Making a stronger 80 series front axle

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aniesigh

aniesigh

10 Year
Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Threads
5
Messages
15
Hi Guys,
I'm Adam, from the UK. i have a winch challenge Land Rover based tube buggy with a VVTi 1UZ and 80 series axles
I have already popped a stock birf so upgraded to RCV axles and birfs, now i have stripped the front ring & pinion (was expecting it to happen at some point)
it was stock gear still running a crush tube pinion spacer, could have played a part.

My options are: rebuild the 3rd with Nitro gear R&P and solid pinion spacer and hope it holds up but potentially be back to square 1 after the next event OR

build a hybrid front to take a 9.5" e-locker 3rd.

I would really like ruffstuff or Diamond housing but the cost to get one sent over to the UK is a BIG hurdle!.

I have been offered a rear axle from a BJ45 for cheap, i'm waiting to hear back from the seller to see if it has a bolt-on diff pan, which i believe will make fitting it in the front simpler. i would still need to get another e-locker 3rd but the stock 45 3rd would be handy as a spare

Will 80 series knuckle balls fit in the 45 casing? will the 9.5" 3rd be wider meaning the inner axles will be too long to keep same width as stock 80?

Will a 9.5" actually be much stronger than a rebuild hi-pinion 8"?

D60's don't exist in the UK so please don't suggest that!!

Thanks :)
 
Not sure what a 'winch challenge' buggy is but if it's a true tube buggy, & you're breaking an 80 front axle, you're doing something wrong!
 
Probably not the same sort of tube buggy you have over there, it weighs 2tonnes and has 37" Maxxis trepadors

image.webp
 
Oh, that's a heavy pig! Over here, most 'buggies' weigh about half that. You should really look into adding 1 ton+ axles. Sorry I'm not more help.
 
The 3rd will be wider

The 80 bells will weld onto the early axle

The 9.5" is stronger than the 8"

It will take some specific tools to align the axle and get the steering angles just right. But nothing you couldn't handle it doesn't look like!
 
LFD2037 said:
Oh, that's a heavy pig! Over here, most 'buggies' weigh about half that. You should really look into adding 1 ton+ axles. Sorry I'm not more help.
Click to expand...

No they don't.

Hybrid front axle would be the way to go, though a 9.5" with an ARB will most likely be stronger than the elocker. It will at least eliminate a potential weak point in the long spline inner shaft.

It has been done before and housing are out there, I've thought about it myself as I know u am on borrowed time with 40's.
 
I could see breaking an 80 front axle in that. It's a big, bodacious buggy vs the desert racing oriented ones here. They do some mud dragsters that seem similar in weight etc, but I know next to nothing about them.

Sounds like a lot of work to adapt Toyota parts here, but doable. If you need to stick to Toyota because of type/manufacturer acceptance rules, may be worth the trouble. Back here, someone is likely to look to military surplus for something heavier. Don't know if that's an option for you?
 
joez said:
No they don't.

Hybrid front axle would be the way to go, though a 9.5" with an ARB will most likely be stronger than the elocker. It will at least eliminate a potential weak point in the long spline inner shaft.

It has been done before and housing are out there, I've thought about it myself as I know u am on borrowed time with 40's.
Click to expand...


Listen to this guy. If you start digging you'll see quite a few reports of trouble with factory e-locked 9.5 diffs. And to add insult to injury, if you do have those problems it becomes a gigantic pain in the ass to get the axle back apart to fix it.
 
I missed that you would be building it out of a 45 rear housing. All the more reason to not run an elocker.

80 balls can be made to fit the tubes, and the 3rd is wider than an 8". You can compensate for that before setting the balls in the tunes though.
 
OP even with a freshened up and tight gear set it's likely that you're going to break another 8" gear set at some point. Imo.

Is it worth the investment to step up to the 9.5" hybrid? Well thats up to you but itd be to me. Breaking sucks. Its a lot of work but nothing too complicated and its all been laid out here.
 
I don't know, but was real apprehensive of using an e locker 9.5 in my front axle because oil pan clearance was suspect?

The 9.5e elocker motor assembly will be toward the center of the axle when used in a front application. As compared to outboard with the factory 8" hi pinion.

You have a 2uz, very wide oil pan, which creates even more potential oil pan clearance than a 1fz.
 
Thanks guys, some useful info!
Oil pan clearance shouldn't be an issue, the pinion flange is tight to the pan on full bump but the rest of the 3rd is well clear.
Ford 9" parts just don't exist over here, nor do 1 ton axles. an 80 series is pretty much as big as 4x4's get over here!.

I've not had any issues with the e-locker 9.5" in the back yet but that obviously doesn't mean i'm not going to.
2 ARB's is out of my price range at the minute, but that is always something i can upgrade to in the future.

Anyone know how much wider than a 8" a 9.5" 3rd is? i guess i will either have to run custom inner shafts or make the housing wider to take my stock size 80 series RCV's which ive only just bought ! :(

I don't have to use a 45 casing, could use a 80 rear but we don't seem to get the bolt on diff pans over here which would over complicate the build.

If i used a e-locker then i could carry a spare which would fit front or rear which would be handy for comp's

What is the deal with the e-lockers then? what fails?

cheers guys
 
aniesigh said:
If i used a e-locker then i could carry a spare which would fit front or rear which would be handy for comp's

What is the deal with the e-lockers then? what fails?

cheers guys
Click to expand...

It's not the locker, it's the shafts that can break off inside the locker. The shaft can twist when locked and leave the locker either stuck locked, or worse break that piece off inside the diff.

If you already have the RCV's and use the elocker, you will need to get the long side splines recut at the diff.
 
If you use an fj60 SF rear for the donor for the front custom build there is plenty of housing length to use stock 80 shafts with that 9.5" center section. Also, is has the removable cover. This would greatly simplify any twisted spline issues/fix/repair with an Elocker(if the ever occurred).

Early 80 series rear SF axles have the removable cover too as they are Cclip Behind the side gear(someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Its only ~$50 to have longer splines cold formed(not cut) at a few shops around here for the Elocker.
 
The 80 series axle is wider than the 60 right? Seems like I've heard of someone widening an FJ60 front axle for this purpose and swapping over the recirculating balls and knuckles. What about an 80 SF or FF rear axle conversion? I'm wanting to learn more about this myself.
 
The 80 front is about 3" longer on long side and maybe 1/2" on short side(inner axle lengths). Compared to an fj60.

You can put tundra brakes (230mm rotors)and ifs minitruck hubs on an fj60 front axle for ~62" wide

The 80 series ff rear as a donor for a front build doesn't work as there's not enough housing length(the ff spindles take away from actual width) to replicate.
 
Booger weldz said:
The 80 front is about 3" longer on long side and maybe 1/2" on short side(inner axle lengths). Compared to an fj60.

You can put tundra brakes (230mm rotors)and ifs minitruck hubs on an fj60 front axle for ~62" wide.
Click to expand...
Wow, that's good info.
Can you expand on this concept?
Do you have pics?
62" that's only 1" off from a 63" axle.
 
They used all stock drivetrain in the Tundra they ran in the Baja1000 last year. Tundra has a lot of common parts/design with Land Cruiser 100 and 200. Is there a reason you want to use 80-series parts?
I mean, 80-series engines have no power compared to the UZ series engines. The drivetrain isn't made for that much power/torque. Why not start with 100 or 200 series parts and make a housing to match?
 
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