I do think ujoint failed first


Went out with a group of capable rigs. Took some runs known as buggy runs. Requires lockers all around. 3rigs broke axles.


grizzly kept trucking with rags stuffed in the axle tube.

Currently researching upgraded and will hit the junk yard for big joint shafts this weekend

im hooked.

looking at my 76 ford. Spool the 9" grizzly for the 44 front with 5.38s for the jeep

but I gota leave that truck alone. I think

 

I love those things too. One thing is that with U joints in the axles you can't turn too sharp with lockers involved. But yeah, they are fun. I haven't broke an axle yet

 

some serious Oz guys on 35s carry front axles as spares

one side breaks more often than other, cant remember which

the fellow sold 5 to a Jeep repairer, so that tells you something

 

Well, that didn't take long! LOL

Glad to see you're out enjoying it. I've enjoyed everything you've been posting about this rig this last year or so.

The thing with the 44 front is the shafts use the same u-joint as the 30. It is more for a ring and pinion upgrade than a shaft upgrade. The benefit is it increases the ceiling of total strength, but still requires expensive aftermarket u-joints/shafts.

What tire size are you planning that requires 5.38's? I'd say go tons if you're thinking 37's or bigger. Dana 60 front and GM 14 bolt or Sterling 10.25/10.5 rear. Has the possibility for much more strength per dollar.

In the meantime, spare front shafts with all the tools and fluids required to change them are an absolute must when doing any real wheeling with a locked front. I've seen some people carry them already torqued down onto spare unit bearings so you only need to remove the 3 unit bearing bolts to get everything out as an assembly. Don't forget a long strong magnet or another method to extract broken shafts from inside the axle housing if it were to break on the shaft itself instead of the joint.

edit: Do you guys not have snow there?!

 

I have 35s with stock shafts and Spicer 760 u joints with the full circle clips, haven't broken any yet, but I do carry spare shafts just in case.

 

Thanks. Ive enjoyed it to. This year with stimulus money and deciding to actually get into wheeling has helped turn it into a capable offroad machine.

Reason I think I broke the ujoint first is I heard felt a pop while steer told Christine it was the locker maybe letting a tire turn. ended up getting kinda lost as rigs where breaking and plans changing. Admittedly ended up off the trail and on a goat trail looping back around to meet the broken rigs.


This is trail has very minimal jeep traffic




I threw in a spare short shaft always pack tools offcourse I dont have a spare long side due to them being cad shafts.
yeah with grizzly and 760 joints that's about as strong as it gets for a 44 and 30.

No this winter hasn't snowed as much as normal normally get almost a month of snow where work is stopped. This year we've been getting bussier.

Probly won't go bigger than 37s the xj in the front of the group is on tons and 37s my short stubby rig on 33s went everywhere it did.
Would run 513 538 to keep slow speed crawl ability with 37s I love how 4.88 feels with 33s

Looking forward to more wheeling and upgrades to keep wheeling

 

You can upgrade to Chromoly shafts and Yukon super joints, that will take care of any more axle shaft failures, your ring and pinion becomes the weak point when you do that.

 

Yeah.
hopping just big joint shafts is enough for now. Im normally never breaking anything
if I break big joint shafts itl be time to step up to something more reliable. Not that its not cool to use a rick as a jack stand and tear the front axle apart.

 

Fun stuff! Debating on cryo treating R&P on my 44s. And chromo shafts up front. But builds get spendy quick

 

That'll do it.

You can polish the 30 to the moon and it will still be vulnerable. Full case locker and housing reinforcement (truss and cover) helps the ring and pinion a bit, but they're still prone to failure if you put RCV's/chromos in place.

Its a tough game to play. I've been thinking through this debate for a long time. Have bought and sold many parts without actually pulling the trigger on a build. As of now, I have priced out that it will cost me about an extra $1,000 to put a 44 in place of my 30 vs building the 30 with the same specs. Going with the 44 opens the door for further upgrades (RCV's/CTM's and chromos, 30 spline outers, etc) with extra insurance on the gear set, but at that point you're at the same price point as a 60 that already has massive gears, shafts, and everything else. Shaved one tons have similar clearance under the pumpkins as 44/9's.

I'm surprised to hear that. I would've thought Idaho would get hammered with snow. Here in NH we're usually in winter-mode from late November/early December till about late March/early April, although we haven't gotten much snow this year either.

Funny enough, I've been telling people I want to move to Idaho. I have some friends in Montana and Colorado, and have been feeling the bug to get out of the area I grew up in. Love it out here, its my home, but I gotta experience elsewhere for a bit.

Start reading on Pirate4x4. You'll get the wontons bug

37's is a tough size to build for. Too much for a 30, just enough for a 60. I also do not see myself going bigger than 35's/37's on this Jeep. My current feelings towards my build is to put some money into my 30 (WJ knuckles, truss, etc) and run 35's knowing that I'm pushing it a bit. I picked up a Zip locker for $625 on eBay. Hoping that with a selectable I should be able to save some shafts by only using it when I need it.

Of course, my feelings could change tomorrow (or in 20 minutes) and I might want to build the 44 again. I've been back and forth on this more times than I care to admit. The extra width of the 44 (without the extra scrub radius) would be nice, as would having lockouts. Half-ton axles under an XJ seem to fit the feeling of the Jeep much more than tons also. I had planned on ordering parts a few months ago but got sticker shock and reevaluated my priorities. Really just not sure what I want to do. I'll be bummed if I build my 30 and grenade my ring and pinion but I'll also be bummed if I build the 44 and find I need those $1,000 shafts to make it worth my while.

Not sure what you mean by "big joint shafts"? You can get chromoly shafts with 760's, or go baller and get CTM u-joints or RCV shafts, but there are no options to get shafts with larger u-joints (that I'm aware of).

 

I agree. I think the ideal thing is a D44 for that size tire. Within the stock range of what it will handle. If you want stronger gears, you can put JK gears in.



These gears are 45% stronger than the stock D44 without the clearance issues underneath and above caused by a 10 3/4" ring gear. Full case locker and RCV shafts make it just about as strong as a D60 with less weight. So it can be done. As far as I am concerned, D60s are for dedicated rock crawlers and bragging rights. Our XJs are light for what they are and I think we should keep them that way if we can.

 

The shaft i broke is a small ujoint shaft.

Trust me I have the 1ton bug. With stimulus and tax money ive been watching for super duty axles. For either the jeep or my 76 ford my vision for my ford is a put my welder on it. Have a dual purpose welding recover rig on 35-37s i already have the wheels and 37s

I am normally the rig that never breaks but I've never ran hard trails with front locked till now

Were being hut right now with a snow storm. snow has stayed just above the valley all winter

Here's the 37s

Figured id burn them down on my daily since i dknt really plan or want to run them on the trail. 35" boggers or tsl is my plan Was going to recenter but may now hokd off till i figure what axle are going were. If bigger joint 30 shafts hokd up ill recenter for the 5lug pattern

Definitely 1tons superduty really aren't but 1000 more to get into than building on jeep axles.
Special if 30 keeps eating shafts.

 

Agreed, as far as the gears go. Not so much for shafts.

JK gears are for the low pinion, but Dana 50 gears can be used in the high pinion (Jana 54) for a similar strength increase. Carl Jantz claims 44% with numbers to justify his claim. Can go even further by doing a load bolt to prevent gear deflection (really helps in reverse, look at Carl Jantz's testing on pirate). 4.3L, I remember reading your Dana 44 build on CherokeeTalk. Just went and looked again and saw its a D44 rear. Pretty sweet you did the JK gears in that build. You still rocking the 30 up front?

This debate could be hashed out till the end of time. There is no right or wrong answer. I agree that the weight of one tons under an XJ is unnecessary and detrimental to performance. More than that, 69" WMS is far too wide for anyone that intends to pass inspection in states that require it without some ridiculously wide flares. I have enough trouble getting stickers as-is with factory WMS and 12.5 wide tires on 4" BS. I could see the extra width being nice in the stability department for off-camber stuff though. I have also found myself wanting a wider WMS with more backspacing to maintain a closer-to-stock scrub radius. Issue with doing that on these larger axles is the hubs stick out a mile.

I do very much like the idea of a 1350 joint on the yoke, a massive pinion, 35 spline inners, king pins/beef BJ's, stronger wheel bearings/unit bearings, 30 spline outers with big lockouts, and stronger high steer setups. Not that I think I need the extra strength of these components vs the 44, but dollar for dollar you get more going to a 60. I wish there was a cheaper way to get beefier shafts into the 44. I really don't need the strength of a 60 but would like a bit more than the 30. The 44 just seems to be above the curve as far as cost/gain.

Ohh, I should've gotten that when you said it was CAD. Didn't put 2+2 together.

Why can't we ever just have the bug to go smaller? Life would be so much cheaper

There is something to be said about building to where you're at now and learning the limits of your equipment and where things break.


That's right, I remember commenting on your other thread about the H1 wheels. I'll be very curious to hear how everything holds up after you move to 760 joints. Glad to hear we're all in the same dilemma

 

Yes, that was the rear. However I am working on the front D44 now. I have most of the stuff. Been making brackets etc. Will be rocking WJ front brakes too

 

Axle is out of a 92 has small ujoint shafts.
im debating order a set of axle shafts.
What is good in the 100dollar ball park.
Ok maybe 500.
Looks like on ebay 150-200 gets a set of 760 axle shafts.