Narrow Trac vs Wide Trac

[83CJ7]

Question: What is the differnce betwwen the two and are they interchangeable?

Why: I can pick up an D44 Narrow trac rear for a good price and was going to put it on my 83 CJ 7. What will i have to do to make this fit into my CJ?

Thanks for an any info on this.

[ontherocks]

I think the wide track is about 3 inches wider than a standard CJ D-44, therefore giving you more stability. I would also speculate that the spring perches, etc. would be uniform on each version if both axles were offered for the same vehicle.

[Yucca-man]

Originally posted by 83CJ7
Question: What is the differnce betwwen the two and are they interchangeable?

Why: I can pick up an D44 Narrow trac rear for a good price and was going to put it on my 83 CJ 7. What will i have to do to make this fit into my CJ?

Thanks for an any info on this.

When you say "narrow track D44", what year is it from? The D44 was available up until 1975 in the CJ5 and made a reappearance in the late 1986 CJs, but it was a wide-track axle that final year. If you have an earlier D44, you will need to remount the axle spring pads, and even then the housing may be too narrow to allow much flex.

[longboy]

i would say to stick with what you got already in the rear. if you replace the rear with a narrow track, it might look a bit goofy with the widetrack front (which i assume you have).

also, if you throw some one-piece axles in the rear of your AMC20, it should hold up pretty well.

i would guess that there would be a bit of work to get the 44 to work with your suspension, but i could be wrong.

[SJ]

Stick with the 20 and get one piece axles. Ring & pinon in 20 is much beefier.

Actually, using a narrower rear axle can help avoiding running over things with the rear tires. Lots of rock crawling comp guys use narrower rear axle to avoid hitting cones. Blazers used narrower rear axles than the front.