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Suggested Upgrades after upgrading to 39” Tires?

ChattVol

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Most of the stuff I listed is tied together. If you get 1 ton axles you will need a different tie rod, drag link, and drive shafts than what will work with your stock axles. So if you buy those now and then upgrade axles, you will need to replace all that stuff again. Same with regearing... if you regear your stock axles and then end up replacing them, that's also a waste.

It sounds like you're not really ready to do axles at the moment so personally I would stick with what you have, and take it easy on the trails. Then just triage stuff as it breaks, if it breaks. And like I said before it's entirely possible you will never break anything depending on the type of trails you do, and your driving style. Basically, if you stick to trails that a stock rubicon could do, you should be ok. It's only when you start doing stuff that is a challenge with 37s (or 39s in your case) then you have to watch out.

To give you some sort of reference, I wheeled the hell out of my rig with 37s and stock axles on this trail many times. But the first time I did this tail, I bent an axle flange and chipped 2 ring gear teeth. Just look around and see what kind of rigs are out there on the trail you're doing. If you see full bodied trucks, FJs, TJs on 33s, you should be fine. If all you see is a bunch of buggies on 40s then get ready to break something. Right now you are over-tired and under-axled... so pick your lines based on what your axles can handle, not your tires.
Good input...would be tough to lift 3.5" and invest in 39s to simply run trails they could've done in a stock rubi. One could beef up the d44s...what about RCV's and gussets/truss's?

I'd love to hear more about the circumstances surrounding how you broke the teeth and axle flange. Auto or 6 speed?
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Good input...would be tough to lift 3.5" and invest in 39s to simply run trails they could've done in a stock rubi. One could beef up the d44s...what about RCV's and gussets/truss's?

I'd love to hear more about the circumstances surrounding how you broke the teeth and axle flange. Auto or 6 speed?
I think a lot of people upgrade their rigs just to make the trails they do easier... not necessarily so they can run harder trails. Some people just like to bulldoze over stuff, nothing wrong with that at all. And a stock rubi is ridiculously capable, I don't think a lot of people realize what kind of stuff they can do out of the box. Spend too much time web wheelin and you'll think you need 35s and 37s to run rutted out fire roads.

I wouldn't run RCVs because they are indestructible. That might sound good, but that just means something else will break instead. And that "something else" is probably a lot more expensive than an axle shaft. I never ran or knew anyone that ran gussets or trusses so I can't comment on that. Seems like a truss that strengthens the FAD area might be a good idea, but I'm not an engineer.

No idea exactly how I broke teeth and bent a flange. I heard a clicking noise on my way home and figured it had to do with the bent flange. I replaced the shaft, but still heard a clicking, so I pulled the cover and there were broken teeth. And thus concluded my adventures in trying to run 37s on dana 44s. I did have a prorock 44 front axle and that never gave me any problems (besides unit bearings, but that has nothing to do with the PR44). But the front axle generally does less work than the rear. So you can get away with a 44 front, but I would for sure go with a full float 1 ton rear end. But then we are talking 2 different bolt patterns, or running wheel adapters in the front. And you still have the weaker 44 unit bearings and ball joints. So I'd just run tons front and rear.

This was a 6 speed btw. No clutch dumping or anything like that, I had a really good crawl ratio at the time. Just an issue of too much traction and not enough beef.
 

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I think a lot of people upgrade their rigs just to make the trails they do easier... not necessarily so they can run harder trails. Some people just like to bulldoze over stuff, nothing wrong with that at all. And a stock rubi is ridiculously capable, I don't think a lot of people realize what kind of stuff they can do out of the box. Spend too much time web wheelin and you'll think you need 35s and 37s to run rutted out fire roads.

I wouldn't run RCVs because they are indestructible. That might sound good, but that just means something else will break instead. And that "something else" is probably a lot more expensive than an axle shaft. I never ran or knew anyone that ran gussets or trusses so I can't comment on that. Seems like a truss that strengthens the FAD area might be a good idea, but I'm not an engineer.

No idea exactly how I broke teeth and bent a flange. I heard a clicking noise on my way home and figured it had to do with the bent flange. I replaced the shaft, but still heard a clicking, so I pulled the cover and there were broken teeth. And thus concluded my adventures in trying to run 37s on dana 44s. I did have a prorock 44 front axle and that never gave me any problems (besides unit bearings, but that has nothing to do with the PR44). But the front axle generally does less work than the rear. So you can get away with a 44 front, but I would for sure go with a full float 1 ton rear end. But then we are talking 2 different bolt patterns, or running wheel adapters in the front. And you still have the weaker 44 unit bearings and ball joints. So I'd just run tons front and rear.

This was a 6 speed btw. No clutch dumping or anything like that, I had a really good crawl ratio at the time. Just an issue of too much traction and not enough beef.
Thanks...Was this on jl d44's or a jk?
 

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JK rear 44 with ARB locker with 35 spline revolution shafts and 5.13 revolution gears, installed by me, everything done to spec.
Gotcha...I talked with Dana before I did an axle swap on the jl and they claimed the jl d44 is stronger than the jk.
 

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Gotcha...I talked with Dana before I did an axle swap on the jl and they claimed the jl d44 is stronger than the jk.
Hopefully that is the case since I'm sticking with 44s on my JL. I know the ring gear is smaller and there is a lower hypoid offset so all else being equal, JL would be weaker. But if they can manage deflection better than they did on the JK, the total package could end up being stronger. The larger pinion shaft on the JL should help with that.
 
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Dreadnought_Leviathan

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Most of the stuff I listed is tied together. If you get 1 ton axles you will need a different tie rod, drag link, and drive shafts than what will work with your stock axles. So if you buy those now and then upgrade axles, you will need to replace all that stuff again. Same with regearing... if you regear your stock axles and then end up replacing them, that's also a waste.

It sounds like you're not really ready to do axles at the moment so personally I would stick with what you have, and take it easy on the trails. Then just triage stuff as it breaks, if it breaks. And like I said before it's entirely possible you will never break anything depending on the type of trails you do, and your driving style. Basically, if you stick to trails that a stock rubicon could do, you should be ok. It's only when you start doing stuff that is a challenge with 37s (or 39s in your case) then you have to watch out.

To give you some sort of reference, I wheeled the hell out of my rig with 37s and stock axles on this trail many times. But the first time I did this tail, I bent an axle flange and chipped 2 ring gear teeth. Just look around and see what kind of rigs are out there on the trail you're doing. If you see full bodied trucks, FJs, TJs on 33s, you should be fine. If all you see is a bunch of buggies on 40s then get ready to break something. Right now you are over-tired and under-axled... so pick your lines based on what your axles can handle, not your tires.
Excellent! Thanks for this advice. Exactly what I needed.
 
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Dreadnought_Leviathan

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Many of those mods in your signature offer absolutely no real benefit and are basically a waste of money.
I disagree. I’m very happy with the upgrades and the money I spent has been worth it. Off-roading wasn’t initially a priority for me, but it became one as time went on. Throwing more at axles will be a longer term kind of thing. This thing is my toy.
 
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Dreadnought_Leviathan

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Dreadnought_Leviathan

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Will you post pics of your rig on 39" km3's? Love that those tires are load c. Is your garage page updated with what you've done so far? I'm curious about the cost of your big ticket mods.
Shocks were $2K, suspension was another $2K. Wheels and tires were around $3K.

A lot of the money I’ve spent has been on install costs and repairs. It wasn’t just upgrades as I previously stated, but also repair costs as well.
 

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$1585.00, that included the gears. Best upgrade for the money in my opinion. Actually stays in 8th gear on the hwy. 4 low is way better, just let off the gas and it starts to climb. Extra bonus is 1 to 2 miles per gallon better fuel mileage.
 

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Shocks were $2K, suspension was another $2K. Wheels and tires were around $3K.

A lot of the money I’ve spent has been on install costs and repairs. It wasn’t just upgrades as I previously stated, but also repair costs as well.

I'd invest in some tools and learn to do some of your own stuff. If your going to wheel it a lot you'll likely need some of these tools/skills to get you back to the trailhead.

I speak from experience. I had no tools a few years ago and had to rely on others to fix or install my shit. I'm by no means a mechanic but I'm comfortable working on my rigs now. Driving home with the wheel upside down because I didnt have the knowledge or tools to fix it sucks.
 
 



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