snapping a front axle on a 4x4

[azcummins]

I know in our RAMS we have a solid, live axle so that when you turn real hard in 4wd, the steering really fights you due to the inside wheel turning slower than the outside wheel.



I've heard that you can snap your front axle if you really try hard, but the Dana 70 seems awfully stout. Is this true?

 

[Red Rocket]

Dana 60

I think what you are asking is what the likelyhood is of snapping the axleshafts and or differential. I am not sure why discussion is over a dana 70, these have the dana 60 in front, and mine for instance is a 70 in the rear. From what I have taken apart, and the abuse my old truck went thru with the same axle, I would say it is very unlikely to snap one. Probably more likely to hurt the transfer case... . Thats all I know.



Nick

 

[azcummins]

Nick

Probably right about the diffs/axle shafts. I think snapping the axle housing would happen more if you were rock crawling or plowing into highways barriers... . oops!

 

[Snow man]

I know mine gets worked ou often,so far no problems,The front axle Wr is 5200 on my Ram,when plowing my GVWR can be as high as 11000,and the front carries about 5500-to 5800 of that,so its tough. This is on a 2500 4x4,8800 GVWR.

 

[RJOL]

I think the real problem is in the front drive shaft connections and the transfer case. If you in 4X4 and on dry pavement, the front drive shaft will want to turn at a different speed then the rear, when in turns. This puts a lot of strain on the drive componets, and the weaker ones are the front shaft and internal transfer case gears.



Milemarker makes a damper to solve this problem and let you drive in 4X4 all the time, if you want... Here is a link:



http://www.milemarker.com/catalog/4-x-2-accessories.html



Have Fun!!!

 

[Ted Constantine]

One thing to think about here is that the front axle on our trucks is not a "real" dana 60. the actual axle shafts are the diameter of a Dana 44. Check out the data on Dave Fritz's site. Other other issue is with these axles, definitely for you SnowMan, is the passenger side axle tube (long one). With the disconnect in the tube and the extra weight of the cummins pushing down you are already stressing that. If the front end were to come off the ground for some reason it would be more than that tube could take.



There is an upgrade kit from Dynatrac that replaces the shafts and puts on manual hubs. This would go a long way to helping the stress in 4x4 turning.



Ted

 

[Snow man]

Ted,thank you for the info,I couldnt imagine the front end coming off the ground,the axle would be the least of my worries if that hgappened!. I drive real easy with the blade on,and the 7 ft spreader in the bed pulls a little weight off the front end,so that helps a little. My plwo weighs 930 lbs,so thats why its so nose heavy.

 

[Ted Constantine]

Snowman the issue with the front coming off the ground is will a stock truck with no add ons or plow. Check out Dodgeram.org dave put in a dynatrac front axle. It is true that the older trucks had a lower front axle rating but the newer ones still have that weak link.



I can imagine what it would take to put your truck in the air but it would be scarry with that plow and spreader



Ted