another question for my buddy, are there any axles that bolt up directly to a 1980 CJ7. i'm not worried about the yoke being different or the wheel cylinders, i'm looking for something that the spring perches will bolt onto without moving them. we just went through a bout with the local junk yard because we were told that cherokee chief axles would bolt up, NOT. so does anyone know of any?

An 80 CJ7 will have a narrow trac axle. My advise is to find a set of wide trac axles and do a swap on both ends. You can find wide trac axles in 83 and newer cj's. If your friend plans to lift the Jeep he will want the wider stance.

I thought that the wide track axles came out in '81 . well either way they would bolt up without any problems if you went from narrow track to wide track. thats what I did for my CJ5.