I've got a 2007 4dr jeep with 37's, 5.13, and stock 30 front & 44 rear housings. I broke my front left ujoint and axle while in Moab.

I'm now faced with the decision of simply upgrading the axle shafts and u-joints to a stronger aftermarket product and putting more pressure on the ring and pinion. OR do I upgrade the entire housing, shafts, ujoints, and gears?

Either way I look at it I will be spending some cash. The less expensive route (only upgrading the axle shafts and ujoints) is the more wallet friendly route, but what products would be best? Superior? Ox? CTM? Any ideas? For the more expensive route, do you jump to Prorock 44? Teraflex? or wait till a rubicon swap comes available? Any thoughts?

Luckily the wifey has granted me around $5k to work with. She was in the jeep when the snap occurred and it scared the %^&* out of her... Now she is willing to drop some money so it doesn't happen again.

Any opinions, thoughts, suggestions, or personal stories would be appreciated.

 

If you got 5k to work with, get a prorock 44, thats what i'd do.....

 

You're on 37's. Why even consider dumping more and more money into a 30? It's broke. Cut your losses and upgrade.

 

I have read a number of stories on this forum detailing axle shafts and ujoints snapping, but that goes for both d30's and d44's. I also have noticed only a few rare stories of d30 housings breaking.

I'm not saying that a d44 is not stronger than the d30, the housing is of course, but the axle shafts and ujoints are the same. Is it worth it to only get a stronger housing, but still have the same strength shafts? Please correct me if this is wrong...

 

The housing is the same, u-joint and shaft are stronger on a D44

 

Reference this link to a previous conversation. Note the difference in diameters of the u-joints, R&P, and outers. Easy to explain, however a picture is worth a thousand words.

~Crewrest

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...or-a-d30-w-37s

 

If the housing is the same, why can you not put 5.38's in a 30, but you can in a 44?

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...or-a-d30-w-37s
You'll notice the housing is larger on the 44 if compared to the 30. Obviously there is an advantage to having a stronger housing/pumpkin.

The shafts and ujoints are nearly identical between the 44 and 30. Very slight variation. I only point this out to see what you gain in strength besides housing and pumpkin? I would be curious to know the difference in strength gain from the shafts and ujoint if any. Does anyone have any exact measurements or dimensions?

 

The pumpkin itself on the D44 is a lot larger to hold the larger (stronger) gears, HOWEVER, the axle TUBES are the same length/thickness as the D30 and uses the same "C's" at the ends... that is what everyone is referring to as them being "the same." If you want to beef up the axle housing you can get the Teraflex sleeve kit and "C" gussets that doubles the tube thickness and reinforces the "C's", thus strengthening the whole package.

As far as axles go.... the D44 has (I believe) a 31 spline shaft which is slightly bigger and stronger than the D30's 27 spline shaft.

 

That is what makes the upgrade so difficult to justify. You buy 44's and get the advantage of the larger housing, stronger gears, but you still need to beef up the shafts and ujoints the same way as if you stay with 30's.

No matter what you do, if you're going to run large tires and a lift, you need to beef up your shafts and ujoints.

The more research I do, the more attractive staying with d30's housing is on a cost basis analysis.


I appreciate your input. You seem to know your

 

Jeepairforce...How long were you able to run your 37s before you broke? I brought up a very similar question the other day and am asking myself the same questions. Especially since everyone is charging out the a** for their used rubi 44s