Is an axle upgrade worth it for me?

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Retna246

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I have a mostly stock 99 TJ Sahara (29 inch tires vs 28 stock and a Winch and steel bumpers... those are my only non stock items) with a Dana 30 in the Front and a Dana 35 in the rear.

I am trying to decide if I should swap those out for Dana 44 or a Ford 8.8 or if I should just beef up my current axles.

I am going to be putting on a Currie/Metalcloak lift soon, but I am only going to run 33inch tires and install rear lockers... Maybe front too.

I use my Jeep as a DD (sometimes when gas is not so nuts, or if it's in the winter) but I also hit trails pretty hard (I have had more then a few people comment on how I "Baja Through Trails") and I try any and every trail I can (I am also from Utah so Moab trails are pretty common for me to hit, I have tried a lot of trails and succeeded on most but so far Moab rim and Pritchett's canyon have beat me).

TL;DR I am looking for advice on if it would be worth it to Beef up my current axels or if adding 33inch tires and lockers would make it worth swapping to better axles.

Thanks!
 
Retna246 said:
I have had more then a few people comment on how I "Baja Through Trails"
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well that could be problematic no matter what you do with your axles, bouncing up & down & getting the tires off the ground then suddenly back on the ground under power may snap a shaft or so... strengthening your current axles and being a little more judicious in your approach will get you very far
 
I would bother with axle swaps unless you're going to 35's. 33's should be fine on those axles. Still might want the super 35 kit as Jerry mentioned. Maybe some chromoly shafts up front too.
 
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Retna246 said:
I have a mostly stock 99 TJ Sahara (29 inch tires vs 28 stock and a Winch and steel bumpers... those are my only non stock items) with a Dana 30 in the Front and a Dana 35 in the rear.

I am trying to decide if I should swap those out for Dana 44 or a Ford 8.8 or if I should just beef up my current axles.

I am going to be putting on a Currie/Metalcloak lift soon, but I am only going to run 33inch tires and install rear lockers... Maybe front too.

I use my Jeep as a DD (sometimes when gas is not so nuts, or if it's in the winter) but I also hit trails pretty hard (I have had more then a few people comment on how I "Baja Through Trails") and I try any and every trail I can (I am also from Utah so Moab trails are pretty common for me to hit, I have tried a lot of trails and succeeded on most but so far Moab rim and Pritchett's canyon have beat me).

TL;DR I am looking for advice on if it would be worth it to Beef up my current axels or if adding 33inch tires and lockers would make it worth swapping to better axles.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You’re good. The only thing I would suggest is adding 4340 Chromoly axles to the front if you lock it and run 33’s.

EDIT: I recant this post. See later posts. I missed the part about lockers. With lockers and 33’s I do a rear S35 or Dana 44 swap
 
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Swapped out a Dana 35 for a Dana 44 in my tj on stock tire size, has a noticeable difference when hitting and letting off skinny pedal, drive train has a solid feel, no more bouncy/springy take offs. I tell ya.. those little axle shafts do a helluva lotta twisting under load like a damn torsion bar suspension. No wonder they break so much, I can only imagine it being far worse with BIG TIRES.

BTW, there nothing wrong with my Dana 35 other then being a Dana 35. Good luck
 
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More clearance, less weight and strong enough with the Super35 kit. I'd say there is actually more reason to swap a Super35 into a rig with a 44 if you are running smaller tires than the opposite. Stock obviously the 44 is stronger but strong enough is an important phrase here.
 
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Tons and fodeez.


What?

🙂

JMT said:
You’re good. The only thing I would suggest is adding 4340 Chromoly axles to the front if you lock it and run 33’s.
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I’ve never run a ‘35 myself, but I’ve always thought running 33’s on a locked but otherwise stock ’35 would be a bad idea. Can you get away with it if you stick with 33’s?
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
Tons and fodeez.


What?

🙂



I’ve never run a ‘35 myself, but I’ve always thought running 33’s on a locked but otherwise stock ’35 would be a bad idea. Can you get away with it if you stick with 33’s?
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No. It'll break a shaft with even just 33's. This is a TJ with a busted Dana 35 axle shaft with 33" tires I helped to get back to camp. He was so pissed he wouldn't even thank anyone for the help he received. Smaller tires are known to have the ability to break them too.

Dana35cOnTrailBeingRescued.JPG
 
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I haven't read all the comments but as someone who swapped to an 8.8 for 33's (but running 32's right now), I say stick with the dana 35. I am constantly dragging my 8.8 over stuff because it hangs down so much lower (going to weld on a skid soon...). It is just more beef and weight than you need and while the peace of mind is really great, you are compromising offroad performance with it, particularly at that tire size. Not to mention the time and money to do the swap. So I think the cons outweigh the pros for 33's and under.

You could do the super 35 thing but last I checked that's pretty pricey too, and I don't believe it is necessary for 33's. I believe there are shafts on the market that are stronger than factory that will slide right in, no further modification required. I thought I had some bookmarked but I can't find them... maybe someone else can chime in on that. Another thing you can do is put a TrueTrac in the rear instead of a locker - less strain on the axle but still get traction gains. IMO they are better in the rear than the front since you will lift a tire off the ground less often in the rear.

Anyway. Good luck to ya! Enjoy your Dana 35, it's not quite the turd it is made out to be! 😆
 
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Mobusaki said:
You could do the super 35 thing but last I checked that's pretty pricey too, and I don't believe it is necessary for 33's. I believe there are shafts on the market that are stronger than factory that will slide right in, no further modification required.
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There are but they are made from 1541H which is only about 15% stronger which is not enough for lockers which can double the load a shaft sees. Chromoly shafts like 4340 are the wrong choice for a Dana 35, they aren't heat treated properly for the raceless outer bearings used by a Dana 35.

I agree wholeheartedly with your recommendation to avoid installing an 8.8 for the reasons you mentioned. I'd first go for a Super 35 or a used Dana 44 out of a TJ if it was priced reasonably.
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
Tons and fodeez.


What?

🙂



I’ve never run a ‘35 myself, but I’ve always thought running 33’s on a locked but otherwise stock ’35 would be a bad idea. Can you get away with it if you stick with 33’s?
Click to expand...

I forgot my own history. 🤣 Let me correct that. I ran 33’s on a Dana 35 open, but not locked. The whole reason for my Dana 44 swap was to lock the rear axle. The other option was to upgrade the rear shafts on the Dana 35 to 1541H and stay with 27 spline locker. The problem with that is it only increases strength 10-25% according to the manufacturers. That wasn’t enough insurance for me. I after locking both axles I broke a stock front axle shaft at the ear. That’s when I learned that a front 30 locked is not up to 33’s without 4340 chromoly shafts. I agree with Jerry.

I’d be curious what people think about the stock shafts on a Dana 44 with 35’s locked. That’s my current setup. From what I recall they should be fine, but I would rather not find out the hard way.
 
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Stock Dana 44 shafts hold up to 35's and a locker but if used hard enough it can twist a bit at the splines which happened to me. Didn't break but it looked like it could in the future so I replaced them with 4340 shafts. It has been so long I don't recall if this photo is of my actual twist but it shows it well.

Dana 44 twisted splines.jpg
 
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Mobusaki said:
I haven't read all the comments but as someone who swapped to an 8.8 for 33's (but running 32's right now), I say stick with the dana 35. I am constantly dragging my 8.8 over stuff because it hangs down so much lower (going to weld on a skid soon...). It is just more beef and weight than you need and while the peace of mind is really great, you are compromising offroad performance with it, particularly at that tire size. Not to mention the time and money to do the swap. So I think the cons outweigh the pros for 33's and under.

You could do the super 35 thing but last I checked that's pretty pricey too, and I don't believe it is necessary for 33's. I believe there are shafts on the market that are stronger than factory that will slide right in, no further modification required. I thought I had some bookmarked but I can't find them... maybe someone else can chime in on that. Another thing you can do is put a TrueTrac in the rear instead of a locker - less strain on the axle but still get traction gains. IMO they are better in the rear than the front since you will lift a tire off the ground less often in the rear.

Anyway. Good luck to ya! Enjoy your Dana 35, it's not quite the turd it is made out to be! 😆
Click to expand...

Thank you! I was hoping that somebody like you would respond! I really appreciate the advice. I haven't heard of a TrueTrac I will look them up now.
 
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