The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Jeep axle?

I've been looking for a rear axle for my 51 3100 as part of future driveline upgrade for tranny and open prop
I want to keep the 6 lug wheels
Tried to do as much research on options as I could and not finding any candidates on the local market

I did however come across an 80's Jeep Cherokee Dana44 Widetrack - it measures at 61" between the WMS and is 6 x5.5; it has a 3.54 ratio
The Dana 44 seems to have very good reputation as a solid unit.
I'm fine with the drums for the rear, already have discs on the front with dual master and booster

So - would this be a suitable candidate?
I haven't seen any references (at least I can find) to using this but it seems viable?

Is the pumpkin in the right place?

I sure don’t see why that wouldn’t work. Might want to make sure your hub center doesn’t interfere with your factory wheels.

I’ve been casually looking for a read end for my 51 as well. Curious about the “wide track” designation. Is that something unique? Or is this just the standard rear that all Cherokees of that era wore?

From my understanding, the "Widetrack" designation is actually a wider axle. How much, idk. But use caution and do your research.

My extensive research (7 minutes of poking around on marketplace) indicates that the full-size, Wagoneer-type, rigs were the ones that wore the 6 lug axles. As to whether all the 6 lugs were “wide track”…not sure about that.

Good find, though.

Looks like it will be okay, but is the pumpkin offset to the right or is that just the image? If you find a Chevy C10 pickup from the mid to late 60s (maybe early 70s), they're the right width and have the proper 6 lug hubs. Also the parking brake scheme can be adapted to the AD setup really easily. They'll be drum brakes. These will be the GM 12 bolt rear end and parts are very available and in some cases very affordable. Some ring and pinion sets are $150 or so...which is dang cheap. A few weeks ago I posted a link to the GM codes (so you can easily tell what ratio these are...stamped on the upper passenger side of the axle tube). The stamped code assumes nobody has changed anything inside which is usually correct. Here is something else to keep in mind...I don't know what transmission and rear you're hoping for but in the 12 bolt rear end there are carrier breaks that limit the range of ring/pinion altering you can do. It all has to do with deck heights inside the rear end. For the 12 bolt truck rear they are: 2 series (2.73 and down), 3 series (2.76 to 3.42) and 4 series (3.73 and up). If you get a passenger car rear (won't have the 6 lug hub) the deck heights are slightly different so the range is: 2 series (2.76 and down), 3 series (2.76 to 3.73) and 4 series (3.90 and up).

So in my case, my rear end (a 2 series from a 1969 C10) has a 3.07 ratio and I could change that to a 3.42 if I wanted to...and there are spacers that will allow you to use 4 series gears in a 3 series carrier.

One other thought...if you start with a 3.54 rear end ratio and your goal is to get back to a 12 overall first gear ratio (which will be what GM engineers wanted for a 1/2 ton truck with an inline 6 and what you'll have with the 3 speed and OEM rear end), you will need a first gear transmission ratio of around 3.40~3.50 or thereabouts. There is a T5 with a 3.50 first gear but it usually has a fifth gear of .72 or .73, so you might need to figure that in also.

Thanks for all your kind replies


This one is from a 1976 Cherokee Chief - later years had 5 lugs and not all were wide track. I believe as you suggested it is generally the wagons. It is specifified in the listing as being 61" wide and that seems to jive with the research.
It also appears to have a centre driveshaft although I agree the image is deceiving

My wheels are actually from a K10 - I needed those to clear the front calipers on the disc conversion.

The jeep axles were available in both centered and offset pumpkins. I would recommend making sure that it is actually centered.

If it came from a vehicle with quadra-trac it would be offset.

If it is centered, it would be a solid choice as long as you are good with drums on the back. Doing an axle swap is a great time to upgrade to disks if that if on your someday list.

The 04 to 2014 Chevy Colorado and Gmc Canyon had 8x6.5 bolt pattern. (Metric lugs though) They were also drum brake equipped. The 4wd ones were 61-63" wide, depending on the application. Most of then are going to be 3.42 geared, but 3.73 and 4.10 were available too.