Blort

I am in the middle of building a dedicated trail rig that will only see action when on the Rubicon Trail, Fordyce, and Dusy Ershim. Upon completion my 99 XJ will be on 35s with Clayton long arms. I plan to keep the HP30 and install chromoly shafts with a lunchbox locker.

Given my intended usage, will the 8.25 with chromoly shafts and a Detroit locker have sufficient strength? The price differential between upgrading the 8.25 and buying a drop in D44 is about $1,200. If I keep the 8.25 I will go without th 4.88s. D44 will have 5.13s.

Yes I have read many posts about this subject by it seems most of the rigs are only used for moderate to light off-roading.

Big David

The 8.25 is fine up to 35s. I'd skip the chromos in the front unless you want the ring gear to act as a fuse.

Rockhead

I run lunch box lockers front and rear, chromoly shafts in the front Dana 30 and stock shafts in the rear Chrysler 8.25. On 35s. No problem.

srb53150

i run the 8.25 w/ 4.56, detroit & alloy shafts & 35's for 4 yrs now . it has held up fine.

LACK

all depends on how hard you are on the skinny pedal.

If you want to swap the rear, start researching the ford 8.8 swap, if you can weld then you can do one for a lot less than 1200 bucks and since you're going with the full case locker in the rear it will be much stronger than a D44. Just another option

Blort

Thank you for the insight. The trails I run are highly technical and my rigs rarely run in excess of 1,000 RPM. I will give the 8.25 a try and carry the stock shafts as spares.

andrewmp6

The 8.25 is about even with a dana 44 so that wouldn't be a upgrade.Like said your fine on 35s anything bigger you need 1 tons aka full float 14 bolt or a sterling 10.25 and a ford dana 60 front.

Fred/N0AZZ

I run the 8.25 29 spline in my 99 also on 35's for the trail, Detroit lockers front and rear, 4.56 gears. I chose to use the stock axles in mine for a "shear pin" in both rather than break the gears and such. I carry a spare set of stock axles but have never had to use them yet.


I also pick my lines and am easy on the skinny peddle.

MisterDriftKing

I started off with the 8.25 and ended up breaking the spider gears in it. People say it's even to a Dana 44 but my personal opinion it isn't the D44 holds up better to the punishment than the 8.25. I have a friend that has the 8.8 in his rig and he hates his only because his has lsd in it. Now the trails I go on vary because I love rock crawling and things of that nature. Just my two cents

Blort

I run a front high pinion 44 in my TJ and a rear D44 with a Detroit locker and Chromoly shafts. I would like to keep the 8.25 if at all possible but don't want to deal with dragging a broken rig out of the Rubicon. In addition to the alloy shafts and Detroit locker I can do the KJ disc brake swap to negate the possibility of spitting out a broken axle shaft.


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MisterDriftKing

I run the rcv axle shafts on 35's and I love and have put them through hell and they haven't broken yet plus they come with life time warranty

andrewmp6

It all depends on how you drive and your foot,Any axle can break if you try hard enough something will give out on you.I have broke a stub shaft in a dana 60 with 37s in a f350 i had.I had the front wheel kinda pinned by a big rock and thought floor it ill climb right over it.Pick the right line for your rig and take it slow and easy,If your a lead foot and try to drive like a rock bouncer your gonna break stuff left and right.