What axles for my bastard beams

[Quicksand]

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My '95 came with sleeved axles at 29.5" RH and 20.5" LH when I bought it in 2020. Been running 99.9% of the time in 2wd (and/or not paying attention most of the time) and found the passenger axle pulled out of the housing. This commenced a tear down and addressing a lot of maintenance. I've posted some of this on FSB which is helpful but extended width axles is not something they're too familiar with.

I pulled the dif and found a Tru Trac LS, which was good and explains no C clip. While pulling the RH axle that was laying in the beam I had to put a pry bar in the slip yoke u-joint and hit the outer with a 5 lb sledge to get it out. The cap of the slip yoke is gone. Don't know if there was ever a spring in there, but the intermediate axle was jammed up there. I offer that thinking the 29.5 RH axle is too long and it's time to invest in new axles. Sounds easy and maybe it is, but I want to get some more knowledgeable input.

I'm literally the 12th owner of this bronco (the CarFox gave me a big thumbs up before I bought it). Owner 11 said it was a Threat Motorsports beam kit. I sent some photos to Threat and talked to Dave who was very helpful but he declined paternity, except for maybe the radius arms. The reinforcement plates and welds aren't Threat level and I agree. He can sell me axles, but I'm on my own for getting the length right. While I'm pretty sure it's a 4.5 over kit, Dave gave a tip to look inside the beam for the extended segment. It was pretty apparent on the driver side it's 4.5 added (see pic). Harder to see on the passenger side.

I've already ordered and rec'd a new cromoly stub shaft and slip yoke (along with a new RH axle bearing and both axle seals). I'll tack weld the slip yoke cap and put in a spring but I need to order what looks like $700 to $800 in new axles and prefer not to get it wrong. How much tolerance in length difference do I have? Stock width RH/LH is 24.77" and 15.69". I'd order + 4.5" for 29.27 and 20.19. I think Dave said there's are 29 1/8 and 20 1/8 so that's in the ball park. Solo is at 29 and 20. Desolate only sells axles with their beams.

So am I overthinking this? Is this new guy a dipshit? What is the length tolerance for axles? Seems i'm talking about a 1/4" difference so maybe the failure is just poor maintenance plus I don't see any tack weld marks on the slip yoke cap. Any axles recommendations?

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[Wrightracing.net]

I have been thinking this over with my hybrid Dana 44 with Dana 50 beam ends. It is getting extended +3 per side and I will be running F250 knuckles and Brakes. The nice thing is the F250 uses bigger 1350 axle U-joints. For the extended axles I was considering chromoly cut to length axles with the longer splines. The Dana 44 and 50 diff run 31 spline inner axles, so I can keep my bolt on RH axle retainer and not have to deal with the spring modification. I have a ARB air locker for the front to play around rock crawling and in the dunes to run paddles on all 4 corners. I currently have a Detroit Locker in the rear with 31 spline semi floater 9+ from Currie. I want to upgrade to 35 spline and 3.5" tubes and do a Dana 60 full floater kit from Solid Axle Industries on a fabricated 9in housing that ìs 71" wide WMS to WMS.

David

[Quicksand]

I thought hard about the D50 stub shaft and probably could have found one on eBay but I worried about the fit in the beam pocket. I opened the hole more but the slip yoke boot rides real close to the 1/4 plating on the beam. Looking at your photo the slip yoke thickness looks to be the same at the boot area so maybe I could have. I ended up just doing a cromoly D44 input shaft. The bigger wish is the older retainer style housing. My first spring install blew out my yoke cap even though it was tacked. It's a fully welded cap now with a smaller spring.

I did get new 4.5+ axles from Threat. They're a lot nicer than my sleeved guys. Just some brake work and I can get back on the ground. This has taken a lot longer than planned. Next task will be the rear. I'm still working with the 8.8 and saving up for a FF.

axle new.jpg (82.87 KiB) Viewed 2256 times

axle new.jpg (82.87 KiB) Viewed 2256 times

[Wrightracing.net]

I thought hard about the D50 stub shaft and probably could have found one on eBay but I worried about the fit in the beam pocket. I opened the hole more but the slip yoke boot rides real close to the 1/4 plating on the beam. Looking at your photo the slip yoke thickness looks to be the same at the boot area so maybe I could have. I ended up just doing a cromoly D44 input shaft. The bigger wish is the older retainer style housing. My first spring install blew out my yoke cap even though it was tacked. It's a fully welded cap now with a smaller spring.

I did get new 4.5+ axles from Threat. They're a lot nicer than my sleeved guys. Just some brake work and I can get back on the ground. This has taken a lot longer than planned. Next task will be the rear. I'm still working with the 8.8 and saving up for a FF.

axle new.jpg

axle new.jpg

That is cool. I plan to get chromoly cut to length axles to do the extended axles. I am staying with the 1982 Dana 44 with the bolt on retaining plate. The Dana 44 is not the normal weak point and I already have the third member and a ARB locker. The Dana 44 is a bit lighter than the Dana 50 third member.

Good luck on the build.

David

[chucks187]

I thought hard about the D50 stub shaft and probably could have found one on eBay but I worried about the fit in the beam pocket. I opened the hole more but the slip yoke boot rides real close to the 1/4 plating on the beam. Looking at your photo the slip yoke thickness looks to be the same at the boot area so maybe I could have. I ended up just doing a cromoly D44 input shaft. The bigger wish is the older retainer style housing. My first spring install blew out my yoke cap even though it was tacked. It's a fully welded cap now with a smaller spring.

I did get new 4.5+ axles from Threat. They're a lot nicer than my sleeved guys. Just some brake work and I can get back on the ground. This has taken a lot longer than planned. Next task will be the rear. I'm still working with the 8.8 and saving up for a FF.

axle new.jpgaxle new.jpg

What Brakes are those?

[Quicksand]

What Brakes are those?

EBC Brake Kit. Don't normally go for slotted/dimple stuff but rotors/pads to my door was $218. Must have been on sale as it's $300 now. A rotor at NAPA is $80 and pads $50 so I thought I'd give it a go.

https://www.buybrakes.com/ebc-brakes-s3 ... -wheel-set

Fit well with my fancy Autozone calipers.

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