16FW

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.

16FW

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
Probably going to be expensive. Of course, that is why I have insurance.

resharp001

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.

16FW

OK, what aftermarket axle is better?

resharp001

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.

16FW

It is worth a try :-)

resharp001

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.

Smudgeontheglass

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.

16FW

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.

resharp001

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.