Fellow ONSC Member Jerry Davis bought a ’77 FJ45, which he is putting 80Series axles under, so I purchased this full floater axle he wasn’t going to use. From some research, it seems the axle *may* be from a Non-US 8/80+ Cruiser of unknown series. The confusing part, is it has a course splined 4.11 third member (maybe pulled from the OE axle from the 45). Anyway, my plan is to pull the 3rd from my SF (which has an Aussie), and drop it in this FF axle. Also, I am going to be adapting a SF Disc Brake Kit I had on hand so I’ll have 4-wheel discs.
This is what I started with:
This is the driver’s side. Note the studs appear to be OE style.
Crusty Axle 🙂
Passenger Side – Note the studs have been upgraded to 10mm x 1.25
Four – bolt backing plate help ID this as a post 8/80 Axle
So, I tore her down to bare bones and cleaned up the housing some. You can see the spindles are in pretty good nick, but the threads on the DS are going to need to be cleaned up a bit – the preload nut took quite a bit of force to remove. I confirmed the both nuts thread smoothly on the PS.
Spindle and view of 4-bolt backing plates.
Other things I have noted so far:
– There is grease in the differential and oil in the hubs. I am pretty sure there was a seal or two completely missing from the spindle. I will definitely have to order up some parts from Kurt at Cruiser Outfitters!
– The PS spindle shows some signs the outer bearing heated up at some point. I’m guessing this is somehow related to the upgraded studs – probably seized on the spindle??
– Bearings were in good condition, inner and outer, so I will likely reuse unless I find a reason not to upon further inspection.
– Third appears to be in good condition. My guess is this axle came w/ 3.73’s so the PO used the 3rd from a SF axle to match the gearing on the front.
*Note – I broke a rear long side axleshaft in my SF that resulted in damage to the 3rd member, so I swapped in the 4.11 fine-spline 3rd from this axle for now until I get the full floater finished.
Disc Conversion
So I had a SF Disc Brake conversion kit from JT Outfitters waiting to go on my SF axle, but thankfully, I had never gotten around to installing it. Therefore, I am going to adapt it for the FF axle instead. Who said procrastination never pays?
Included in the kit:
– Rotors from a 80’s pickup, that have been machined to work with the larger Cruiser hubs (~4.2″)
– Calipers from a mid-90’s Monte Carlo
– Brake pads for MC Calipers
– 80’s series Master Cylinder
– Hoses and various plumbing
MORE TO COME ONCE I COMPLETE MY 2FE PROJECT.