hey all! in light of stock dana 30/35 being so weak, and dana 44's from older xj's being increasingly difficult to track down, has anyone ever considered or already built their xj with dana 60 axles? if so can you highlight any problems you might've encountered - axle tube lenght, steering linkage, 8 bolt hubs, spring perches not ligning up etc... i'm meerly interested in making a nearly indestructable rig!

thoughts, pics?...

 

i think it would be a good idea

 

Are you talking a bout putting a D60 in the Front or Rear. Both have been done. There is a dodge D60 rear that bolts into the cherokee rear. Go search the internet (mainly Pirate4x4.com) and you will find many people running Ford HP D60 fronts with GM 14bolts rear. About the best setup you will get with out spending about $4000 per axles on pre-built ones.

 

X2 on that set up. I got friends out here and that is all they run in they're crawlers. I would love to see that setup in an xj but I have never seen an xj built big enough to need it.

 

I didnt think people had problems with stock axles until they run huge tires? I am running a corp 8.25 and a dana 30

 

There are many different axles you could throw in. If not a D44 out of a XJ, a Ford 8.8 out of an Explorer works good. After that going into full widths you can run a Ford D44 and 9" out of a late 70's F-150 and then going into into 1-tons you could run a Ford D60 front and a Chevy 14 bolt rear.

 

for those of us not fortunate enough to have anything but the d35's i found this: www.4x4wire.com/jeep/reviews/super35truss/. anyone using, or know anyone who is using this truss? is it a waste of $$$, or is it worth while? sure seems cheaper and easier than fabbing up a dana 60(?)!

 

In my opinion the D35 isn't worth spending any money on other then gears and regular maintenance, however it will be cheaper than a D60 or preferably a 14 bolt rear.

If you can find a Ford 8.8 out of an Explorer with disc brakes, that will fit nicely under the rear of your XJ. All you really have to do is fab up leaf spring perches and shock mounts.

 

x2, if your jeep is not going to see bigger than 35" tires then a 29spl 8.25, XJ D44, or F8.8 would suit you just fine.

 

The truss will help the overall strength of the axle housing, but the Dturdyfives biggest wekness is the axle shafts themselves. They are undersized and weak. They cannot hold up to the torque that a 4.0 will produce with larger tires. So you can reinforce the housing all you want be you will still have a turd under the rear of your XJ.

 

The problems you run into with D60's is you lose clearance

 

Unless your planing on running 38's or bigger the D60's will be more of a boat anchor than there worth. The big and heavy.