Man Needs a Set of Dana Axles, Buys a 1949 Willys Wagon

Casey LaDelle appears to be the workplace and project-car cousin of Matt’s Off-Road Recovery. Based in Bend, Oregon, LaDelle runs Casey Heavy Rescue and posts videos of retrieving big rigs and big machinery from Pacific Northwest muck, and pulling the occasional minivan out of the snow. He’s also got a garage full of vehicles to tinker on and he’s a sucker for oddball jitneys on Facebook Marketplace.

In a recent vid, LaDelle recounts needing a Dana 30 axle for his Jeep Cherokee winter build—the Danas would allow him to put the Jeep on a set of Polartrak tracks. He finds a set of axles in Missouri that will do the trick. The catch: The axles are attached to a 1949 Willys Wagon. LaDelle figures the compromise is worth it, flies to Missouri to get the Jeep, makes a trip to Harbor Freight, then girds his loins for the 2,164-mile trip back to Oregon.

It’s a long, fun jaunt that starts with a trip underneath the wagon to get a read on axle health (grimy), carries on to the world’s largest ball of twine (ropy), and is filled all the way to Oregon with LaDelle’s knowledge of Jeeps and trucks (nifty). Plus the occasional mishap. Of course.

All of which makes us feel the title of the video is incorrect, and this was actually a fine idea.

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