prelucir

In this last trip to EJS I did a couple of trails rated as a 6. Turns out that I should have had front lockers for those trails. Anyhow, I have a 2010 JK Wrangler Sport two door stick. I find that to get over some of the steeper stuff I have to use pretty high RPMS or my engine dies. It is so embarassing to have my engine die. I have been driving stick for many, many years, so I don't think that it is my driving that is killing my engine.


Anyhow, I have 4.88s.

I am looking to put a Dana 60 on the rear and Dana 4 on the front. I have a choice between Eaton E-locker and ARB. I plan to stay with 4.88 gears and run 37s on my Jeep.

I have looked at Dynatrac, Currie and G2 axles. I am not impressed with G2. Dynatrac is a few bucks cheaper than Currie, but Currie impressed me with their design cut away that they had at the show in Moab. It looks like they have put much thought into their build. Dynatrac impressed me with how complete their axles are and what little I have to reuse from my Jeep.

So, any thoughts on who to go with? If so, please state why. Is there another axle maker I should look into?


Transfer case. I think adding a two speed transfer case with give huge improvement to my crawling in Moab. Even if I hit a ton of RPMs, this will keep the Jeep from lurching forward. I am only aware of Atlas transfer cases. The guy at the show impressed me with there case. I like the control I will have over my speed and torque with this case. Any thoughts on this?


Lastly, do I need to do the axles and case at the same time, or can I piece it together as the year goes on?


Sorry, now lastly, are there any other questions or considerations that I should satisfy before I purchase? In case you have not deduced, I am not mechanically inclined.

Thank,
John

TheDirtman

From the list of axles you give hands down dynatrac, but I would go 60 front as well to get bigger brakes and lock out hubs. This will also allow you to match the front and rear bolt patterns of the wheels of 8x6.5. Yes you want the full float axles not the semi float. I would do the axle and atlas at the same time so you get the driveshafts the correct length. The 2 speed should be close to the factory size but the 4 speed will use a shorter front shaft.

Other then needing driveshafts and new wheels you will need a new parking brake cable. The full float axles are also wider so you may need more backspacing in the wheels so you don't get overly wide. Say a 37x12.5" tire should be good with a 17"x9" wheel with a 4.5" backspacing.

BTW I do have a set of pro rock 60's with 5.13 gears and ARB lockers for sale for $9500 if you are interested.

tgoss

Was this Currie's cut away display of their 60?

TOTL Innovations

Another option to the atlas is getting a transfer case off a rubicon. It will give you a 4:1 low gear instead of the 2.72:1 you have now and probably save you ~1k over going with an atlas.

Ryan0260

I would definitely go with the Dynatrac. You don't need to do both axles at the same time, but they do need to obviously have the same gear ratio. As mentioned above, the Rubicon transfer case is a huge upgrade from the non Rubi case. It is especially nice having it paired with a manual transmission as it allows you a little more freedom with your crawl speed.

Dynatrac

Sounds like you've done some good research so far.

More ProRock axles have been sold than all the competition...combined. Like you said, when you go ProRock, you get more than just upgraded axles. You can get our heavy duty ball joints included, along with either our ProGrip brakes on the ProRock44, or the ProRock 60s that come with even larger upgraded brakes.

Judging from where you're at in the process, the best advice is to give us a call at 714-421-4314 and talk with one of our techs to go over all the possible details with you, and work up an exact quote so you can compare a ProRock upgrade to everything else you're looking at. And we can answer any other questions you might have on whether to go with a ProRock44/ProRock60 combo, or a full on ProRock60/ProRock60 combo.

prelucir

Thats not the one that I saw there. Can I assume that is a Currie.

prelucir

Wow, lots of great advice. I am still in the fact finding stages and I am not ready to purchase yet.

I was considering the Atlas over the Rubi case because the options that the Atlas offesr. I would go with the two speed as I do not have enough room for the levers of the 4 speed. It would be nice to save a grand, but if I am going to beef up the axles then I might as well put in a better transfer case. Also, I have heard that the Rubi cases are not very strong. I personally have no knowledge.

I will look at Dynatrac's web page again. I was hoping to find clear photos of a cut away that pointed out the benefits of their axles. I do not recall seeing that.

I am also talking with Northridge 4x4. They opened a new shop in Longmont, CO. I want to get their opinion.

Jeep had their display at Walker Drug in Moab and I only glanced at those axles as I had not yet figured out that I needed the up grade. I am not sure if Mopar makes them or they sell someone else's axles. Also, I was considering talking to the Jeep dealer near my house (they have the best customer service I have ever seen in a dealership), but it seem weird, to me, to go to a dealer for axle upgrades. Not sure I would get good personable service that I get a Northridge 4x4.

Either way, will I need to change my wheels. I have Metal Moto that bolt to stock, they are 17x9. I assumed they would work. I was also thinking to put spacers on the wheels to give a litter more stability. Is this a good thought process or a bad move, more space?

Thanks again for the help,

-John

Trail Jeeps

Dynatrac is the way to go. We have been having awesome luck with the Pro Rock 44/60 set for both our own and our customer's Jeeps if they're sticking with 37's. We just thrashed on a set the Wes's Jeep in Moab. Of course the 60/60 set is bigger and better, with full floaters and 8 lug, but be honest, do you need it? We've run every configuration under the sun, and if you break that set on 37s you're either ridiculously overweight of you're driving like your JK is an Ultra 4 car, which it's not. The semi float axle shafts are huge, and they save weight vs the full float and operate like an OE piece. They'll take your existing rims and are pretty much a bolt them in and go situation. If you want to go with a 60/60 set, awesome, you'll never have any issues and you can handle 40's!

Stick with ARB's, E lockers can be troublesome.

As far as the T Case goes, it really depends on what you want. If you want a plug and play, super user friendly interface then find a Rubicon case and call it a day. We are huge fans of Advance Adapters, and we're a distributor. We recommend them for a certain type of customer who doesn't mind getting away from the ease of the OE setup. Often times the cases are very hard to shift until they're broken in, and since they're a big, complicated aftermarket part, they come with aftermarket issues just like everything else. If you're down for that sort of thing then the ability to customize your gearing and the control of the super low gears is epic, but you want to make sure to talk to an expert and do your research before jumping in headlong into this sort of thing.

You don't have to upgrade your case at the same time as the axles. The standard case is still a respectable 2.72 low range and I didn't catch the year of your Jeep, but if it's a '13 and up, the NAG1 5 speed has a low enough first gear to keep it functional and is robust enough to handle anything you can throw at it. If you have an older JK with the horrible 4 speed auto, the lower t case gears will make a really big difference on the trail and become more important.

tgoss

Yes it is. Just go with dynatrac. They are the best axles on the aftermarket for these rigs.

I do have a pr44 for sale, complete housing with rubi locker if you are in need.