Topic: Axles??

[DodgeMudder]

Wow I'm new to this but everything you just said goes against everything I have been told which is absolutely never go above a 33 on a dana 35 and you said you wish you had stayed with the dana 35 over changing it out and you are running 36s. Now I'm way confused.

I've wheeled w/ allot of rigs and unless your doing something stupid or you have old shafts the d35 is a nice axle up to 33's stock and 35/36 with some upgrades.  The nice thing about the 35 is it's cheap to start wuth and cheap to get replacement and upgraded parts for, it's also smaller than most axles so you don't lose ground clearence.  Usually if you search on Jeep sites you'll get all kinds of people saying how bad the 35 is, but if you go to sites for Rangers they are swapping in the 35 to replace the 7.5 as an upgrade and they love them as all the Jeep guys throw them away.  You will also find a large number of s-10s when they go SAS in the front going to 35's in the rear.

FourbangerYJ, what were you doing when you broke both shafts?  also how old and abused were the shafts?  I've seen this happen once, and it was a locked axle on 33's and he was beating on it trying to drag a broke Jeep up a steep hill, doing the old back up and hit the end of the strap hard to try and get the broke rig moving.  Only other axle I have ever seen break both shafts at once, was a budy of mine being stupid w/ donut spare tires on the back of his YJ w/ a waggy 44 rear axle, he enjoyed doing burnouts and donuts on the donut spares till he broke the shafts.

[FourbangerYJ]

FourbangerYJ, what were you doing when you broke both shafts?  also how old and abused were the shafts?  I've seen this happen once, and it was a locked axle on 33's and he was beating on it trying to drag a broke Jeep up a steep hill, doing the old back up and hit the end of the strap hard to try and get the broke rig moving.  Only other axle I have ever seen break both shafts at once, was a budy of mine being stupid w/ donut spare tires on the back of his YJ w/ a waggy 44 rear axle, he enjoyed doing burnouts and donuts on the donut spares till he broke the shafts.

We were in the snow about a foot deep. No rocks it was on a gravel road. We stopped for a bit. Got back in and started the motor. Let out the clutch and boom. I was running a Lockright, 2nd run with it. The shafts were maybe 2 years old.

[RatherBeJeeping]

I've got no love for the D35 but I did run a Detroit locked one with 35's that I beat on until I swapped out the 2.5L
As for the 8.8" I have to agree- I had one at the house and couldn't give up that kind of clearance- traded it for the above mentioned D35 and worked the Jeep until I blew up the motor.

My next axle was a Tacoma with 2wd 5 lug shafts- same clearance as the D35 but a lot stronger axle.  It's been worked up to 36" IROK's and only my son has been able to break anything in it (he could break an anvil with a rubber mallet).  Swapped the factory 4.56 for some OEM that were cryo treated and never looked back

[enginethatcould]

So if i stay under 38s I should be fine with the d44. I think that is route I will plan to take unless I come across a steal on 1 tons. If not, I guess I could always upgrade weak parts and truss it.

[FourbangerYJ]

So if i stay under 38s I should be fine with the d44. I think that is route I will plan to take unless I come across a steal on 1 tons. If not, I guess I could always upgrade weak parts and truss it.

Which tire in a 38 are you looking at? There are not many in that size.

[enginethatcould]

Which tire in a 38 are you looking at? There are not many in that size.

Not so much a specific tire or size. I want to be able to run a max of 38s. A friend of mine gave me a set of very worn tsl 37s. I will need to replace them but it gives me a chance to save a little coin before purchasing.

[TexWalther]

I've wheeled w/ allot of rigs and unless your doing something stupid or you have old shafts the d35 is a nice axle up to 33's stock and 35/36 with some upgrades.  The nice thing about the 35 is it's cheap to start wuth and cheap to get replacement and upgraded parts for, it's also smaller than most axles so you don't lose ground clearence.  Usually if you search on Jeep sites you'll get all kinds of people saying how bad the 35 is, but if you go to sites for Rangers they are swapping in the 35 to replace the 7.5 as an upgrade and they love them as all the Jeep guys throw them away.  You will also find a large number of s-10s when they go SAS in the front going to 35's in the rear.

Disagree completely, before i got smart i completely busted a d35 pulling out from a stop light with 31's spent a good bit on rebuilding it, got confident put 33's on it, and 1 1/2 year rebuild i busted the spider gear once again pulling out slowly from a stop light...

[TexWalther]

Is now currently  having a ford 8.8 welded in and some 4.88 gears  has taken a little longer than i hoped though

[4BangerTJ]

Something with that just sounds wrong to me. I am new to this but I have had a lot of friends with jeeps with 31s and 33s on them and I have 31s on this one that I bought from a friend and they have had 31s since he bought it new and never had an issue in 12 years and a lot of moderate wheeling. Plus I hve heard all over the place that the 35 is fine for up to 33s with no prob yet you busted it on 31s and a year and a half later after rebuilding did it agan on 33s?

[RT]

Disagree completely, before i got smart i completely busted a d35 pulling out from a stop light with 31's spent a good bit on rebuilding it, got confident put 33's on it, and 1 1/2 year rebuild i busted the spider gear once again pulling out slowly from a stop light...

Do you drop the clutch when you start off or what dude? I'm trying to figure out how you could have done that....twice. Did you bend your axle housing?

[TexWalther]

nope, just pulled out... was a cop next to me the 2nd time so definitely no clutch popping. one time was the just the gears, other messed up the housing and gears

[sharpxmen]

i busted the gears too, they failed while driving on the hwy, but i blame it on the shop that replaced my pinion seal, probably not setting the preload correctly.

[TexWalther]

Mine was bought with 100,000 miles on it, so it is very possible  that someone did a half ass repair at some other point in time, but my personal experience, and that of any jeeper i have talked to says trash the d35, it is the weak link on your rig

[Jeffy]

Typically busted spiders are caused by the axle housing flexing.  The D35 flexes a lot.  The D35's are a bit of a crap shot.  I know some people haven't had any problems with 33's and have even pushed their luck with 35's.  Then you get other guy's who run 31's and they break instantly.

[RT]

Typically busted spiders are caused by the axle housing flexing.  The D35 flexes a lot.  The D35's are a bit of a crap shot.  I know some people haven't had any problems with 33's and have even pushed their luck with 35's.  Then you get other guy's who run 31's and they break instantly.

Yeah, a buddy of mine used to have a modified 4.0 with heavy 33's and he wheeled the crap out of it and didn't have any problems. I think the trick with the bigger tires is to be reaaallly reaaallly gentle on the clutch which he was. I have trouble believing you could twist any axleshaft if you burn the clutch.