Went to jeepfest this weekend and had a great time. No issues, noises or anything. Took it pretty easy considering it's my dd. Anyway got home turned around and pulled out of the driveway and my rear end locks down in the middle of the road. I have not had time to pull it as part but I know something inside broke and busted a hole in the housing. I just bought a set of Ten chomolly shaft and have an Arb air locker. My question is should I buy a new dana 44 housing and gears and hope the Arb is good or should I just get a terra crd 60 with an arb? Money is an object but trying to make a good decision.

 

When you say "busted a hole in the housing" do you mean in the diff cover or where exactly?

Before i jumped into replacing the entire axle assembly i'd want to know what failed. Maybe the ARB failed. Might be a busted ring/pinion. Maybe an air line failure. I'd want to get into the rear diff and see whats actually busted.

Can you post pictures of whats broken?

 

The hole is on the bottom side of the housing on the drive shaft side. My phone had went dead when it happened and couldn't take a pics I'll post this morning and I plan on pulling it apart to see what has happened. I will take pics as I pull it apart and post. I thought about welding the hole up and replacing what is broken but not sure how good that a welded housing will hold up. I have thought about upgrading to 60's anyway. I just thought I would be replacing the dana 30 up front 1st.

 

I found out what happened in my rear end. The ring gear bolts backed out and locked down the rear end. Not just one but every bolt I can see. I guess they forgot to lock tite and torque when they installed the locker about 4 months ago. Not going to trash him. I'll talk to him Tuesday and see what he says.