The primary benefits to Jeeps and other short wheel based rigs with Rockwell 2.5 ton axles is the short wheel base and the limited turning radius of the big military rig axles make a good paring. While easily overcome in larger rigs with four wheel steering, smaller rigs can get away with one steering axle.
The biggest challenge with Toploader military axles and short wheel bases is similar to the problems in other rigs. They can come to be top heavy, or have a high center of gravity with the lift required to clear the axles in original spots. You do need an extra 7" of clearance over traditional axles. Of course the best answer to this is to move the front axle ahead and the rear axle backwards which is conveniently done with the body lines of most Jeeps. You can use tube fenders up front and competition cut the rear and run 39" or larger tires comfortably with CJ's and YJs's. Of course YJ's are excellent as you can combine the efi motors and the gearing with rockwells and build a great trail rig on the cheap.
I would definitely run YJ Springs up front, with a doubled up long spring (from the rear pack) and I would create a custom front end stinger that integrated pushing the front axle forward 6-8 inches, allowing the engine to sit behind the axle top end. I would run XJ leafs in the rear, to push the axle backwards with aditional axle wrap control, or 4-link the rear end, pending finances.
Additional additions I would think about to keep costs down would certainly be to take advantage of the toughness of these axles. I would weld the spiders (for budget) and then run a split manual brake system using pinion brakes, with a twin sticked transfer case to separately brake the front or rear axles for front or rear digs. To run 39" rockwells and tires I would cut the bottom end and add a custom skid pan available from a number of vendors, or custom made from our own.
I have come across many jeep based rides with Rockwells and for good reasons. They regular the Top Truck Challenge, and other situations where money is taken into account and you can live with a few extra hundred pounds. This is usually ok in most wheeling genre's except for technical areas of rock crawling or desert pounding.
The biggest challenge with Toploader military axles and short wheel bases is similar to the problems in other rigs. They can come to be top heavy, or have a high center of gravity with the lift required to clear the axles in original spots. You do need an extra 7" of clearance over traditional axles. Of course the best answer to this is to move the front axle ahead and the rear axle backwards which is conveniently done with the body lines of most Jeeps. You can use tube fenders up front and competition cut the rear and run 39" or larger tires comfortably with CJ's and YJs's. Of course YJ's are excellent as you can combine the efi motors and the gearing with rockwells and build a great trail rig on the cheap.
I would definitely run YJ Springs up front, with a doubled up long spring (from the rear pack) and I would create a custom front end stinger that integrated pushing the front axle forward 6-8 inches, allowing the engine to sit behind the axle top end. I would run XJ leafs in the rear, to push the axle backwards with aditional axle wrap control, or 4-link the rear end, pending finances.
Additional additions I would think about to keep costs down would certainly be to take advantage of the toughness of these axles. I would weld the spiders (for budget) and then run a split manual brake system using pinion brakes, with a twin sticked transfer case to separately brake the front or rear axles for front or rear digs. To run 39" rockwells and tires I would cut the bottom end and add a custom skid pan available from a number of vendors, or custom made from our own.
I have come across many jeep based rides with Rockwells and for good reasons. They regular the Top Truck Challenge, and other situations where money is taken into account and you can live with a few extra hundred pounds. This is usually ok in most wheeling genre's except for technical areas of rock crawling or desert pounding.
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Find much more information about the Rockwell Axle. I have lots of pictures of my Rockwell Based Truggy Here 2.5 ton Rockwell axle
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