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D44 Chromoly axle brand strength. And/or beefing up outers

ParadisePWoffrd said:
I think, just like the 05+SD UB, the shorter stub shaft allows for less twist, and could be argued as stronger. Also the Dodge d60 UB stubs seem to hold up well.

On another note, part of me as wondered how much balljoints play into broken shafts for d30/d44s? I know there is BJE out for them now, and that is more money down the hole, but anyone that has watched a d30/d44 axle get beat on has seen the movement in the balljoints. It has got to create some type of extra load on the shaft/ujoint.
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I’d like to think there’s other problems too if ball joints are loose to start with. Worn or bad u-joint likely.

I went through at least 4 sets of spicer u-joints on my XJ’s D30 in 20,000 miles I drove it on the road and several wheeling trips (rock crawling). Ball joints are still tight (Mevotech TTXs). Gusseted inner Cs & chromoly shafts with full circle snap rings. 35s radial mud tires and now 36s IROK BIAS (actual 37” tall).

I’ve read elsewhere that aftermarket steering knuckles (and inner Cs I suppose) extends ball joints’ service life on the old D44s due to reduced deflections. I can see why as both upper & lower ball joints carry the weight and any deflection from big tires and wheeling mess that up, while all of UB D30/44s uses telescoping upper ball joints effectively eliminated this issue.
 
white-rhino said:
I had great luck with D44 Yukon super joints. I actually bought mine from Carl Jantz before he sold out to Yukon.

But they are not great for highway use if you don’t have lockout hubs.
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I ran Yukon axles and joints in my 44 with 38" boggers and I was anything but easy on them and never broke one. Shrug.

I ran the same in an EB with 36" TSLs and again, never an issue.
 
TrailTamer said:
I’d like to think there’s other problems too if ball joints are loose to start with. Worn or bad u-joint likely.

I went through at least 4 sets of spicer u-joints on my XJ’s D30 in 20,000 miles I drove it on the road and several wheeling trips (rock crawling). Ball joints are still tight (Mevotech TTXs). Gusseted inner Cs & chromoly shafts with full circle snap rings. 35s radial mud tires and now 36s IROK BIAS (actual 37” tall).

I’ve read elsewhere that aftermarket steering knuckles (and inner Cs I suppose) extends ball joints’ service life on the old D44s due to reduced deflections. I can see why as both upper & lower ball joints carry the weight and any deflection from big tires and wheeling mess that up, while all of UB D30/44s uses telescoping upper ball joints effectively eliminated this issue.
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I think the other major problem with old style balljoints is that no one seems to follow the proper procedure when setting them up. The upper sleeve has to be adjusted properly or both joints will fail very quickly.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
He's just mixing the old obsolete hot forged Spicer U-joint part number (5-297X) with the current cold forged Spicer U-joint part number (5-760X).



Thanks, that one got crushed and turned into Chinesium :laughing:
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:homer:

I never paid much attention since I've never built one, I swear I read 797 in a magazine and just went with it for 20 years :laughing:

TrailTamer said:
does that matter?

I have not seen a single unit bearing stub shaft broke behind the yoke (where it butts up to unit bearing), online and in real life.
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I'm saying the UB stub is stronger than the live spindle version.

Lincoln mentioned that some believe that the torqued down nut may help with strength also.

Less twist would be weaker though.
 
YotaAtieToo said:
:homer:

I never paid much attention since I've never built one, I swear I read 797 in a magazine and just went with it for 20 years :laughing:



I'm saying the UB stub is stronger than the live spindle version.

Lincoln mentioned that some believe that the torqued down nut may help with strength also.

Less twist would be weaker though.
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You'll get that on these big jobs :lmao:

I was thinking about the UB shafts yesterday and it got me thinking, the flange that bottoms out on the back of the UB is quite a bit larger than the splined section of the outer. If you uave enough clamping force provided by the axle nut to prevent the axle flange and UB from slipping then you've effectively made the stub shaft larger and stronger.

I don't have much d30 UB stuff laying around anymore. But I'll go dig some of it out and investigate. For science and stuff
 
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