Well XJMARC good luck finding one. Unless your willing to spend a small fortune. I looked in all my local JY's I was looking for a 60 but all I found in a 30mi radius was one chev 60 and one ford 44. Kingpin would have been nice not to worry about ball joints but what about when you brake a shaft? I don't have the $ to go out and buy a brand new one. And if you brake one on the trail... I would rather take off the brake and turn out 3 bolts and slide the shaft out. No hour messing with all that nonsense. To each there own but there is a reason why more and more people are running those CAD axles over the old fords. It might be simplicity, bigger shafts, or the price and availability of parts.

 

I forgot for the chev 14 bolt they make a shave kit that gives it the ground clearance of a 44 so they say. Balistic fab makes them but you can do it your self too. And CAD not sure what it stands for but is is an axle that has the "lock" thing on the passenger side. Like an old D30 with a lot more beef. I plan to do what a lot of people do and weld the spiders and use a cable to engage and disengage the passenger axle. Meany have done it on D30's and failed because the parts in a 30 are to small. The 60 people have dune it without a bad thing to say about it.

 

Kingpin 60s aren't that hard to find in my neck of the woods unless you want the rare 78-79 snowfighter ones. Most go for around 500 bucks and I much prefer the cheaper bearings that I can repack and replace for way under 200 bucks. All my buddies run 35 spline inners and outters and the shafts are the same size as the Dodge just one piece instead of haveing the collar.

 

CAD = Center Axle Disconnect...

 

Ya I read up on it. Oddly enough the dana44 in the ramcharger is a cad. Thinkin about pullin the axles to see if the ends are the same then swappin the tubes

 

The picks I saw of shafts the ford 35 spins were still smaller But have not been able to see first hand. The CAD can be illuminated for not that much but as cash is tight for me I will use it with a welded diff for now. As for the barrings Yes you can re pack the ford's and not the chry and if I still ran mud that would mean a lot to me. But I don't mud is really hard on hims as well as getting everywhere. And once agean I could also use different outers if I ever wanted. But in the trade off of ease of repairs or repacking barrings I will most likely stick with ease. I have yet to brake in a good spot to do repairs.

 

Shafts don't neck down so I'd say they are the same size. I also hate mud but unfortunately down south even when rock crawling we still have mud to deal with. When you find that good spot to do trail repairs let me know where it is. Don't know about the new dodge 60s but the older versions used a different size inner C that only worked with Dodge knuckles so you couldn't swap them with Ford or Chevy.

 

I was talkin swaping the tubes on the d44 I have to the other side that way it would be on the correct side for my jeeps front drive shaft

 

The 94+ Ram 60 are the same C as a for and chev. As for swopping the tubes on a 44 I don't see why you couldn't.

 

I know they say are rear axels are weak but is the front weak? If it'll hold 35 ill keep it then swap a 8.8 in the rear cuz I kinda like the track width I have. Im starting to save for the iron rock 8" la lift.

 

Swapping tubes would be a lot of work. You would have to remove the tubes and inner C's, reinstall the tubes on the opposite sides and remount the C's. You'd need a jig to make sure the C's were lined up and to get the caster right. Tubes aren't exactly hard to remove but not all that easy either. Keep in mind they've been in there 30+ years. Be cheaper and easier to find an axle with the right side drop for your t-case.

 

I would say in stead of all that work just run what you got for now and save up for bigger axles and tires. To me 35's doesn't justify a swap just for 44's. A ton of people run 35's on a 30. It's not ideal but if you run a 44 even with cromo's you will still brake. And to keep it the same with I think you will need custom shafts. That's not worth it. You could pick up some cromo's for your 30 and it would help some. I just say stockers or 60's any thing else is a wast of time and money.