Hybrid Civilian Rear Axle 90" Wide

[Joaquin Suave]

Hey Guys! I am trying to configure a hybrid rear axle for Casa Azul so that the flange face distance would be the same as my civilian Rockwell front drive axle (FDS-75 @ 90" face to face). I receintly purchased 5 M35A3 rims that i will be running Conti MPT-81's on, and desire to have all the rims biases inwards. That way I will not have to reverse the studs or chamfer to mounting holes. I also want my spare tire/ rim to be able to be used front or rear.
So far I have struck out on finding any "off the shelf" axle that would work for me (I don't want to use atop-loader). At this point I plan on buying another Rockwell H172,lengthen it, and either make hubs or ???.
One option is to use M35A3 hubs (I hear no different than M35A2's, just reversed), find the correct bearings, then meld a top-loader ends onto a H172 case.
At this point I could use any advice you hooligans are willing to offer. If not advice, at least the M35A3 hub bearing dimensions (ID, OD, Thickness).
Thanks in advance!

 

[rustystud]

I'm trying to grasp what it is you are trying to do. You don't want a top loader differential like the Rockwell, but you do want the hubs ? Is this correct ? Is this because you want to keep the 6 bolt pattern ?

 

[Joaquin Suave]

but you do want the hubs ? Is this correct ? Is this because you want to keep the 6 bolt pattern ?

Correct! If you look at the first picture of my truck, you will see that the offset of the front rims are "in-board", and the rear wheels are "out-board"... but the track of the front and rear wheels are the same. Thus, if I want to have the rear wheels biased (off-set) in-board (like a M35A3 rear wheels) I need a wider axle AND the hubs designed so that flange biased out-board.

 

[quickfarms]

What axles and gear ratio are you currently running?

It will be real tough to find a commercial off the shelf set up for 6 lug wheels.

 

[rustystud]

What axles and gear ratio are you currently running?

It will be real tough to find a commercial off the shelf set up for 6 lug wheels.

That's what I'm thinking too. There has been a few makers of the 6 lug pattern, but not with this style axle your looking for. At least I've never seen it.

 

[Joaquin Suave]

Medium Heavy Duty trucks had "6 Lug Budds" rims/ hubs in the 1980's so that is the good part. The bad part is that I did a CAD drawing of the front and rear axle widths and the M35A3 rims biased in on the front and out on the rears... And they would be 2.43" more narrow in the rear (add cuss word here)!

So either I've got to fab up a rear axle or bail on the M35A3 rims.

I'm running 4.63 Gears.

 

[welldigger]

Why not just have stazworks cut you a set of wheels?

 

[rustystud]

Merritor axles have a pressed in bearing support. Maybe you can get a shop to press in some with a longer shaft or only press in part way and weld the rest.

 

[jesusgatos]

2.5" narrower track-width in the rear? I'd run it! But making custom hubs for a rockwell axle would be super easy if you're determined to go down that route...

 

[steve6x6x6]

There is no rear F106 or H171 that is close to that width . Can be widen but will cost much $$$$ to make the axle shafts and housing. 2.5 ton spindles on the H171 is a waste of time, you will need to bore the spindle to 2.030 and the axes will not fit the 2.5 ton hub and still be only 80" wide.

 

[Joaquin Suave]

I may have "cracked the code"! And believe it or not... With Meritors help! I'll post up more once I have more of my ducks in a row.

 

[rustystud]

I knew Meritor axles could be modified with different shafts. At work we press in new hub shafts all the time.

 

[Joaquin Suave]

I pulled one of the hubs off a spare FDS-75 front axle I have laying around then reversed engineered & modeled it. I am now going to ge a hold of a H-172 hub and suss the bearing bores out. Hopefully I be able to find bearing that will have the same ID as the H-172 and OD as the FDS-75 Hub. That will take care of the off-set hub, now I'll have to put my attention to the axle case. The nice people at Meritor are researching different "off highway" cases that will provide me extreme width.