hansen65

So I went out to Last Chance Canyon and Nightmare Gulch with my dad a couple days ago and when we got back I took the Jeep in for an alignment because it was due not because it was handling badly. I hadn't been having any real issues driving other than an occasional wobble in the steering wheel around about 30 to 40 mph.

I got a call from the alignment shop (which I have been going to for years and know that its a reputable place) and they told me my camber is out (.4 degrees on the left and 1.2 degrees on the right) and that its not adjustable. They gave me the print out from the machine and didn't even charge me for looking at it because they didn't adjust anything.

A guy from a local 4x4 shop happened to be there picking up tires for a project he was working on and offered to took a look at it. The owner of the alignment shop latter recommended I go talk to the guy and said that I probably bent my front axle.

When I got to the shop I told him that I had sleeved the Dana 44 and had c gussets installed by Off Road Evolution. He sighted down the axle and showed me that it looks like the tubes both bend up from the differential. He said this is very common in stock front axles on the JKs. He didn't try to sell me anything and I know that WOL had recommended this shop to a friend of mine recently so I don't think he was trying to scam me.

I honestly thought that the sleeves were supposed to prevent this from happening. I really don't wheel my jeep that hard. I usually take harder lines but take them slow and easy so as not to break stuff?

Is there any way to fix this short of replacing the housing? Is there anything else that might be causing the misalignment (bearings, ball joints, etc..) that I can check?

nthinuf

Offset balljoints

You could also talk to the shop guy again and ask about straightening. Haven't heard of a 'sleeved' axle being straightened, but doesn't hurt to ask. Then again, the money spent on 6 or 10 hours of labor plus the offset bj's may be better spent on a PR housing to swap your internals into.

hansen65

The guy at the 4x4 shop said you can straigten them for some reason.

The offset ball joints might be a bandaid until I can replace the housing.

bluejk09

What is the cost for installed offset ball joints?

mkjeep

I have c-gussets and my c bent Running offset Napa B-joints on top.
Labor on changing bj's upper and lowers both sides can run $600-$700
Off set bj's will run about $100 each for either the napa or moog.

hansen65

So what's to stop it from bending again after spending $800 - $900?

For that matter whats to stop a new housing from bending if I replace the housing?

Is a Dana 60 the only option to ensure this wont happen again?

mkjeep

Either that or a prorock 44, but yep, pretty much.

nthinuf

Look at the PR44 unlimited. You can get the bare housing and drop 'all' of your rubi44 internals into it. A much less expensive option that jumping to a 60.

wayoflife

agreed - i would go for the prorock 44. it's a much better way to go and as mentioned, you can reuse a lot of your rubi parts.

hansen65

Anyone out there running a ProRock 44? How is it holding up? Are they really that much stronger then a sleeved stock 44? I am only running 35s but was thinking one day of upgrading to 37s. Will the ProRock 44 handle 37s or will I be back where I started?