So what I'm seeing from the general consensus is, get a crate rubi 44, beer it up with quality instillation, and put some thought into the other components of the axle like ball joints and shit.

 

If you can get the axle for a decent price (under 2k vs the more normal 3k+). And if you get the regear for a decent price (some people, mainly east coast, are being quoted over 3k for gears). And if you get the strength mods/welding for a decent price (labor rates and individual skills vary, be sure to ask around).

A few years back when I was in the market to replace my broke d30, everybody wanted a premium price for the front rubi axles. After having a shop I trust do the gears and strength upgrades, a pr was only a few hundred more than what I came up with for buying and building a rubi44, and the PR came with the caster correction - which I kinda like.

So I guess the moral or the story is: Unless you are doing the work yourself, you need to check your local shops and come up with a total price to compare to the roughly 5k of a pr/tera. With these ebay prices and decent local rates, the crate rubi could be an excellent deal. Or it may not.


And one other comment on the ebay axles. When you talk to the guy, you might also ask if the stock balljoints are already installed, or if it is possible to get it without (or with the upgrades of your choice)

 

You nailed it on the head. Once said and done some shops want close to what a pr44 is, and that's my issue with using the Rubi 44. I'll have to talk to the eBay guy to see how low he can go with a regear to see if it's even worth it

 

I bought a Rubi axle from this guy 2 weeks ago with 4.56 gears for $1700. Should ship any day. Spoke with him on the phone and he is a super nice guy. He texted me a photo of the gears to let me know they arrived (they were Yukon). He told me he could swap the gears and ship within 2 weeks, but I told him no hurry.

I have the welding equipment, so I picked up the gussets and sleeves. For around $2000 I will have a nice setup. Plus, I was originally planning to swap the gears on my stock D30 for $800, so this is a great option for an extra $900 and it has the locker.

 

This is a great example of why you should get the right axle the first time. you are basically break even and you have a better axle. Cool beans.

 

If I wanted to run 37's and wheel fairly hard, what axles should I look for from a junkyard?
Is there a particular donor vehicle I should look for?

Thank you.

 

Have you seen any issues with warping of the factory housing when welding on the artec truss?

 

I am kind of suspicious of great deals like this especially from eBay. Is the the OEM MOPAR axle and not a China knock off

 

As noted, I personally worked on two of the axles this guy sells. They are OEM housings, with serial numbers and identification. Sure that can all be knocked off, but one thing can't. The external locker connectors are from the factory. I can tell you with 100% certainty, that Chrysler is the only company with access to the unique, one-off sensors. There are just far too many little details for someone in China to replicate it, ship it to the US and still make a dollar.

 

I have seen a few guys make the axle smile haha.

If done right, it should go fine. Run 1" stitch welds, move around a lot. Don't over weld it (you don't need to weld every inch of the truss, except at the axle). And use a good welding blanket so it cools very slowly (better yet, pack sand around it if there is a way you can do that).

We made a tension rack in an abundance of caution. Basically, we picked up a piece of steel beam, put jack stands over it and the axle on the jack stands, chained the axle ends to the beam and used a bottle jack on the diff to put upward pressure on it. It's actually a really cheap setup as you probably have everything but the beam. I'd bet you could pick one up from a steel supply as a rem for cheap.