How do the alloy axle manu compare (Superior, Warn, Yukon, Dutchman, Moser, etc)?

[woody]

One thing not addressed is housing flex and the attendant destruction of the R&P. Granted one must be really mean to a 30 to bend/distort it, but it can happen... a little added metal to truss one up will help.

Another thing not addressed is the availability of those new 30 spline crmo stubs/unit hubs for the 30. Real pricy though @ $600/pr approx. Team those up with some good inners and Longfield/OX/CTM etc and as long as they weren't forced into a bind, they ought to last a long time with 35"

And at some point it may be smarter to just turn around or park & watch the others claymore their junk?

 

[Big Red]

Can you run the Superior, Warn, Yukon, or Dutchman alloys inner and outers without having to convert to manual hubs to keep your unibearings? I have the hp 44 and cannot justify spending $ on a manual hub kit for the dana 30. I think I might get the Yukons either from them directly or through Dutchman's import or the domestic Dutchman shafts supposedly from Superior.

I'm deciding per the positive stuff I've been hearing about the rev 30 about keeping it and adding alloy shafts and good u-joints and selling my recently acquired hp44/ford 9".
Please advise.
thanks...Troy

 

[Big Red]

One thing not addressed is housing flex and the attendant destruction of the R&P. Granted one must be really mean to a 30 to bend/distort it, but it can happen... a little added metal to truss one up will help.

Another thing not addressed is the availability of those new 30 spline crmo stubs/unit hubs for the 30. Real pricy though @ $600/pr approx. Team those up with some good inners and Longfield/OX/CTM etc and as long as they weren't forced into a bind, they ought to last a long time with 35"

And at some point it may be smarter to just turn around or park & watch the others claymore their junk?

The 30 does flex a bit because I know my arb bolts were loose and 2 came out, but I got new ones and retorqued them and added lots of lock tite and new locking tabs. Everything else looked o.k. in the diff with no damage. I added some Mobile 1 and closed her back up.

Are you referring to the Super dana 30/30 kit from Superior? Are the stub shafts $600/pair and then the inners quite a bit less? I got a quote at around $1,200 for the entire kit with an arb and $1K with a detroit. That's not a bad price considering the alloy Superior 27 spline shafts complete will be around $800 alone, they come out to just a tad over $1K with CTMs. I don't know what u-joints you get in the Super 30 kit, but I know you don't get CTMs with the kit. Otherwise that would be a great deal, you'd basicly be getting the 30 spline ARB for free!!!

Viewing the poll: I was hoping to see more seperation between the different manufactures. Lets just say, who has broken any other alloys with regularity and with what tire, etc? I know they all carry some warranty and are all made from 4340 if that's what you chose, some have 1541, I think it's called for about 15% increase over stock from Dutchman.

 

[Lodi Jim]

Warn alloy axles with the hub kit (5 on 51/2) are holding up to 35s, Detroit
and trussed axle (Pismo ready).Using Ox joints. Warn will not warranty shafts
with Ox or CTM, per conversation with their tech.

 

[Big Red]

Warn alloy axles with the hub kit (5 on 51/2) are holding up to 35s, Detroit
and trussed axle (Pismo ready).Using Ox joints. Warn will not warranty shafts
with Ox or CTM, per conversation with their tech.

What u-joint do they warranty them with? I heard they have a lifetime warranty.
Troy

 

[basalt51]

Warn alloy axles with the hub kit (5 on 51/2) are holding up to 35s, Detroit
and trussed axle (Pismo ready).Using Ox joints. Warn will not warranty shafts
with Ox or CTM, per conversation with their tech.

They won't warranty them at all, or just for failure due to u-joint failure?

Either way it'ld be pretty hard for them to prove which u-joint you were running when the axle broke.

 

[EricsXJ]

The Warn hub conversion (alloy outers) comes with 5-760x u-joints, but I believe they will not honor the warranty if the breakage was due to u-joint breakage.

 

[Lodi Jim]

As stated, Warn Alloy shafts will not be warranteed if used with
u-joints other than the supplied 5-760x. They engineered the weak
link to be the u-joints. Use "bombproof" joints such as CTM or OX
and you move the designed weak link back to the axles.

 

[IntrepidXJ]

As stated, Warn Alloy shafts will not be warranteed if used with
u-joints other than the supplied 5-760x. They engineered the weak
link to be the u-joints.

So, according to the posts in this thread Warn doesn't warranty them if the u-joint goes and takes the shaft with it, and they don't warranty them if you use stronger u-joints? Then when do they warranty them?

 

[Roxtar]

So, according to the posts in this thread Warn doesn't warranty them if the u-joint goes and takes the shaft with it, and they don't warranty them if you use stronger u-joints? Then when do they warranty them?

Exactly.
That's complete BS.
What good is their warranty then. With their axles the U-joint is the weak link.
Big deal, with Spicers the U-joint is still the weak link.
Even with good high end joints the axles should still be stronger than the joint.
That makes their axles no better than Spicers. They are only as good as the weakest link, which is the same in both.
Basically, Spicers with CTMs are stronger than Warns with 760s.

 

[Big Red]

Thanks for all you comments guys. Does anyone know the warranties, if any, from the big manufactures listed here and from Alloy USA which I'm hearing about for the 1st time? What do you need to do for them to cover it (what kind of breakage/kind of u-joint you need to run etc)? At this point I think I'm leaning towards Yukons and Longfields or using Yukon's u-joint that comes with a rebuild kit and a special grease gun.
Troy

 

[Roxtar]

BTW, does anyone have a website for Alloy USA? I did a search that didn't find a listing for them.

 

[Ronbo]

http://www.alloyusa.com/

Not much on their site, yet.
I called and they referred me to various vendors that will be releasing D30 shafts in the next few weeks. www.mad4wd.com was one of them.

 

[Goatman]

Exactly.
That's complete BS.
What good is their warranty then. With their axles the U-joint is the weak link.
Big deal, with Spicers the U-joint is still the weak link.
Even with good high end joints the axles should still be stronger than the joint.
That makes their axles no better than Spicers. They are only as good as the weakest link, which is the same in both.
Basically, Spicers with CTMs are stronger than Warns with 760s.

Big misunderstanding here......

A 760x axle u-joint that is full circle clipped or tack welded is as strong or stronger than the ears on a Spicer axle yoke. In most situations the ears shear off the yokes and the joint may or may not break. The yokes will also stretch around the u-joint caps leading to that type of failure. A 760x joint used with a chrmo axle is much stronger because the yokes are so much stronger, won't stretch or shear off, so the joint becomes the weak link again. Additionally, I've never seen an axle joint break and not also take out the Spicer yokes, but a chrmo axle will usually not be damaged by a broken joint, so only the u-joint needs to be replaced. Using a CTM or OX u-joint on a Spicer axle is a waste since the axle yokes will break way before the u-joint does. If someone just can't spring for the CTM or OX, and doesn't run over 35" tires, a snap ringed 760x joint on chromo axles is not a bad way to go, and a cryogenically treated 760x joint is even better. Of course, by the time you buy a cryo'd 760 you aren't that far from the price of a Longfield.

It makes sense that Warn won't warrenty their axles if it's not the axles fault. They want you to send them the broken axle so they can inspect it. If the yokes are all beat up from driving on a broken axle joint, they're not going to warrenty it.......which is what was happening at first with these shafts. If you break a joint, stop immediately and fix it (you risk breaking the knuckle if you drive, anyway), and the Warn shaft should be OK. I hadn't heard that they wouldn't warrenty a broken shaft if you're running super u-joints, but I can't blame them. When those shafts were originally put on the market, there were no CTM's or OX joints, and the axles were made to be stronger than the 297x/760x u-joints.

Earlier this year FarmerMatt broke the yoke on a Warn shaft, and they warrentied it with no problem.

 

[FarmerMatt]

Warn warrentied this without a problem. I did have to send in the pieces... I wish I could have kept it. It was a great conversation piece.

Matt

 

[FarmerMatt]

Warn alloy axles with the hub kit (5 on 51/2) are holding up to 35s, Detroit
and trussed axle (Pismo ready).Using Ox joints. Warn will not warranty shafts
with Ox or CTM, per conversation with their tech.

Jim, their tech can say anything they want, all I care is what's stated in the warrenty. I don't believe it's stated anywhere that their warrenty only apply's to spicer u joints. What about NAPA joints? Besides how are they to know if you're running other joints? you only send in the broken shafts. They warrentied mine & I'm running Longfeilds...

Matt

 

[ECKSJAY]

Jim, their tech can say anything they want, all I care is what's stated in the warrenty. I don't believe it's stated anywhere that their warrenty only apply's to spicer u joints. What about NAPA joints? Besides how are they to know if you're running other joints? you only send in the broken shafts. They warrentied mine & I'm running Longfeilds...

Matt

Exactly. Direct from their 04-05 catalog, Page 53:

WARN axle shafts have proven more robust than stock axles and will normally survive a U-joint failure. They are warrantied for the life of the original owner against all manufacturer's defects. However, because of individual driving styles, Warn Industries will not warranty damaged axle yokes that were the result of a U-joint failure.

 

[BIGWOODY]

Warn warrentied my outters with CTMs.......problem was they had to do it about 4 times if that tells ya anything....but with 35's or 36's they should hold up fine...CTM warrentied their joints.....3 times

 

[Rockram]

I'm running Warn shafts and CTM joints, Dana 44, 35" ssr's, 258, crawl ratio 78:1 with no problems.

 

[EricsXJ]

crawl ratio 78:1

How the heck do you get a crawl ratio that low?