Dana 44 vs 60

[Igmar]

I have a bone stock TJ Sport and plan on going brute, getting the highline, OME lift, 35's etc etc, but I am stuck at axle upgrades. I know I want Dynatrac axles, everyone says to just go to Dana Pro 60's and forget all your worries, but I play mostly in the snow and avoid the rocks, would I really need 60's? I'm just worried about weight, can anyone tell me the weight differance of a 60 vs a 44?

[jared]

if you only want 35's a d44 would be plenty, a 60 would be nice, but overkill unless you really really beat on your rig

[JeepinJon]

Also the ring gear is much larger on a Dana 60, so with anything less than a 37" you would be dragging it on everything, and getting hung up on it. You would be better off with a built Dana 44.

[Igmar]

See, that's what I was thinking too, but after talking to someone at Dynatrac, they said the 44s don't cost much less than the 60's, so that was the tease to just get the 60's. But like I said, my biggest worry is weight, does no one know the weight differance between a 44 and 60? I can't find info on either one!

Thanks for the insight everyone.

[Mieser]

I think the biggest drawback to 60s is the weight, cost aside. A Dana 60 front or rear axle is generally overkill for anything under a 40" tire outside of comp rock crawling. I think the best option if you don't think 44 stuff will hold up is a 9"/D60 hybrid axle. The 9" center section is lighter and slightly smaller than the D60 stuff. There are many options for dana 60 outers ( kingpin, ball-joint, Spidertrax), but the biggest drawback is that you cannot make a 60 knuckle front axle as narrow as the stock TJ front axle without using coil-overs or very high backspacing wheels ( from which the stock 60 hub will stick out of ).

My honest opinion is that if your breaking alloy Dana 44 stuff with 35-37" tires you just need to back off the skinny pedal or lighten up the vehicle.

[Igmar]

Alright, Dynatrac gave me some numbers, just for anyone else interested. Their rear Pro60 weighs in at ~338lbs and the rear Pro44 is ~270lbs, a 68lb differance.

I think I'll stick with my original plans and go with the 44, like you guys say, it should be plenty. And to me, every lost pound helps on 15ft of snow!

Thanks for your input.