regearing causes axle tube flex?

[Tim]

So I called a local 4WD shop to inquire about regearing my Gladiator and they cautioned me saying these new Dana 44s are not as strong as the pre-2018 Dana 44s. Apparently they have had a few JL/JTs come back in post gear swap with premature gear wear and axle tubes flexing/walking in the differential housing. I haven't heard of this and it seems like most people who go with a lift and bigger tires regear to 4.88 or 5.13.

Is this something I've missed over the past 6 years? The service writer made it seem like a common problem.

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[fourfa]

Sounds like they want to sell you $20k crate axles

 

[MaximusTX]

So I called a local 4WD shop to inquire about regearing my Gladiator and they cautioned me saying these new Dana 44s are not as strong as the pre-2018 Dana 44s. Apparently they have had a few JL/JTs come back in post gear swap with premature gear wear and axle tubes flexing/walking in the differential housing. I haven't heard of this and it seems like most people who go with a lift and bigger tires regear to 4.88 or 5.13.

Is this something I've missed over the past 6 years? The service writer made it seem like a common problem.

I've heard the exact opposite from my local shop. They have said they are stronger than the older Dana 44s but not sure on what they mean by older Dana 44s but we are talking about Gladiators when we are talking about them. They say they can handle more than the older ones. They build rock crawlers and take them out almost every weekend to test and are running Dana 44s on 42s and haven't broke anything yet.

 

[Tim]

Sounds like they want to sell you $20k crate axles

I actually joked with the guy about that. Definitely not an option.

I've heard the exact opposite from my local shop. They have said they are stronger than the older Dana 44s but not sure on what they mean by older Dana 44s but we are talking about Gladiators when we are talking about them. They say they can handle more than the older ones. They build rock crawlers and take them out almost every weekend to test and are running Dana 44s on 42s and haven't broke anything yet.

That was my understanding, also. This guy said they never had any issues until the new JL/JT Dana 44s. He refered to them as "metric" and said that Jeep tried to save weight and shaved a lot of material from the housing. His claim was that the axle tubes flex which causes the backlash to change which trashes the gears. This shop is very highly acclaimed but they sell Yukon Gears. I wonder if that is an issue? In my limited research it seems Dana Spicer gears get a lot of love but Yukon not so much.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

Never heard of that, sounds fishy.

 

[tj3089]

They are definitely not as strong as people believe. I would truss the front axle right away if you plan any off-road. There is a reason Jeep added that passenger crash bracket on the right side. The front axle breaks and bends at the FAD in crashes, unlike the old dana 44 on the jk's. Maybe that is what the shop is referring to?

Crate axles aren't a bad option if you are going to dump $5k+ (reid knuckles, chromoly axle shafts, regear, locker if you need it, truss, stronger ball joints, etc) into a weak axle, you might as well get the 9inch 5 lug axles from lm1 in Arizona.

I hit a sinkhole with my front axle on 37s and it bent the front enough for me to notice when walking up to the Jeep and it also bent the axle back which I just noticed the other day.

 

[tj3089]

You can see how it is bent towards the rear of the jeep in this picture.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

I hit a sinkhole with my front axle on 37s and it bent the front enough for me to notice when walking up to the Jeep and it also bent the axle back which I just noticed the other day.

At what speed? Hitting a hole like that is going to cause damage so it may not be the best example.

The passenger wheel doesn't hit that extra bracket due to bending in the axle, it's from the control arms crumpling allowing the tire to shift back in the overlap crash test. Someone had photos on here at some point

Not arguing the FAD isn't a weak point, but the degree of weakness is sometimes exaggerated.

 

[yoda13]

I haven’t heard of this problem…local shops does a couple each week and many JLs and JTs over the years. Except for the FAD being a weak point, I feel like they were trying to sell you axles. On the flip side, metal cloak makes reinforcement brackets because there are places on the jeep that should be stronger.

 

[AstroZombie]

That's a HUGE hole!

 

[AstroZombie]

 

[NC_Overland]

I actually joked with the guy about that. Definitely not an option.

That was my understanding, also. This guy said they never had any issues until the new JL/JT Dana 44s. He refered to them as "metric" and said that Jeep tried to save weight and shaved a lot of material from the housing. His claim was that the axle tubes flex which causes the backlash to change which trashes the gears. This shop is very highly acclaimed but they sell Yukon Gears. I wonder if that is an issue? In my limited research it seems Dana Spicer gears get a lot of love but Yukon not so much.

I’d find a different shop.

 

[tj3089]

At what speed? Hitting a hole like that is going to cause damage so it may not be the best example.

The passenger wheel doesn't hit that extra bracket due to bending in the axle, it's from the control arms crumpling allowing the tire to shift back in the overlap crash test. Someone had photos on here at some point

Not arguing the FAD isn't a weak point, but the degree of weakness is sometimes exaggerated.

It was less than 25mph, nothing crazy. I was taking it easy because it was after dark, raining and I was just putting along after testing out some changes I made to my ar22.

I definitely was not bombing down the desert at high speed, but I still hit the bump stops hard enough to bend the axle.

This also caused the plastic in the fad to break, disabling my front axle from locking.

 

[tj3089]

That's a HUGE hole!

That's what she said lol

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

It was less than 25mph, nothing crazy. I was taking it easy

I’d wager anything above basically idling through that would cause damage, or at least knock you out of alignment. Ouch.

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