KC Rescue

Just ordered my axle...man never thought i would spend this kind of money on a jeep...Its a good thing ive bought from David before ..one less stress.

GCM 2

As soon as you see that PR44 bolted to your rig and then wheel with it, you will quickly understand and all will seem good in the world again.

AptPupil

Very interesting thread. I'm glad that I bothered to search it out. I am presented with the same debate with myself as the OP where I know the D30 on my Sahara JKU won't withstand wheeling on 35's or 37's for very long. So, while I'm planning my mods that I want to make, I have the 'Axle Question' looming in the back of my mind. What I've come up with is that the PR44 is my best option when I'm ready for lockers, regear and a blown up axle replacement. 60's are way too much axle for how I'm going to wheel (gulp - I hope).
It was very helpful that Dynatrac and Northridge both chimed in and basically added 'weight' to the argument and helped seal the deal for my 'mod path'.
I guess when I blow up the 30, I'll be making a phone call to get the 'right' replacement.
Cheers.

Dynatrac

Thanks for weighing in. Building over time and on a tight budget always costs more than doing it right the first time. Unfortunately, we don't always have the resources to come up with the cash immediately for some of the big ticket items that we'd like for our Jeeps.

I talk to guys every day that are making do with their current parts and saving cash to make 'the big purchase'. It makes them a little more gentle on their rigs right now but they're not wasting money on parts they won't be able to give away when they finally get their ProRock.

jordan

i have done everything to my dana 30 and am still blowing ring gears i run a 5.13 with an open carrier and am interested in the pro rock44 will this size ring gear5 be stronger inh the 5.13. i wheel har abut only have 315/75r16 so wnt my ring gears to last cheers.

Stuka

Going from a 7.2" ring gear to an 8.5" ring gear will certainly be a big step up. Everything about the D44 R&P/Carrier is larger. Now that doesn't mean you will never break it. But it will certainly be less likely to break. Although it also means starting over with any axle shaft upgrades and such that you have done. But through in some RCV's and you should be fine there. The housing is far beefier than a stock rubi housing or your D30's also. So you are fine there.

Dynatrac

As you're well aware, we sell a lot of our ProRock 44. We also sell a hybrid 44/60. This axle assembly has a JK 44 R&P and 35 sp axle shafts with 60 wheel ends. Because of the weight, tire size and use of JK vehicles, it's been very important for us to check the durability of the Jk front 44 gear set.

Checking durability is difficult as there are so many variables. In this case, the best resource has been internet research on JK44 front gear failures. We've done exhaustive seaches on JK front gear failures. We've looked everywhere possible and continually keep an eye out for new information. To date, we've found 1 front 44 JK gear failure- period. This covers any size tire or gear ratio. I'm sure there must be more but they aren't easy to find and people aren't talking about them.

The JK 44 front gear is a larger ring gear (8.8" vs 8.5") version of the older 44 and also has a larger pinion shaft. It has proven to be very durable. We are very comfortable recommending this gear for 37" tires (and maybe larger depending on the application).

Stuka

I have not measured personally, but I was under the impression that the front JK D44 used an 8.5 (like older D44's, but with the much larger pinion), and that it was the rear D44 that had the larger R&P?

Dynatrac

Nope, the front is bigger too.

rentinequip

Is this axle in production yet? What will it cost as opposed to the Pro Rock 44? Do you have a press release for it yet? Any pics?