JK on 35's. Front Dana 30 tube is sleeved.

Yesterday driving down the highway through town at posted HW speed of 60 mph I hit a new pothole or road crack and BAM! Jerked my JK around and even knocked the tranny out of gear. I get home and find this:



Lube all over the driveway. Axle cracked wide open.

Now... can this be repaired by welding the tube or is this going to take a new axle? I know a new Tera 44 or something is the cat's meow, but do I have other options?

 

Shouldn't the city be responsible for damage if they aren't maintaining the roadway properly?

 

I am definitely going to run this by my insurance. I can most certainly pinpoint the location where this occurred. I am not going to hold my breath though. Good luck fighting the city.

 

What's a used rubicon 44 go for? Good time to upgrade

 

I just pulled this D30 out. I'll make you a good deal.
I paid 2 grand for my used Rubi D44.

 

If your insurance is going to cover the repair or the city talk to the shop that will be doing the work and see if you can cover the difference for a new D44 axle. Where you may have issues is where the crack or break originated from. If the crack started in a hole drilled for the sleeve you may be out of luck. The city may say the crack was already there and that their roads were not the issue.

Also keep an eye out on Craigslist for D44 deals too, if at all possible do not go back to a D30 unless you truss it.

R/
Will

 

It could be fixed with welding but that's really not the way to go. A break there should have been avoided with the sleeves so it's an interesting break.

Find a used 30 and try again, go with the crate jk8 d44 front, or you can continue checking into the Tera options. I'd look for used to get it back on the road- they go for pretty cheap.

 

It already shattered with inner sleeves, right? I would think that welding it back up would be more of a trail fix than a permanent solution. There should be a few empty take-offs out there. Or new through the dealer should be right around a grand. Or the aftermarket housings are up near 2 grand (dynatrac, teraflex, g2). Maybe it's time to just bite the bullet and get the added benefit of built in caster correction.


Nah, plenty of these have been reported. Without sleeves, the break always occurs at the passenger side ca mounts. With sleeves (and sometimes even trussed), the break just moves down toward the diff, right about where the sleeve ends.

 

I cant tell from the picture, but is that a plug weld for the sleeves or just a drip of gear oil at the lowest point of the break?

 

Oh shit good call i thought it was a hole also. Its gear oil as i can see the crack zoomed in