offset rear axle

[CumminsJeep]

does the rear axle look offset to you too?

[Even]

uhh, yes.

[DrThunder]

Ya, so?

[wannabejeep]

yeah looks like the spring perch is closer to the diff on the passenger side.

[CumminsJeep]

i have never seen that....i guess im a newb...does that help with anything?

[DrThunder]

I think land rover or some other fancy company does that regularly.

[CumminsJeep]

oh well nvm than....i was clearly upstaged....any reason?

[Bigbike]

old waggys had off set 44s.

[DrThunder]

I believe Land Rover did it that way for ease of wheeling actually. It allowed theme to clear a larger obstacle by strattling it. The diffs in different locations are slightly harder to maneuver through trails.

[Hydra]

The samurai has offset rear axles, in that case I suppose the only reason its necessary is to line up with the t-case and keep the driveline straight

[Even]

Idk what they are called, but i've seen a lot of rock buggies that the diff is almost directly next to one of the tires. Obviously gives them a lot more ground clearance.

[CumminsJeep]

thats neat

[OWEN]

the transfer case used in willys jeeps in the 40's 50's and 60's is a spicer 18. It is a cast iron, gear driven case that fit into what i call "indirect drive" style case. In other words, the rear output is not driven by a main shaft ("direct drive") like newer transfer cases, instead the rear output is gear driven, just as the front is (like a suzuki samurai case). The downfall to this type of design is there is more wear on the gears in the case. The cool thing about it is when wheeling, just make sure all the taller rocks that grab your diffs are on the left side. Not to mention the earlier spicer 18s in willys jeeps were twin stick from the factory

My little jeep has the spicer 18 case and its pretty cool, it has the 4wd gear noise (sounds like the planetary gear noise when in 4-lo for all you np231 lovers) when in 2wd and it has the factory twin sticks. The front and rear diffs are on the right side. The front is a d25 and the rear is a d44 and they sport 5.38 gears from the factory. The true forefather of the offroad vehicle

[OWEN]

old waggys had off set 44s.

In the 70s some jeeps (CJ and full size) were factory equipped with Quadratrac, a full time 4wd system which used a Borg-Warner transfer (if I remember right). I am not too well versed on how this case works, but it is 4wd only. Offset front and rear differentials were characteristic of this era Jeep vehicles with Quadratrac. Jeeps with Dana 20 or the later Dana 300 part-time, "direct drive" transfer cases have centered rear diffs

[OWEN]

Furthermore it just came to my mind that the jeep in the video looks to have a pretty wide rear end... could be a Q-trac wagoneer rear Dana 44 swapped in, with the Spicer 18 case