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M38A1 /170

I have bendix front axle shafts on my M170 and they are making a loud knocking sound from the knuckles when turning, but "only when in 4WD".

Probably the axle joints are worn. I plan to take it apart in the near future to check things out, but have a question.

Has anyone replaced their bendix axles with the aftermarket spicer axles? What needs to be done besides replacing the axles?

Spindle bushings, axle bushing?

First of all, welcome back Wes and Ryan. Missed the site the last few days.


Ready to replace my bendex axles with nos spicer joint axles. don't expect any great difficulties or surprises doing this change over. However, one question I have is turning angle. The m38a1 has a turning angle of 25 degrees with bendex axle joints. Later cj's with spicer joints have a turning angle of 27-1/2 degrees.
Since the bendex angle is less than the spicer is it worth it to try to increase the angle to 27-1/2 or just leave it alone as the spicer joint should handle a lesser degree of angle.

Is this a correct assessment? If not why? I figure less is better but may not fully understand "turning angle" as the manuals don't go into any great detail on how the measure the angle.
How is this angle measured if i need to increase it.

Hi Gary,

Keeping in mind the M38A1 stayed in & out of production from 1952 thru 1972.
The CJ5/6 was in production from 1955 thru 1972.

I wasn't aware of any aftermarket spicer joints. Willys made the final upgrade to spicer/cardan type joint during M38A1/CJ5 production run. The Cardan type first appear in the 1962 CJ5 IPL as a stock spicer part.

The new joints will last longer if they are only allowed to turn to the shorter spec. angle. I notice the M38A1 manuals all say 25 degrees and have the Mdl 25 axle. The CJ5 manuals I have say 27 degrees but they came with the Mdl 25 early and the Mdl 27 late. The only manual which breaks down the turning angle for axle types is the old CJ manual SM-1002. It shows Bendix limited to 23 deg, Rzeppa limited to 29 Deg and Spicer Cardan limited to 27 1/2 deg.

The angle is measure with a protractor from the extended centerline of tire to the turn limit. It is much simpler to have the desired steering angle set on a front end table with the turntable setup for the front wheels.

you said "I wasn't aware of any aftermarket spicer joints."

Initially all I could find were aftermarket spicer-type joints from crown and omix, with mixed reviews from both.

I did not want to use them. Finally found NOS spicer-carden axles from a vender in NY

We must differ on our definition of aftermarket. I try to limit it's use to new and different products never produced by the factory OEM.

Off shore look alikes I try to keep in the characterization of phony, poor quality imitations of OEM parts.

I totally agree. the spicer axles I am using are NOS Willys Jeep axles with joint, not aftermarket