What about toyota axles?
 

I have seen a few on craigslist cheap with lockers, has anyone tried it?

Bit narrow and passenger side drop. Good axles though with a good set of aftermarket shafts.

i have seen some older cjs with toyota axles i plan on putting one in the rear of my xj with a d44 up front, you could also order a rock assault tacoma front housing which is a drivers drop, as xjmarc said they are narrow but strong as hell with a set of longs in them and parts everywere.

do it!
 

my father in law has them on his 51 Willie's with 38's and both bother in laws in a 70 jeepster 35' and a cj 5 38's YOU CANT BREAK EM! i i am waiting till tax session so i can get mine for the XJ

Yes they can be broken but they are strong. I still have my toy which had 37's and with it locked in front and stock axles if you let it hop or the tire comes down under a heavy throttle the birfields can go. But anything can be broken. I would have used the ones i have now but the front has the wrong side drop to ,ake it easy to work.

With Chromos upfront and built well, they are better than a D60/14Bolt combo IMO. I have several yota freinds with 37s and up, ubber low crawl ratios and they beat the piss out of em with no issue.

Strength without the weight = ideal

One reason yotas do so well with stock axle is they have roughly 60hp from the 22r. The people that swap motors often swap axles as well. They actually aren't any harder to break than any other half ton axle. My 85 toy on 35s went thru several birfs and one rear with a wore out 4 banger. Too narrow and passenger side drop makes them a bad canidate for a swap in an XJ.

You honestly believe they are better then a 60 and 14 bolt? Your up in the night. Ya they are stout,and as posted above they take alot of abuse in yotas because they have little power being transmitted to them. Pull a 14B or 60 apart and compare to some toy axles, you'll see why 60/14B combo is so popular in rigs with hopped up V8's and big tires.

Agreed or just anybody with a heavy foot in their 4.0 with some big tires.
But for the threads sake, I swear I've seen a yota 8" in cherokees before..they have factory lockers..and I know I've seen people say they've used them or are using them in their jeep. But I can't figure out why...the yota 8" has an actual 7.8" ring & pinion..and if I'm remembering correctly the D35 has a 7.6" ring and pinion, doesn't seem like much of an upgrade now does it? The D44 has a 8.5" and the ford 8.8 has a 8.8 r&p.
Plus those yotas have a 6x5? bolt pattern don't they? Won't match your front bolt pattern.

If your just looking for a simple axle upgrade like the c8.25/D44/8.8 swap or something and your not looking at going full width or wanting anything more than says 35's..then a built 8.8 will suit you fine and can be made into a nonclip axle, the D44 will hold its own if you treat it right.
The 8.8 can be had with a factory lsd, and you can rebuild that lsd with more clutch packs to match it bit harder, last longer & feel more like a locker.

The reason why the yota axles are so strong is their design. The third members are stronger then a cast housing. The axle shafts are bascially cv shafts with big roller bearings.

As for them being stronger then a d60.. if properly built they are definately just as strong. I know a few ppl who are running 40" sticky treps on yota's. The recipe for success in the front is a HP3rd with an ARB, Bobby longfield shafts with birfield eliminators. Of course you can pimp them out.



Diamond axle, and Trail gear both make some pretty nice housing, and they can come in a width you like, and Bobby will make you some custom shafts.

Well ya if ya throw enough money at something of course it will be several times better then it was originally. I was meaning in a stock to stock comparison that the 60/14B would blow em out of the water. A properly built truss and a full carrier style locker would eliminate any axle housing flex from the cast housings. If you really want to throw money at a 60 you could put some CTM u joints in or a set of RCV shafts and never ha e to worry about the pig. But they key sentence in your reply is " I know a few ppl who run 40" sticky treps on yota's." You don't see many high HP rigs or buggies running toy axles because they won't hold up unless you throw gobs of money at them and even still its like having a fully built HP 44 on 40's with a hopped up smallblock. Don't get me wrong toy axles ARE great and will be a good option for many swaps, but I would in no way consider them higher in strength then a Dana 60,70,80 or a 14 Bolt or Sterling 10.25/10.5.
With all that being said, no matter which axles you go with generally you will be spending some bookoo bucks on lockers, shafts, gears,rebuild kits, etc. So your choice needs to be derived from what you want your end result to be. Bigger tires and/or higher HP needs bigger axles and maybe some upgrades, OR smaller axles (think D44 or toy axles) and LOTS of upgrades. In the end you will spend a fair amount of money but with one option you will have alot more piece of mind when your rig is xxxmiles from home on a vertical wall with one or more tires bound up in a hole or rock and skinny pedal is about the only way out. My .02$

I wasn't trying to imply that a toy axle is as strong as a 60.. I will say a stock yota is as strong as a d44. Heck it might be stronger in some aspects but weaker in others. THey are not high horspower axles... and they are not for heavy rigs. The few buggies i know running yota's and stickies weigh in at 3200# or less.


Personally I would build a hybrid axle using the best of all worlds.. a 609, or a toy44 or a toy 60. as with any axle you build.. it is all about what you want to spend your money on.