1 piece axle question

[DuffTrucks]

Anybody running Crown axles in their model 20? I'm swapping out the old 2 piece axles 0n the CJ and found a great deal on these but I haven't really heard much about them. Any input? Thanks.

 

[jps4jeep]

I know the owner of Crown, I will ask who the supplier is.

 

[DuffTrucks]

That would be great, thanks. Someone told me that Crown axles are just a welded 2 piece, being called a 1 piece. That was my biggest concern cause if that's the case, I could just weld them myself and save the 200 bucks.

 

[jps4jeep]

I talked to him last night, and completely forgot to ask.

most 1 piece shafts, the shaft is welded to the flange, I highly dount that they are 2 pc welded together because that is just a huge waste of time broaching the flange and cutting spline in the shaft.

I'll call him now to see what he says.

 

[jps4jeep]

To add, welding 2 pc into 1 pc does not solve the strength issue with the shaft, where the shaft steps down to the spline near the bearing seat is the common spot of failure, regardless if they are welded or not, you not solving that issue.

 

[DuffTrucks]

I was just talking to someone who told me that Crown shafts are friction welded and not worth squat. Says he broke two sets of them in a month. Now granted, he didn't tell me what he did TO break them {playing Dukes of Hazzard, launching off small cliffs, etc. etc.). The price that I found for them is definitely in my budget range, and it's not like I'm running 400hp on 37s {more like a warmed up 258 with 33x10.5s} and on top of that, I'm not sure how much to believe my "source".

 

[jps4jeep]

Here is the reply from the one of the owners of crown

Hey John,
Crown had them manufactured and they're one piece forgings. I have personally read some mixed reviews of some people destroying them, but they do sell thousands of sets each year and each set they've tested has been great.
Hope all is well, ttys.
-Jeff

ps - I hope they weren't being too brutal on them. I know they're not sold as heavy duty wheeling axles, but more stock replacement upgrades...not the harder alloy type shafts that we have and are sold for other axles.

 

[DuffTrucks]

Thanks John, I appreciate the effort. A stock upgrade would work fine for me. Although i love wheeling in my CJ, I have a pretty nasty 79 Ramcharger that gets all the floggings. My CJ is my daily driver and doesn't see much past moderate wheeling and family 4x4 trips. What I'm doing with the CJ is upgrading everything on it but not at the sacrifice of something else. Instead of a mudding monster that is a pain in the *** to drive everyday, I'm going more for the "Do everything a little bit better" route.

 

[jps4jeep]

Hope I helped.

 

[jps4jeep]

Heck, I just saw your in Erving, there is a Crown retail store in Canton Ma. they only sell direct to customers through that store and the price is considerably discounted compared to what quadretec charges. PM me and let me know if you interested.

 

[DuffTrucks]

Thanks man, sending ya one now.

 

[DuffTrucks]

Did it go through?