Originally Posted by alloutperform

and that is where they belong very nice

Originally Posted by N20jeep

its mainly personal opinion.

but, there are reasons you dont see hardly any rock crawlers running 2.5's. the weight is the biggest problem, not only the weight of the axles, but the added weight of the bracing youll need to support the axles so the unibody doesnt burst into tears, and the weight of the wheel tire combo you will need to run to work with that bolt pattern.

they have no place on an XJ, d60's and ford 9's are more than enough to handle whatever you can throw at an xj.

but, like i said...if you're building some rediculous mud truck, then sure go with 2.5's and giant tires with a big motor.


sure, it will be "different" than most XJ's. but, different is not always a good thing.


im not saying that the 4.0 wont be able to turn them over, just no way they make enough power to turn the tires with any kind of real wheel speed

150lbs is ALOT of extra weight...dont know why you're talking like its not.

can i ask what kind of power and tires you run to warrant the need for 1ton axles?


hell my 8.8 only weighs 170

Originally Posted by N20jeep

why would you ever choose a 2.5 axle to spin a 36" tire? when a "little" d60 or 9" could do the job. its un-needed weight.


i strongly dont believe that a pair of 2.5's in an Xj is worth a damn on the trails or rocks. and i will still to that opinion until proven otherwise.

Originally Posted by Gorillaxj

i agree (like stated before) its not a good setup IMO for a XJ. never said it was. he isn't running 36 inch tires, he will be running 49" tires. I used a 36" tire for your example of a 4.0l not being able to turn a 2.5 ton axle, compared to a D30 (which is what is what comes with most 4.0L) just saying a axle isn't hard to turn. the tire-gear ratio is what makes a vehicle lack wheel speed.

rocks are good for some but a limited amount of vehicels.

Originally Posted by xjmarc

How can you compare the 8.8 to a rock. A 1/2 ton axle should weigh a lot less than a 2.5 ton and a rear always weighs less than a front and he was talking about the front. My front 44 weighs more than my ff rear 60, at least 100lbs more.
That being said, I think rocks are overkill for a unitbody XJ. I've seen it done and it didn't end well. I was building a front 60 to match my rear but decided it was overkill for what I'm using it for and I often run 38s.

Originally Posted by BajaCrawler

I bet if you just took some d44's front and rear or maybe a 60 rear 44 front and chromoly'd them and built them you probably would never have to worry bout strength issues. but no matter what if your hard on your stuff its gonna break so another way to look at it is whats not gonna break all the time but if it does be easy and cheap to replace. just my opinion.

Originally Posted by xjmarc

I have a 44 and 60 with chromos and have broken front shafts and they are from cheap to replace. I have more in my front axle than what a full set of rocks cost.

Originally Posted by xjmarc

Oh I never said I'd put rocks in an XJ, wish I hadn't put the full widths under mine and had just sold it and built a buggy or just used the 9" I have sitting out back. But you know what they say about hindsight.
Rocks are overkill for anything less than a 44 and the biggest I ever run is a 38.