i'm looking at an old 1979f350 ford right now but i'm probably gonna get stuck with the dana44 upfront, the search continues.......

Did I mention I take donations for the ProRock Dana 60 Foundation? We give Dana 60s to me..... I mean people in need of new axles....

But in all seriousness unless you have $6k laying around you will have to get creative. Who knows, you might find some Waggy 44s, or maybe to a Toy' Truck conversion (Toyota). Slap dual transfer cases on it, a bit of lift, and some TSLs and be done with it.

I could talk about my ideas of running Q78s on my stock IFS, but I sent my flame suit to the cleaners. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

now talk to me more about these dual transfer cases this is something new to me but its sounds extreme like rock crawler of death extreme

There is a thread on here about putting dual transfer cases on a Montero, but its most popular with the Toyota pickup guys. Mainly because Marlin makes all kinds of kits to do it fairly easily.

Running 2 transfer cases increases your crawl ratio greatly.

When you have 1 transfer case calculating your crawl ratio goes like this:


Now add a 2nd transfer case to the equation:



And of course your crawl ratio is a numerical way of evaluating your ability to crawl over obstacles, etc etc. The greater your crawl ratio the more torque you have to crawl over rocks etc.

A better explanation can be found here:

http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/crawl.html

Yep...and all the more reason for you to have axles that can stand up to the task. They WILL break when you get silly on the skinny pedal in slippy-grippy stuff.

Thanks, I just couldnt really imagine what kind of torque that would bring to the table with gearing like that, but i do appriciate the info and the break down. i just cant wait to get my raider back on the trail, SAS or not she's starting to get that sad (why dont you ever take me out offroading) look in her face. But it looks like i've almost beat this axle topic to death except for , Dana 61? what makes it a 61 and it u have a full float or semi float does that explain how the axles lock or dont lock and can you just put lockers in them, I know some of these questions are probably noob stuff but 99% of the work on my raider are with my hands so i have to ask the questions i just wish i has some of you guys live closer so i'd have a wrenching buddy.

Thanks
Dean

Since we are talking crawl ratios I noticed no one has talked about axle gearing. A big part of picking axles is going with a set that have a good gear ratio. OR have good aftermarket gear ratio options. But you will save your self some money if you get a set of axles with a decent gear set all ready in them.

Here is the reality you are working with on most Gen 1s (5spds at least, automatics are close):

Transmission 1st Gear (KM145)= 3.967

Transfer Case = 1.944:1

Differentials = 4.625

So your crawl ratio turns out to = 3.967 x 1.944 x 4.625 = 35.67:1

(Keep in mind a good crawl ratio for regular/serious wheeling is usually considered 50:1 and above, better being 100:1 and above)

35.67:1 for a stock truck isn't horrible, but its not the best either. Just think if you get a set of axles with 3.73s in them:

3.967 x 1.944 x 3.73 = 28.76:1

Or lets say 4.10s even:

3.967 x 1.944 x 4.10 = 31.61:1

The way Mitsubishi did it, was they went with a fairly crappy T-Case ratio of 1.944:1 but made up for it in the axles with the 4.62 gears (or 4.88s in some cases). See in Jeeps etc they have a better T-Case ratio, but then put higher (numerically lower) gears in the differentials.

For example the NP231 transfer case that has been used in many Jeeps has a ratio of 2.72:1 . Combine with say 3.73 gears using the 1st gear ratio from a TJ:

3.83 x 2.72 x 3.73 = 38.85:1

So point being, keep an eye on what gears are in the axles you are swapping in. We don't have the T-Case gearing to compensate for higher (numerically lower) gear ratios in the axles.

You could drop 2.85 T-Case gears in for about $1,200, but at the point even with custom fab work I bet it would be cheaper to adapt an NP231 to the KM145/KM148. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />