axle abuse question
 

I was watching some xj wheeling videos and saw that some drivers were dragging their axles across some rocks pretty hard.

how much does it take to damage an axle anyway?
hypothetically: front high pinion dana 30 and a rear dana 44

I think the Dana 30 has .25" thick tube. and the R/P housing is Cast. You can drag them on the rocks but Jumping them seems to bend them ... (all my friends). Its kind of a tough question to answer b.c how hard is it being dragged? If its scrapping and slightly banging it should be okay If punching the skinny pedal over and over as you smash your diff on a boulder, well you might have some problems. Just gotta remember its steel and it can break.

it just looks so easy to get hung up on rocks. is it common to break an axle or two in your rig's life span?

Smashing your housing off of stuff wont break shafts, when the wheel is at full lock spinning and your hard on the go sauce, thats what breaks them.

Is say the most week part of the 30 is the lower brackets. I f'ed up mine and put on so 1/4 inch thick ones

thats a good tip. if theres one thing ive learned from watching videos its that having a really heavy foot on the rocks never turns out good. I cant wait to get my next xj.

what other upgrades can you do to make them more durable?
I might as well go the extra mile and take every precaution.

Stronger steering, diff cover, brackets, trussing, gusseting lol

everything. great haha. thanks for the feedback guys

I smack mine around on rocks quite a bit the lower control arm mounts are pretty ****ed to hell. Other than that and a good sized dent in my rear cover everything is good to go. Smacking a rock with a tube while moving a good speed will mess things up dragging it over...just depends in the end. Its a metal tube with a spinning shaft in it what do you think will happen if you keep dragging it over things. There is only so much metal there and there is only so much flex before things bend and break.