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Axle upgrade. Can I reuse my lockers?

12bLTW

NAXJA Forum User
I have a Chrysler 8.25 rear end with Detroit locker and 4.88 gears with a Dana 30 up front with 4.88 gears and a spartan locker.

If I upgrade my axles to Dana 44’s in the front and rear, can I reuse my lockers and gears? Can I reuse any of it? Or would I need to replace my gears and lockers when I do the upgrade?

Also, I am running 33 inch tire on a 4.5 inch lift. I don’t want to upgrade the lift so I am kind of stuck with 33’s. I was told my 4.88 gears only contact by one tooth in my current axles which is why I was considering the upgrade but I don’t want to replace lockers and gears. Would upgrading to Dana 44’s increase the tooth contact with the 4.88 gears?

Being that I don’t want to replace lockers and gears and I don’t want a taller lift so won’t be running bigger than 33’s, is it even worth upgrading to d44? Or should I just upgrade my stock axles with sleeves, c gusset reinforcement, etc?

Thanks


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Gears and lockers are axle specific.

You can go larger than 33s on your current lift, just may need to trim and bumpstop more.

As far as upgrading your axles, the type of wheeling and how you drive will determine that in my opinion.

If you're bouncing off the rev limiter all the time and driving like a rock bouncer, you will probably want better axles. Going to a 44 up front will require a fair bit of fab work and loose the ground clearance you currently have.
 
Gears and lockers are axle specific.

You can go larger than 33s on your current lift, just may need to trim and bumpstop more.

As far as upgrading your axles, the type of wheeling and how you drive will determine that in my opinion.

If you're bouncing off the rev limiter all the time and driving like a rock bouncer, you will probably want better axles. Going to a 44 up front will require a fair bit of fab work and loose the ground clearance you currently have.



I have only been wheeling about a year so I only do light wheeling as of now. But I do want to start tackling some bigger obstacles and some more rocks..

Would it make more sense to keep my stock axles and strengthen them with c-gusset reinforcement, sleeves, diff guard?

Also as for the weakness with 4.88’s on stock axles, should I just drive it until I blow them up and then replace them with 4.56 gears? If I blow up the gears will my lockers survive?


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If your only doing light wheeling on 33's and don't really want to step up to a bigger tire your better off to just stay with what you have. There are plenty of people on here running locked and geared stock axles and wheeling some of the harder trails with them without any problems. Its just about being smart when your wheeling and picking right lines to make sure your stuff lasts. Maybe strengthening you stock axles will help them last a little longer. Swapping over to dana 44's is a big amount of fab work and cost. I say just run what you have and slowly start pushing into the harder trails. You will eventually find what is your weak links and can slowly start building up your rig to hit those trails and make it thru.
 
Stock axles, 4.88, 33s and 4.5" will take you far as long as you drive smart on and off-road. Granted I would have gone 4.56, but you have what you have. Pick good lines, be smart and always leave your ego at home. Like others said, give yourself time, let your Jeep amaze you, then when you can't take the yearning in your gut any more, upgrade. Troll for sale ads for complete axles with the mods you already want (they're out there!), sell your axles whole and keep wheeling. I was lucky enough to find a Ford 8.8 already re-geared to 4.56 when I was ready, and I sold my regeared stocker with 4.56. Be patient - good things will happen.
 
Thanks for the responses. I was on the fence about what I wanted to do but I think I will keep the setup I have and strengthen up my current setup down the road with chromoly axles, sleeves, diff guard etc..

However, if I do happen to grenade my gears do you guys think my lockers would survive? I have a Detroit in the rear and from what I understand they are pretty sturdy.


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Depends on what happens. Gears not so much but an axle snapping can do some damage. There is still a lot of debate on the whole gear thing but plenty of people run 4.88s without issues. I think you'll be fine.
 
Depends on what happens. Gears not so much but an axle snapping can do some damage. There is still a lot of debate on the whole gear thing but plenty of people run 4.88s without issues. I think you'll be fine.



Good to know. I would rather invest in better axles than rework stuff that already been done (gears).


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nothing wrong w/ the 8.25 , i put alloy shafts & disc brakes on mine w/ 4.56, detroit locker & run 35's. wheel it hard w/ no problems. the hp 30 i did sleeves , gussets , truss & alloy shafts w/ a e- locker, no problems , but you gotta respect the dana 30.
 
nothing wrong w/ the 8.25 , i put alloy shafts & disc brakes on mine w/ 4.56, detroit locker & run 35's. wheel it hard w/ no problems. the hp 30 i did sleeves , gussets , truss & alloy shafts w/ a e- locker, no problems , but you gotta respect the dana 30.



I have Ten Factory shafts in the rear axle so I am thinking it is probably strong enough as is, but I will probably do something similar to your setup in the front. Not sure if I will do truss or not (depends how much work it is) but I am probably going to do chromoly axles in the D30 with inner axle sleeves and upgrade c-gussets.


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Im at 4.5" lift on 33s for now. planning on going to 35s in the future. like they said, drive smart. ive seen a D60 snap a shaft on the same trail that I was on. and I was 4.5" lift and 235/75R15s. guess who was bouncing the rev limiter and who wasn't? The 8.25 is an over looked axle. and you don't see too many of them snapped. put stout diff covers on both axles, truss and sleeve them and you will be good. biggest thing to keep in mind is if something is going to break, try to leave a weak point that is easy to fix on the trail. you can upgrade everything but if you blow a transmission or a transfer case on the trail you are SOL. and your lockers will more than likely be ok. I've seen plenty of snapped axles and messed up ring gears but I haven't seen a Detroit fail. I don't think I've ever personally seen a good lunchbox locker fail either.
 
I'm running locked F/R as well and just got done pricing 35s. Damn they're high! Still at 4.5 but going to 6.5 soon.

Drive with technique and choose your lines wisely. You'll quickly learn to out wheel bigger rigs, it's quite fun. I ran circles around a JK on 36s last time out.

My current line of thought is break what ya got! Then upgrade.

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I'm running locked F/R as well and just got done pricing 35s. Damn they're high! Still at 4.5 but going to 6.5 soon.

Drive with technique and choose your lines wisely. You'll quickly learn to out wheel bigger rigs, it's quite fun. I ran circles around a JK on 36s last time out.

My current line of thought is break what ya got! Then upgrade.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk



Thats kind of what I am thinking. That I will make what I have work until it breaks then upgrade to D44’s..

That said, I already have ten Factory shafts in the rear which are supposed to be stronger than stock so part of me thinks I should do chromoly axles up front and sleeve it on the D30.. I have been looking at trusses and it seems like a lot of welding and every video I see people take all the guts out of the axle housing. So part of me thinks “I’m already locked and geared with upgraded shaft in rear might as well upgrade what I got” but the other side of me says “by the time I sleeve and truss my D30 with C gusset reinforcement and chromoly axles I will have spent as much time and money as going to D44”

So idk lol

I think the one big reason to stick with what I got is I am happy with my current lift and tires and if I went to D44 I would end up going bigger lift and tires.


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D30: sleeved and locked as well. Bought the C gussets but didn't put them on as they weren't what I was expecting. I ended up with the kind that go inside the C instead of on the face of it. Didn't really like that style so I didn't put them on. my wheeling style (rocks and ledges) isn't tough on C's

Also weld the long tube to the pumpkin. Typically break on pass side.

Ah 44s. yes, I want them, just not bad enough to essentially start over. I'm at 4.5" on 33s. will probably go to 6.5 very soon. I've got a few other issues to tighten up before I'm ready for 44s anyway. want to long arm/3 link front, tire carrier and a few other odds and ends before I dump cash into axles.
 
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