JL - How about fixing the weak front axle?

whatroads

New member
How many posts have you seen on bent D44 front axles on JK's. Wouldn't it be nice to buy a Rubicon and not have to spend thousands $$$ upgrading the front axle? It's hard to buy a Rubi at less than $40K. For that kind of money we shouldn't be having to spend big dollars on an immediate axle upgrade. You've all seen the post: There are 3 kinds of JK front axles. Those that are bent. Those that will bend. Those that never go off road. We need to start making enough noise that Jeep/Chrysler FCA actually takes action. And yes, I am familiar with the pending Articulink improvement. That will not address the inherent thin axle tubes, or untrussed C's, used in both the D30 and the D44
 
How many posts have you seen on bent D44 front axles on JK's. Wouldn't it be nice to buy a Rubicon and not have to spend thousands $$$ upgrading the front axle? It's hard to buy a Rubi at less than $40K. For that kind of money we shouldn't be having to spend big dollars on an immediate axle upgrade. You've all seen the post: There are 3 kinds of JK front axles. Those that are bent. Those that will bend. Those that never go off road. We need to start making enough noise that Jeep/Chrysler FCA actually takes action. And yes, I am familiar with the pending Articulink improvement. That will not address the inherent thin axle tubes, or untrussed C's, used in both the D30 and the D44

They sold over a million JK's in current state. 1% need what you're talking about. No way they're gonna spend the extra dough to satisfy that small of a minority (us).
Don't get me wrong, it'd be cool to have a box to check off on the option list that said 'D60', but honestly, after seeing the two side by side (Dana vs Dynatrac), I'd rather have the Dynatrac.
 
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If you ask the guys over at Dana, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the 44 they make for the Rubicon. In fact, their Ultimate 44 still uses 2.5" tubes (same as a Dana 30) and the EXACT SAME end forgings because they are convinced they are "engineered" to take the punishment of off roading and "do not bend". :crazyeyes:
 
If you ask the guys over at Dana, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the 44 they make for the Rubicon. In fact, their Ultimate 44 still uses 2.5" tubes (same as a Dana 30) and the EXACT SAME end forgings because they are convinced they are "engineered" to take the punishment of off roading and "do not bend". :crazyeyes:
Guess dynatrac wasted all this metal on my axle. Lmao
 
Me too. Maybe I'll even swap my PR44 with someone's stock D44 if I can find someone willing to do so :) if there's not that much of a difference.

Well, since the tubes and end forgings are the same on the 30 and 44, I'll trade you my 30. It's better bc it's less un-sprung weight than a 44.
 
Serious question. Can someone show me a picture of an actual bent end forgings?

I have tried to look it up a few times but get too many results where the tube bent at the forging and not a truly bent forging.

That aside, a few weeks after I bought my 2016, jeep sent me a survey. It was about what features, issues, ect I would like to see in the new wrangler. The only comment I left was, please make the dana 44 available in all models and make the axle tubes bigger.
 
Jeep didn't design the JK/JL to run 37s and rims with 3.5" of back spacing. Just sayin...
 
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Seems like if jeep made a supercon or some silly name like that with Dana 60's full float, good strong skid plates, and possibly stock with 35s and a hemi (I know, I'm dreaming very big). I really believe hardcore enthuses would buy but mostly it would be people who never go off road but have to have the most expensive model. They would sell a bunch of them even with I 55k price tag.
 
Serious question. Can someone show me a picture of an actual bent end forgings?

I have tried to look it up a few times but get too many results where the tube bent at the forging and not a truly bent forging.

That aside, a few weeks after I bought my 2016, jeep sent me a survey. It was about what features, issues, ect I would like to see in the new wrangler. The only comment I left was, please make the dana 44 available in all models and make the axle tubes bigger.

I've seen photos where the paint had cracked and flaked from bending on the C. I doubt you'd see a bend as such because we're only talking about a few degrees over a large area
 
Seems like if jeep made a supercon or some silly name like that with Dana 60's full float, good strong skid plates, and possibly stock with 35s and a hemi (I know, I'm dreaming very big). I really believe hardcore enthuses would buy but mostly it would be people who never go off road but have to have the most expensive model. They would sell a bunch of them even with I 55k price tag.

Hate to say it but i couldnt imagine something like that listed for anything less than 65-70 best case scenario. You be better off just going aftermarket.
 
Seems like if jeep made a supercon or some silly name like that with Dana 60's full float, good strong skid plates, and possibly stock with 35s and a hemi (I know, I'm dreaming very big). I really believe hardcore enthuses would buy but mostly it would be people who never go off road but have to have the most expensive model. They would sell a bunch of them even with I 55k price tag.

NBA and NFL players would buy them up and drive them directly to Unique Customs for flat screens and fish tanks to be installed.
 
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