Help! Need new front axles, what are my options?

R

redex

New member
Had an "incident" with my Jeep, a massive boulder and long story short I need a new front axle. I have a few questions!

I would like to ideally do the swap myself, I have an extra car and some time to get things together. However, I don't want to get in over my head, and also want to know if i'm missing any important facts about swapping an axle.

- I have stock sports drive train with the exception of 4.56 gearing and new carriers.
- If i can upgrade during the process i would like to, but wonder if you can upgrade just the front axle and not the rear.
- Currently run 33" tires and the largest i will likely go is 35" tires, does upgrading my axle make a lot of sense?
- Price to do it myself vs a shop w/ only basic tools (do i need anything special like a torque wrench or ring pinion setting tools, etc?)
- With zero experience in dealing w/ drive train, what's the risk of damaging my transmission or wrecking a gear compared to paying a pro?

All things aside i'm always down to learn more by doing it myself, but with a precious cargo on the way (due Nov) i don't want to risk the safety of the passengers on such a critical part of the Jeep.
Thanks for looking!!
 
Draconianwinter

Draconianwinter

New member
I would say go to a Dana 44 size at least. Personally though if you can aid it is would look at the mopar dana 60. That way if you decide to go to a 37 inch tie it won't be s problem then save over time to upgrade the rear axle. Buy that's just me
 
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bigbootysuperduty

bigbootysuperduty

New member
I didn't see a budget, but I'm assuming it's tight. My opinion is buy an axle assembly that needs only assembly from the inner c's on out. You can reused your parts, and it's all upgraded already. You will end up spending about the same as trying to source all the parts and build yourself.
 
Draconianwinter

Draconianwinter

New member
Oh one more thing. You can change any axle at any time. The axles themselves don't matter if they are the same size. The only thing you can't do is have different gear ratios on them. Meaning don't put 4.88 front and 5.13 on the rear or vise versa. What ever gear ratio is on one axle it must be the same for the other axle. Sadly you would be shocked at how many times I have seen people make that mistake. Aside from that it doesn't matter if you or a Dana 44 on the back and Dana 60 on the front. Or dana 30 on front and Dana 80 on the back. Only thing that will do is give you a stronger and a weaker axle system in one position Orr the other. Like I said the only thing you have to avoid is getting an axle with a different gear ratio. Now if your have a tight budget you can get the ultimate Dana 44 for the jeep jk for just under $4k. Completely assembled just bolt it on even have your choice of gear ratios and have stock e lockers. But you would need the wiring harness and switch for that.
 
Ddays

Ddays

Hooked
redex said:
Had an "incident" with my Jeep, a massive boulder and long story short I need a new front axle. I have a few questions!

I would like to ideally do the swap myself, I have an extra car and some time to get things together. However, I don't want to get in over my head, and also want to know if i'm missing any important facts about swapping an axle.

- I have stock sports drive train with the exception of 4.56 gearing and new carriers.
- If i can upgrade during the process i would like to, but wonder if you can upgrade just the front axle and not the rear.
- Currently run 33" tires and the largest i will likely go is 35" tires, does upgrading my axle make a lot of sense?
- Price to do it myself vs a shop w/ only basic tools (do i need anything special like a torque wrench or ring pinion setting tools, etc?)
- With zero experience in dealing w/ drive train, what's the risk of damaging my transmission or wrecking a gear compared to paying a pro?

All things aside i'm always down to learn more by doing it myself, but with a precious cargo on the way (due Nov) i don't want to risk the safety of the passengers on such a critical part of the Jeep.
Thanks for looking!!
Click to expand...


Don't see anything about your budget size. With a little one on the way I'm gonna guess that's a factor? You can get a price on any aftermarket axle you want online but if you're gonna go aftermarket you're cheating yourself if you don't go Dynatrac.
Another consideration is how hard and how often do you wheel? Do you really need an aftermarket housing? Was this a fluke trashing your axle? If you think this can happen again then your gonna be throwing good money after bad replacing the broken one with another stock one.
As far as doing it yourself, replacing the axle is definitely doable but I would NOT tackle gears if you haven't done them before. Best leave an experienced mechanic do those.
 
Texas Nick

Texas Nick

Caught the Bug
Im actually really interested in seeing a pic of the axle. Just to see how bad it really is.
On another note, if you have to ask what all is involved in an axle swap. Especially the gears, its best to just have a pro do it right the first time. Gears are really nitpicky.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Yeah post some pics. You may have a lot of options. If you do upgrade to a 44, go with Dynatrac.
 
Coop

Coop

Caught the Bug
Ddays said:
Don't see anything about your budget size. With a little one on the way I'm gonna guess that's a factor? You can get a price on any aftermarket axle you want online but if you're gonna go aftermarket you're cheating yourself if you don't go Dynatrac.
Another consideration is how hard and how often do you wheel? Do you really need an aftermarket housing? Was this a fluke trashing your axle? If you think this can happen again then your gonna be throwing good money after bad replacing the broken one with another stock one.
As far as doing it yourself, replacing the axle is definitely doable but I would NOT tackle gears if you haven't done them before. Best leave an experienced mechanic do those.
Click to expand...
I agree with this. When you ask if you will need a torque wrench, makes me think you need some buddies that have tools and knowledge! Be a good experience for you, but I wouldn't recommend you do this alone!
 
DP1120

DP1120

Member
If you can find someone with a pull out rubicon 44 that is probably the way i would go if you really dont see yourself going any larger than a 35. Of course most of those will still need gears so that may not help if you dont have someone comfortable with doing a gear swap in them. Of course that is if you are on a somewhat tight budget. I have seen a few rubicon pull outs for around the $1000-$1500 range.
 
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