YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
Ya, we're just a throw away society in general.
I'm only 38 and can remember fixing radiators, replacing brushes in starters, ect.
Do shops even turn rotors anymore?
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Last Call Guest on these Group Buy Deal Items from Baja Designs
Ya, we're just a throw away society in general.
I'm only 38 and can remember fixing radiators, replacing brushes in starters, ect.
Do shops even turn rotors anymore?
- Thread starter
- #123
I just remembered I have an E locker from a M220 Bronco rear axle. No ring gear on it. No miles either. Came out of a wrecked one. I tried to put it in my front differential but the driver side side gear is different for an M210 ifs diff. The locker physically fit but the inner axle shaft wouldn’t fit the side gear.
wrath
Red Skull
After working on more than a dozen JK Rubicons and probably crawling under 60, I never saw a J8 housing under anything other than a Rubicon Recon. Maybe someone somewhere found one under a Rubicon Hard Rock, but I never saw one. I have a 2014 Rubicon X and it's a standard 44. Has anyone actually found a thicker housing/J8 under anything but a Recon?
I purchased a Chinesium eBay JK D44 housing and got it delivered for under $500 a couple months ago. My goal was to cut/turn the Cs and build it to replace the axle under my Rubicant. Dimensions I took it is identical to the housings I have. It came in a giant cardboard box with fancy laser cut cardboard supports, filled with sprayfoam bags, and the whole thing was shrinkwrapped. No idea on metallurgy. Welds look robotic, identical machining for the locker plug and indicator. The main difference I saw were the balljoints appear to come from the same place as Moog but with different boots. I bought a white booted eBay and got a black booted eBay. I cut the balljoints apart because I wasn't going to use them. The other main difference is that the upper bushings are definitely identical looking to stock but definitely aren't. They feel "softer" but my other two sets of 10+ year old ones are maybe dried out?
I also bought a Chinesium Shamazon JK 30 spline front locker. Visually and with my caliper it is identical in every way to the Randy's/Yukon one I bought for four times as much.
I purchased a Chinesium eBay JK D44 housing and got it delivered for under $500 a couple months ago. My goal was to cut/turn the Cs and build it to replace the axle under my Rubicant. Dimensions I took it is identical to the housings I have. It came in a giant cardboard box with fancy laser cut cardboard supports, filled with sprayfoam bags, and the whole thing was shrinkwrapped. No idea on metallurgy. Welds look robotic, identical machining for the locker plug and indicator. The main difference I saw were the balljoints appear to come from the same place as Moog but with different boots. I bought a white booted eBay and got a black booted eBay. I cut the balljoints apart because I wasn't going to use them. The other main difference is that the upper bushings are definitely identical looking to stock but definitely aren't. They feel "softer" but my other two sets of 10+ year old ones are maybe dried out?
I also bought a Chinesium Shamazon JK 30 spline front locker. Visually and with my caliper it is identical in every way to the Randy's/Yukon one I bought for four times as much.
'84 Bronco II
El Chingón
I know there were a couple of pictures that made the rounds, but that really isn't a common failure mode.
- Thread starter
- #126
How did you find those things?
wrath
Red Skull
Which part?
- Thread starter
- #128
wrath
Red Skull
The locker I bought is "unavailable" but if you search Shamazon for "2007503 68017176AA" there is a bunch that come and go. A lot of the cheaper ones claim they don't come with the coil but so far both of the ones I bought have.
The eBay housing was from carpartsparadise and I made an offer and they accepted. The prices on the housings have been all over the map. I started tracking them about two years ago. The lowest I ever saw was around $400 delivered. So the first time someone was willing to send me one for $500 I jumped on it. I assume prices are all over the map now because of tariffs.
"Front Axle Housing Assembly For Jeep Wrangler 68017174AC 68017169AD"
The eBay housing was from carpartsparadise and I made an offer and they accepted. The prices on the housings have been all over the map. I started tracking them about two years ago. The lowest I ever saw was around $400 delivered. So the first time someone was willing to send me one for $500 I jumped on it. I assume prices are all over the map now because of tariffs.
"Front Axle Housing Assembly For Jeep Wrangler 68017174AC 68017169AD"
gobi_rubi
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2022
- Member Number
- 5737
- Messages
- 80
Ya the Hard Rock gets misgrouped with the Recon as having all the same upgrades. Most of the more functional upgrades were exclusive to the Recon. The stronger front axle (which isn't much stronger because I still bent the **** out of mine), 1/2" lift, and the "enhanced" rubi rails with the built in step were on the Recon but not the Hard Rock
ParadisePWoffrd
Recovering Project Junkie
The Cs definitely seem to be the challenging part find.So I've gotta admit this is getting pretty interesting, especially with those new shafts. I've got a WJ low pinion D30 that I've stiffened the housing on, but haven't put any fancy guts in it because it's low pinion and 27 spline through and through. Building a JL/JT housing (and retubing/deleting the CAD) with nice shafts would be a perfect match to my 35 spline JK44 rear.
You can get a pair of new aftermarket aluminum JL outer knuckles on ebay for under $300 (depending on how much you trust them vs OEM), or Synergy iron knuckles for $400 per, and empty new aftermarket axle housings for $800. Granted you would still need wheel bearings and brakes, but at least around here used takeout JL front axles seem to start at like ~$1500 and only go up from there. So if the materials and manufacturing quality of these aftermarkets aren't awful, it might not be a big deal to skip the donor axle all together. Too bad they don't seem to sell the inner C's on their own though
The idea of the clamping friction of this style of stub shafts making them a bit stronger than a floating shaft is an interesting theory. If that friction does actually provide some torque transmitting, you could almost add some valve lapping compound between those faces to lock them together when the nut is torqued(or would that actually work the opposite direction because less surface area being clamped due to grit?). Granted if there is any movement, that means wear because abrasives.
In the idea of hybrid/custom axle, if anyone can get some weights on the outer parts of the JK, JL, Dodge, and SD axles, that would for sure help to make some decision. Alum knuckles and jeep unit bearings and brakes, should make them the clear winner, but maybe its not significant?
'84 Bronco II
El Chingón
See the post from my JL thread. Stock aluminum knuckles were 16Lbs. for the pair and the Synergy iron knuckles were 44Lbs. for the pair.
Along the way I convinced myself I needed to replace the factory aluminum knuckles with cast iron. I really liked the Currie Rock Jock setup, but not wanting to lift my Jeep 2.5"+, I decided to go with the Synergy knuckles from Poly Performance with the stock tie rod and drag link geometry since they were significantly cheaper than the Mopar iron knuckles.
Out of curiosity, I weighed the knuckles. Stock aluminum was only 16 Lbs. for the pair:
![IMG_9324[1].JPG](https://irate4x4.com/attachments/img_9324-1-jpg.1082443/ "IMG_9324[1].JPG")
Synergy iron was 44 Lbs. for the pairCertainly not an insignificant amount of unspring weight.
![IMG_9325[1].JPG](https://irate4x4.com/attachments/img_9325-1-jpg.1082444/ "IMG_9325[1].JPG")
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
That's good to know the difference
Maybe fl0w3n can post dodge and 99-04 SD knuckle wieghts? Hard to imagine they're not way more than 22lbs ea.
It would be cool to get the wieght of everything from the c out, with a stub shaft. That way it's a direct apples to apples.
Kinda like I've never actually seen a direct comparison between a D60 and 9" with all the same tube size and outter components. Im sure the 9" wins, but I think the "9" is way lighter" comes from comparing a stock rear 9" to a stock rear 60 or 70.
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'84 Bronco II
El Chingón
From the parts weight thread, an '05+ Dana 60 knuckle weighs ~27Lbs for the later knuckle design with the window ('05-'07 have the most material). So that is a 36Lb weight difference per pair compared to the JL aluminum knuckles before you add up unit bearings, Cs, and brakes. I could see it being around 100Lbs overall stock vs. stock.
EDIT: Also from the part weight thread, an '05+ unit bearing weighs 24 Lbs and the shipping weight listed for a JL unit bearing is 12 Lbs. I already scrapped my old JL axle parts, so I don't have any old brake rotors, calipers, or unit bearings to get weights on.
EDIT: Also from the part weight thread, an '05+ unit bearing weighs 24 Lbs and the shipping weight listed for a JL unit bearing is 12 Lbs. I already scrapped my old JL axle parts, so I don't have any old brake rotors, calipers, or unit bearings to get weights on.
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YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
Gotcha, maybe I'm wrong then. If an 05+ is ~27lbs, I can totally see the dodge and 99-04 being in the 22lb range.
But ya, I'm sure there is some savings with unit bearings and whatnot. Just might not be all that much.
Tech Tim
Your AD Here....
We weighed the JL OE aluminum and Rock Jock cast iron knuckles for this video:
JL OE Aluminum: 7 lbs
Rock Jock Cast Iron: 16 lbs.
Good idea, I don’t think I ever grabbed the Dodge stuff. Those knuckles have a decent amount less beef than other common 60 stuff.
The UB and brake setup probably cancels that out though, they seemed pretty chunky.
Could swap 99-04 UB on with custom stubs or custom spacer, pick your poison, and unlock 6 lug and 5 lug options
Weasel
Well-known member
If you could get a bare housing with no brackets and the upgraded JL outers would be nice. I'm not sure why Dynatrac (I think that is who is making them) doesn't sell them outright. Or if Reid would make a set.
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
With the size of brakes growing, I could see the Jeep stuff not being very far off.
It's probably safe to assume the stubs are going to be basically the same.
Really, there may not be a real reason to us JL outters over 90s dodge, unless you just like 5x5 pattern more.
I'd think the dodge ub could be redrilled to 5.5" patterns, just probably not done since nobody really uses them.
I don't see that being worth the hassle over just doing the 99-04 knuckles also
- Thread starter
- #140
I could go any way on 5 on 4.5 or 5 on 5 or 5 on 5 1/2. But i really want the versatility of the 5 on 5. Basset does make 15” 5 on 5 1/2 beadlocks but not in the light weight. I want the 24 pound ones
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YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
I was texting with TrailTamer and he brought up bolting JK ub to a WJ knuckle
Might be appealing for some as WJ axles are probably about free. But gain 32sp stubs and the ability to drive with no stub.
Anyone have any idea if that makes anything wierd with shafts? Any jk 1350 or rcv should work?
Might be appealing for some as WJ axles are probably about free. But gain 32sp stubs and the ability to drive with no stub.
Anyone have any idea if that makes anything wierd with shafts? Any jk 1350 or rcv should work?
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
YJ, xj, zj, tj, wj and I believe 90s ram D44s can all swap knuckles. WJ knuckle swap onto the other platforms is common because they have a better steering arm location.
JK has totally different kpi
350TacoZilla
Well-known member
Yeah I think we had talked about the ram knuckles on XJ axle before and it opens up even more bolt patterns (5x5.5, 6x5.5, 8x6.5) and upgrades the spline from 27 to 33. I honestly wondered about the strength of the factory CV style axles from a later XJ vs the tiny U-joint axles. Doubt it's much of an upgrade if any there but he ram knuckles with matching shafts would be nice. I still plan to grab the ram knuckles some day here.
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
The only problem with the ram 44 outters is the odd 33 spline. How many aftermarket stubs exist?
Was the 6x5.5 and 8x6.5 from gm unit bearings?
Is this getting off topic?
350TacoZilla
Well-known member
Ram stubs is the only thing I know of, again its a shame the aftermarket never really went for the ram 44 axle.
6x5.5 from GMT800
8x6.5 from low GVW ram 2500
Oddly GM went to a completely different UB bolt pattern in their 2500-3500
Still talking jeep axles and what won't fit JK/JL I suppose?
- Thread starter
- #148
Nah, let’s get all the mix n match possibilities out there too. I want JK or JL UB’s but I’m only one guy. The rest of you or those who come along later will probably want normal wheels and tires. Might as well document the options.
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
Hmm, never noticed the 5x5.5 bassets were not the lightweight version.
Looks like 15" wheels are a no go for JLs
WJ and JK are 5x5, can't really see any reason to go WJ over JK unless you just had the parts laying around.
AgitatedPancake
Frobot
I don't think low pinion 30 like my WJ crap are worth doing anything with TBH. I don't think bigger stubs are super important, because that LP gearset isn't good for much more than 27 spline. In fact even just stiffening the housing was polishing a turd lol. Far better to just start with a JK/JL high pinion along with their newer superior gears. Especially with how cheap you can get aftermarket housings, knuckles, and lockers
I know the WJ uses the same ball joints as a JK, but heard somewhere along the line that the actual offset height of the unit bearing on the knuckle is different. I didn't know about a potential KPI difference though, that's interesting.
If a JK/JL could be redrilled for 5x4.5, you could run some ~20lb 17" UTV wheels and tires if ultra-light is still the theme
I know the WJ uses the same ball joints as a JK, but heard somewhere along the line that the actual offset height of the unit bearing on the knuckle is different. I didn't know about a potential KPI difference though, that's interesting.
If a JK/JL could be redrilled for 5x4.5, you could run some ~20lb 17" UTV wheels and tires if ultra-light is still the theme