Stock Axle Guide
What Is It?
By Verne Simons
Photography by Jp Archives
The Dana 25, 27, and 30 all have similar differential covers. This is a Dana 25 which like the Dana 27 has closed knuckles and drum brakes. It sounded simple: Verne, I want you to write a story outlining all of the stock axles Jeeps came with, bellowed John Cappa, bright one Monday morning. Verne thought he had it made, there were about a dozen different axles he was familiar with that came from the factory attached to Jeeps. He could simply make a chart, and fill in the blanks. Heck, the Dana 44 was found in most Jeeps at one point or another, and then there was the Dana 30, the AMC 20, and a few others to pull together.
If your rear axle looks like it was at one point used as a helmet you probably have an AMC 20 rear axle. These axles can have weak two-piece axleshafts, and housings that are prone to bending.
Verne thought that this story would be an easy one to throw together, and the readers would enjoy reading about what axles they have, and all the people in the world would be happy. Verne was wrong. This story was not easy to write, nor is it easy to compile information about the various axles Jeeps use. Verne is about to go insane. He does not want to think about the 19 different versions of the Dana 30 that Jeep has used over the years, or what differences there are between the early Jeep Dana 44s, and the current Dana 44. Despite Vernes eventual slip into insanity, his tireless and selfless work has not gone unnoticed and as a result we have before us a list of biblical importance filled with beneficial information and generally useful stuff. Axle
| Application
| Years
| Description
| What's Bad
| What's Good
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Dana/ Spicer 25
| MA, MB, GP,
M38, M38A1, M170, CJ-2A,
CJ-5, CJ-5A,
CJ-3A, CJ-3B,
CJ-6, CJ-6A, Willys Wagon, Willys Pickup
| '41-'65
| Closed knuckle,
drum brakes,
cover same as Dana 30.
| Closed knuckle,
drum brakes,
weak axles,
weak side gears, and
weak axletubes.
| Powr-Lok available;
it is stronger than
the open differential.
| Dana/ Spicer 27
| CJ-5, CJ-5A,
CJ-6, and
CJ-6A Wagoneer, Cherokee (SJ), Jeepster
Commando,
Gladiator
| '66-'71
| Closed knuckle,
drum brakes,
cover same as Dana 30.
| Same weaknesses
as Dana 25, but
smaller ring gear
than Dana 25.
| Powr-Lok available
| Dana 30
| CJ, Commando, Cherokee (SJ),
| '72-'86
| Open knuckle,
disc or drum brakes
| Weak 260 U-joints.
| Discs can be
retro-fitted
to drum brake axles.
| Dana 30
| YJ, XJ, MJ
| '84-'971⁄2
| Open knuckle,
5-on-41⁄2 bolt pattern, disc brakes, high-
pinion.
| Center axle disconnect; avoid weaker
260 U-joints.
| The strongest is a high pinion from a '951⁄2-'971⁄2 XJ with 297 U-joints.
| Dana 30
| TJ, WJ, ZJ,
XJ ('971⁄2-'01)
| '93-present
| Open knuckle,
5-on-41⁄2 bolt pattern, disc brakes, uses crush sleeve on pinion,
low-pinion.
| CV joints on steering knuckles (WJ, ZJ), because of crush
sleeve this axle uses different gear sets than earlier Dana 30s.
| '951⁄2 and up have stronger 297 U-joints.
| IFS Dana 30
| KJ
| '02-Present
| Independent
front suspension
| Limited articulation,
aluminum center
section.
| Can use other Dana 30 traction adding devices.
| Dana 44
| Wagoneer,
Cherokee (SJ), FC, Gladiator,
J-trucks
| '57-'91
| Closed and
open knuckle.
| Closed-knuckle version has drum brakes and
260 U-joint.
| the FSJ version is a popular swap
candidate.
| Dana 60
| M715, M726,
M725
| '67-'69
| Closed knuckle,
drum brakes.
| Closed knuckle,
drum brakes, bizarre lug pattern, weak tubes,
16-spline axleshafts.
| Good for stock
M-trucks.
| Dana 23-2
| MB, CJ-2A
| '41-'46
| Cover like Dana 25
| Rare
| Full-floating
| Dana 30
| Jeepster
Commando
| '67-'69 (4-cyl.)
| Dana 30 cover
| Rare, and presumably weak due to
ring gear size, brake parts hard to find.
|
| Dana 35C
| YJ, TJ, XJ,
ZJ, MJ, KJ
| '84-Present
| C-clip axleshafts
| Adequate strength for stock applications.
| can be improved with aftermarket
parts to withstand slightly larger than stock tires.
| Dana 41
| CJ, Willys Wagon, Willys Truck, Jeepster
| '46-'50
| Two piece axle
shafts, lemon shaped cover, offset to
passenger's side.
| Some service parts
hard to find.
| Some internal parts same as Dana 44.
| Dana 44 (early)
| CJ, DJ, Gladiator, Wagoneers, FC, Jeepster
Commando, Willys Wagon, Willys Truck
| '50-'71
| 10, 19, or 30 spline
| Early axles with low spline count are
weaker; early axles may have 2-piece axle shafts, small axletubes.
| Great axle with lots of aftermarket goodies available.
| Dana 44 (late)
| CJ, Wagoneers, J-Truck, Cherokee (SJ), TJ, XJ, MJ
| '72-present
| One-piece flanged axles
| TJ tubes are thin and prone to bending if
used in severe
conditions off-road
| Most have thicker
axletubes, 30-spline axleshafts.
| Dana 44GC
| WJ, ZJ
| '93-present
| Dana 44 with
aluminum housing,
5-on-41⁄2 bolt pattern.
| C-clip axles; internal parts differ from other Dana 44s.
|
| Dana 53
| Gladiator, FC
| '57-'70
| Semi-floating axle
| Rare, hard to find
service parts
|
| Dana 60
| Gladiator, J-Truck
| '63-'87
| Full-floating axle
| Early Dana 60s may have smaller axle tubes
| Super strong axle
| Dana 70
| M715, M726, M725, Gladiator, FC
| '59-'70
| Full-floating axle
| The M trucks had a bizarre bolt pattern.
| Super strong axle
| Chrysler 81⁄4
| XJ, KJ
| '91-present
| Oval cover with large lip around edge.
| C-clip axles
| Stronger than the Dana 35, '97 and up have 29 spline axle shafts that are slightly thicker than the earlier version.
| AMC 20
| CJ, Wagoneer,
J-Truck,
| '76-'86
| Round helmet-like
cover, two piece axle shafts, some may have one-piece shafts.
| Weak housing,
two piece axleshafts.
| Can be improved with aftermarket parts.
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