iiM RuSHiN

I've seen the terms a lot and can't find what they mean. Sorry kind of a dumb question I know. And are they necessary or a good idea for 35s on a rubi?

BigSteve

Gussets typically refer to the C gussets that weld onto the inner c's where the axle meets the knuckle assembly. Sleeves refer to sleeves that slide inside the axle tubes to strengthen them. I would say that they are not a bad idea but not really necessary for 35's. That being said there are people out there that have bent the inner c's or axle housing on stock equipment. I would say it really boils down to how you drive and where you drive. Keep in mind that gussets and sleeves themselves are pretty cheap to buy, it's the install labor that really gets you.

nthinuf

Upper and Lower gussets by Synergy. (bare metal is the gussets, black is one end of the front axle - without the axle shaft/brakes/tire etc). Some mfg's offer upper only, since it is more likely to bend than the lower.



Inner sleeves. Gut the housing, drill a bunch of holes, slide these sleeves into both sides of the housing, then weld up all the holes. (one company offers inner sleeves that you hammer in. Stick them in a freezer, heat the empty housing, then hammer them in).



Rockslides Bombshell kit. It includes upper gussets. Inner sleeves. As well as outer sleeves that are welded around the outside of the housing.



And ... a Truss by TnT, which gets welded along the top of the housing.



These are all things that you won't know if you 'need' until after your housing is already bent. So whether or not any/all are a good idea will depend on your budget, usage, and personal opinion on how strong you think your axles are.

My opinion? The gussets are a good idea. The rest can be a great idea, if you can weld. If you are paying labor, add up all the costs and decide if you might be better off with a caster corrected aftermarket housing.

kh202

Well this isn't me, but a friend of mine. 2010 JK, stock d30 and 35's. Shit happens lol. I personally went with purejeep truss and gussets for $130. Cheap insurance IMO. Will you snap an axle in half with 35's? No, highly unlikely. But for the price, reinforcing them is a no brainier in my mind, front d30 or d44. They can bend, and that's just no fun. Not being a rock bouncer will help reduce breakage significantly. This guy wheels hard, but knows what he's doing. I wouldn't call him a bouncer by anymeans

iiM RuSHiN

But if I have d44s

kh202

It has the same weak tubes and same weak c's. I still recommend it of you wheel above moderate difficulty. On the street, you could still just do the C's to be safe

09SDunlimited

Rubicons have Dana 44s. However the axle tubes and upper / lower Cs are the same on the jk 30s and 44s. Only difference is the pumpkin housings and axle shafts. (not sure 100% on the axle shafts)

bob-o

Rubi's have 30 spline front shafts and 32 spline rear shafts.
Sahara's or sport's have 27 spline front and 30 rear

pickjones

this might be THE most informative post I have ever read. thank you.

nthinuf

As the others mentioned, you have better internals. The housing has the same tube diameter as the JK d30. It has the same tube thickness as the d30. It uses the same C's as the d30. The difference is the larger center section to fit the larger d44 gears.

Inside, your gears are much better than the d30 r&p. You have the locker, of course, which beats the snot out of an open d30. Your front 'inner' shafts are a bit beefier (30sp vs 27sp). I believe your joints are a bit better. And then outward from the joints, both the d30 and d44 use the same 32sp outer shafts, hubs, brakes, etc. And in back, you have the same d44 gears as a non-rubi, with slightly better shafts. (32sp vs 30sp for the non-rubi's)


To give an idea of some different tubes. Left is the stock JK axle tube for both front d30 and d44. The 2nd and 3rd might be similar to the thickness (not outer diameter) of the stock tubes with internal sleeves installed. Depending on the actual thickness of the sleeve, of course. Dynatrac reports that their standard housing, the 2nd pic from the left, is 113% stronger than the stock JK tubes (this is a combination of both greater tube thickness and increased tube diameter). The 3rd pic is quoted as 182% stronger than stock JK tubes.

(love this third housing, PR44-U. If you are considering dumping a ton of money into your stock front d44 housing, do yourself a favor and check this thing out. All of your internals are a direct swap into it)

And a quick quote from Rockslide about the strength increase of their product. (I think the first number is outer sleeves, and the second is a combination of outer and inner? Not sure about this)

(I could have sworn that they indicated an increase up around 150% when I first saw the kit. But this is what is on their website now.)


And for Offroad Evolutions magnum sleeves.

You may notice that there is rather large difference in quoted strength improvement over stock. My guess is that, comparing sleeve to sleeve or gusset to gusset, it is from the way the figure is generated and not a vast improvement in quality from one to the next.