Okay i am at a crossroads right now. I am swapping in a carbed gm v6 into my cj2a. Is anyone running stock axles and what not here. I am not building a crazy jeep. I want to 4x4 a little bit and drive it alot. My original axles already have the 11" drum upgrade on them. I just like the fact that if i run the original axles my jeep will be that much more original. But if i have to be worried about safety and performance i have a d30 with discs for the front (with ubolt skidplates) and a flanged d44 (out of a 70-71) cj5 with a lsd for the rear. Which i could swap in. I cannot decide what to do.Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. And like i said I will drive my jeep quite a bit, and do some light to moderate 4x4ing. I want to retain the 5.8 gearing either route i go.

give me a shout tomorrow

Is your concern that the 11" brakes will not give you the stopping power with the V6 installed? Or that the original driveline will not handle the output from the V6?

My concern would be more with the stopping power. I beleive the drivetrain will hold up and should provide half decent wheeling. Just I bought all this other drivetrain, and am now thinking of running the old stuff. Like I said I will wheel it but not like i am going rock crawling or crazy crazy bogging. And I am growing a little more partial to some of the original parts after going through some of the paperwoek i have. That said a v6 is going in and if anyof you think it mught be unsafe to run the original drivetrain I will definately swap stuff in. (Which would mean there will be a buttload of parts for sale in the near future)

Safety is #1 with the kids, and no i am no dale earnhardt I do not drive terribly fast = no hitting the wall after all it is just a jeep

I would say that the problem you may encounter is that these old Willys Jeep are designed for war and later FARMS. They are geared LOW. Yours, (like mine) should have a Dana 44 rear and a Dana 25 stock from the factory, with 5:38.1 gear ratios. What that's gonna mean is you could put a blown 350 (5.7L) Corvette motor on it and she's still gonna top speed at about 60 MPH. There should be a little tag on your differential cover that tells you what gears at about 7 o'clock on a bolt. divide the 8 by the 43 and there's your gear ratio. You may be want to run higher gears by switching with your CJ 5 axles.

I am not an expert by any means, but if you are going the GM V6 route you will be more than happy with it. Just one option you need, and thats the overdrive. You can keep the original drivetrain & lower your RPM's by 25%. You don't gain a lot of highway speed but she will still do 60 mph. I have had a V6 in my CJ2A for 38 plus years & have used it for hunting, fun races, highway driving & what have you & we really enjoy it. Go for it!

I think I saw ol jack stuck in the mud one day too.

Those 11 inch drum brakes will stop that 2A on a dime and give you nine cents change no matter what engine you have in there. They were standard on the wagoneer and jeep truck in the mid to late 60's and they were big heavy vehicles. As long as they are kept in good shape there should be no problems.