Went out today with about 25-30 trucks... some great, some not so great.. was a bad day for the jeeps, but there were some bad *** jeeps there. One brand new Jeep JK Rubi snapped his front D44axle housing in half, one Rubi pinched his high pressure tranny line, and another Rubi grenaded his front driveshaft.. I'm waiting on my pics/vids of my truck in action, but these are some I took..We were also being towed on GT Snow Racers (3 at a time) behind an XJ and a Rubi.. FUN





H1 Duramax Swap

 

 

looks sick, how did he manage to snap his diff like that? got any pics of the driveshaft?

 

i cant wait to see the action pics of your truck

 

That brittle axle tube is a known issue with those rubi 44s.............



pics look good though.

 

Ya, I've heard about it too.. it's a weak steal used.. such a mistake by Jeep..because it is an otherwise phenominally capable rig..

 

Nothing even contacted that point.. he was crawling down a trail and his passenger side tire GLANCED a SMALL/Medium rock (with his 35" tire) and it just grenaded on him..

sorry no driveshaft pics.. I wasn't in the area of it when it happened..

 

looks like a great time!

 

a few more.. some of my "action shots"

 

nice man are you running a front locker? or anything?

 

sucks about buddy's jeep. is it gonna be covered since they knew about the weak steel? nice truck btw.

 

L/S rear diff, open front diff.. never had any problems..

 

yea thats what im running and im thinking of welding the front diff

 

Ya, I don't plan on ever doing that...

 

i had another thread going somewhere about lockers or spools up front on our trucks, basically what i was told, was that if i ever used it on the road it would be a complete safety hazard, for one, and second, if you have traction on only 1 tire (and it's a front tire) you are putting what, 250ft/lbs of torque through your CV shafts, which are about an inch and a half across... a lot of power for a small piece of metal... where as with the open diff, you may get stuck, but you won't be snapping your cv's or breaking diffs... and to top it off that may even happen when turning, just from the difference in wheel tracks on a sharp turn, on hard ground...

 

That looks like a blast! Wish I was there.

 

you and i have a completely different front end. i know several people that dd there trucks and have welded front diffs

 

no not really. any front end gears will do exactly what weezl said

 

DDing a welded front end is no problem if you have manual lockouts. It would be hell with a live axle like 01+ Rangers have.

 

downey, it's not a matter of if it can be done, it's if it's safe, as for a DD, if your diff is disengaged, either by inboard locking hubs (like i have been led to believe mine has) or by warn or vac pulse or what ever they are, as long as your wheels aren't engaged to your diff, you will have no road driveability issues, but it puts extra stress on the cv's when wheeling, and greatly increases your chance of breaking something

i mean go for it if you want, just keep in mind that you MAY have to replace parts in the future...

 

First....what is an inboard locking hub? Your truck doesn't have any sort of axle disengagement except for the transfer case itself.

Second......Locked up front ends make a HUGE difference offroad. If you're afraid something might break don't leave the pavement.

 

first, i was explained that the cv's on the newer trucks are solid to the wheels, spinning all the time, but disengage at the differential, so the differential and front ds doesn't spin unless the truck is in 4wd... what possible benefit would there be putting the truck into 2wd, if the front stuff is turning either way? the only difference would be how it adds resistance to it, it will add the same amount, and of course, making sharp turns

second, you are right, on both points, but i personally, don't want to mod my truck, to make it knowingly less reliable... if i were going to put a locked up front end in my truck, with the risks that i know are involved, i would be looking in to upgrading the cv shafts to a more durable one, as well as any other components that are a likely fail point, due to that change... just not a choice i would make, i am more about reliablility than anything else, i would rather get stuck and have to be pulled out, than have my cv shaft snap and have to remove it in a mud hole so i can get pulled out, then have to replace it afterwards... but that is me, and i'm sure not everyone will agree

 

Chris your truck is lookin bad *** as always! looked like a blast.

 

Well its up to the owner on whether or not they want the risk of parts breaking, but most anyone who wheels knows stuff is more likely to break with a spooled/locked/welded axle. Its a risk I would be willing to take in exchange for the capability.

As for your front axle, there is no disconnect. It spins 100% of the time, even when the truck is in 2wd.

 

i have manual hubs and 30 inch tires i will be fine i wont be breaking parts unless i hold it to the floor and crank all the way to one side. if i had a locked from diff i wouldnt of wouldnt of been stuck over the weekend like i was.


yea im not afraid of breaking anything so i will be good. i have three 3rd members for the ttb with 3.73s so if i dont want the welded spiders anymore i can just swap out the 3rd member.