Best guess on what is broken?
 

I got hit in the left front wheel. The Jeep is at a body shop, but I would like to understand what might be broken, before talking to the adjuster.

Attachment 672995

I think I found my own answer. Looking at a picture of a Rubicon Dana 44, it appears the only thing to break is the end of the axle itself :sad2:
Probably going to be expensive. Of course, that is why I have insurance.

I'd take a solid look at control arm mounts on the frame side as well. That hit would have put a lot of sideways pressure on control arms. Sounds like you're in it for a new axle. You might want to consider taking the money and parlaying that in to an aftermarket axle instead of a stock rubi axle again.

OK, what aftermarket axle is better?

I can't tell what exactly broke on that axle, but it sounds to me like you're expecting a whole new axle assembly. If that is the case, I think it would make more sense to look at a PR44 or a Tera44 assembly. Some of it might depend on what is being replaced. If they are replacing the housing only, you could pull all your internals like the locker, gears, axle shafts, and plob them in one of the aftermarket housings. You might be out a little bit of money to do the upgrade, but you'd be getting a housing that is WAAAYYYY better. Thicker tubes, stronger C's, more built in caster, thicker bracketry. If you look at it longer term, if you ever got rid of the jeep you could sell that aftermarket axle and just stick a factory back under there to trade it in and come out better financially.

I believe that member DJ1 ended up parlaying an accident in to an upgraded axle as well.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...grades-340550/

The main thing is that the darn factory axle is a good big of money for the insurance company to cough up. The money is just better spend on a much higher quality axle if you can swing it.

It is worth a try :-)

The biggest part is being able to either 1) get a check cut in your name and you then pay for repairs, or 2) finding a shop that is willing to work with you to put the insurance money towards something other than the factory part.

Depending on the total amount of the claim, and if you own or have the jeep financed, you may or may not be able to do option #1.

I would guess either a ball joint broke or the upper C broke off the axle. Either way, aftermarket axle is the way to go. Very possible that mounts are bent but hopefully a good shop would take care of that.

It doesn't look like there is much body damage other than the front fender and maybe the hood.

I sure hope the hood is OK, otherwise the body shop will make a mess out of the RUBICON label :-)

I have an important question. What is the stock Rubicon axle called? What lockers did it come with?

Do any of the aftermarket axles come ready to put on a Rubicon? I just wonder how much hassle the shop is willing to put up with, if they have to put in gears, and lockers. I put lockers, and different gears in my former truck (Ramcharger) and discovered how hard it is to get everything adjusted the way it should be.

Any shop is going to have to essentially go through the regear process regardless if you get a new factory axle housing, or an aftermarket one. You can buy an aftermarket housing like a Dynatrac PR44 that is ready to accept all your factory Rubicon internals, or you could choose to sell those and go with aftermarket internals. Sticking with the factory stuff is obviously going to be a more cost effective route and probably suit you just fine. These things all come ready to bolt in. About as plug and play as you can get. I would highly suggest....regardless of if you go with a factory housing or aftermarket, that you just go ahead and upgrade your ball joints at that time. The factory BJs are a piece of junk. If you can't justify Dynatrac or Rare Parts BJs, at least do Teraflex, Synergy, Alloy....anything other than factory.

Good to know, thanks!

Yep, d44's from Dynatrac/Teraflex/G2/Currie/etc will all bolt right up. You could even swap a lowly d30 on, since it has the same brackets.

An empty aftermarket 44 housing will run around $2000. Fill them with your current components, swap your current hubs/brakes, and bolt em up. 'Complete' assemblies will get closer to $5000. This will be your choice of gear ratio, choice of locker, choice of shafts, then swap your current hubs and brakes and bolt it up.

Northridge4x4 has an axle builder on their website that you can mess around with for ideas on various components and prices.

Link?

Aarg! The body shop called, and gave me a list of problems, and asked about the aftermarket stuff I have on there, like shocks, and bumper. They also said the frame was bent, and the engine was damaged. Somehow it seems to me it would be cheaper to total it than replace the frame :naw:

I'd imagine they try to straighten a frame rather than replace, but at this point it seems like there is a lot more originally unseen damage. I've had a couple vehicles totaled, and it's always felt like I got the short end of the stick, but with axle, frame, and engine damage, you might hope for a total loss and start over. I'd have to think that would need to be a pretty dang big bill on a '15 rubi to be a total loss though.

This exact same thing happened to me. See what the adjuster says first. Mine cut me a check for $3700 for a new Dana 30, passenger side lower control arm, and passenger side shock.

I took the money and bought a Dana 44 front axle, replacement shock, and decided it was time to install the aftermarket control arms I had sitting in the garage.

See what the adjuster says, but I agree...if you can swing it, replace it with something beefier.


Edit: just saw the frame damage comment. That sucks man, but I'd have to agree with what's said above, I doubt they'll total a 2015 JKUR. What kind of car hit you? And how hard?

Don't sweat it too hard man, on the bright side you're okay...and the other persons insurance is paying for everything (I'd assume/hope so).

True, and yes, I don't even have to pay the deductible.

northridge4x4.com

Drivetrain. Complete Axle Sets. Then select one of the d44's from dynatrac, currie or teraflex. It will list a base price, and then you start selecting your additional components on the right.

It was a Town and Country. I don't think the other driver ever hit the brake. One comment I recall is "My cellphone went flying when the airbag deployed".

I knew the Northridge part, but I didn't see the build assist section until after I posted the link question. The trouble is, they don't seem to offer anything 'stock". I have 4:10 gears, and they don't show them. I also don't know which lockers I have. i know they aren't ARB, but that is all I know.

You have E-lockers stock in your Rubicon. Very similar to the Eaton E-lockers, they actually power/function the same. So you could just select the Eaton option.

As for gears, go ahead and give Northridge a call. I'm sure they have 4.10's they'd throw in there for you. They're probably just not getting enough requests to offer it on their website, as most people who buy aftermarket axles replace their gears for bigger tires/more weight

There should be an option to buy the housing alone that twill specifically accept your factory rubicon e-locker (ie, the full carrier with your factory ring gear) and axle shafts. You might look at Dynatracs website just to narrow it down. I think the option on NR might try to get you to build an entire axle with internals. You are definitely able to buy just the PR44 housing at one of these places.

Better yet, might be easiest to just call Dynatrac.

Confirm this, but I think this is the one you want. There is another housing with a different part #, but believe that is for an ARB or eaton e-locker.

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/h...sing-kit-front

As noted, there are different versions of housings. Some are designed to accept the 'factory' rubicon elocker (made by GKN?). The factory rubicon e-locker and the Eaton e-locker you'll see on these other sites are NOT the same. The interior of the rubicon housings are designed specifically for the factory locker, including the use of different length axle shafts I believe.

The other version of housing accepts any of the standard configuration traction devices. If you are buying a complete axle, most of us would suggest that you choose this standard variant.

And if you have plans to lift in the future, it might also be worth mentioning that these aftermarket housings can be set up with caster correction to account for added lift height.

Perfect, thanks.

Any more clarity in regards to a total cost of damage?

They haven't gotten back to me yet.

I've got a friend with a 15 Sport with 15k miles, she bent the frame and they did not total it. The replaced the entire frame and axle.

I was thinking the same thing- it would have been easier, quicker, cheaper, faster, etc to total it.

Were there any problems with it when they got done?

There were some pieces that were not moved correctly so I spent a day correcting little things like that. Things that come to mind are rear brake lines, steering stops were missing, front sway bar links were mounted incorrectly, the bolts for the rear control arms were in the wrong spots (too short of a bolt), and axle breathers were not hooked up.

All of them were minor things and honestly, unless the dealer is super anal like I am or the technician is thorough and methodical then those minor items are likely to be missed.


I will say that once I sorted those out, the jeep drives just fine. They did fail to fix a fender and the hood wasn't straight but the fender and hood should have been replaced, then alignment wouldn't be an issue.

Watch the repair carefully, they'll attempt to use knock-off parts and in some places that's fine. I had an accident myself and they replaced my hood with an "OE equivalent". The hood looks like ass, doesn't close correctly, and has actually developed little bends and tweaks over time to where you can see the cheap metal has succumb to the pressure of the highway. I plan on taking it back and raising cane to geta Mopar hood.

Take note of your sticker placement and decals as well. I took mine to a shop where the owner was a "jeep guy" and had one "just like mine, 2010 and all". The decal placement was completely off. The Trail Rated badge was dead in the middle of the passenger side panel and "Jeep" was placed oddly across the front to where the tops of the letters were 1/8" off of the top of the grille. They reattached the rubber air seal on the grille with white 3m tape instead of getting a new one as they should have done.

On my repair, they ended up giving me the Jeep decal to place as I felt it should. I gave them measurements for the trail rated badge so it would be in the right spot.....to which the guy said, "you know, I thought it looked weird there" :doh: and I had them order the proper seal.


It can be fixed correctly, you've just got to be diligent and thorough, don't get in a hurry to get it back and don't be afraid to take it back in and have them correct mistakes.

Thanks.

FWIW, they gave the insurance company an estimate yesterday, but never bothered to call me.
Parts $6562.75
Labor $3980.50
Other $682.55

I just called them, they still don't know if the axle needs to be replaced, but they have ordered a new frame.

It took a week for the frame to arrive, hopefully yours will show up a little quicker. Keep us updated.

I hope so too. It certainly can't be a quick job to replace a frame.

That sounds like a total PITA......there's so much to move from damaged frame over to the new one. So many little things that could be overlooked. I wonder what the labor charge on that is. Ugh....good luck with this. Still subscribed to see what happens in regards to the axle.

Well, they finally called me, but didn't say anything I didn't already know. They are replacing the frame, but claim they won't know if the axle has a problem until they send it out for alignment :naw:

They gave me the same estimate that was on the insurance website. I assume most of the labor charge will be replacing the frame.

Parts $6562.75
Labor $3980.50
Other $682.55

I think I'll be shocked if you got hit hard enough to bend the frame yet not damage the axle. Guess time will tell. Hurry up and wait.

Yea, I am thinking the same thing.

Parts are still not at the shop. I have a couple questions:

1. What all is involved removing the body from the frame?
2. Does the roll cage have to come off, or is it attached to the body only?

The body comes off of the frame with minimal work. Motech out in Vegas does it all day long and they've got it down to a science.

https://youtu.be/2HPT7KiveXM

The roll cage is bolted to the body only, sadly. Aside from the braking system, they should be able to lift it right off as seen in the Motech video linked above.