rear into a front

[ironman_gq]

Is it possible to take a rear axle and cut the end bells off and weld steering knuckles on to make a front axle? I've seen Ford 9" front axles and was wondering if it could be done with any rear axle.

[tufcj]

Do you really want the driveshaft in the middle, or are you trying to make a rear steering axle? The only HD rear axle that's offset is the rare Dana 60 out of a Q-trac equipped J truck.

It's possible, you'd need custom axle shafts made. The only thing you'd need to be concerned with is that the OD of the axle tube matches the ID of the knuckle. A u-joint in the rear axle would introduce a weak link.

Bob
tufcj

[ironman_gq]

I was just wondering if you needed a narrowed front axle like a dana60 or something stronger. could you shorten one side and put knuckles on it to make a narrowed very strong front axle. Could work well if you have lots of rears but no fronts or the only fronts you have are bent or have broken housings.

[tufcj]

I'd say to get a proper offset for the front, if you shorten one side, the other won't be long enough for anything but a narrow track Jeep (maybe). You still lose a few inches of the long side to the bearing bell, and an inch will slip inside the knuckle.

You could have the tubes pressed out of the center section, and proper length tubes pressed in. Then you're going to have to find a shop capable of that type of work and pay the $$$. Might as well find a usable front axle at that point, or have a REAL custom unit built

I've never measured it, so the only way to know for sure is to figure out the offset and total width you're looking for, then measure the housing. There's nothing in the ring/pinion/housing to prevent it if the tubes are long enough.

Bob
tufcj