S i have a chance to snag a set of axles off a 03 F350 diesel. 60 front and 10.5 rear. can i put these under my 89 cherokee? obviously im gonna need to buy/make some coil buckets and other brackets but otherwise would they work? what all do i need to do to get them under my xj?

 

you will either be going full width or narrowing. other than that, it depends on how extreme you want to get. you could weld new spring buckets, UCA/LCA brackets, or go 4-link, coil rear, etc, etc.

 

I'm about to do the same thing but using a D60 rear the 10.5 have huge diffs. Anyway you need to know how to weld or have a bunch of $. So you will need new u-joints, shorter drive shafts, with the extra weight its a good idea to plate the frame but not necessary, trussing the axles is also a good idea but not necessary, you will need new rims, since you will be able to run much larger tires its a good idea to make a 231-300 dabbler, brake lines. That about covers it. A little advise do some searching on Pirate4x4 and see what other people have dune. There is a bunch of XJ freaks in there running 40s or bigger with only 5" of lift. Really great fabricators. But be ware its a different form. Not a family form at all and if you ask a dumb ? you will here it. Just use the search. The info is worth the A-holes.

 

what did you get your 60's from?

 

Late 60s early 70s not sure ford.

 

oh ok. Well i can get these 03 axles for 1000 and they come with a set of aluminum rims. how does that price sound?

 

Great price. Different bolt pattern then the ones I am running so a 60 rear for you wouldn't be worth it. But bigger diffs just mean bigger tires! Defiantly a great deal. So just let you know how I'm doing it with money tight. I picked up used 15" rims to run the 36s I have now. I will also run my 5.5" lift I have now even though its a short arm. I will make a high steer with some 1" solid round stock I have and some one ton rod ends. Make my own mounts. New brake lines and drive shafts shortened. That's my plan to run for this year and will start plating the frame peace by peace. So hope I gave you a little help.

 

First of all check the BOM # on the axle. Ford used a lot of D-50's under the super duties, the Diesel should have the d-60 but be sure to check. I guess the housings are identical too so you have to check the BOM.

Second the super duty d-60 is just about the least desirable d-60.

If it has the unit bearing hubs those are known to be weak, so much so that many companies offer a conversion kit (dynatrak has a unit bearing eliminator kit for that axle and it is way $$$) This is also an issue if you want to convert it to 35 spline outer stub shafts, basically you have to convert the axle to an old style knuckle.

Another issue is the wheel bolt pattern, that bolt pattern is unique to super dutys. Since you have the wheels and rear axle you would be ok, there is a ton of after market wheels as well.

Another issue might be the short side axle tube may not have enough tube to put a coil bucket on easily. (my 96 d-60 has this issue and I am having that side lengthened)

Price wise it is a little cheaper than getting something that would be much better.

Right now around here a of lot more desirable d-60's are not selling, I will see them listed for $1200 and usually sit until they sell for about $900.00. As for a rear axle. Since they have a non-metric 8 lug you can throw just about anything in the rear. You can usually find gm-14bolts for under $200, if you have a pick n pull around you can get them for less than that. A good score if going full width would be a d-60/70 from a ford van with disks already on it. There is also a dodge rear d-60 that is a few inches narrower than 67 inches, I don't know what vehicle or how easy they are to find.

I am doing a d-60 from a 96 f350 and a 1977 gm-14 bolt into a 1999 xj. the gm 14 bolt I am swapping hubs to get it down to 63.5 inches wide (jeep is 61.5) and the front I am having narrowed. both axles I had under an 87 bronco.

Are the superduty axles a hell of a lot stronger than what you have, hell ya, but it is not nearly as strong as a lot of other things out there.

$1000 is a pretty good hunk of money, do some research on it, it may not be as a good of a deal as you think. Consider gear and locker choices too, ARB's are about the same $$ for axles that size but a Detroit for the 14 bolt is about half the price of any other axle that size.

Nathan
- 99 dual batteries, 136 amp alt, york in progress.