would these axles work?

[Alexa]

Hello- Im wanting to put a rear locker on my 96 and all of the posts say that one would need some heavy duty axles or else! So while browsing Coleman's surplus I saw these military ones and didnt know if they would work on a disco and be a good and cheap alternative.

Rear Axle Assembly, Chevy/GMC, U.S. G.I.

Unused, in the crate! Complete rear axle assembly. Includes 10 bolt posi rear, hubs, drums, brakes, emergency brake cables..........the works! 3:08 ratio. Measurement from backing plate to backing plate is 56 in. Measurement from center spring pad to center of other spring pad is 43 in. These axle assembly's fit 73-91 4x4 Blazer, 73-87 4x4 Chevy and GMC Truck, and 73-88 4x4 Chevy and GMC Suburban 10 Series. 6 lug. Built US military tough! Cannot be ship UPS. Call for shipping amount.

 

[DiscoveryXD]

http://www.greatbasinrovers.com/axle.html



Matt

 

[Alexa]

That still doesnt tell me too much- I am not mechanically inclined- although I am trying to learn...

 

[koby]

It would be far more work to get that GM shit installed versus a drop-in Detroit or TruTrac and drop-in GBR half-shafts.

 

[GregH]

Alexa-

I believe the reference to heavy duty axles is regarding replacement of the axle shafts themselves within your stock Rover housings and not total replacement of the axle assemblies. (Besides, the GM 10-bolt is definitely not the strongest one out there).

Adding a locker to your stock 24 spline rear axle does not necessarily mean you must upgrade your axle shafts. It depends on your driving/wheeling.

Talk to Bill at GBR. You may find that if you are simply looking for additional traction in snow, etc. adding a TrueTrac limited slip to your stock rear axles may be more desirable for you.

www.greatbasinrovers.com

 

[DiscoveryXD]

"Im wanting to put a rear locker on my 96 and all of the posts say that one would need some heavy duty axles or else!"

There telling you that you need heavy duty axle shafts, not a whole new rear axle assembly. The bottom of the page on the link I posted has info on heavy duty axle shafts for dicos.

 

[DiscoveryXD]

oops..., posted at the same time as greg. sorry for the repeat of info.

 

[Alexa]

Ok- that is where I was a bit confused, I thought one would have to replace the entire thing and that sounded pretty darn pricey.

 

[Steve Rupp]

Locker: $450
Axles: $600

Trust me, you need axles.

 

[Nutter]

The short answer is NO the GM stuff wont work with out MAJOR Mods the the housings. Plus you then need to get custom axles for your new cut down housings and your still stuck buying a locker and a new R&P cause that 3.08 ratio would suck. IE: way way to much cost.

Your options when it comes to most land rovers:

First: (easy option)

HD 24 spine axles from what ever source you pick. Great Basin, Rover Tracks, Etc...
These are eather Maxi-Drive or Ashcroft in most cases. Unless you find some someone with custom shafts from moser or wereever. Cost ranges from $400 to $700 per set front/rear. You should also upgrade to a 4.10 R&P's front/rear. Same sources prices $400 to $500 per R&P. These along with Rover heavy duty CV's (defender 110 cv's) can handle most tire sizes up to 35's but keep in mind hard wheeling will still break stuff. But if you are only into lite to medum wheeling you sould be fine.

Second option:

Toyota Axles/Differential/flange/CV conversion using your rover housings from Jac Mac in Australia. Bill at Great Basin can help you with this cause he is thier US dealer. It's alot more costly and you will need a good machine shop to do part of the conversion BUT you will get a setup that will handle tire sizes upto 39s and NOT be prone to breakage as much as the HD land rover stuff. Advantages are that you can now use toyota off road wheels (saves cost) Toyota R&P gears (saves replacement cost) Toyota ARBs (cost is a bit less than rover) etc... Basicly if your into heavy wheeling this option is the most cost effective way for the most strenght when it comes to beefin up a Disco's Axles and what not for heavy off road use.

Third:

Custom Ford 9", Dana 44's, 60's, GM, Salsbury front/rear axle conversions. These basicly replace the stock land rover housings/axles/flanges/etc... with custom built stuff. These cause hook up to your stock/lift or can have custom lifts built along with them. These cost anywere from 3000 per/front/rear to over 6000 per front/rear. Basicly you will get a setup that will handle the most extreme wheeling you can dish out BUT you will have to pay to play.

Anyway hope this helps. I have just spent a month doing my research on the options out there. And have decided im going with the Toyota coversion cause for the cost it gives me the most strenght for money. Plus its not going to break under heavy wheeling as the HD land rover stuff can and does do.


Later Nutter

 

[Alexa]

Thank you Nutter- that was what I needed to know- The toyota deal does sound like the most economical over the long term but I suppose I should decide how heavy duty I need.
Another stupid question- you mention changing to the 4.10 R&P's- do you have to do both at the same time? what happens if you dont do it? just wondering....
Thanks

 

[Steve Rupp]

Don't bother with the Yota shit. It doesn't sound like you are going to be doing the kind of offroading that Nutter is talking about. Call Bill at http://www.greatbasinrovers.com/ and tell him what you want to do. He will send you a detroit with bearings already pressed on and hopefully will have axles there also. The whole setup will cost about $1100-$1200. I don't know you are going to have someone setup your third or if you are going to attempt it yourself but you should probably take your rover to some good 'ol boy and have him do it. Building diffs are not as easy as some people like to believe. There is a definate learning curve and after a while become second nature. As far as gears, unless you go with 33's or bigger, it is not life or death if you don't have them. A gear setup will cost you $1000 or $1100 with new outer bearings which should definately be done at this time.

Don't listen to all the Toyota axle mumbo jumbo unless you are building a jeep. Keep it a Land Rover, get a Detroit or Truetrac and get some HD axles. This is the easiest and most cost effective way to get traction.

 

[Rocky]

A Must? No, I know people who have wheels for years with ARBs and no breakages even running 34s. I have a GBR sourced detroit with stock for a year no issues.
Your experience may vary.....

 

[Nutter]

Ruppsrover,

He asked if it would work I just broke it down for him on what was avalible. As for needing a gear upgrade most people who get into even light wheeling need/want a larger tire. Most people who are running HD axles want to run larger tires... IE something in the 265/75/16 size and that comes out to be just a hair under a true 33 inch tire.... Most people will notice a power bleed off running these larger tires. Some people might not mind it but alot of us who also use our trucks as daily drivers who have to merge into traffic on the interstate thats running 75+mph would like get at least some of it back with a gear swap. Though as you say it is a costly upgrade but then again MOST LAND ROVER Repairs or Upgrades are.

As for the Yota shit as you call it. You have far better choices building a jeep than Toyota stuff so lets not go there ok. All I have to say is when you cost out a few breakages of LR CVs (and yes the HD 110 CVs break if you do any amount of hard wheeling), An HD 24 spine Axle or two, maybe a R&P or Diff replacement (almost always if you run a 4.7 R&P and stock carrier) you will find the Toyota upgrade isnt a crappy upgrade. I blew both my stock CVs and front diff DOING some very light wheeling at my hunting camp So this is why I have looked into all this. And it cost me $285 or so for CVs & seals, $399 for a new diff and around $400 in labor. And that was stock stuff that doesnt cost near what the HD stuff costs. Pricing it out for a just stock Toyota parts was half that not that I am going to be running stock toyota stuff. Hell the HD toyota stuff costs about 20% less that the HD land rover parts. Hell the toyota third members can be had at a junk yard for $50 bucks.So replacement cost is far cheaper but then again the setup is a bit more. The other advantage you gain over running the HD rover setup is you can take your truck to any Auto parts store in to country (world for that matter) and find R&P's, seals, Flanges, CVs etc... that might break. The only thing you cant find is axles because they are custom. But again your getting a much stronger axles so breakages become less of a problem and anyone who wheels heavy buys a extra set as soon as they can anyway. Try wheeling in some back woods location and breaking a CV and having to find a shop that can get LR one with out having to have to airmailed ($40+ for overnight shipping) in.\

Anyway, again Im not trying to sell anyone on the upgrade... all I am saying is dont be closed minded about upgrades that are viable for people who use their Discos for more than camping trips with the kids. Later Nutter

PS: If you feel you JUST HAVE to stay land rover and want something thats heavy duty go with a Salsbury upgrade. Its basicly a Dana 60 Upgrade front and rear for about $7k and you will never worry about breaks again and you still get to keep your stock disco wheels.

 

[Steve Rupp]

Chris,

If this is the case then you haven't been off the pavement. Offroad once with a Detroit and I will guarantee you will break an axle. Not only will you break an axle you will break the Detroit. It will be the clutch on the side that the axle breaks. All of the teeth will sheer off. Maybe you have some secret stock axles, but I thought I could get by for a week or two with the stockers. NOPE. The axle will twist about 4 or 5 times and then break about 6" from the flange. Ask everybody here with a detroit and they will tell you the same thing. If you don't believe me, when you put the stock axles in with a Detroit, paint a straight line down axle. Wait until it breaks and it'll look like a corkscrew.

 

[Steve Rupp]

Nutter,

I didn't say that what you are explaining doesn't sound cool. IT DOES. However, for the average LR owner here, it's a bit overkill.

 

[Nutter]

Ruppsrover,

Yeah, well Im all about over kill I just cant afford the Dana 60 upgrade. Anyway, Ill not air in on the Detroit / ARB arguement because I havnt run one in a LR before. All I can say is I have fun Detroit's all my life wheeling Jeeps and Ford Broncos and have never had a problem but then again the Dana 44s and Ford 9s are both stronger than LR Axles. ARBs are strong and its cool that you can turn them on and off. But cost always kept me away from them. Later Nutter

 

[Alexa]

One of the reasons I need to do something about my axle/gear situation is the fact I am running the 265/75/16's and this is my daily driver + my work vehicle so not being able to go over 70 really bites. I will definitely do the GBR thing but I really wanted to know what all of my options are- it's true im not going to be doing hard core rock crawling crazy stuff but Steve you know the kind of wheeling that I would be doing- combs road, redbird, badlands, etc I also like to be on the cautious side when it comes to mechanical things as I have not yet mastered the art of knowing how to fix stuff and I do not like to be stranded so I guess I am looking for the most reliable and safest upgrade. I would like to get bigger tyres though.
Steve are you coming over this way anytime soon to hoosier national? I would like to meet up with you if you do. Thanks guys

 

[Rocky]

Steve Ruppsrover, you have no idea......so why opine that I haven't been off road when you don't know better.....hell yes I do actually drive off road and have taken my disco off road for the last 125k of its life.

Before that I drove land rovers on farms and in the MOD....

Baron my Disco gone off road many times since installation of a detroit.
Not as much as I would like but my kids they take come before off roading
Take a look at my somewhat dated gallery here on Dweb and you'll see.
There are a few recent shots here http://www.robisonservice.com/eventpix/florida1.asp

If you are nuts when driving you can break anything......driving off road is not about testoterone and breaking bits, its about driving smart with mechanical sympathy as well sympathy for the physical limitations of the vehicle.
Pre lift on stock tires I kept up when d90s with lifts had trail problems.
Post lift pre detriot I got places where RRCs with 34s detroits etc d90s with lifts and 33s couldn't go.

All that proves is that the the most important component is the guy or girl behind the wheel.

 

[bri]

I have heard more and more good things about the Rovertracks axels and upgrades. he offers much of what has been discussed here.

http://www.rovertracks.com

Does anyone out there ahve problems with the GBR axles leaking at the seal. I heard of this from one user and wondered if it was common.

Brian

PS: If testosterone and breaking is still a part of wheeling, you have some stuff to learn. Dealing with testosterone and adrenaline is part of the experience, but to avoid breaking bits you need to control the testosterone and adrenaline. only then can you release and give something a try without the worry of breaking bits.