Ryanclimbs

I posted this on a different thread and had several people send me PM's so I thought I would move it to its own thread. Hope this helps you if you are considering a new front axle. From this thread you can probably learn enough about rear axles and their costs to figure it out!


I have spent $2K building up my D30 and have broken it 4 times in the last year to an additional bill of $2500. I could MAYBE sell the internals for $1200 to recoup some of it. I

I have done a ton of research and am about ready to place an order so I thought I would share my finds. Ideally I would order a front and rear axle at the same time but as most of us would agree... we have already spent way to much on our projects, the economy SUCKS, and we want a good solution for a reasonable amount of $$$. So it makes sense in my case to just order the front for now and add spacer adapters to the rear if needed. (the 60's are not the same bolt pattern and you will need to get new wheels) If you go 44's you can get them with the same bolt pattern. FYI Warn locking hubs for a true 1 ton 60 measure 4.25" which doesn't work on the current JK bolt pattern)

In 6 months I will probably buy a matching rear. You can get into a rear D60 for much cheaper if you are looking to save $$$. (Like a Dynatrac Trail series 60 ~ they don't make trail series up front though) But for now I am going to just get a front axle upgrade.

Front axles are expensive. In general a front D60 is $7500 and a rear built D60 is $4500. (can of course be cheaper and more) Alot of people opt for a 60 in the rear and 44 up front. I would tend to go the other way. 60 front 44 rear because it seems like the front gets alot more of a beating in my case and I have a suspension that can handle the 60 up front.

Most of these companies would be happy to work out a bit of a discount (maybe $500) if you buy them both at the same time.

I wheel super hard, but slow and in control... I am a tecnical crawler.

Those who drive on the road alot worry about the weight of a D60 for freeway driving. I don't lose any sleep about it and drive on the freeway every day. I had Dynatrac 60's under my TJ and it drove GREAT on road with no oiling issues and these were 8 year old axles, Dynatrac technology has only improved if anything!)

The Currie design is arguably better for heavy highway use because of the oiling system... but I think all of them are fine. The Currie assembly is lighter by maybe 20lbs, whether that is good or bad is up to you to decide.

Lastly... ENGINE. It may have occurred to you that our minivan motor 3.8 V6 may not drive those D60's too well! A supercharger is $5000 and a Hemi replacement is ALOT more. So before you jump think!


Hear is a breakdown of FRONT JK AXLES OPTIONS

These are just ballpark prices. You should call manufactuerers for your specific setups. Currie, Dynatrac, and Teraflex are all INCREDIBLE companies and I firmly believe these are all great options. Any would work for me and I think I would be very happy with them regardless. Prices vary alot

A RUBI 44 totally built up (AXLES, BRACKETS, TRUSS, GUSSETS, AND GEARS) will run $4000 (maybe less used or if you have one to start with) If you bought the lifetime warranty you can probably add gears and gussets and still claim warranty. I would reinforce the mounting brackets as well! And good luck with claiming warranty work!

A complete Dynatrac PRO ROCK 44 w/ARB is in the $6K range
An empty pro rock 44 to fill with your current RUBI stuff is only $2K
A complete Dynatrac PRO 60 w/ARB is $7K
A complete built Dynatrac with options could run 10K easily

A Currie D60 w/44 outers and knuckles w/ARB is about 6K
A Currie basic D60 w/ARB is $7500
A premium Currie D60 is $9500
Currie 609 w/arb $8000 (not sure why you would want this other than it is rare and different!) ~ some people say sexy!

The Teraflex front CRD 60 is not out yet and they are being pretty secretive about the price etc.. but I am expecting it to be similar to the Currie 60/44 and at a similar price. BUT THAT IS JUST MY THEORY!!!!

Diamond Axles, Mad 4x4, Spidertrax, Solid, and Sunray Engineering all make custom axles and in my experience are relatively similar to the Currie and Dynatrac stuff. Mopar makes a J8 rear dana 60 but this discussion is about front axles. They make front 44's for rubicons obviously but are often ridiculed for being weak and using parts that are only D30 strength. (this isn't the place to discuss the problems with the stock D44 though, there are plenty of other posts here that discuss that!)

Hope that helps, after all that...

The most economical way to go would be to buy the Dynatrac Pro 44 housing (I bet Currie has a similar option) and put used rubi parts in it. If you don't have them they can be found dirt cheap on the used forum. I priced one today (these costs change by availability every day) but today this would be the cost:

$950 totally stock used front rubi axle
$2000 Dynatrac housing

$3000 Total cost of parts
$1500 Shipping, gears and installation

$4500 TOTAL

Sell my parts for $1000 and I have $3500 into a very usable front axle for 37's and careful driving. As I break the parts, I will upgrade them.

OR JUST POP FOR THE D60 axle and be relatively done with it for the next 8 years as withh my previous TJ!!!

TOUGH CHOICE!

JackMac4

Thanks for the breakdown. I really don't think the v6 will have problem with D60s, do you? I mean it adds weight, but not enough to matter - it least it seems that way to me.

TheBeatenPath

is that a hummer pulling the trailer

Ryanclimbs

Yea, I think it will be good! Everybody wants a hemi though! I would probably go CRD personally if I were spending the $$$.

Ryanclimbs

Yea! That was last year's tow vehicle... super cool truck but really a pain the... I have owned 2 of them and they aren't cold enough in summer, too cold in the winter, and rattle your teeth on a 5+ hour drive... and you have to talk REAL loud!

I bought an excursion for those long road trips.

But what does that have to do with my JK's front end?!

Ryanclimbs

GOOD POINT! Thanks, I may end up doing exactly that. If you go nuts it should be possible to add an ARB locker and 35 spline shafts if I am not mistaken. Then you would be really golden. (the outers may not be 35 spline though) I would have popped for CTM ujoints too! I agree... if you do all this you are getting close to the strength you need to wheel 37's and not worry too much.

But then I say, well why not skip all the gussetts etc.. and by the Dynatrac 44 housing... then when you add it all up you think...

I should have just paid another $1500 and got myself a REAL D60!!!


Thanks Bro!

JPop

Thanks much for the detailed info!

I'm pretty much in the same quandary as I bought a Sahara a few years back not realizing how much I would enjoy it. Weighing my options not only on 37s which my D30s certainly won't cope with, but also biding my time until there's a new power plant in the JK so my wife and I have a second Jeep and won't be battling over who's driving it.

For me the D60 front seems the right way to go as I'll have some different routes to travel when we become a 2 Jeep, 5 vehicle couple.

Northridge4x4

I agree Dana 60 is the way to go for the guy who is going to wheel alot and run 37" tires.

My quick advice if you are going with 60's go one step deeper in gears then you think you want want.

For example you think you want 5.13's go 5.38's The weight of the 60's alone justify it.

Ryan Good info you posted and your jeep looks awesome!

David

Ryanclimbs

Thanks Dave, I'll take that as a great compliment coming from a guy who has just about infinite knowledge of this stuff!

keep up the great work!

Ryanclimbs

Hi Guys, I rounded up all of these figures... I am sure you can get them cheaper... here are the prices I was quoted from Currie (David from Currie is fine with me sharing these!) Dynatrac's actual prices are cheaper in the same way as what I rounded up to.

When it comes down to it you should always call and get the full story before you drop THOUSANDS!!!!

Here it is:

Ryan,

I noticed your post and comparison on the 60's and options.

A Currie D60 w/44 outers and knuckles w/ARB is about 6K, actual price is $5,100
A Currie basic D60 w/ARB is $7500 , actual price $6,600

Currie 609 w/arb $8000 (not sure why you would want this other than it is rare and different!) ~ some people say sexy!, actual cost $7,006


THANKS DAVID!