[jeepinarnie]

I have found a dana 70 duelly axle from a 1978 ford camper for a cheap price,£60 about $113,as i live across the pond in UK,is it worth narrowing as I would have to narrow it to fit my cj-5 or should I save up for a rear dana 60 that i can get for £300 or $566,the dana 60 has 4.88 gears and comes from a j-20 truck,I would still need to narrow it but which one is the best.Can these axles be converted to run 5 on 5.5 with 15" wheels and disc brake conversion.Any advice is much appreciated.Thanks,BTW my jeep is a 1974 cj-5 narrow track with 360v8,t-18 trans,dana 20 transfercase,Waggy dana 44 narrowed to 57"wms to wms.Currently have dana 44 narrow track rear axle with 4.27 gears,but looking to beef it up so as not break it.

[CJ51973]

If your narrowing I don't see why I would get the 60 over the cheaper 70. I don't think the housing is much bigger and it's stronger.

[401ton]

I would use the 70. Most likely it is 64" wms to wms. I also wouldn't narrow it. If you need a 60 or 70 you most likely could benefit from having a wider track and a longer WB. Another way would be to leave it full 64" and run H2 Hummer wheels with more back spacing. That would make the axle seem more like 60" wms to wms.

[CJ51973]

It would be off the shelf axle replacement, like you'd ever break one

[John N]

What size tires are you expecting to use? Either is a lot of axle, unless you're running 38"+ tires and planning on extending your wheelbase.

[jeepinarnie]

I was looking to run 37"tyres,just want to do the jeep right and not worry about busting axles,have wasted a lot of time and money modifying over time and not getting it to how I'd like it to be.The only reason I said about narrowing the rear is to match the narrowed waggy front axle,which is 57" wms to wms.Have already flared arches to a total width of 72" but the tyres can not go past the arches as it will not pass vehicle licence tests over here.Open to possible solutions.

[John N]

Dana 44s with stock axle shafts are considered 'safe' up to 35" tires. With alloy axle shafts you could run the 37s and be safe. You wouldn't loose the clearance under the diff, if that matters to you. The biggest issue with a 57" axle width in the front and 37" tires will be your turning radius, you'll be hitting your tires on the springs. You can adjust the stops out to prevent this, but that's when you loose even more turning radius.
I run a 57.5" narrowed Waggy front with 33s. I could get away with 35s, I think, but anything bigger would be in the springs. I run a Dana 44 out of a Scout II in the rear. It's 58" wide. These are fairly cheap over here.

[18to80DDC]

$566 is way too much for a D60 unless it comes with a locker, if you decide on a 60 shop around. I suggest going with the 70, it's stronger, and only marginaly larger in the diff casing, some of which can be shaved off for clearance.