Stuka

Well here's the thing. The curb weight of an Unlimited Rubicon is 4340lbs with an AT trans (slightly less with a manual). The GVWR is 5465lbs. When you exceed what the vehicle was designed for, you cannot complain that the vehicle isnt doing what you want. I do think the front axle is undersized, and that the rubicon should have a real D44 up front, not the D30/44 hybrid. But for what it was designed for, the rear D44 is fine. If you surpass that design, then its your job to upgrade it.

chuck45

I accept responsibility for what I do and the mods I make; especially when I excede the specs. However the guilty party here is Chrysler/Jeep for not realizing how people would be using it. The sales mix of 2dr/4dr is heavily weighted towards the 4 dr. A Jeep engineer told me they were amazed at this and that it wasn't what they expected. Why do a lot of people buy 4drs? To load them up m- because it has space to haul gear. Look at the Earthroamer JK conversion as the ultimate extention of this. Of course the longer wheelbase demands more and better skid plating underneath, the factroy bumpers are worthless, and ......... well you know the drill.

I recall a 74 F250 4x4 PU I bought new. It had a Dana 44 under it and there was/is no comparison to the lightweight POS we have under the front of ours.

It wouldn't have been that hard or costly to do it right. The incremantal cost to spec out a 3" 3/8" front tube would have been minimal.

Stuka

Oh agree, ultimately Chrysler cheaped out. Especially on the front axle. There is nothing heavy duty about the front D44 in a JK. The front D44 in my J10 is leaps and bounds stronger. But ohwell, nothing else chrysler does is high quality on the JK, why should we expect the most important parts to be high quality? :(

slacktide

Check out currie and offroad evolution

Littlejon

The only other problem is the different bolt pattern of the wheels. You can get some Spidertrax for the back though and solve both problems.

Stuka

Way of Life on here went through two sets of rear D44 R&P's on his JK running 40's. It may last you a while, just don't expect it to hold up for a long time. Oh, and he was running custom shafts in back. He already had a Dynatrac D60 up front.

Stuka

For the most part its to share parts to keep cost down. 5x5.5 is very common. I still think they should only be offered in 8x6.5 though.

Littlejon

Most companies have them drilled in the back for a dual bolt pattern, but up front the 5x5.5 is usually needed to have room for the locking hubs. I know that Currie has mentioned that they can build them with a 5x5 bolt pattern, and drive flanges, but you lose the Kingpin of the Dana 60, and all of the strength of the outer 60 and reuse the stock JK parts.