Inside the 2 1/2-ton Rockwell Axle

You'll find three different types of shafts in the front axles. From right to left are the early Bendix, the later Rezepa, and the newest and most common Spicer. Mark Boyce tells us that the Bendix- and Rezepa-style shafts are made of cast metal and are very brittle; they'll shatter rather than twist. The Spicer style is made of machined and heat-treated steel that will twist to some degree just like modern Dana 44 and Dana 60 shafts. You can put Spicer shafts in the earlier housings by swapping the thick inner seal retainer of the earlier axles to a thinner Spicer style seal retainer. Boyce carries a full line of new and used service parts as well as shafts, gears and anything else you'll need for your deuce.

Shown from left to right are: a 1.31-inch, 30-spline Dana 44 axle; a 1.5-inch, 35-spline Dana 60 axle; and a 1.62-inch, 16-spline 2 1/2-ton axle. When narrowing housings, you must use either stock shafts or custom shafts. You can't just cut and re-spline a Rockwell inner shaft because the shafts neck down in the middle.

Shown from left to right are a Dana 44 U-joint and shaft assembly, a Dana 60 assembly and a Spicer-style Rockwell assembly. The Spicer joint measures a monster 5 1/16 inches from cup to cup. The cup diameter is 1 5/8 inches.