hmmm sounds like someone is planning something and that something will be nice! keep us updated!

 

Uhh, why not?

I know a guy that does that, and works well. Actually I know a few people that have done it or continue to do that.

 

You said it was originally designed for a 9.25 front axle right? So that would be a totally different shaft design (splines on one end and yoke on the other) so it wouldn't work for a rear anyway....

If you found some rear shafts then yeah, if you really wanted to you probably could, but they would have to re-spline the ends which would put you in the same boat/pricerange as custom shafts anyway.

 

I didn't say anything about where the shafts had come from, I think you have me mistaken for someone else in that regard.

Huh? If it's a solid axle then it's kinda like that, but I think even the Ram uses CV axles, like the Dakota does. This is a moot point anyway, because it's not even related to what was being discussed as I read it.

Not really, several hundred dollars for a set of custom axles or usually less than a hundred to have axles modified....

I think it was rear axles that were being suggested to be used anyway.

 

Was the original poster that said it was originally a arb designed for a front 9.25 with 33 sline shafts

I was refering to cutting down shafts for a 9.25, since the locker was designed for a front, then the matching shafts would also be from a front axle, which would obviously not fit a rear for various reasons.

Yeah, but you start gettin into alot of issues when you cut down shafts, shaft strength, cut or rolled splines (rolled being stronger and more expensive to do) Also most people don't have a local shop that cuts down axles and resplines them so shipping both ways would have to be factored in too. On top of which, if your spending ARB money, you probably wanna make sure you do it right and not put in an older shaft when a chromoly would be far superior in strength and durability.


I was hoping they were talkin about rears, but I didn't see a reference to what vehicle had the 33 spline rear shafts.

 

No problem with the strength of cut down stock axles, unless they get real short, like less than 12" from flange to spline, in any of the shortened axles I have dealt with.

Please don't post speculation.

The only shortened axles that were ever a problem were in my Uncle's '37 Fiat Topolino Street Rod, more like a legal for the street race car. Anyway, the axles were somewhere around 12" from flange to spline, and would break after a dozen passes or so, on a sticky (once they were warm) Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pro tires that were 19" of tread on each tire. The problem here was not that they were weak, it was they they didn't have any flex to them, due to the shorter distance between the flange and the spline. So there was no loading of the axle to take the initial hit of dropping the clutch on the line. If it was an automatic car, then the shock wouldn't have been there since the axle would get loaded when staging and would have lasted many more passes.

I would never use cromoly for an axle. Cromoly, while being stronger for the weight is also more brittle than other metals, and tend to shatter, instead of bend or flex. This isn't as much of a safety factor if you are using something like a Ford 9" rear end, that uses retainers near the wheel to home the axles in, but when you have something like a GM 8.5, Ford 8.8, or some other axles, if the axle breaks, the wheel can very easily leave the vehicle. But then you could go as far as using Ford axle ends on a different axle to gain the outer retainer, similar to using "C-clip eliminators", but done with other purposes in mind.

At the length and power levels we are looking at here in a Dodge Dakota, a shortened and re-splined stock axle will never be a problem when the work is done correctly. There are usually places in most cities that will do this kind of work, they just don't advertise it. Most machine shops have the capability do perform the shortening and re-splining of the axle itself, as long as you provide all the measurments, so some in depth knowledge of how to set up and axle is needed, when dealing with someone who doesn't do it for a liviing.

The idea of using Ram rear axles was mentioned. Besides, that, once an axle is cut you can have what ever spline you want put back on that axle, the only time you can't change the spline count is of the shortening of the axles doesn't completely remove the spline.

 

Okay, lets clear a bit of the confusion up.

First, nothing has had stock rear 9.25 33 spline axles. The 33 spline ones were in ram 2500 and 3500's for a while, as a FRONT axle.

I kind regret mentioning it, but what I was talking about doing was taking the axle from the long side. Cut the yoke off to length for our trucks. (yes it has a yoke, front, so it has to allow for the wheels to turn, ie needs to have a u-joint therefore yoke)

Then cut the hub or what ever the technical term for the wheel side off of ours, and have a shop reweld it on to the 33 spline axle that was cut to length.

This of course assumes that bearings and everything else would line up, you would think so being that they both are 9.25's but mopar has done stranger things...the problem that I think we would run into is that if I remember right, 9.25's have a somewhat tapered axle, one of the big differences between it and a dana 60. (Perhaps I am wrong here, I remember something being tapered compared to a dana 60.)

Now I saw a bit about using a ram axle and cut it to length, respline it and do it that way, provided that they aren't tapered, that could work, but what is the difference in lengths between a ram axle and a dakota axle, it would have to be a minimum of like 3 inches. Is the ram 9.25 a total of 6 inches or greater wider than the dakota, guess it is time to get out the measuring tape and do some crawling around.

So what would be the options? use the detroit? or providing everything else matches up, do the arb and axle swap.

Then there is a third option. Just put a dana 60 under it with an ox-locker and be done with it. Would be about the same price wise as getting into the arb mess with axles cut and splines and what not, plus I would have an axle that is much more common, easier to find parts for, and no compressor to fail or lines to leak and leave me unable to lock the diff on a bad day.

If I truly thought that the arb would fit in the carriers place without issue, I would be talking to moser on monday about what some custom axles would cost. Then I would not have to do any cutting, or running to junk yards to find the parts that I need.

Something is gonna happen one way or another, this dak is entirely to awesome to ignore like the aftermarket companies have done.

Thanks for the thoughts guys...as family guy once said...something something dark side...something something coming

 

Sweet another FG fan.

Never weld an axle, the HAZ will be a weak point and will point and fail. Better to get a longer axle, cut it and re-spline it, or custom axles if you wanted to go that route.

Why not try to find a stock LSD unit?

 

I wasn't referring to the actual length of the cut down shafts but the manner in which new splines are made....cut splines are weaker then rolled splines.

There is no speculation its fact.


As for your opinion on Chromoly, apparently your in the minority as its a widely used material in heavy duty axle shafts ESPECIALLY in 4wd/offroad applications from dana30's to AMC20's all the way up to Dana 70's. Its a tried and proven material.

Please don't post speculation.

Now C-clip axles, yeah.. they suck, but without a total axle swap its a moot point and nothing can be done about it. ...and yes, I know about C-clip eliminator kits for some axles on the market...which are usually overpriced and leave you in the bind of more custom shafts if/when you break one. as for grafting on 9" outer's your getting into the lofty custom price range where just doing a straight 9" 14 bolt, D44 or D60 swap would be the easier and cheaper choice.

 

hmmmmmmmmmmm
Detroits don't play well on snow covered roads...
ARB is for 33 spline shafts...

Axle swap.. now there's an idea... D60, 14 bolt, 9"... you could definitely have the makings of a monster...

now all you'd need is a solid front axle swap to get some monster gears in there and give you the ability to lift it to the sky.

FYI, if you solid axled the front, you could easily use a 8" Jeep TJ longarm kit to get some lift and flex under that...