Axles Axles Axles! These axles are the single biggest investment I have made towards my Jeep. The Ford 9" high pinion axles were built by Currie Enterprises. In the rear I'm running a Detroit Locker, 4:56 gears and 35 spline axle shafts. I also opted for the disc brake conversion used from a Ford Explorer. The front is also running a Detroit Locker and 4:56 gears, but the largest axle shafts offered at the time were 31 spline shafts. I've upgraded the 297 u-joints to the beefier CTM joints. For the front knuckles I went with Dana 44 flat tops and a Tri-County Gear high clearance steering kit. I replaced the 5 bolt Warn hubs with Warn Premium internal hubs. If I ever have any breakage issues in the front I'd like to eventually replace the steering knuckles with ones off of a Dana 60 axle and upgrade the locker and shafts to 35 spline. Since the engine is a lightly modified 258 I-6 I do not foresee breakage anytime soon.
WARN premium hub conversion.
Work on the Jeep has slowed down considerably! I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and start changing out the fluids since they are at least 10 years old! Started with the front axle, since there are no drain plugs on these Ford 9" axles you have to pull the 3rd member. To pull the 3rd member you have to remove the axle shafts, so while I had the axles out I upgraded the u-joints with the CTM joints. These things are beefy and built in the USA!
