What's new
By:
Filters

Dumb question. Who and how much to re-tube or widen JK dana 44s?

Rob50lx

Rob50lx

Well-known member
Joined
May 29, 2020
Member Number
1660
Messages
91
I'm looking at various options and I have so much invested in JK Rubicon 44 housings. Front is a Tera44 with 1/2" thick tubes and rear is still stock housing with custom brackets. They both have 8 lug full float kits from Teraflex. I was just wondering what it would take to widen them approximately 4" (2" each side) to 70" wide axles. Can this be done properly with sleeves and butt welds at the ends or is it better to get complete new tubes? I would want them bare with no brackets but maintain the JK ends so I can use my parts and just order new shafts.

I realistic can't do the work myself due to my smaller hobart 180 welder and poor welding skills. I also don't have much room or any jigs or presses.
 
Location might help.

My go-to guy is Welder Bill in Placerville. He's done several axles for me over the years(20+)

For widening, he's done two different methods:
complete retube - costs much more because of new tubing.
splice in tube - basically put in a piece of tube
 
  • Like
Reactions: PAE
Sell your stuff to another JK guy who thinks Dana 44 are great and buy tons.

But to answer your original question, between 750 and 1000 per axle for a full retube should be a reasonable number.

Where do you live ? I could recommend some shops in the SE area.
 
Location is Colorado Springs, But will travel up to 500 miles for the right person and job.

Would a trussed rear D44 full float 32 spline be fine with 2" wheel spacers and 4.75" BS wheels? That would then only require front axle widening? I really want to fix my current scrub radius because of current 2.75" Backspacing.
 
go tons. 99-04 duty shit is 69" 05+ are 72" wide. JKs get heavy quick. junkyard diffs are like $140 a piece if you pull them yourself.
 
Gotta agree with start over. If you can't do it yourself, you're going to be pretty deep into retube and all new brackets. You should be able to get a pretty penny for some bolt in JK axles.

Or at minimum, you could split the difference and go with a 1 ton rear and retube your front if you're that confident in it.
 
I also vote tons. An 05+ 60 and late ribbed 14B are too cheap to not have brackets welded on, and bolt them into your JK...... the selling of the 44's will offset the cost.
 
Although I have seriously considered junkyard axles, I'm concerned with limiting upward travel. I have been able to maintain only 2" of additional bumpstops with 37s. even if the differential has room to stuff I would be concerned with the high steer limiting stuff even with the frame notched. The other major concern is I already have contact with factory gas tank and d44 differential. I would also want to shave the 14B. I would also want at least 10 degrees of angle separation between caster and pinion on front axle.
 
Generally when JK guys try to justify spending stupid amounts of money that cost them more in the end than buying a brand new set of 60's they talk about weight savings of running the dana 44.

All you need to do concerning up travel is timming off the front of the frame, installing a shorter radiator, and move the steering box up. Shaving is overrated its a lot of work for what you get from it. There is always a bigger rock you can get hung up on. Today you are going to spend $8-10K on a junkyard axle set, if you can find the parts.
 
Lil'John said:
Location might help.

My go-to guy is Welder Bill in Placerville. He's done several axles for me over the years(20+)

For widening, he's done two different methods:
complete retube - costs much more because of new tubing.
splice in tube - basically put in a piece of tube
Click to expand...
Theres a lot of options in sac.

You can hammer c's on your self with nothing special if you get a ruffstuff housing.

Cliff @west coast frame builds stock housings all day long and is cheap.

Wfo, kickass offroad, and a dozen other 4x fabricators in the area.
 
mobil1syn said:
id cut and splice and not think twice about it. if you are really worried splice in a spot you can put a truss over the splice.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't hesitate to do this at all. I could do most of the leg work but I would prefer a better welder with more amperage and skill then me to do the final assembly. I think 3.25" tubing with .500 wall is more than stout enough for a cut and slice. It would allow me to add even more caster and I already want to relocated the outer mounts. Getting the "C" off will be a real bitch!

20211029_161216.jpg
 
180 amps is fine. Get everything prepped correctly and preheat if you have to. Don't be a pussy :flipoff2:

Quit wasting money on 44s and go tons. Sell the 44s to some sucker on a jeep forum who's too afraid to weld and isn't getting all this awesome advice :laughing:
 
Rob50lx said:
I wouldn't hesitate to do this at all. I could do most of the leg work but I would prefer a better welder with more amperage and skill then me to do the final assembly. I think 3.25" tubing with .500 wall is more than stout enough for a cut and slice. It would allow me to add even more caster and I already want to relocated the outer mounts. Getting the "C" off will be a real bitch!

20211029_161216.jpg
Click to expand...

I think its actually very easy given the lack of truss between your spring pad and the C itself. Cut and widen it there, will be quick.
 
Weasel said:
Crap he did. So your planning on getting deeper BS wheels/ different offset or?
Click to expand...
Yes, I have a new set of 4.75" backspace wheels. I will probably run 1.5"-2" spacers in the rear while I try to source a wider rear d60. Although a front d60 would be nice, I feel that the Teraflex d44 with 3.25" diameter .500" tubes will be strong enough with the gutless Jeep 3.8 engine.

I'm confused with the steering geometry of JK axles and standard Dana 60s and some aftermarket Dana 60s.
Teraflex has a JK front Dana 60 that they state has the improved JK SAI and improved scrub radius of the JK
Dynatrac offers some option with improved steering geometry and improved turn in angles.
Do old Dana 60s have crappy steering geometry and turn in angles?
Do the more modern Ford Dana 60s have improved steering compared to JK or aftermarket axles by TF and Dynatrac?
Is this all marketing BULLSHIT?


Teraflex D60
1636473316678.png




Dynatrac XD60 with 1550 outers
1636474198138.png


1636474110394.png
 
Depending on your needs you maybe reading to much into the "Marketing".

For example,

The number of people that run 35's and even 37's on bone stock dana 60 and AAM 9.25 is a lot. Are they racing though the desert or rock crawling, no... but they are on the interstate or backroad hauling ass. Some of them are hauling a skidsteer doing 80mph in the fast lane. They do it all just fine with STOCK dana60/aam9.25


what I am trying to get at here is,
A SD dana 60 is tough, cheap and swap kits are available now.

you pretty much need to know your goals or where finish project will end up?

Can you answer to the questions below.

How much lift over stock are you/ what will the final lift height be? this will change your caster needs
What will be the biggest tire you run? this will answer how deep of gears you need ( will an aftermarket housing dana 44 hold up to deep gears
How much weight, HP and skinny pedal? this will also tie in with what axle you should consider.

If I was going to do it all again, their are two paths I would take depending on money
expensive Path) buy bolt in axles from any of the number of companies out there. ( True bolt in stuff, like dynatrac,terraflex, ect)
cheap path) find a matching set of SD axles 60/10.5 and build them myself

and this is all coming from a guy that built a 2 door jk with a 95 ford 60 and newer disk brake 14 bolt.
 
^ I completely agree with the above statement. plus wear items like UB & BJs will last longer with larger axles. and you are future proof for when you want bigger tires even after you said you wouldn't go over X size you already have.
 
Rob50lx said:
Yes, I have a new set of 4.75" backspace wheels. I will probably run 1.5"-2" spacers in the rear while I try to source a wider rear d60. Although a front d60 would be nice, I feel that the Teraflex d44 with 3.25" diameter .500" tubes will be strong enough with the gutless Jeep 3.8 engine.

I'm confused with the steering geometry of JK axles and standard Dana 60s and some aftermarket Dana 60s.
Teraflex has a JK front Dana 60 that they state has the improved JK SAI and improved scrub radius of the JK
Dynatrac offers some option with improved steering geometry and improved turn in angles.
Do old Dana 60s have crappy steering geometry and turn in angles?
Do the more modern Ford Dana 60s have improved steering compared to JK or aftermarket axles by TF and Dynatrac?
Is this all marketing BULLSHIT?
Click to expand...

So you're going to throw all this money widening an axle just because a couple of companies are telling you that your scrub radius could be improved ?

Do you actually feel a problem with the current setup or are you just trying to catch up with the joneses ?
 
To follow up..... I'm currently undecided on this path and it is going to sit on back burner.:confused:

I ordered 4.75 BS beadlocks wheels and will be using 1.5" custom made Bora 1.5" hub centric wheel spacers to net me 3.25" backspacing. This will provide a minor improvement over my current 2.75" BS while still giving me the shock and suspension clearance I need. I will trim fenders or body if the 3.25 BS causes clearance issues over the 2.75 BS.

I will just get out an wheel the Jeep and fix any real problems I encounter vs perceived problem I worry about.:grinpimp:

If I brake one of my "polished turd" and cry, perhaps the Ol' lady will help pay for a better D60.:idea::shaking: I can wish!:lmao:
 
I'm sure if I totaled up how much I spent during the 12 years of owning this vehicle I could have purchased 12-15k Dana 60 axles outright. However I didn't have the intention of going this far and it would have been more difficult to pay cash for that large of purchase. I have learned a lot along the way but I have enjoyed and can only afford to build in stages.

I had to get new wheels anyways because I am upgrading my current 5x5 lug axles to full-float 8x6.5 lug which I got significantly cheaper than full retail. In reality, based on my driving style, gutless 3.8, 2 door, daily driver concerns; I'm sure the D44axles will be sufficient for my needs. In the 12 years of JK ownership my only drivetrain failure was a bent rear axle flange when running OEM shafts and 35s. I am fairly easy on my parts and in 30 years total the only drivetrain failures have been busted front u-joint on D30, 9" 3rd member pinion bearing support failure, bent rear axle flange, and burned out clutch after 130k. I'm not a throttle junkie.:smokin:

I didn't really spend more money than if I was to buy a beadlock wheel with 3.25" BS. I also didn't like the bling of most of the wheels offered in 3.25" BS. Shipped to my house I paid a combined $445 per wheel and spacers in qty of 4 and the 5th wheel without spacer is coming sometime in the new year at $340. By going with spacer and wheel I will have more flexibility in future if I go with Ford junk yard axles or prebuilt 69-70" wide axles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh