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Interesting article from Yukon/Randy's about development of aftermarket JL gears

OBJLU

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How do these compare with Dana/Spicer? I'm guessing they updated the alloy to match now.
 

ChattVol

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New Jeep JL platform provides design
challenges in the automotive aftermarket


The new JL platform from Jeep quickly became one of the significant introductions from carmakers in many years. Like every other Jeep platform, opportunities for aftermarket manufacturers to modify, lift, and design came quickly after the introduction. For aftermarket drivetrain engineers, working on the new Jeep JL platform provided with design challenges when it came to the ring and pinions. The JL launched with a new set of differentials including the D44JL Rear (M220), D44JL Front (M210) & D35JL (M200). Factory Engineers had designed the ring & pinions for higher efficiencies. Whether this had to do with increased mileage requirement or powertrain revisions, differential modifications were required throughout the platform.

From a design perspective, this factory revision denotes a decrease in the hypoid offset from previous JK designs resulting in a smaller pinion head diameter with increased loading on the teeth. Stronger alloys, most notably an increase in the nickel content, are required to handle the increased loads. Most aftermarket manufacturers recognized the design change, that was the easy part. Only Yukon recognized that the design change required improvements to the metallurgy as well.

Recognizing the significant changes in the OE gears for the JL platform, Yukon Engineers examined countless material and heat treatment options to effectively deal with the new hypoid offset. Yukon realized the need to manufacture the JL ring & pinion line with a premium higher strength 4320 material to hold up to the abuse and provide even higher strength than the JK. A year later, after testing Yukon against other aftermarket brands, it appears that Yukon was the only aftermarket company to move to the higher strength material and produce the strongest aftermarket gears associated with Jeep JL line.
*An increase in the Nickel content (Ni) provides higher tensile and yield strength and improved impact properties.
**Aftermarket competitors benchmarked for JL gears show use of lower Nickel (Ni) materials.
***Tensile and Yield strengths are approximate
Providing top-of-the-line drivetrain products has been the goal of Yukon Gear & Axle since the beginning. Yukon quality labs and engineers go the extra mile to provide our customers a product they can trust. A rich history of designing and manufacturing the highest quality products has never been more important as shown with the Jeep JL and JT platforms where once again, the attention to detail placed Yukon on the top. Yukon’s selection of products from gears, traction, driveshafts, kits, and covers to name a few, are the highest quality in the industry and the brand continues to exceed industry standards.
Thanks for posting. I'd love to see who they tested against....also like to know if other gear MFG's have upgraded.
 

Coolbaldguy

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How do these compare with Dana/Spicer? I'm guessing they updated the alloy to match now.
They have likely have considerably much more R&D time developing these axles than any aftermarket company could have trying to copy their gear designs.

This "article" is purely Yukon marketing material.
 

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OBJLU

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They have likely have considerably much more R&D time developing these axles than any aftermarket company could have trying to copy their gear designs.

This "article" is purely Yukon marketing material.
I put the Dana gears in mine because of that too
 

ChattVol

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I'd agree with this....in spite of me being the one that posted it. My take is that Yukon's claiming that their gears for the JL are of higher quality that other aftermarket mfgs. No idea if that's true or not, but that's the claim and up to the consumer to decide.

When someone reading this thread asked yesterday via PM, I told him to go with genuine Dana/Spicer gears for the JL....they are making them in several deeper ratios.
After thinking about it, I think this type of marketing is bush league and you cant infer anything bc they dont name the competition or provide details on how this "comparative study" was conducted. There is no accountability...For all we know, they could've cherrypicked an obscure shadetree gear MFG in Timbuktu making prototypes. If anything, this steers me away from Yukon considering they feel the need to release this article.:stop:
 

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After thinking about it, I think this type of marketing is bush league and you cant infer anything bc they dont name the competition or provide details on how this "comparative study" was conducted. There is no accountability...For all we know, they could've cherrypicked an obscure shadetree gear MFG in Timbuktu making prototypes. If anything, this steers me away from Yukon considering they feel the need to release this article.:stop:
I would agree with your thoughts. Without releasing the test criteria showing how they both arrived at the need, what they did to fill the need, and how that change performed afterwards, (in the words of Billy Joel), it's still marketing to me...

Dana/Spicer designed the axle and I would choose their gears over any others.
 

ChattVol

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Since Yukon is owned by Randy's and they sell tons of different types of gears, from value lines to OEM, I think you're incorrect. Yukon has built a brand by manufacturing overseas, but having very good quality control and specifications for their parts. The Zip Locker is a great example...as is the Grizzly that is a huge improvement on the dog clutch design in the Detroit.

If you want to knock Yukon b/c they employ foreign labor....I can agree with that argument. However, there's a huge cost savings which makes their products a good choice for those without unlimited funds.
Because we don't know who they tested against, let's hypothetically say Yukon did this strength test against 2 of their "value lines". However, they "elected" to not test against Dana or G2. What are the takeaways? My point is....it's marketing fluff without substance.
 

2Wheel-Lee

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One other thing to consider....depending on where you buy and what your relationship is with the seller, you can often get OEM gears for the same price or cheaper than aftermarket. If that's the case on the JL....it doesn't make sense to go with anything but Dana/Spicer.
I bought one set of my Spicer 5.13 gears for about $208 and the other set for for about $219, so you're right about being able to get great pricing on Spicer. I bought both sets on Amazon. I've checked a number of times since, and it seems the posted price fluctuates from month to month - sometimes more, sometimes about the same (I don't think I've seen less). One reason I like the Spicers as a DIYer, is the depth etching on the pinion reduces setup time.
 

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I remember something to the like back in the 80s when the squares came on the scene and later scary fuel injection.
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