Hey guys. Sooooo... I did some damage to my front end. I was going down a trail and hit a major rut, which I assume caused the bulk of the initial damage. I then got high-centered in some mud and the problem finally revealed itself to me via angry sounds and no spinning front tires. I have a majorly bent C, jacked ball joints and completely destroyed inner and outer shafts. The dealer says no to warranty work. I can get a local shop to do repair work with all the busted parts, with upgrades to chrommoly parts, for $1300 plus labor. The dealer said they could repair everything for about $5400. OR, I could order a Rock Jock (or another axle?) for $5k. If any of you guys have any advice or other options I might want to look at, please let me know. Maybe this is the time to upgrade, maybe not, I'm just totally not sure. Money is tight and everything would be going on the card. I would want to upgrade eventually I think, and the $5k would be an acceptable loss if you guys think it's truly the wisest choice. Please help!

 

Any help guys? Please, what would you do in my situation?

 

From your description you were going down a hill and hit a rut and it ruined your front end.....maybe an insurance claim.

My insurance covers trail accidents, might be worth checking out.

 

If money's tight get a used 44. It will be cheaper then repairing your 30 if you put it under your Jeep yourself. You're going to have to come up with way more then 5 grand to upgraded to a 60 in front. Because nobody makes a 60 with a 5 on 5 bolt pattern you just can't buy a front 60 alone. Anybody else see missed business here?

 

How about a few close-up pixs?

 

If you could swing it I would upgrade to the better axles, that way you're not spending money on an area of the Jeep twice, but with todays economy I can understand being cautious

 

Ditto on insurance claim

 

Thanks all for the responses, and sorry about being slow on an update. I've never done an insurance claim before, and I hope it won't make rates go up too high. I guess I'm really resistant to spending over $5k to bring my Jeep BACK to stock and its known-weak shafts. The Rock Jock 60 is $5k, but with gears and shipping it would up being around $7k - which is not doable.

I got into an argument with my service rep because he gave me a flat "no" to warranty work. I explained that the damage was caused by a pot hole on a trail and that if I can't hit that on a street or a trail with my "trail rated" Jeep, then what good were the parts or the warranty? He explained it all away by repeating "you hit something, if you drove it off a cliff we wouldn't warranty it", though I explained that it was nothing bigger than a pot hole I've seen on the roads around town (which is true, it was a big rut, but there are bigger right outside their dealership). Whatever.

So my buddy says that he can get Chrommoly outers, but that they don't manufacture 27-spline inners, just the 30s. With all the extra stuff that might need repaired, I'm leaning more towards an insurance claim as well... but it seems like such a huge waste to put all that money into the Jeep to bring it back to stock. Any other ideas I might consider before commiting to a course?

What should I expect from an insurance claim as far as process and rate-increases? I've never been in an accident and have like one ticket ever. It's not like I was speeding and hit a tree lol, hopefully it won't be too bad :(

 

Or does anyone near Anchorage, AK have a spare JK axle??

 

Sorry to hear about that happening, I'd personally forget the repairs and would install Mopar D44 myself - one weekend single handed even if you are not too savvy with mechanics. It is my understanding they are available at your dealer and from a lot of online retailers for less than 3k.