I believe the rear sway bar is still installed, and if I'm not mistaken it is running a new set of Rancho shocks..

I don't agree. Why would he want to swap both the front and rear diffs instead of just the rear? I say go with the 95-6 axle. That way you dont have to mess with the front..swapping out the front diff is a PITA ..plus the 92-93 front diff is smaller, his axle shafts wont fit and it has no ARB available for it.

Wiring of the locker is easy with the stock pump, just a switch on and off. Get the pump if you can.

Not saying this is what caused the breakage, but I recommend swapping in stock length shocks (i.e. KYB)...Anything longer and you will twist the axle housing like a torsion bar when you articulate...so one of two things will happen..one of the trailing arms will snap, or the axle housing will break open at the same weld...

Wow, I saw the broken axle pics and I thought I had mistakenly logged onto the Jeep forum. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I think I know where you are going with that. The more flex you get the greater the torque stress on the axle. As the bushing in the arm start to max out on their flex, the torque force on the housing goes up very quickly with any extra travel. Basically, there is a limit to how far you can have one wheel go up with the other dropping before you start to bind up the rear suspension.

Going past the binding point puts a lot of stress in the axle. Add in the torque from climbing and the housing fails.

Two solutions.

1: Limit the axle travel to stock.

2: Develop control arms with more flex.

3: Beef up all the parts so they dont crack when overloaded.

Justice , let me try to clarify,,,, What I'm trying to say, if he gets a 92-93 axle 'not' to get a locker from those years cause it will not match his front diff ratio. Make sure it's from an LS with 4.63 and make sure it has the LSD.
If he wants a locker, yes, that 96 axle is the way to go.
( although I thought all the 3.5 dohc SR axles were the 9 1/2" 94-96,,,? what's the differences in those years?).

I don't think there is anything to worry about putting the ABS SR axle into your Gen 1,,,you just don't connect any wires up.
The yard in SLO Town is closed on Sat. It is next to the airport. Everthing was still there 3 weeks ago. It's in there cause of blown headgaskets. The axle has 150 K on it.
I'm pretty sure it's a '95 and not a '96 ( I don't see any difference.)

OK I'm tracking with you now Krzy...I do agree then <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />..but why not add beef? The reason I say stay away from 94 to early 95 is due to the larger diff flange that causes one to have to modify the drive shaft in order for it to fit (see swap thread link in criticle threads post).

Exactly..With the coil spring trailing arm suspension this is a weak point. Mitsu addressed it with the gen 2 by beefing up the trailing arms in a couple spots..highly recommend that gen 1 guys that wheel (even moderate wheeling) swap to the the gen 2 arms (direct bolt on).

In my opinion longer shocks really add to the problem since you will over articulate..if I'm not mistaken both Lloydd and ray had longer than stock shocks when they both cracked their axle housings on the Con...Just saying..

I haven't seen a gen 2 break an arm or housing yet, not even the AZ crew or Carlos or my old 95 all acid tested..Although I heard of aussies breaking the housing (rarely)...

Trailing arms?? What are those? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />


Kidding aside, that is some serious, and uncommon mitsu carnage!