Vaulter09
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Seattle, WA
In the great words of Charles Barkley: That's a turrible turrible idea.
Forget the 44, and find yourself a front 60.. even if its a passenger side low pinion one (and run a dana 300).
While i will admit I am harder on my toys than most people are (but I am willing to pay to play..) I have broken my (formarly Goatmans) front 44 five times in the last six months, two of them being 'big' failures.
The first time out I broke a hub, on the first trail i drove, on the first rock. Lets credit that one to the prior owner, but still a 44 with 37's.
The second time out I broke a caliper mount and caliper (wtf?), and tore up a spindle. I'm not entirely sure how that one happened, but a lot of people had been bashing on the rig a bit all weekend.
The third time I busted a CTM and a balljoint. I wasn't being too stupid, just backing up with the weight of the rig on a front tire (a rear had flat'd and I was backing out of a climb).
Then.. Another hub. I'll take the blame on that one.
Last weekend I *destroyed* the short side inner, its in 4 pieces. I was in sort dirt, not out on the rocks, and it just caught right and exploded.
I've got a 60 sitting in the garage waiting to go in. Do yourself a favor and do the same.
x2! Back a few years ago I could not find the D60 I wanted so I said I'll do a 44 and baby it. I was looking for the video on youtube of my inner axle going but could not find it. Trust me when I tell you that building a 44 is no cheaper then a d60 except you loose a lot of time in money when you do it twice. I had close to $3K in my D44 over the course of 2 years. Now if you have to go D44 leave the 37's for the D60 and run 35's. Your axle will thank you. For what its worth you have a few guys in here that have done it both ways and we are jsut trying to help you learn from our mi$takes.
A local TJ guy I've wheeled with a few times runs 37's on a locked LP D30. He's never busted a shaft.
As much as we all like to believe that bullet/bomdproof axles are a must for anything bigger than a 33" tire, it simply isn't true
More often than not, front axle carnage is more a result of driver error (bad line or heavy on the skinny peddle) than it is about weak components.
My $.02:
Carry spare shafts and u-joints and know how to change them.
Wheel your rig with open diffs first to learn what it is capable of.
Pick your lines wisely and use a spotter that knows what the heck they are doing.
Articulation beats brute force.
For the love of Gawd, AIR DOWN!!!
Forget the 44, and find yourself a front 60.. even if its a passenger side low pinion one (and run a dana 300).
While i will admit I am harder on my toys than most people are (but I am willing to pay to play..) I have broken my (formarly Goatmans) front 44 five times in the last six months, two of them being 'big' failures.
The first time out I broke a hub, on the first trail i drove, on the first rock. Lets credit that one to the prior owner, but still a 44 with 37's.
The second time out I broke a caliper mount and caliper (wtf?), and tore up a spindle. I'm not entirely sure how that one happened, but a lot of people had been bashing on the rig a bit all weekend.
The third time I busted a CTM and a balljoint. I wasn't being too stupid, just backing up with the weight of the rig on a front tire (a rear had flat'd and I was backing out of a climb).
Then.. Another hub. I'll take the blame on that one.
Last weekend I *destroyed* the short side inner, its in 4 pieces. I was in sort dirt, not out on the rocks, and it just caught right and exploded.
I've got a 60 sitting in the garage waiting to go in. Do yourself a favor and do the same.
Last year's Ultimate adventure saw an XJ on 37s with an LS1 swapped running a D30 front run the whole course, wheel as hard as everyone else and make it through as one of the few to have absolutely zero carnage. So, yes, it is quite possible to wheel a D30 through extreme terrain and survive, it just takes a good driver and care when choosing lines.running 37's on a dana 30 is retarded. Wheeling deliberately instead of flogging is sound advice, i agree. Seeing someone with all throttle not make it up an obstical that a smart wheeler can crawl without even spinning a tire is always entertaining. That being said, I think most guys have a stronger axle than the 30 because its obviously less likley to break. Isnt that a good thing? Its not just a reason to wheel with the skinny pedal.
One more thing: I have seen my buddy on 37's and a hp 44 do things and go places imposible to acomplish on a dana 30
Last year's Ultimate adventure saw an XJ on 37s with an LS1 swapped running a D30 front run the whole course, wheel as hard as everyone else and make it through as one of the few to have absolutely zero carnage. So, yes, it is quite possible to wheel a D30 through extreme terrain and survive, it just takes a good driver and care when choosing lines.
Would I do it? Probably not, I don't have as much faith in my D30, but he managed to make it survive big tires, big power, and big rocks covered in mud with no breakage.