Wide Track Axles

I currently have a WT CJ 7 axle in the front of the Jeep, has a stamp on the back of the housing that says 85 211. I am assuming this is the year and the model of the axle?

I am trying to find out the gear ratio and there is no stamp on the housing.

Can anyone help?

 

That tag may be the tooth count on the ring and pinion if it is the ratio is 2.48

 

I thought there was only a 3.07, 3.54, and a 4.10 for ratios?

I have never heard of a 2.48

The stamp is not on the housing, but inside near where the front driveshaft connects.


My rear is a dana 44, I believe it is the offset one from a 70 or 71 CJ 5. The gears would have to be the same, I don't know if it is a 2.48

Does that help?

 

if its a wide track (are you sure its a wide track?) then its from an 82-86 (i think it was 82 when they started those)

its an AMC 20 in the rear and a Dana 30 up front......also a small chance the rear is a dana 44.... but the front is a dana 30 if its a wide track

theres a section on this webpage that shows pics of differentials for axle ID...check it out...i tihnk its in the gallery

they had a 2.72 or 2.73 ratio as a pretty common ratio ...the carrier that is on goes up to 3.54....if you want steeper gears than that you need an other carrier (or locker) for 3.73-5.38

your gear count wont be cast into the housing usually, i've seen it more commonly on a stamped metal tag thats held on to the dif with a bolt of some sort.


your best bet to find your ratio is to physically count the rotations.

block your jeep so it cant roll away
jack up the jeep on one side.
put the t-case in neutral
turn the wheel.
count the number of turns the drive shaft makes relative to the number of times you turn the wheel

if the driveshaft turns about 2 and 3/4 times for every full rotation of the wheel you can figure you have the 2.72 gears.

if the drive shaft turns about 3 times, figure you have 3.07 gears

and so on.

 

I think the highest (lowest numerical) ratio that Jeep used was 2.73 in the Wagoneer, at least in the range of years we're talking about. CJs had 3.07, 3.54, 3.73, 4.10, or 4.27 for the Dana 30 front AFAIK.

Only the Corporate 20 had stamps that made sense IIRC. The Dana axles all got a steel tag under a cover bolt. If the steel tag is missing, the tooth count will be stamped into the edge of the ring gear, something like 37 9 = 37/9 = 4.11.

 

If you want to pull the cover off it should be stamped on the ring gear somewhere. Or you can mark drive shaft with chalk and with one tire on the ground rotate the other twice and see how many times the drive shaft goes around.

 

Gear ratio tag. Build date and part number won't help you. There's also a smaller tag sometimes present that says 'use limited slip oil' or something like that. If the gear ratio tag is present, it should give the ratio explicitly like "3.54". It may also have the tooth count - been a while since I looked at one.

 

I thought 2.73 was a popular ratio for CJ's?

Paul

 

I made a typo in my previous post. The rear is not an offset dana 44 like I thought it was, I was told by the previous owner that it is a dana 44 from a Grand Wagoneer and looking at it I have confirmed that is true. It is virtually the same as a wide track dana 44 from a CJ. The front I know is def. a wide track CJ 7 axle.


What would the gearing generally be for a mixing of these two axles? I am running 33's on it right now with a lift, so I would guess they would have a decent gearing....?

Otherwise I'll jack it up and turn the tires

 

RAFTCO, jack it up and turn the tires......theres no telling what might be in there since they are custom axles to your vehicle....if the guy went as and changed axles...he may very well have re-geared. check both the front and rear....if the guy was a hack they might not be matching gears!

Timgr: the amc 20 had 2.73 in CJ's it was pretty common for the 4.2L jeeps unless the jeep had a towing package

 

Thats what I am afraid of.

I hate hacks, if I knew half of what I know now when I bought the Jeep it would be a different story. Live and learn.

I've got a set of Narrow Track CJ 5 axles I can put in, but I think with the 4 inch lift I'd rather have the wide tracks for a better stance.

 

Duly noted - too modern for my experience. :stout:

 

Don't forget, when spinning a tire in the air and counting driveshaft revoultions. You have to double the driveshaft revolution count because of the way the spider gears operate. That is why 73CJ-5 said to spin the tires around twice.

Also if you look at the stamping on the ring gear it will give you the teeth count of the ring gear and the pinion gear. It sort of looks like a ratio, but you have to divide to get the ratio.