I've only seen one other bent axle tube on here besides the one WOL inherited. The guy had been jumping it. And at that, I think the c's on the front were more bent than the tube itself, don't remember if the rear was bent or not, I think it mighta been though.

 

Quebec is full of redneck off-roaders, and believe me, they know how to bend a Dana 44

In my area, we have Jeepers wheeling on 4 wheels, 3 wheels, 2 wheels, 1 wheel, and also the 4 wheels off the ground

 

I have not seen a single bent axle. I've only had the privledge to see 2 axle tubes that have snapped but in both cases there was more than enough evidence that the jk tube was smacked against something.

Not sure about the hype either. Sure it is good to build a axle tube to the point it is thicker than a dana 60 but it is not going to be a dana 60 as the ring in pinion is not the size of a dana 60.

I wouldn't worry about the axle bending with big tires. c gussett might bend over time and allot of wheeling, ball joints might go, axle shaft can go and ring and pinion could go. The housing is not the weak link.

If you were to invest in something look into better axle shafts.

Of course if you run the hammer every weekend you will adventually have to drop off of a very large boulder and the impact might snap a axle housing. Have to see it happen yet.

 

I am not worried either. I only know one guy in Gatineau who bent the axle, but he was wheeling hard (spinning wheels) with 7.5" lift and running 38" X15" wide tires.... a iti bitti extreme fro me but the guy is a great mechanic who always try to reach the limits of his toys... I think he now has a F350 with all the trimmings.

I don't think wheeling technical and slow will put me at risk (although accidents can happen, but that part of the game )

 

Great thread and perfect timing! JK2008 thanks for starting it. WOL you are a fount of knowledge! I just had EVO C gussets and CA skids welded on (beautiful job by my local 4X4 shop I might add) but recently started reading about the axle reinforcement talk and thought "maybe I should have budgetted for that too" . I will only "wheel" a few times a year and at that I intend to be overly careful as my jeep is now my daily driver but I will, thanks to this thread, do it with more confidence I am not turning my axles into linguine!

 

LOL!! yep, the REAR dana 44 that i borrowed from off road evolution was beat to crap by mel on the ultimate adventure and while he was running 40" toyo's on it. that being said, it WORKED just fine and i used it like that for about a year without any problems - imagine that. again, up front and running 37" toyos, i had no bending issues but then, i don't make it a point to do bigass jumps. i will admit, that might bend it but then, it's not like it's gonna leave you high and dry.

question is, are you one of these redneck quebec type off-roaders

me, i guess i don't wheel my jk all that hard as i have not been able to bend my front axle.

i too have personally witnessed the breaking of a front dana 44 - it literally shattered on the passenger side right were the control arms are attached and, every other axle i have seen break has been in the exact same place. AND, i should point out that every single one of these breaks were on an early 2007 model JK. i have shown pics of these broken axles to several of my contacts in the industry and none of them have seen a break like it before. sure, we have all seen bent axles but NOT breaks likes this. in fact, in the case of the one i had seen, the dealer replaced it under warranty as they agreed the axle tube was clearly brittle and defective. needless to say, this is NOT the norm AND, i have not seen cases like this since or at least on anything outside of a 2007 JK.

as far as 60's go, i couldn't agree with you more. to me, if you're that concered about axle strength, it makes more sense to just save up and invest in a 60.

 

Don't worry Eddie, I'm not one of these redneck off-roaders

In Summer 2008, I was invited by a local 4X4 club, and after 30 minutes of wheeling I ran far away The Jeepers drive very fast and jump over mud holes. They break the suspension, axles, bearings, etc. And, they seemed to be proud of it. I have never seen such things on this forum. Fortunately.

 

This description fits 2 groups I have heard of and I never ever want to be even seen with them Freedom, we are in the same area ! We need to wheel together next summer !

 

Wheel the way YOU want to wheel. Trying to impress other peeps with how badass you are only leads to money out of your pocket, not theirs. You can wheel moderately with minimal or no probs. But there is ALWAYS a chance of breakage.

 

So to run 37s on a d30, my plans have sort of changed. I don't wheel extreme rocks or high speed. I stick with trails, muddy stuff, some rocks, but not crazy ass shit. I am usually really careful with my throttle control. I have only really wheeled seriously for a couple years now, so I am still new to the whole designing my build aspect of things. I'll be getting new driveshafts no matter what. And I have a 6 speed.
So, I guess I am wondering this: What are the weak points of my proposed build?

Sticking with a D30...
5.13s
ARB lockers front and rear
EVO gussets
EVO LCA skids
Riddler covers
I figure the week points would be the D30 axle shaft and arguably being unsleeved, but I don't know if I can justify shafts and sleeves (thats a ton of money to put into a D30)

I've also seen comments on here that locked 5.13s are tough on a D30, but are 4.88s really any better?

And would it be recommended to invest in the RCV shafts in order to execute my plan? Or is it better to stick with the regular axle shafts and maybe have them fail eventually keeping the R&P in tact?

And, lastly, and perhaps most importantly...would this all be a mistake later down the line, knowing I am spending money on the lockers and regearing and everything for the D30???

Thanks for the help...I mean in a perfect world I'd have a hemi and be running on 40s....