I Kady

Hello,
I have Jeep JK with the stock Dana 30 front axle and 37" tires which makes it hard to off-road freely without being worried to break the front axle or the gear, I want to swap it with Dana 60 or at least Dana 44 but both prices are sky-high ($5500 for Dana 44 and $9500 for Dana 60). So, my question is... Can I assemble a Dana 44 or 60 front axle? Can I buy the parts of the front axle individually (axle shaft, axle tubes, housing, brackets, ....) I just bought 4.88 ring and pinion but I don't want to swap the gear now until I will upgrade the front axle. Any advice????
Thanks,

Sixty4x4

I would not purposely build a D44 for 37's but rather make it the D60 setup. Having said that I go wheeling with a fellow who has a 2020 JLUR with 37's, he wheels nice and gentle and has no issues so far and runs the stock new gen D44. My point here is if you rip,$hit and bust through the weeds you may need a D80. If you go nice and gentle like Aaron does then a D30 with 37's will last. There is a way of getting your hands on a pick a part unit - (someone chime in here) a 3/4 ton Chev front diff have it altered by a custom builder to fit the Jeep and throw that in but still looking at a pretty penny but not $9500. Up in Calgary we get the entire diff assembly for about $90CDN from PaP.

resharp001

The most important tool we have is the thing sitting between our ears. This plays along the lines that folks either newer to offroading, or with newer, more expensive "toys" are more cautious and mindful of what they're doing cuz they don't want to damage that nice new shiny rig. The older the vehicle or the more experience someone has, the likelihood of being a bit riskier goes up.

If you did a junkyard build for a D60 front, are you then willing to build a rear axle as well? This is the main issue with a D60 setup IMO.... it's a huge jump in $$$ and/or time/effort which actions that typically extend to further money spent (new wheels, driveshafts, hydro, etc) and it all sort of snowballs. Most folks going down the junkyard path are doing D60s with 14b in the rear. I'm sure there's information out there somewhere about building a D44 front, but probably a lot less. You might look around on sites like Pirate4x4. The only thing that seems attractive about building a D44 front is being able to keep that current rear axle.

TheDirtman

If you can find the right axles you can generally build a set of tons for $8-10k with selectable lockers. One thing you should be looking at is wider axles to keep a decent scrub radius up front. The extra width is also a plus off road. I would be just as concerned with the rear axle on 37's as the semi float shafts tend to bend and brake more than you will see up front. The rear axle see the most stress when wheeling. You are in a tough spot running 37's and it does depend on what 37's you are running as some run really small and some run big. If the biggest tire you are going to run is 37" you might take a look at the Fusion 4x4 60/40 front and rear 60 semi float set up for $10,695 Its the best deal for an axle set up running up to 37" tires, if bigger I would go up to a full float set up. You get the extra width plus caster correction for your lift size. RCV shafts, 35 spline, ARB lockers and you move your front outers over and keep the factory wheel bolt pattern.
https://fusion4x4.com/collections/je...rcial-shipping

HoldMyBeerJeepin

New here, and thanks for the add.

I am looking at doing this upgrade as well, front and rear with my 2015 JK Rubicon Hard Rock Edition. Considering either Currie HD60s, or Dynatrac HD60s. Leaning more toward Currie so far though. I don't want to go any larger than maybe 37's but I just want to do this right. I currently have Dana 44 axles front and rear with the Hard Rock Edition, but those tubes being as thin as the Dana 30's is a concern when I do rock crawling. I do my best to stay friendly with the skinny pedal. But the more I think about it, the beefier tubes of the HD60 axles seem increasingly attractive.

Aside from upgrading my driveshafts to a 1350 front and back (considering Adams for those), would I have to do any other modification, to say, the transfer case? I have the factory RockTrac case. If I can retain that, it would be a huge help. I also read on the Currie site that the factory FAD gets eliminated, and you have to run a Taser to basically kill the light from coming on, and for the lockers to work as they should. Thanks in advance guys for any info you can provide!

resharp001

If you have a '15, you don't have a FAD. That was on the JLs. It's only one person's opinion, but I'd consider Fusion4x4 axles as well. Either the Fusion or Currie over the UD60s or the other company I shall not mention. I had a couple buddies with UD60s. They're just not as good as the other aftermarket companies IMO....rear ends especially. Seen many blow ups and also tube twising.