Battle of the Dana 44 Axle Upgrades

[word302]

Not mine but from a group I’ma member of. I’m definitely doing tons on mine.

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[Moto_21]

Not mine but from a group I’ma member of. I’m definitely doing tons on mine.

Eh slap some jb weld on it, good to go

 

[Ryanfold]

Did you end up replacing your axle? I'm in the same boat as you except it's my OEM rubicon front axle. Slight bend at the FAD housing as well.

Considered going with a UD44 but I just couldn't make the right deal happen and the costs all-in with regearing the rear were high. I finally pulled the trigger on an axle from California Truck Salvage in Fontana. He was able to order me a fresh one from mopar for a better price than the dealers could. Right now I plan on throwing a rusty's or artec truss on and swapping my stock drag link/tie rod with Synergy ones as the impact that bent my axle certainly stressed the crap out of the stock units.

Funny is the salvage spot had a slightly bent but otherwise complete front JL Rubicon D44 hanging around he's been trying to sell on the cheap - yours?

Funny you should ask! this just happened to me yesterday out of the blue driving done the road from my house. So lucky I wasn't on the highway, I would have been dead.

 

[Ryanfold]

Not mine but from a group I’ma member of. I’m definitely doing tons on mine.

Yep, happened in the same place as me!

 

[av8or]

Yikes!

 

[jessedacri]

Funny you should ask! this just happened to me yesterday out of the blue driving done the road from my house. So lucky I wasn't on the highway, I would have been dead.

damn! That’s what I’m worried about with mine and why I ended up pulling the trigger to get one here asap. glad that happened on an ordinary road for sure.

I’ve been having a hard time finding an axle within 800 miles of here, and the backorders thru mopar parts dealers aren’t being filled fast but California Truck Salvage found 2 new complete OEM rubicon axles in Milwaukee ready to ship. I ordered one yesterday for $2800 out the door cash price but he said he’s going to order the second one as well because they’ve been hard to come by. I’m sure he’d do the same deal if you’re looking for a stock one again. Said it’d be here within 7 working days. going to get it and truss it before I put it under.

If you can wait a few weeks, Moto_21 has an ultimate 44 coming off his rig for sale!

 

[CarbonSteel]

Not mine but from a group I’ma member of. I’m definitely doing tons on mine.

I assume a truss would help prevent this?

 

[word302]

I assume a truss would help prevent this?

It would help, but I wouldn’t spend the money to put a bandaid on a weak axle.

 

[Trill]

Sucks that they let you order a UD44 bare housing for a JK for under $1k and swap all your stuff over. This seems like an even more prudent upgrade on a JL but I don't think it's offered. The only thing I can think of is getting on the phone with a big dana vendor like ECGS and see if they can work some magic to get you a housing.

 

[CarbonSteel]

It would help, but I wouldn’t spend the money to put a bandaid on a weak axle.

It seems like it would be a good compromise (and security) for someone (like me) who does some wheeling but not for someone who drives off cliffs...

 

[jessedacri]

It seems like it would be a good compromise (and security) for someone (like me) who does some wheeling but not for someone who drives off cliffs...

There are tons of rigs running with no issues, so I'd agree. I only bent mine because I had to ditch off a dirt road at 35mph into roughage to avoid a speeding dirt biker. Essentially an accident, and it felt like one. I was sure something would have been snapped in half when I got out to check the damage.

Not everyone's got 1 ton money although we all wish we did, and having priced out the aftermarket options you're looking at ~$4500 for the complete axle and then another grand to regear your rear to match as the aftermarket options come in 4.56 and up. Gone are the JK days of being able to just buy a better housing and swap your internals in, no idea why that option is no longer a thing.

I'm going the route of $2800 + probably $400 for the truss installed for a stronger setup. I don't mind the 4.10s at all, I'm a light 2 door on 35s. Also, I'll now have an entirely complete spare axle in the garage to pull shafts, gears, E-locker, and knuckles from if I bust something, as the only thing damaged on my axle is the housing. Some probably would have just spent the extra couple grand but eh, work isn't like it used to be after covid.

 

[word302]

It seems like it would be a good compromise (and security) for someone (like me) who does some wheeling but not for someone who drives off cliffs...

Unfortunately I don’t think it takes much abuse to bend or break one of these things and by the time you add stronger shafts/knuckles/ball joints and pay someone a fair amount of coin to properly weld up a truss you’r a good portion of the way there to a much stronger setup. Buy once, cry once.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Unfortunately I don’t think it takes much abuse to bend or break one of these things and by the time you add stronger shafts/knuckles/ball joints and pay someone a fair amount of coin to properly weld up a truss you’r a good portion of the way there to a much stronger setup. Buy once, cry once.

I typically am the first in line with "buy once, cry once" methodology, but in this case I will be going the truss route because (for me) it does not make sense to dive into a UD44 or larger axle. If, in the end, I break my stock D44 I will look at replacing it at that point in time.

 

[word302]

I typically am the first in line with "buy once, cry once" methodology, but in this case I will be going the truss route because (for me) it does not make sense to dive into a UD44 or larger axle. If, in the end, I break my stock D44 I will look at replacing it at that point in time.

Hopefully it works out for you. Make sure whoever welds your truss has plenty of experience welding on axles.

 

[CarbonSteel]

Hopefully it works out for you. Make sure whoever welds your truss has plenty of experience welding on axles.

Yep; I only trust @rustyshakelford to work on my Jeep.

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