D60
Well-Known Member
Oh my god thank you!!!JFYI, I ran 5.38s on a D44 with heavy bias ply 38s, chromoly axles, ARB front, Detroit rear and 227:1 gearing and wheeled the living piss out of that rig. Granted, it was lighter than a JLUR, but breaking pinions was NEVER an issue in spite of the theory that having chromoly axles would move the weak link to the R&P. I broke 1 axle at the ujoint on that set up (tigged caps) and spun a cap after the weld broke...wheeled it like that 26 weekends per year (often both days) for about 3-4 years.
This whole pinion tooth count thing is overstated. If you set up your gears correctly (I normally set mine up on the tighter side of the spec so the backlash can't cause as much driveline wind up, which IMO, is what generally breaks things anyway)....you don't have that much risk of breaking R&Ps. Besides, it's more likely to break teeth off the ring than the pinion anyway due to the fact that torque multiplication always takes place AFTER the last gear drive.
Once people actually start snapping pinions, let me know. This argument is used all the time trying to claim the 9" is better than a D70 because the pinion is larger.
This is like saying a Kia Sorrento is better than a Wrangler because it has a stronger.....air conditioner button
But OP, no you are not crazy. Worst case you get slightly worse mileage. Might as well go 5% deeper at 5.38
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