The tire size matter on Dana 44? 40” or 37”?

[ramezjurdi]

Hi I’m new in this forum, I just bought a gladiator rubicon, I want to run 40” and I already read a lot about it. I know that I have to change the axles and everything, but now the question is the tire weight matters? Because if I want to avoid spend $14000 changing the axles I can just buy 37” tires, but the toyo 37” weight 94 lbs and the cooper stt pro 40” weight 90 lbs, so what makes the axles breaks? Is the tire height or the tire weight?

Just to be more clear I drive my truck mostly highway and streets, just I few times doing off road but nothing crazy

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[Panthers65]

Weight, traction, steering angle, torque, and stupidity break axle shafts.

I can break a 44 axle on 33's if I'm running a spool, full steering lock, spinning the tires and catch a rock or root. I can also ride 44s on the street no problems if that's all I ever do. It's going to depend on how hard you drivetrain and how much you like the skinny pedal.

 

[ThatStinging_Jeep]

Well I've seen guys run 40s reliably and see them get absolutely beat on with guys I go have fun with off off-road one guy has a 2018 jeep jl with some sort of supercharger (a centrifugal one) and he runs his rig on 40s since his 6 months of ownership in 2018,but the thing is,is that he has his axle trussed in the front running rcv's and rpm's steering kit,but I'm the back he just has chromoly shafts and same with another guy but his rig is a ecodiesel with the exception that he has 39inch km3's and the other guy running 40" nitro ridge grapplers,and the guy with the jl beats the ever living hell out of his JLUR not so much as my buddy with the ecodiesel JTR but they still match up with each other

But to summarize it from experience I can say these new D44's can handle some abuse when rock crawling,but if ya wanna go mach jesus hitting big ole jumps on 40's even with all the appropriate upgrades Im definitely sure that you will break them without a doubt in my mind,but yeah that's just my 2 cents :D

 

[sass JT]

Here’s my opinion. Do what you want. As long as you understand that at some point you will have problems and you have a plan to fix it.

 

[Kindafearless]

To answer your question directly, tire weight matters. There are lots of light weight tire options that can get you into 85-90lb territory with even 40s. Also, wheel weight is important. You can shave or add 30-40lbs to each wheel/tire by selecting lighter/heavier wheels and tires. Less weight = less drivetrain strain = better performance. There are even beadlocks available that are around 26lbs per wheel if you are willing to pay for them :P

It shoud be noted that rotating mass matters more on roads. When you are crawling those 40s can be super helpful, but the biggest risk they will pose is through getting bound up on obsacles. When aired down, that is a lot of rubber that can get wedged into rocks and other obstacles. If your tire gets bound up (unable to turn) and you step on it, that torque has to go somewhere...

Since you are mostly driving streets, you can definitely find some lightweight options. What I run might not be right for you, but as an example:
Method 703s @ ~27lbs each
37" Milestar Patagonias @72lbs each

I've also run tire/wheel combos at 10-20lbs heavier. Trust me, you can feel it.

Also, if you are just running 40s on the streets, you are highly unlikely to break an axle unless you are trying to drag race. On the street 40s are just going to wear down all your parts faster.

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