Sure, everyone’s heard of crate motors, but the folks over at Currie Enterprises take that same approach with their crate axles too. These axle assemblies often include the axle housing, axles, U-joints, hubs, brakes, differential, and pretty much everything else you’ll need to bolt them on.
And while Currie makes plenty of axle assemblies for the hotrod, racing, and street performance crowds, we’re particularly enamored with its lineup of crate axles designed for the off-roader who wants to dramatically increase the strength and durability of their rig.
In fact, three axle designs for the Jeep Wrangler/Gladiator in particular caught our eye:
Currie 44 Crate Axles
Currie 44 crate axles withstand heavy-duty off-road use and work with tires up to 37 inches tall. They feature a high-pinion reinforced center section, plus three inch OD axle tubes with 4340 chromoly inner and outer axles.
Currie ensures that these crate axles will retain the proper steering geometry, and the mounting brackets are set up for stock height or lifted vehicles. These axles also play nice with factory tie rods, steering knuckles, brakes, and wheels.
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Currie 60 Crate Axles
Just like the 44s, Currie 60 axles are designed to tackle severe off-road use and accommodate tires up to 37 inches tall. These axles feature HD60 high-clearance center sections, rock slider low-friction skid plates, and high volume flow-through pinion oiling systems.
The 3-1/2 inch OD axle tubes contain 4340 chromoly 35 spline inner/32 spline outer axles (for front applications), or 40 spline axles (for rear installations). And again, Currie makes sure that these 60 axles work with the OE outer steering knuckles, brakes, and wheels—though the Currie folks tell us that you’ll need a high-clearance tie-rod assembly.
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Currie Extreme 60 Crate Axles
Currie bills its Extreme 60 axles as the strongest 60 Series axles out there, designed for some of the toughest off-road environments imaginable. These axles work with up to 42 inch tires and are specifically beneficial for folks running V8 conversions in their off-roaders.
Currie Extreme 60 axles have a reinforced center casting with thick walls and heavy webbing, along with a high-clearance center section with rotated cover and low-friction skid plate. These axles use Ford F-350 unit bearings on the front inner C-hubs and outer steering knuckles.
For front applications, the axles boast one-ton heat treated inner and outer chromoly steering assemblies, and rear axles use full-float billet hubs and 40 spline axles. So yeah, this is the top-dog off-road axle that Currie offers for the Jeep Wrangler JK and JL.
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Regardless of which axle you choose, Currie lets you pick the gear ratio and differential setup that’ll work best for your application. Options include 4.10 through 5.38 gear ratios and your choice of ARB Air, Eaton Detroit Truetrac, and electric lockers (depending on application).
Currie Crate Axles are available for 1997-2023 Jeep Wrangler and 2020-23 Jeep Gladiator.
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Currie also offers a special 75W-140 Performance Gear Oil that’s a fully synthetic formula to deliver four times more film strength than conventional gear oil, which reduces operating temperatures and provides superior shock, load, and wear protection. Currie 4×4 gear oil also contains an inhibitor package that protects against rust, corrosion, and foaming.
In other words, it’s the perfect lube of choice for these axles.
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