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How bad is a dana 35 realy?

K

Kevinma255

NAXJA Forum User
Location
West Milford, nj
I have an 89 4.0 with a dana 35. I am running 33s and it has seen RC greens, blues and the little section of black by Pizza Rock. after all of this it drove back to the trailer with no problems. I do plan to eventually upgrade this thing but for now it is a cheap off road only jeep.

Was I just lucky or do people bad mouth these for no reason?
 
Weak housing, weak tubes, small ring gear, 27 spline shafts, c-clips = crappy axle for offroading.

I'm sure lots of people wheel them just fine and may not break them. Driving style also comes into play as well. They have a multitude of weak points which is why they tend to break often. However, if you're on a budget, I would just weld the tubes, carry a spare set of shafts, and keep wheeling it.
 
I know I'm going to break mine next time out for saying this, but, if you're easy on it, and that's not to say that I baby mine, but, if you are, it should be fine. I've have for almost 200K and it's still going strong. I tow with it and wheel with it pretty regularly. That being said, the 33's+rocks will take out a good axle if you're rough with it.
 
I have a friend who has truxus 31s, locked F&R, and a really really heavy right foot and for some reason has managed to avoid breaking his!! It won't last forever though....

Another guy with no lockers and 33s seems to break the yokes off of them all the time, even Ubolt style ones. He only has 3" of lift too!!

An 8.25 can be had for cheap!! Even the 27 spline is much better than a D35. I would get one if I were you!!
 
My brothers wife has an d35 on her zj runnin 33s and she runs pretty much all the blues and some blacks at RC and it is holding up really good.
 
there is a 35 on my rig and the previous owner beat the hell out of it at RC. he has been going for the last few years. I went on one occasion and we went everywhere the other guys did. this with 35x12.50s. I ended up blowing it out but only because i ran it dry and froze a spider on it before i could get it home. I understand the whole d44 and 8.25 etc but i have been checking around and can get d35s all day long at the yard for $50. alot easier on the wallet to buy 6 of these. for the price of one d44. just my opinion now. I know i am planning on upgrading eventually but under current conditions I cant afford to so the 35 works for me!
 
I beat the shit out of mine with a stroker and 33's and it is still very solid. I do have a 9" in the works though. I will stand up to mild wheeling and DD stuff like a champ. Everyone bad mouths it, but it usually come down to if you were using it as it was designed to be used. If you lock it and run 35's on extreme offroad situations, you will probably have problems. If you mostly dd and do some light wheeling and towing it will be fine.

edit: really actually has 2 "L"s in it too, just fyi
 
Giviner said:
Weak housing, weak tubes, small ring gear, 27 spline shafts, c-clips = crappy axle for offroading.
.
Click to expand...


actually most d35's were not c-clip axles, in fact the "c" in D35c stands for custom, not c-clip,

and i drove mine around on 33 12.50s for a long time and wheeled it unforgivingly, without incident. in fact id still have that axle if it werent for a seized wheel bearing...that happened from old age, not axle weakness
 
I beat the crap out of mine with 31"s, it makes all kinds of noises, its on its way out. but i find its been really reliable, especially when parked due to other things going out first:laugh:
 
bluejeepkid said:
actually most d35's were not c-clip axles,
Click to expand...

All AMC Dana 35s were retained bearings. Sometime after Chysler bought Jeep, the Dana 35s started showing up with C-Clips. I am not sure of where the year break is, but that contnued as long as Chysler used the Dana 35.

So, no, most Dana 35 axles are C-Clip.

My 1st 2 XJs had Dana 35s as well as my YJ. I have not experienced a broken Dana 35 axle failure.
 
It just saw RC for a third time. No problems and no bad noises. I was expecting to have a problem because I was running with the green/Blue group and making a point to run all the black rock gardens along the way. I only used one bypass and I wish I had tried it, loose rocks and a very steep step. Next time I will have a spare set of shafts with me and give it a shot.

Thanks for the input everyone, I feel a lot better knowing not everyone has problems with these axles.
 
It's an 89 so as previously stated it's not c-clip.

The C stood for custom meaning not finished from the factory I have read.

The axle will hold for now but as soon as you start getting into those rocks and really get some pressure back there your going to lose it.
Don't get me wrong the axle is fine for road and some offroad use but those tires are major stress factors. Good luck.

I'd start building a ford 8.8 or get a 8.25 from the junk yard.
 
IMO, the D35 gets a worse reputation than it deserves (depending on the type of wheeling you do and the driver). If you don't expect to keep up with guys on 38" tires and are smart with the throttle, the D35 can handle a little abuse. That being said, I wouldn't go over 33" tires and a selectable locker. It has more to do with the driver than it does the terrain. If you are good at picking lines - a D35 with good shafts can get you there. If you are a "line it up and gun it" driver - the D35 is not for you. For most people I would recommend to not put any $$ into the D35 and get a D44.

*Edit* - Two more points: 1) Learn to wheel with the D35 before you spend $$ on a new axle. 2)I would also recommend to always carry spare D35 shafts if you run one.
 
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