be a pretty loooooooooooooooong 24-hours

That has to be the most concise Smiley post ever

Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you.

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Refuse to write my 5000th post until the bugger is in (stop)

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I guess you'll be burning up the phone lines when you need to ask for help

Good luck

Andre

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Axle arrived yesterday (stop)
It’s Limited Slip (stop)
Wrestled it into the Rodeo last night, solo (stop)
Surprisingly didn’t throw-out my back (stop)
Refuse to write my 5000th post until the bugger is in (stop)
Enjoy the quiet (stop)

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At 41 words, ive seen shorter...
Good luck!
-J

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The front axle assembly is heavier than it looks too. I was trying to remove it by myself and when I got it loose, it slipped off the jack and landed on my forehead.

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That helps explain some of it ...

Richard

Congrats Smiley

Gald you got the results you were after, and are back on the road.

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(* I’ll post the photos and details later)

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pics of you working on the truck, right?

Good job,
Andre

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Now, if everyone will excuse me, Miss Kathy and I have not seen one another for more than 5 minutes at a time since Wednesday afternoon.

(* I’ll post the photos and details later)

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Remember, Jeff... this is a family-friendly environment Congrats on a job well done!

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The deed is done -->> Now, if everyone will excuse me, Miss Kathy and I have not seen one another for more than 5 minutes at a time since Wednesday afternoon.

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Well hotrod,that explains why your answering service didn't work last night

congrates on the completed job ,

I'll call you in a few hours.

Bansil

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Remember, Jeff... this is a family-friendly environment

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Well hotrod,that explains why your answering service didn't work last night

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Not to disappoint you guys, but heating-up a frozen pizza and watching a re-run of Law & Order C.I. is about as scandalous as the evening got… and that sure didn’t stop Rubo from calling


*I just re-read my previous post*

Ooooooooooooooooh, OK, I get it now
I've really gotta watch that wording, huh?


Anyway, thanks all



And for those that have been waiting, here's Part One of the Axle Installation Story:


Thursday:
With the axle sitting in the back of the Rodeo, I spent the day helping my friend Paul work on his geriatric Massey-Ferguson farm tractor...



…in sort of a ‘you help me with this, and then I’ll let you use my garage’ arrangement.


Friday:
Before I could make it back over to Paul’s to finally get started on the Rodeo, first I had to do a little something for Miss Kathy (something that I had been promising to do for the last couple of years) – namely: to bid a fond farewell to the last remaining ‘junk’ car in our driveway…



…and Kathy was so pleased to see it go, she could hardly contain herself


Only THEN was I free to get busy swapping that axle – but I didn’t take anywhere near as many photos as I had hoped… I was just too darned busy.


Once I got to Paul’s, the first order of business was to fix it so that I didn’t have to disconnect the brake lines, and save myself the trouble of bleeding the brakes when I was done, so…


I took the brake lines...


^ The 'new' axle



^ The 'old' axle



And broke-out the old trusty Sawz-All...


^ The ‘new’ axle



^ The ‘old’ axle


By cutting those tabs, disconnecting the brake line extension, and removing the calipers, I was able to lay the entire assembly on top of the frame rails, out of the way, and reuse the whole shebang on the new axle



* End of Part One

Sorry - Kathy and I have a Memorial Day Weekend Block Party to attend…
I’ll continue things from here, soon (but probably not today, for obvious reasons )

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Haha Smiley the little finger video rocks

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Yeah, yeah, it rocks, but...I was expecting a third frame with blood squirting forth! What, Smiley, no first blood drawn?! Even with such a major undertaking? Something smells in Denmark.

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Something smells in Denmark

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Yeah, my subconscious must have picked-up on that whole ‘lack of blood’ thing too…

So, yesterday morning, while still recovering from the Block Party (* not the beverages, but the food! ), I headed back over to Paul’s for some additional punishment.

With his 1964 Allis-Chalmers loader/backhoe doing the shoving, we set about convincing a derelict Jeep J-20 onto his old tandem-axle flatbed trailer… and mayhem ensued.

--- Our first attempt lacked the required trajectory, resulting in the J-20 dropping off the side, ‘see-sawing’ the trailer off of the hitch - which in-turn resulted in the coupler tearing the tailgate right off of Paul’s pickup

--- Attempt #2 went quite a bit better… up until the point where I was giving some last second spotting instructions to the guy steering the J-20, wherein my eyes were focused more on the work at hand, and less on my footing – so I ended-up finding the wide open space located between the decking plates, and ‘POOF’, out of sight I went – knocking the immortal snot out of my right shin and knee cap in the process.

I was pretty-well hobbled by that one, but my injuries didn’t prevent me from assisting in the deconstruction of that J-20, and removing the full-width front Dana 44 – of which I am now the proud owner

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Would that be a drivers side drop or passenger? Do you know the width? If it's useable, nice free, find.

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Tell that “free” part to my right leg!

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J20's are passenger side. The ones I've seen have been no shorter than 65"... but more like 67", basically fullsize and definitely wider than wagoneer…

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…some have flat tops and also can be found 8-lug.

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Ya don’t say





This rig served as the Blaster’s Truck at a local rock quarry, accumulating a mere 69,xxx miles (and about a ton-and-a-half of limestone dust) before being put out to pasture for the last 10 or 15 years. --- But that limestone veneer has done an amazing job of ‘time capsuling’ it… As far as the driveline goes, there’s hardly any rust worth mentioning at all. --- However, there’s enough of that white powder on there that I’m still not sure if it has the coveted flat top knuckles, and Paul’s garden hose doesn’t quite reach the garage.




So I guess I should probably head back over there this week…





…and see if I can rescue this Dana 60 Full-Floater from making a trip to the crusher, huh?

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…and see if I can rescue this Dana 60 Full-Floater from making a trip to the crusher, huh?

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So how would that go with a 62.5" axle? Will it be too wide, or would running wheel spacers get it close enough to run? How much difference is TOO much difference when it comes to width of axles f/r?
-J

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Anybody?
-J

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Smilet grab the rearend if you can:

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Smilet grab the rearend if you can:

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i agree, but if its quadratec, you'll get tons of driveline vibes trying to run the offset diff with a centered tcase at any speed. and its time consuming to retube the thing so the diff is centered.

-Rob

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you'll get tons of driveline vibes

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The good thing about it is that it may be fully floating and it should be 35 spline shafts.

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