Everyone in need of one has heard of a Dana 60 front axle. The problem is they don't exactly grow on trees. Both custom and junkyard versions are available, but neither is cheap. If you want good beef, you pay for it! However, Spidertrax Off-Road has found a way to knock down some of the costs for a hefty but lightweight (318 pounds with our steering) Ford 9-inch front axle with plate steel knuckles. The Spider 69 front axle starts with a Spider 9 housing custom made out of 316-inch plate steel by Spidertrax. The housing boasts more clearance than both the traditional Ford 9-inch, as well as some other aftermarket shaved units. The numerous bends in the housing plates help make it extremely rigid. The knuckles are also made from plate steel and feature uniballs instead of ball joints. The uniballs are extremely strong. However, we feel those in wet states may be better off with a typical ball joint or kingpin-style axle with seals because the uniballs are better suited for dryer areas. The plate knuckles offer endless steering possibilities and can be built to accept Dodge unit bearings or Ford Superduty outers for those who want locking hubs.
Mounting suspension components and steering is made simple because there is no cast material in the entire housing. It's all easily welded plate steel and heavy-wall tubing.
Made from plate steel and...
Made from plate steel and fully welded, the knuckles are extremely strong and light. Unlike traditional kingpin or ball joint knuckles, the Spidertrax knuckles utilize Aurora uniballs. Because of the steel plate construction of the knuckles, there are endless possibilities for steering.
CTM not only offers heavy-duty...
CTM not only offers heavy-duty 300M U-joints, the company cuts custom shafts made from 300M for nearly any application, including the Dodge stubs we needed. The CTM shafts are machined to turn 45 degrees.
Thin shims are used to ensure...
Thin shims are used to ensure that there is a tight fit between the inner and outer knuckles. It's similar to setting the preload on an early kingpin-style Dana 25 or Dana 27.
The Spidertrax 69 was designed...
The Spidertrax 69 was designed to use Wilwood four-piston forged Dynalite racing calipers with two-piece drilled rotors and aluminum hats. They are light, powerful, look really cool, and unlike many 1-ton brake setups, will cleanly fit inside a 15-inch wheel. The outer knuckles utilize a stock Dodge unit bearing, which runs 33-spline stub shafts. The entire wheel-bearing assembly is only $150 per side and can be found at your local parts store or ordered directly from Spidertrax. The unit bearing shaves weight and is less expensive than a conventional hub/spindle. Spidertrax is also offering knuckles compatible with Ford Superduty outers for those who want to run locking hubs.
Once the housing was in our...
Once the housing was in our hands, we started in on the detail work. For a third member we got in contact with Randy's Ring & Pinion for its new aluminum 9-inch piece. Made from 2014 T6 aluminum with beefed-up forged bearing caps, it's a strong, reasonably priced, lightweight third member. Yukon gears, install kit, billet aluminum Daytona pinion support, and a 35-spline ARB Air Locker were installed by Randy's, making it ready to drop into the new housing.
Jack Graff assembled our CTM...
Jack Graff assembled our CTM U-joints, stub shafts and 4340 Yukon inner axles using a large brass drift as a hammer. Everything is heat treated for strength prior to assembly. Our U-joints and stub shafts have also been cryogenically frozen for that little extra bit of strength. The Yukon inner shafts needed to be ground slightly to accommodate 45-degree steering.
We opted to go with a full...
We opted to go with a full hydraulic steering setup on our Jeep, but lots of options are available. We had Spidertrax mount the 2.5-inch PSC balanced cylinder. Aurora 34-inch XM and XB series rod ends were used for tie-rod ends.