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JL Rubicon Axle Question

Fat Boys

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How sturdy are the Rubicon axles? If I go to 37" tires, do I need to upgrade axles?
On my LJ 37's bent tie rods, broke the track bar, and twisted two axles. .. I appologize if this has been discussed elsewhere on the forum. Thanks.
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JIMBOX

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The DANA 44s have been upgraded/w stronger axles, but that was designed for 35"{ MAX tires-

Based on long past history with DANAs--37/38 and larger tires all are crowding 100 lbs/w the wheels and in the past DANA 60s have been the GOTO-- update, now if you're a MALLER and won't really see much off-road--they'll work for a few years, but abuse/wear/brakes lifetime will be shortened-

SUP TO YOU

W.E.

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intentsrig

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So the front axle is 32 spline inner and outer now and the rear axle is still 32 spline. The U-joints are 1350 which are strong but you can even upgrade to chromoly spicer shafts with 1410 U-joints because the knuckles now accept that large of a u joint.

The housing is thicker as well as the brackets. I say no problem for 37’s even on harder trails. Anything can brake depending on your experience and skinny pedal use!

Even the brake rotors and calipers are lager.
 

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I will be watching this post. We do some fairly serious rock crawling and would really like to put 37" tires on with our upcoming MetalCloak 3.5" lift. Am nervous about 37" because we needed serious upgrades after breaking our JK 4-door with 37"s. Might even put 35" on this one to begin with and learn from someone else's experience for a year. Whadda ya think? This will not be a Mall Crawler!
 

JIMBOX

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My comments were made on years of "BYSTANDING" experience, I've never loaded my DANA 44s with anything larger than 35" TIRES, BUT-

I've witnessed/read of DANA 44s axles breaking because of the tremendous load applied/w 37/38/40" tires--it's just a size/stress beyond the design of THAT SIZE AXLE/UNI--

Anybody can run those tires, but if you're gonna do any serious off-roading--just be aware of the POSSIBILITIES !

Good luck

JIMBO
 

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I agree to all these things, I have 10-15 trail rides on my 37's but I'm light on the skinny pedal. Lite Bright on youtube has been putting in some serious work on 38's.

Like everyone here said, eventually something will break but with these the question is still "what is it?"

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JIMBOX

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YUP and that's what it's all about--

In the JL and it also helped the JKs--if you have the AUTO tranny, that takes a small amount of STRAIN off the axles/uni's and xfer case, because---

The jeep won't have the SUDDEN/ABRUPT/ SHOCK against the running gear that the stick/clutch/gear to gear has with the stick tranny-but

When in 4lo, they're almost equal--be careful

W.E.

JIMBO
 

deitrick1

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I've had no issues on 37s and have hit a few black trails at Rausch Creek along with a red. The differences between my previous rig (2014 JKUR) and my JLUR in this department are amazing. My JL seems more capable so far. And to be honest, I find my JL doesn't get damaged on trails where my JK did. Time will certainly tell if the supporting parts will last and I am most curious to see how the ball joints will hold up. So far after 7,700 miles, and some decent trails, all seems well. But all that could change tomorrow...
 

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If you keep it light, your Jeep will longer live to fight!
 

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37 are do able but will be pushing it so keep that in mind and the skinny pedal under control.

I have wheels the piss out of my XJ on 37x13.5 on 30 spline dana 44 front and 31 spline ford 8.8, but had to build them up with chromo shafts all around. Never had an issue but good pedal control goes a long way.
 

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So for the non Rubi owners...

We have the Sahara and right now I have Rubi rims/tires on it, 2.5" RC spacer lift and will be throwing a Rubi suspension on it soon as well as an aluminum Barricade bumper and a 9500 lb winch. When these 33"ers wear out I'm thinking about 35". It is my understanding after researching that the DANA M200 has a 7.87" ring gear and NO C-Clips where as the old DANA 35 has a 7.62" ring gear and does have C-Clips, which as we all know, love to snap. So in summary the M200 is much sturdier than the 35.
Will the new M200 handle 35" tires OR should I consider a re-gear/internal upgrade or flat out M220 upgrade? We are already talking about dropping some $ and have a locking diff installed. We off road whenever possible and do a decent amount of rock crawling. And the answer to why we didn't buy a Rubi is because we didn't plan it out.
 

tCub

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So for the non Rubi owners...

We have the Sahara and right now I have Rubi rims/tires on it, 2.5" RC spacer lift and will be throwing a Rubi suspension on it soon as well as an aluminum Barricade bumper and a 9500 lb winch. When these 33"ers wear out I'm thinking about 35". It is my understanding after researching that the DANA M200 has a 7.87" ring gear and NO C-Clips where as the old DANA 35 has a 7.62" ring gear and does have C-Clips, which as we all know, love to snap. So in summary the M200 is much sturdier than the 35.
Will the new M200 handle 35" tires OR should I consider a re-gear/internal upgrade or flat out M220 upgrade? We are already talking about dropping some $ and have a locking diff installed. We off road whenever possible and do a decent amount of rock crawling. And the answer to why we didn't buy a Rubi is because we didn't plan it out.
I see this was never addressed from a few months ago... what’s the consensus on this? I’m in 100% the same boat, except with a Sport S
 

rustyshakelford

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Just did some gears with a buddy of mine in my Rubi. When we pulled the axle shafts out we were both impressed how stout they were. If I get a lick of trouble out of the front, rcv will be the first stop but until them we’re gonna run them.

Brett
 

Sheepjeep

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So for the non Rubi owners...

We have the Sahara and right now I have Rubi rims/tires on it, 2.5" RC spacer lift and will be throwing a Rubi suspension on it soon as well as an aluminum Barricade bumper and a 9500 lb winch. When these 33"ers wear out I'm thinking about 35". It is my understanding after researching that the DANA M200 has a 7.87" ring gear and NO C-Clips where as the old DANA 35 has a 7.62" ring gear and does have C-Clips, which as we all know, love to snap. So in summary the M200 is much sturdier than the 35.
Will the new M200 handle 35" tires OR should I consider a re-gear/internal upgrade or flat out M220 upgrade? We are already talking about dropping some $ and have a locking diff installed. We off road whenever possible and do a decent amount of rock crawling. And the answer to why we didn't buy a Rubi is because we didn't plan it out.
The best answer anyone can give you at this time is a educated guess there just isn't enough data points out there yet to get a good feeling of what to expect and wear over time.

But the m200 is not like the old dana 35, it is stronger in the ring gear but are both 27 spline which might be pushing it. The lack of communication clip is nice, I was a prone failure point on older Dana 35s and if you do break you can limp home with a broken stub

I would vote throw some chromo shafts in there it will beef it up and unless you are pounding hard on it should last you just fine
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