Bobcat698

Will be doing even more "beefing up" on my drivetrain this winter in preparation for next years pulling season.
Plans so far are:
SCS or Haisley rear axles
Front locker?
Fixing CAD system (or eliminating)

My driveline is pretty sturdy, except for the front CV joint..

The front end has held up fairly well this year, aside from some stupid CAD engaugement problems on days I wasn't pulling.

I did manage to shatter a CAD collar (central axle disconnect) when spooling up.
I've heard of a few solutions for the front end.
Get a super expensive kit from Dynatrac with locking hubs.
Get a less expensive kit from EMS offroad.

Put a single piece shaft from the R&P to the right side (get rid of CAD alltogether)
I'm not sure, but I think this would cause the front driveshaft to turn while driving, even in 2WD..
Will probably hurt fuel economy, but don't the 3rd gen's front driveshafts spin in 2WD as well?

I'd like to hear a few opinions.

I was thinking a trac-lok or arb air locker for the front traction solution.

Forrest Nearing

some late 2nd gens (late 02?) didn't have CAD axles... you might be able to find someone who'll swap you straight out if they want to be able to run a 2wd low setup

LanceD

I spent about 800 bucks on a 95 ford F350 axle for my truck. then sold my old one for about 800 bucks. got rid of the CAD, unit bearing hubs, low pinion, and gained locking hubs, 35 spline inner shafts, serviceable more reliable wheel bearings, high pinion, etc, etc. something else to think about.

NorKal12valve

stupid question. but what is CAD?

Jambbii

Central Axle Disconnect

Tate

You didn't happen to see if a Ford knuckle would fit on the Dodge axle, did you? Something I've always been curious to find out, but I don't have any means of trying it. Could be an easier way of getting servicable bearings and locking hubs, without paying out the nose for the dynatrac setup.

LanceD

no I didn't, sorry. but I know there was some talk about it on pavementsucks, might wanna search there a tad

LanceD

actually now that I think about it, here is a pic of my dodge axle and the ford axle. if you look at the distance between the coil spring and the upper ball joint, that distance is about 2 inches, maybe more. that means if you take the ford knuckles and put them on a dodge 60, and say everything fits, your width just increased 4+ inches in the front. know what i mean?

dodge:


ford:


ford:

Joker12valve

LanceD how bad was it to convert? did you just cut all the brackets off your old axel and reweld them on the ford axel, any tips would be great

LanceD

it was pretty easy, I bought a D44 off ebay for 20 bucks and had the guy saw the brackets off and ship them to me. got the axle, chopped of the spring perch. trimmed the brackets to fit and made sure the caster was correct. measured a bunch before final welding, got some custom brake lines and painted it. it was relatively simple and swapping the axles took about 2 hours once I had the other one built. I would recommend it to anyone, PM me if you need details