How good are the axles?

p m

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I am putting two Range Rover axles under a leaf-sprung vehicle; the LR mags are full of hybrid stuff, and I wonder if anyone has used the RR/Disco axles in a Series.
The main question is - is a RR axle housing strong enough not to collapse under U-bolts?
 

Leslie

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The axle housing is fine, no worries there, the tube is stout enough for that. Just weld on a flat plate, and have at it. Thinking that disc brakes would be nice to have, eh?

But.... if you're going to have those axles there already anyway, well.... why not instead, remove the leafs, and weld upper spring mounts to the chassis? Would also have to add control arms, etc., but, you would end up with a coil-sprung Series instead.....


Something to consider.....



FWIW....


-L
 

p m

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Les,

sure I've been there. Have the LR and Wag frame drawings side by side, along with all the measurements. I was almost ready to do the coil swap in the front, but - the framerails are farther apart on the Wag, just enough not to clear the coils. I would have to do either coilovers (which I have no experience with, and no knowledge), or move the coil spring pads on the axle all the way out to the housing flanges. Doable, but not that easy. The upper spring mounts and trailing arm brackets shouldn't be that much of a problem - but I seem to have lost access to a good shop, and haven't found another yet.
Another option I've been thinking of is doing SOA - but what would I do with the resulting 4-5" of lift? I don't plan on building the crap out of the clean truck. Also, it is unclear whether the tie rod would clear the leaf springs.

Rear - the coil spring pads on a RR axle can almost be used as leaf spring pads "as is," with the only difference that they need to be moved ~1.5" inboard. No real reason to swap the coils in.
 

Leslie

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True.... it's not like just because it's leaf-sprung, it's junk.... just so many Series being going coiled, thought I'd toss it out there.


Didn't think to ask: is this a 109, or an 88? The back end is a little different twixt the two...


Regardless, the axle housing is fine. The axle shafts themselves, on the other hand, well, you know all about stock Rover axles already..... :)





-L
 

p m

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109 or 88?

LOL, Les, you should know better :)

It's a 110, as far as wheelbase goes. Believe it has changed to 109" around '71, for this particular make and model :)

As far as axle strength is concerned - a 24-spline '95 RRC axleshafts have to be at least as strong as 10-spline, two-piece, Woodruff-key-connected-to-the-hub, Dana 44 shafts. I believe they are better. They will be propelling about the same weight, and subject to about the same amount of torque as in original application.
The 10-spline front RRC axle should also be on par with OEM Dana 27. In a part-time 4WD truck, I wouldn't worry about them.
Both Dana and Rover axles use the same wheel bearings, with the wheels centered on them.
 

Leslie

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Doh!


I am so used to thinking coil axles under a Series, I was automatically thinking leaf-sprung = "Series", didn't even think about a Waggy.... yeah, it's what, 108"? Anyway, most of my mental gymnastics was around a Series chassis w/ coils added, not a FSJ.


Hmmm......... Which side are the pumpkins on? It's been a few years since I've been under a FSJ, funny how quickly you forget..........




-L
 

Leslie

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Oh, and the axles......

True, they're full-floaters in both cases. But an AMC 360, while not anything resembling a power monster, can put out a bit more torque than the Rover V8..... just adding a locker w/o upgrading axle shafts is asking for trouble, so, I'd be cautious w/ using the stock Rover axle shafts w/ that FSJ spinning them......



-L
 

p m

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Well, it's 110" (early Wagoneer), and it runs Buick 350 (which is a better motor than AMC 360). However, there is no 1.22:1 high range ratio in the transfer case - so, torque-wise, 4-liter with LT230 is similar to ~300 ci V8 without.

Also, I have no plans for a locker - TrueTrac maybe; these trucks seem to keep the tires planted.