1 tons or not? (1 Viewer)

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I'm new to the cruiser world but I am Thinking about going full width chevy 1 ton axles on my 84 fj60. Any thoughts. My current axles are 3.73 with detroits front and rear. The tons are 4.56 with detroit in the rear. Plan to run 37" tires and keep the height low as possible. Seems like a strait forward swap. My cruiser is not perfect but have a SBC 350 already and I am looking for a rock solid platform for trail truck not a trailer queen.

What could I expect to get for my stock axles here on the East Coast?
 
The issue is this. My current axle needs a reseal, hi steer kit,Brake rotors and pads front/ shoes rear, and $$ for longfields. Or buy complete 60 and 14 bolt already geared (cost me $600) just need 1 hi steer arm and drag link. Brakes are cheap for Dana and 14 bolt.
Fab work I am quite good at so that is not the issue. Trying to decide if $$$ spent on the stock axles are worth it or sell them and invest in tons????
 
3.73's ain't worth shatt, except for the fact you have detroits in them. That seems like a decent price for the chebby axles I'm guessing, but what kind of condition are the seals and brakes in them? That would be an interesting swap, but I wouldn't be overly concerned about the durability of 37" tires and a SBC, a lot of people run similar configurations (my 40 is on 35" tires, stock 4:11's, SM465 and slightly warmed up SBC 350).
 
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I would say just throw the one tons under it, but they are awfully wide. That might be the biggest issue, i think most of your tire would be outside the body, so forget about tucking the rear into the fenderwell.

As far as practicality, i have yota stuff under mine but if you have a deal that good lined up for 1 tons, bite.
 
Realize that 37's may not be enough tire for a 14 bolt. In my TJ I ran a 14 bolt with 38" Swampers and I drug that axle over everything bigger than a gopher mound.

You can try shaving it, but you're compromising integrity of the housing.

You might look at Dana 70 rears, or even a semi float 60 rear, both have much better housing clearance with similar strength (less so the 60).

Also, think about the weight...1 ton axles are NOT light. And unless you're running a really high horsepower rig I just don't see the need for all that beef and associated weight. I've seen 1 tons hold up to 44s and a 502 Ramjet... Do you really need that much beef?
 
One more thought, are the 1 tons you have your eye on regeared to 4.56 or are they axles out of a CUCV? If the latter, check your spline count, many of those axles are coarse spline and not near the upgrade you may think they are.
 
Not ccuv axles. front was from a dually. I already have the single wheel front hub/rotor assembly. Rear was a cab and chassis 14 bolt.
 
Not ccuv axles. front was from a dually. I already have the single wheel front hub/rotor assembly. Rear was a cab and chassis 14 bolt.

Sweet, the rear might have the thicker tubes then. Mine for my TJ was from a cab and chassis, and that thing was STOUT. Heavy mofo too.
 
I have Dana 60's under mine. Full width will be a problem with the rear. Reason is. If you want to keep it as low as possible the tire will definetly stick out and that means huge tire rub. There is no room for fender trimming in the rear. I had mine cut down so they will tuck in when flexed. Now if you want to go SOA and gain some elevation, then full width should be fine. 37" inch tires will work with the SOA better as well. Just my 2 cents. Good luck
 
Truck is already SOA with 35" but it is 28" to the bottom of the front frame rail. I was hoping to bring it down alittle. I expect to trim the rear fenderwell alittle either way.
 
The rear fenders can be trimmed, it just takes some metal work to clean them back up.

For $600, I would do the 1 tons..

BTW, remember that you will need to have a centered rear Tcase...
 
Try here:

Diamond Axles - Welcome

They make a custom axle that uses a Toyota center but are 60 outers. A little bit of money, but pretty stout and should hold up to anthing you could put them through.

Remember its just money.:cheers:
 
Dunno if its worth it. Most of the 1 ton axles out there need to be overhauled. Costs more, and you still need to add a locker right?
For the same amount you can have a stronger front (ie: Longfields) with the Toyota housing and rebuild it. Spend what you you would have spent on rebuilding the 1 tons, and do the rear with Poly axles. If its not 1 ton with Long's and Poly's its darn close, and you wont have any fitting issues!
I've also got a 78' K20HD (1 ton), and by far the Toyota axles are easier to work on...I love the brutality of the Corp 14, but hate some of its maintenance/dimensions (think dragging it down the trails).
 
I could be wrong but I think with a full floating rear the cruiser is a 1-ton. mike
 
Well Guys thank you for all your input. I have thought about this pretty hard and even though I have access to the axles and the Fab skills, it just makes more sense right now for me to fix the problems with the stock axles and get this thing back on the road. I can always upgrade the toy stuff later if i break it or swap the tons in down the road.

The 1 tons are so tempting but puts me headed down a more extreme road than I had intended for this rig. I think I got caught up in the prospect of being able to do it fairly cheap and lost sight of the overall purpose of this rig. Going for the milder more family oriented rig this time around.

Again thanks for the input. I hope to start a thread about my journey into the world of Cruisers!

John
 
Well Guys thank you for all your input. I have thought about this pretty hard and even though I have access to the axles and the Fab skills, it just makes more sense right now for me to fix the problems with the stock axles and get this thing back on the road. I can always upgrade the toy stuff later if i break it or swap the tons in down the road.

The 1 tons are so tempting but puts me headed down a more extreme road than I had intended for this rig. I think I got caught up in the prospect of being able to do it fairly cheap and lost sight of the overall purpose of this rig. Going for the milder more family oriented rig this time around.

Again thanks for the input. I hope to start a thread about my journey into the world of Cruisers!

John

Good choice I think. When I went 1 tons in my TJ it's because the junkyard was having a $29 u-pull-it axle special and I managed to snow the front desk into giving me a 14 bolt and a front 60 for $29 each. So I started cheap too...

You're right though, it's a slippery slope and soon I had a vehicle I was still making payments on but I couldn't drive it but on the trails on the weekend, LOL!
 

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