Axle swap question
 

After going around in circles for a couple months getting ideas from
lots of people, I'm going to go with a Toyota solid front axle in my
FrankenWillys project (http://jeffgross.com/willys) and use the stock
Toyota rear end. These will be grafted onto the original Willys Wagon
frame. Right now, the Toyota donor driveline has the 1988 IFS w/ disc
brakes, stock 4.10 gears and the 3.0 v6 + 5speed. The IFS won't work in
the Wagon because of the engine alignment issues around the torsion bars
and the oil pan on the engine 'straddling' the IFS front axle. A
straight front axle would eliminate all those problems, allowing me to
place the engine exactly where I need it. At that point, the only thing
I'll have to do about the engine placement is to have the drive shafts
altered - much easier than trying to 'stub' the frame just to keep the
torsion bar IFS!

What year and model front axle should I be digging around for in
junkyards to get the solid front axle that I can use as much of my
current front brake hardware as possible? I've seen what some other
folks have done with Land Cruiser axles into pickups, but they obviously
only mention the one year truck they got parts from. What year ranges
would be a good fit, since I'm looking at all used stuff? Spring pad
placement isn't an issue because they'll be fabricated from scratch
anyway with mounts fabbed onto the Willys frame.

Any help is appreciated.

Cheers,
- Jeff G

Re: Axle swap question
 

Cool project!

I'd go with a front D44, perhaps out of a Scout or Bronco. A custom setup
from Dynatrac would be better, but big $.

"Bubba Kahuna" <jjjjjjjjjjjjjjj@null.net> wrote in message
news:vs3nkr3hic8cec@corp.supernews.com...
> After going around in circles for a couple months getting ideas from
> lots of people, I'm going to go with a Toyota solid front axle in my
> FrankenWillys project (http://jeffgross.com/willys) and use the stock
> Toyota rear end. These will be grafted onto the original Willys Wagon
> frame. Right now, the Toyota donor driveline has the 1988 IFS w/ disc
> brakes, stock 4.10 gears and the 3.0 v6 + 5speed. The IFS won't work in
> the Wagon because of the engine alignment issues around the torsion bars
> and the oil pan on the engine 'straddling' the IFS front axle. A
> straight front axle would eliminate all those problems, allowing me to
> place the engine exactly where I need it. At that point, the only thing
> I'll have to do about the engine placement is to have the drive shafts
> altered - much easier than trying to 'stub' the frame just to keep the
> torsion bar IFS!
>
> What year and model front axle should I be digging around for in
> junkyards to get the solid front axle that I can use as much of my
> current front brake hardware as possible? I've seen what some other
> folks have done with Land Cruiser axles into pickups, but they obviously
> only mention the one year truck they got parts from. What year ranges
> would be a good fit, since I'm looking at all used stuff? Spring pad
> placement isn't an issue because they'll be fabricated from scratch
> anyway with mounts fabbed onto the Willys frame.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
> - Jeff G
>

Re: Axle swap question
 

Cool project!

I'd go with a front D44, perhaps out of a Scout or Bronco. A custom setup
from Dynatrac would be better, but big $.

"Bubba Kahuna" <jjjjjjjjjjjjjjj@null.net> wrote in message
news:vs3nkr3hic8cec@corp.supernews.com...
> After going around in circles for a couple months getting ideas from
> lots of people, I'm going to go with a Toyota solid front axle in my
> FrankenWillys project (http://jeffgross.com/willys) and use the stock
> Toyota rear end. These will be grafted onto the original Willys Wagon
> frame. Right now, the Toyota donor driveline has the 1988 IFS w/ disc
> brakes, stock 4.10 gears and the 3.0 v6 + 5speed. The IFS won't work in
> the Wagon because of the engine alignment issues around the torsion bars
> and the oil pan on the engine 'straddling' the IFS front axle. A
> straight front axle would eliminate all those problems, allowing me to
> place the engine exactly where I need it. At that point, the only thing
> I'll have to do about the engine placement is to have the drive shafts
> altered - much easier than trying to 'stub' the frame just to keep the
> torsion bar IFS!
>
> What year and model front axle should I be digging around for in
> junkyards to get the solid front axle that I can use as much of my
> current front brake hardware as possible? I've seen what some other
> folks have done with Land Cruiser axles into pickups, but they obviously
> only mention the one year truck they got parts from. What year ranges
> would be a good fit, since I'm looking at all used stuff? Spring pad
> placement isn't an issue because they'll be fabricated from scratch
> anyway with mounts fabbed onto the Willys frame.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
> - Jeff G
>

Re: Axle swap question
 

Cool project!

I'd go with a front D44, perhaps out of a Scout or Bronco. A custom setup
from Dynatrac would be better, but big $.

"Bubba Kahuna" <jjjjjjjjjjjjjjj@null.net> wrote in message
news:vs3nkr3hic8cec@corp.supernews.com...
> After going around in circles for a couple months getting ideas from
> lots of people, I'm going to go with a Toyota solid front axle in my
> FrankenWillys project (http://jeffgross.com/willys) and use the stock
> Toyota rear end. These will be grafted onto the original Willys Wagon
> frame. Right now, the Toyota donor driveline has the 1988 IFS w/ disc
> brakes, stock 4.10 gears and the 3.0 v6 + 5speed. The IFS won't work in
> the Wagon because of the engine alignment issues around the torsion bars
> and the oil pan on the engine 'straddling' the IFS front axle. A
> straight front axle would eliminate all those problems, allowing me to
> place the engine exactly where I need it. At that point, the only thing
> I'll have to do about the engine placement is to have the drive shafts
> altered - much easier than trying to 'stub' the frame just to keep the
> torsion bar IFS!
>
> What year and model front axle should I be digging around for in
> junkyards to get the solid front axle that I can use as much of my
> current front brake hardware as possible? I've seen what some other
> folks have done with Land Cruiser axles into pickups, but they obviously
> only mention the one year truck they got parts from. What year ranges
> would be a good fit, since I'm looking at all used stuff? Spring pad
> placement isn't an issue because they'll be fabricated from scratch
> anyway with mounts fabbed onto the Willys frame.
>
> Any help is appreciated.
>
> Cheers,
> - Jeff G
>