PEAK PUTTERS

So this is what I found out the JK axles ARE different and 44 parts DON'T match up.

The outer or stub is 32 spline and the yoke is thicker than previous years, not to mention the inners are longer and thicker and are 27 spline. And it's CRAZY how much they want for a set...

Driver's Side (Short) Stub $250, full $360 and I think the Passenger side is a bout $400 full.

So for now I run with the welded cap until I can find another set of used JK D-30 shafts that are reasonably priced...

The sad part is if I had a D-44 I could get a complete set of JK fronts for $350 on CL...

I ran into the same issue with cost/availability on the D30 sets... Very few JK guys are giving up their used D30 shafts, even when they upgrade to chromo or RCV's, because they keep them for trail spares or have already suffered damage and sent them to the scrap yard. Bang for the buck, especially when considering the warranties, I could not do any better than going with RCV's. At the time, none of the chromo shaft warranties would cover the shaft if the u-joint failed and ruined the ear, which is the typical failure mode. That meant a guy also needed to find bulletproof u-joints, adding to the cost of the chromos, and meeting/exceeding the cost of RCV's That was a few years back and there may be some new players in the chromo market by now with different warranty verbaige, but that was my means to an end in a similar saga.

Something of note. 2013 and UP JK have new beefier D44 axle shafts up front.

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-news/new-2013-jeep-jk-wrangler-oem-dana-44-front-axle-shafts

Lud wrote:Something of note. 2013 and UP JK have new beefier D44 axle shafts up front.

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-news/new-2013-jeep-jk-wrangler-oem-dana-44-front-axle-shafts

I'm sure a set of those would be nice finds, however finding any used, scrap yard JK 44s is impossible and if you can find one they are generally half way across the country and they want their weight in gold for them...

I may have to follow Toby's lead and beef up my puny 30...

Some ideas....hopefully I'll be employed soon and have less time to look up stuff on the internet.

http://www.shopjeepparts.com/alloy-front-axle-wranglers-dana-spline-p-7503.html?gclid=CImO8vv_lbQCFSFyQgodnhgA_Q $550 chromoly shafts JK Dana 30 (Everything you need) There's a rebate for $50 dollars off. SO its actually 500 bucks. 10 year warranty. Yes I've had to use the warranty on Alloy USA rear D44 shafts (Due to Weber Canyon) but they sent me a new one no questions asked.

Heckuva lot better than used shafts. I have this setup on my TJ with a ARB locker, 4.56 gears, and 35's and have yet to break one.

You can piecemeal it too

Outer stubs....Chromoly 64 bucks

http://thejeephut.com/4340-chromemoly-outer-stub-for-dana-30-jk-p-36829.html#googlebase

Inners chromoly..$73 bucks

http://thejeephut.com/4340-chromemoly-axle-dana-30-jk-left-hand-inner-27spl-p-36694.html#googlebase

Here's something interesting. Double the thickness of your axle tubes on a JK D30 or D44. http://compare.ebay.com/like/251162964105?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y&bigimg=y

RCV's (ouch)

http://www.extremeterrain.com/rcv-performance-products-30-jk-cvj30jk.html?utm_medium=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=simplefeed&utm_content=J15680

Alloy USA was one of them I looked at, and while they have a 10-year warranty, it really only covers the splines and axle stock from a torsion-type failure. If you lose a U-joint cap and muck up the ear, you're on your own... So again, you have bulletproof axle shaft material with a great warranty, but the weak link still exists in the U-joint and the potential for non-warranty collateral damage is really no less than with your stock shafts. Just my humble opinion...

Good point Toby. I'll have to do some research to see if they changed their tune on that. I've seen posts of someone over on Jeepforum that have replaced the shafts twice under warranty where the ears have been messed up. I'll have to find out which manufacturer....

I've heard of some people tack welding the caps on the u joints to keep them from coming off as easily as well.


The only reservation I have about RCV's on a JK D30 would be that you're eliminating a weak point and running gears like 5.13's I would think your new weak point would be the ring and pinion. On a D44 it would make more sense because the ring and pinion are bigger.

Yep, moving the weak point around is the typical buildup shuffle...

Tacking u-joint caps is a trick that has been around for decades, and works extremely well. I've seen everything from heavy washers to coins used to make "covers" that span the ear and tie it all together, which helps keep it from distorting.