Junkyard 609 axles

Dan · Jul 14, 2024

My short side is 20-5/16” custom length and the wms is 65”. There really isn’t a point in running off the shelf shafts because you will have to rework the polished area for the seal, unless you already have some badass shafts laying around like Blase.

These are still available at Dutchman last I checked, add $58 for shipping and you have a set of inner 4340 shafts at pretty much whatever length you want without having to compromise your pinion offset or wms.

Also no way I would consider using those thick ass tubes on any junkyard built 9. The ones I used from a Dana 50/60 were both .350” and I would have liked to have gone thinner like .250” that is used on a lot of 14 bolts. I’m pretty sure most or all the van axle 14 bolt ff housings are .250” wall. I’m not sure if you will have enough tube for a long side without splicing though, which is another reason to run a longer short side shaft/less pinion offset on your front axle build.

That’s a 14 bolt FF next to a Dana 50 front or e350 rear tube, both 3.5” OD. If I had enough of the thinner tube I would have used that instead of the thicker tube from the danas that I ended up using because I had it already.

'84 Bronco II · Jul 14, 2024

YotaAtieToo said:
Edit: is the tubing attached to the C 3.5x500 or 3x500?

It should be 3.125"x.5" like most pre-Superduty Dana 60s unless Dodge was doing something different.

fl0w3n · Jul 14, 2024

YotaAtieToo said:
Chopping axle tubes at a junk yard sounds like it would suck

Absolutely, part of why I was considering some new tube lol.

Dan said:
There really isn’t a point in running off the shelf shafts because you will have to rework the polished area for the seal

Unless I stab the tubes within 1” ish from the spanners to use a traditional seal, you’re right I’d need to rework the seal situation. I was considering the budget seals it, but I’d still need to polish wherever the seal surface winds up I assume.

Dan said:
I’m pretty sure most or all the van axle 14 bolt ff housings are .250” wall. I’m not sure if you will have enough tube for a long side without splicing though, which is another reason to run a longer short side shaft/less pinion offset on your front axle build.

.250 wall was what I was thinking would be ideal, and then getting the inner OD sides machined down to fit the 9” ID of tubes. I don’t know if thinner wall would have issue with that.

'84 Bronco II said:
It should be 3.125"x.5" like most pre-Superduty Dana 60s unless Dodge was doing something different.

Correct. Which also doesn’t help because my quick tape measure initially I read it as 3.25 which would have been perfect OD wise for this 9” center

fl0w3n · Jul 14, 2024

Dan said:
These are still available at Dutchman last I checked, add $58 for shipping and you have a set of inner 4340 shafts at pretty much whatever length you want without having to compromise your pinion offset or wms.

Good idea, I don’t care about the mismatch so that’s a good deal. Not much more than the single short side if I go new.

YotaAtieToo · Jul 14, 2024

If you spend $450 on dom, you may as well just spend a little more on a TG housing and make it easy.

TTRAxle&FAB · Jul 14, 2024

YotaAtieToo said:
If you spend $450 on dom, you may as well just spend a little more on a TG housing and make it easy.

3.125x.250w is pretty cheap. $160 plus shipping. It's cheaper if you call and order too.

3.125 OD x .250 Wall x 2.625 ID DOM Steel Tube - ASTM A513 Type 5

**** PLEASE READ **** If you need a custom cut length please make sure you buy a piece longer than or equal to the cut. Please note the scrape piece will not be shipped. Format for custom cut is in inches 0.000 " and standard cut tolerance is: + 1/8" -0". If you need a longer length please...

rivercityspecialtytubeco.com

fl0w3n · Jul 14, 2024

TTRAxle&FAB said:
3.125x.250w is pretty cheap. $160 plus shipping. It's cheaper if you call and order too.

3.125 OD x .250 Wall x 2.625 ID DOM Steel Tube - ASTM A513 Type 5

**** PLEASE READ **** If you need a custom cut length please make sure you buy a piece longer than or equal to the cut. Please note the scrape piece will not be shipped. Format for custom cut is in inches 0.000 " and standard cut tolerance is: + 1/8" -0". If you need a longer length please...

rivercityspecialtytubeco.com

Hmm, thanks for that.

3.25x.120 is less than $100 to retube both sides…

I know this is junkyard mentality but that might be hard to pass up.

Dan · Jul 14, 2024

fl0w3n said:
Hmm, thanks for that.

3.25x.120 is less than $100 to retube both sides…

I know this is junkyard mentality but that might be hard to pass up.

Are you going to retube with 3.25x.120 or is that a typo? That’s a bit on the thin side, more like driveshaft tubing. What is the tube OD the donor Cs are on?

3.125x.250 wall tube has a 2.625” ID.

Factory Dana 60 seal has a 2.625” OD.

fl0w3n · Jul 14, 2024

Dan said:
Are you going to retube with 3.25x.120 or is that a typo? That’s a bit on the thin side, more like driveshaft tubing. What is the tube OD the donor Cs are on?

3.125x.250 wall tube has a 2.625” ID.

Factory Dana 60 seal has a 2.625” OD.

Yeah that’s stupid I wasn’t paying attention

If the whole ID was 2.625 without a lip to sit on, do you think the seal would have issue walking around or staying square?

I was intending to use the 3.125 C’s, but then I’ll need to solve for the 9” center being 3.25 ID.
I have an uncut D50 here if I really want those Cs instead but I feel like I can solve this without those.

fl0w3n · Jun 29, 2025

It's been 1.5 years, are these still collecting dust on the shelf :flipoff2:

Dan said:
Putting these on the parts shelf for now, bulk of the fabrication is done short of trusses and tabs. I’ll spend money on parts and get back to these in a year or two when the project vehicle is ready.

Dan · Jun 29, 2025

fl0w3n said:
It's been 1.5 years, are these still collecting dust on the shelf

Yep, on that very same shelf even.

Dan · Jun 29, 2025

Also I should probably update this a little bit. I found an old notebook I was using to track what I was spending on these. Total for 2 complete axles minus front shafts and thirds was like $450 or something.

Dan · Jun 29, 2025

fl0w3n said:
Yeah that’s stupid I wasn’t paying attention

If the whole ID was 2.625 without a lip to sit on, do you think the seal would have issue walking around or staying square?

I was intending to use the 3.125 C’s, but then I’ll need to solve for the 9” center being 3.25 ID.
I have an uncut D50 here if I really want those Cs instead but I feel like I can solve this without those.

**** I missed this from a year ago! Honestly don’t know if the seal would walk around or not. I would probably want a shoulder in there but some green loctite or something like that would probably hold it in place too.

fl0w3n · Jun 29, 2025

Dan said:
**** I missed this from a year ago! Honestly don’t know if the seal would walk around or not. I would probably want a shoulder in there but some green loctite or something like that would probably hold it in place too.

I talked to Seals It about their Economy seals for this application a while back, they said cleaning up an unpolished portion the best you can is ideal, but it should work on a unpolished portion of the shaft.

I didn’t make it any further than collecting parts, but I’m back to thinking about this project again.

Economy Axle Seal

You will have peace of mind when using Seals-it high quality economy axle seals. Use these seals to eliminate differential oil leaks. These seals are high quality products that will help improve your cars performance, while also being budget friendly. Try them out today for better racing...

sealsit.com

Landy_Andy · Jan 6, 2026

Dan : How are you liking those 'Strange' housings, was looking at those for my build as I might save a little weight over Yukon ones. Thanks

Penetrode Offroad · Jan 15, 2026

fl0w3n said:
You can get creative Ford 9 Inch Factory Housing Center Piece Cut-Off 9" Ford Rearend Axle | eBay

Blase said:
I just bought two centers from this exact eBay add. I have to say I'm VERY impressed. Seller took the time to pull the studs out of the housing and bag them so they didn't get messed up in shipping. They also pulled the tubes out. So other than cleaning the two centers I got are ready to start shaving and building.. Highly recommend this seller if you don't already had a 9" sitting around.

RTH · Feb 8, 2026

fl0w3n said:
I talked to Seals It about their Economy seals for this application a while back, they said cleaning up an unpolished portion the best you can is ideal, but it should work on a unpolished portion of the shaft.

I didn’t make it any further than collecting parts, but I’m back to thinking about this project again.

Economy Axle Seal

You will have peace of mind when using Seals-it high quality economy axle seals. Use these seals to eliminate differential oil leaks. These seals are high quality products that will help improve your cars performance, while also being budget friendly. Try them out today for better racing...

sealsit.com

I run these on my 60U Rear steer axle and i had them on the outside of my front axle to keep crud out. Do they work, yes. But I hate them. Past year I broke 3 shafts, 2 rear and 1 front and all three took the gooped in ~$40 economy seal for a ride when they went. I use a tube of "right stuff" as well when i install these, cures fast and holds better than High temp crap they recommend. So shaft, plus seal, plus goop, plus can of brake clean for this loosey goosey setup was now too stupid to me. New setup, I had a friend, John at Yeti welding, machine a sleeve, I put at the diff, with the 2.625 ID so i can run the factory $15 (FOR TWO) front 60 seal. Mucho better setup.

Winchested · Feb 8, 2026

RTH said:
I run these on my 60U Rear steer axle and i had them on the outside of my front axle to keep crud out. Do they work, yes. But I hate them. Past year I broke 3 shafts, 2 rear and 1 front and all three took the gooped in ~$40 economy seal for a ride when they went. I use a tube of "right stuff" as well when i install these, cures fast and holds better than High temp crap they recommend. So shaft, plus seal, plus goop, plus can of brake clean for this loosey goosey setup was now too stupid to me. New setup, I had a friend machine a sleeve, I put at the diff, with the 2.625 ID so i can run the factory $15 (FOR TWO) front 60 seal. Mucho better setup.

One of the latest bleepinjeep vids he drilled a hole in a hockey puck and put it in there...

chaplinfj60 · Feb 9, 2026

Winchested said:
One of the latest bleepinjeep vids he drilled a hole in a hockey puck and put it in there...

do you remember witch vid it was. ? i dont follow him

Winchested · Feb 9, 2026

chaplinfj60 said:
do you remember witch vid it was. ? i dont follow him

Think it might have been that cheap jeep Cherokee buikd, wasn't a perfect seal but should keep the mud out.

chaplinfj60 · Feb 9, 2026

thansk s

chaplinfj60 · Feb 9, 2026

he was working on a dana 30 correct? if so this is it. but it does not go inside axle tube.

Winchested · Feb 9, 2026

chaplinfj60 said:
he was working on a dana 30 correct? if so this is it. but it does not go inside axle tube.

Ah yes that was it. Not sure if a rendition could be make fore a 60 knuckle/ shaft.

I'm sure 10 min on a lathe could shave the puck down to fit in the tube

chaplinfj60 · Feb 9, 2026

Winchested said:
Ah yes that was it. Not sure if a rendition could be make fore a 60 knuckle/ shaft.

I'm sure 10 min on a lathe could shave the puck down to fit in the tube

is it suppose to be inside the tube?

Winchested · Feb 9, 2026

chaplinfj60 said:
is it suppose to be inside the tube?

The seals it's are. The puck was just to seal the tube off as a slinger. But sounds like best option is that sleeve machined to run the 05+ shaft seal

Junkyard 609 axles

Registered User

El Chingón

Red Skull

Red Skull

Thick skull

Yellow Skull

Red Skull

Registered User

Red Skull

Red Skull

Registered User

Registered User

Registered User

Red Skull

Well-known member

Red Skull

PNW

IH Scout SSII

Well-known member

IH Scout SSII

Well-known member

Well-known member

IH Scout SSII

Well-known member

IH Scout SSII

Similar Threads