OverkillYJ
Well-known member
So I went to take a few inches out of an 04 F350 SD rear for my Jeep so I can run this and stay street legal. So I chopped it open, got nice perfect 90° cut. When I went to sleeve it with the 3" tube it would not go in even though I tapered both, and was tapping it with a 4lb hammer.
I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but when I pulled out my caliper I found out they were right. the axle tube is slightly oval shaped. Just over 3" one way across, and 2.85" the other way across (top to bottom). If I could get this sleeve in I am ready to weld it back together. I do have a large oxy/acetylene setup. I was thinking of tapering the first 1" or so with my grinder from like .12 wall, up to the 1/4" wall of the tube I have for the inner sleeve. get it mildly hot so I dont weaken the steel and start tapping it in again.
Unless someone tells me this is wrong, this is my current plan. First just try mild heat, but nothing too hot, just to see if it expands enough to let me tap this in about 6", then heat and tap on the outer end with the hub on it an be done after I weld it up.
If that does not work, or the tube get stuck in the axle tube 3" in, I figured I could heat the narrowed walls a little hotter so they give a little easier. I do not have a press that fits an entire axle, so this is my best plan officially pulled out of my *** since I missed the part about narrowing oval shaped axles.
I really do NOT want to pull the welds in the diff housing and try to pull the tube. The tube is square with the other one, and square with the diff housing. I am guessing it is oval shaped a hair because I cut it where the tube looked most damaged where the leaf springs were. I am guessing if someone cranked down these U-Bolts with an impact gun it probably caused this. I would cut away more tube, but I do not have tube to replace what is oval shaped. I am also scared of cutting more and more and finding more oval shaped tube because maybe the truck was repeatedly overloaded.
I just do not want to do this wrong. It is my only rear axle and matches my front 60HP for my Jeep build. Money is an issue at this point. I have over 90% of what I need to put my Jeep back together and already spent quite a bit.
Any advice would be appreciated. The original plan was to sleeve the entire tube, and I have enough on hand to do that still. I also have a 10 ton porta power with some attachments. I am scared of just screwing it up more though if I try to gently use that on it. I also have an 8x170 lug pattern. I went with this axle though because it was cheap with a matching front, disk brakes, and 2" more clearance than the GM option. Because of this pattern and the fact I have an 04 I dont think I can use any axles or hubs made before 98. Please correct me if I am wrong here.
I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but when I pulled out my caliper I found out they were right. the axle tube is slightly oval shaped. Just over 3" one way across, and 2.85" the other way across (top to bottom). If I could get this sleeve in I am ready to weld it back together. I do have a large oxy/acetylene setup. I was thinking of tapering the first 1" or so with my grinder from like .12 wall, up to the 1/4" wall of the tube I have for the inner sleeve. get it mildly hot so I dont weaken the steel and start tapping it in again.
Unless someone tells me this is wrong, this is my current plan. First just try mild heat, but nothing too hot, just to see if it expands enough to let me tap this in about 6", then heat and tap on the outer end with the hub on it an be done after I weld it up.
If that does not work, or the tube get stuck in the axle tube 3" in, I figured I could heat the narrowed walls a little hotter so they give a little easier. I do not have a press that fits an entire axle, so this is my best plan officially pulled out of my *** since I missed the part about narrowing oval shaped axles.
I really do NOT want to pull the welds in the diff housing and try to pull the tube. The tube is square with the other one, and square with the diff housing. I am guessing it is oval shaped a hair because I cut it where the tube looked most damaged where the leaf springs were. I am guessing if someone cranked down these U-Bolts with an impact gun it probably caused this. I would cut away more tube, but I do not have tube to replace what is oval shaped. I am also scared of cutting more and more and finding more oval shaped tube because maybe the truck was repeatedly overloaded.
I just do not want to do this wrong. It is my only rear axle and matches my front 60HP for my Jeep build. Money is an issue at this point. I have over 90% of what I need to put my Jeep back together and already spent quite a bit.
Any advice would be appreciated. The original plan was to sleeve the entire tube, and I have enough on hand to do that still. I also have a 10 ton porta power with some attachments. I am scared of just screwing it up more though if I try to gently use that on it. I also have an 8x170 lug pattern. I went with this axle though because it was cheap with a matching front, disk brakes, and 2" more clearance than the GM option. Because of this pattern and the fact I have an 04 I dont think I can use any axles or hubs made before 98. Please correct me if I am wrong here.