I have 38's on my truck right now and my steering, braking, and power are all just fine. My question is with an open front diff. is the Dana44 going to handle 40 inch tires. I try to tell myself that that's only an inch more around the 38's, but I don't want to break anything expensive by being stupid. The only 4wheeling I get to do is deep mud and water. No rock crawling or flexing it up on the rubicon. Its southwest Missouri. Either slick sloppy mud or hard dry ground. Can anyone tell me what kind of power loss I will experience? I can smoke the 38's on dry pavement so I don't think it will hurt that bad. Any input please.
40's??
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hell feel grateful the 1/2 ton axles are holding up so far with 38"s
You are right, I am glad that they are holding up, but only another inch all the way around can't hurt that bad. (maybe)?!
What will be put under the most stress with 40's. I wouldn't even condier this if I didn't work at a parts store and have friends at the Dodge dealership. I get everything about 30% off list price. If my axles, bearings, etc. won't be put under that much stress I wouldn't hesitate. I don't care if stuff like that wears out, I just don't want to break anything 4wheelin. My main concern is the diff., axle shafts, and U joints, and yokes etc.
What will be put under the most stress with 40's. I wouldn't even condier this if I didn't work at a parts store and have friends at the Dodge dealership. I get everything about 30% off list price. If my axles, bearings, etc. won't be put under that much stress I wouldn't hesitate. I don't care if stuff like that wears out, I just don't want to break anything 4wheelin. My main concern is the diff., axle shafts, and U joints, and yokes etc.
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Personally for a long term modification I wouldn't put 40's on half ton axles. I've seen plenty of SHOW trucks with 44's and half ton axles but the toughest thing they do is drive up the ramp onto a trailer. I have 36's on my half ton and already have problems with wheel bearings and other steering components. I wouldn't be too worried about the axle itself cause the steering will suffer more than the axle. Plus if you do break an axle it will be a good excuse to swap in a Dana 60. just my two cents
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I have a serious question. When people break axles do they mostly do it rock crawling? Because my dad has an old Dodge Power Wagon with a Dana 44 in the front and a 8 3/4 axle in the rear(half ton axles). Both have 4.56's and posi's. He runs 38inch Swampers. The engine in it is a 365cid engine (.030 over bore) that makes around 400-450 hp. I've seen him smoke the 38's down, dump the clutch at 6,000rpm, and do some crazy stuff in the mud. He has never broke an axle.
I'm just wondering how yall break axles.
Either they don't make them like they use to or yall do some crazy stuff.
I'm just wondering how yall break axles.
Either they don't make them like they use to or yall do some crazy stuff.
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the things that would be put under stress would be pretty much the whole axle. do you do any offroading now? about the only thing 40's are good for on 1/2 ton axles is a show only truck.
lets start with the back axle.
1st.. can only go to 4.56 gears, so unless your motor is making atleast 350hp , its gonna take its toll on that. then since you cant get 4.88's or 5.13's your tranny is going to take alot of abuse.
2nd..the 9 1/4 all ready has bearing problems in the pinion area, putting bigger tires on is going to put more leverage on them.
3rd.. its a c-clip axle, im sure you dont want to have the grove the c-clip rides on to shear off and have your 200# axle and tire assembly to fly off going around a turn or such.
4..the problem of having a #200 tire/rim combo on 1/2 wheel studs(though you could upgrade to 9/16 studs)
5..someone correct me if im wrong but doesnt 3/4 and 1 ton axles have bigger brakes? i know with only 36's sometimes its a white knuckle ride trying to stop.
and for the front its pretty much more of the same exept the dana 44 isnt a c-clip axle.
there is a guy who has/had a website about extra tall trucks, maybe some of you have seen it. a dude from Hawaii named Keoni. i think its a 1997, blue with white stripes, club cab, that has a 318 that pushes 40's.
i had emailed him when i started looking at lifts and tire sizes a few years ago. he said he was having alot of problems with the axles because of the tires. BUT the truck did look awesome though. grant it i dont know how much offroading there is in Hawaii but other than beach(im not being sacastic).
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79-w150, 8 3/4 rear end was a very popular rear end for half ton trucks to have in the 60's and early 70's. 9 1/4 became more used in the late 70's. a 9 1/4 rear looks more like a dana which has a back cover to access the gears the 8 3/4 is set up more like a ford 9 inch where the pumpkin can be removed through the front. so you probably do have a 9 1/4.
: Thanks there bud. I'm still learing the specifics of Mopar. If I had a chevy truck I could tell ya in no time what it was just with a quick glimpse.The easy way to break an axle-shaft is to spin the tires too fast, and then catch traction. I snapped the driver's shaft on my D44 off at the differential splines.
I was trying to climb a slick hill, spun the tires (REALLY fast), slid left and caught traction on a bump with the sidewall and the weight of the truck shifting.
This was with an open diff.
Other times I've seen axles toasted was with a locker (ARB), and spinning tires suddenly gaining traction.
My current view when wheeling is "wheelspin is BAD"
I was trying to climb a slick hill, spun the tires (REALLY fast), slid left and caught traction on a bump with the sidewall and the weight of the truck shifting.
This was with an open diff.
Other times I've seen axles toasted was with a locker (ARB), and spinning tires suddenly gaining traction.
My current view when wheeling is "wheelspin is BAD"
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shawn, 3/4 ton and 1 ton ram have discs in the rear as well as the front, at least the newer ones do. so stopping is alot better than the 1/2 tons. if i could do it over again i would have definatly went with a 2500 V10.
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yeah if i were to do it again id prefer the diesel but would have to settle with the v10.
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the way you discribe how breakage occurs is also just like mudding. so not only do you run the risk of f*ckin s*** up, damn your cleaning the thing for a month to get all the dirt out.
I agree with the brakes, 38's right now and the brakes suck. I can stop, I just have to plan on it a block a head of time. My power is just fine. I know I can't get lower gears or I would already have them. I am fully aware and have already thought about everything you guys said. My only question is it's only an inch more! There are several people who run 38's and wheel the hell out of em with no extraordinary breakage. My truck is no show truck, I haul hay, dirt bikes, girls, and love deep muddy ruts. If 40's are really going to hurt my truck I will stay away, but its only 1 more inch all the way around. My truck will smoke the 38's, 1 more inch probably won't even notice. Any more advice is welcomed.
I have decided to stay with 38's. I went mudding today and pulled into a pit and stopped. Both diffs were touching the ground barely. 1 inch up higher won't get my truck anywhere it won't go now, but will cost a lot more and put a ton of wear on erveything. 38's look good, but the truck can still handle them. Also, the guy I was planning on getting the 40's on wheels from is keeping them. I think I will save money on 40's and put it towards a rear locker. If I could spin both back tires, 4wd would be used only in emergencies. Not to brag, but my truck goes pretty good for having open diffs, a homeade lift, used tires, and a 19 year old kid driving!
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JUST ORDERD 39.5 BOGGERS FO MY TRUCK AND DONT CARE WHAT BREAKS. WILL REPLACE BROKEN PARTS WITH BETTER ONES (EVOULUTION)LOL
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SWEET DUDE never thought of it that way (evoulution)!!!
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