oh yeah theres a salvage yard here with a 96 2500 4x4 he wants 700 for the set of axels, I thought that was cheap.

 

Wow, I always thought the dana 44 was a good axle. I wonder how hard it is to replace with a D60? I figure if I'm replacing one axle it would be cheaper to just find a junk truck andreplace both axles.Besides wouldn't that be sweet to find a rolled 2500 3rd gen with the rear disc brakes. hmmm one could dream.Would the 3rd gen axles even work on 2nd gen?

Isn't the Detroit very unfreindly with street driving?

Here's the plan let me know what yall think. I'm getting about 2 grand to play with. My thoughts sofar was to get a hypertech,an alluminum plenum, set of poly pushings, 3" lift springs, 1" AAL, and some kind of locker for the rear. I'm going to keep the 285 tires that I have because it's still a DD. 2 more years and counting till the truck is retiredto funonly. If the axles are weak then I might just try and find a junktruck with D60's and replace both axles.

 

44s Suck ***** for wheeling. Thats why you get a D60 like you guys already said I have one in the front of my Jeep which is trail only.

The 9.25 is very similar to the size of a D60 anyways, they;re just barely smaller. It does suck they're semi float and c-clip but for light wheeling you'll never break it. A ratcheting locker like the powertraxs requires no different driving style.

 

Won't work. The 9.25" 8 lug uses larger diameter shafts and bearings. The tubes do not taper like they do on the 5 lug units.

The Spicer 60 front is the one that's gonna kill you. You can get the strongest light truck rear axle for next to nothing; GM 14-bolt 10.5". Hell for stout, with a third pinion bearing (like the 9"). And the lockers for those are cheap. Only downside to the 14 bolts is they have a low hanging pumpkin.

14 bolts go for around $200 here, SRW or DRW. Disc brake conversions are available and affordable. Same for gear sets.

I generally don't believe in swapping between makes, but the 14 bolt is to trucks as the 9" is to hot rods.

BTW, most full floating Spicer 60's are only 30 spline.

 

While the strength difference between the 9.25 and the FF D60 has long been debated, it's not the strength that makes the swap make sense to me, it's the availability of aftermarket support and accessories that makes it a no brainer IMHO.

Lowest gears you can get for a 9.25 are 4.88, there are no selectable lockers available at all for the 9.25, there isn't a real abundanceof differential covers made for off roading for the 9.25.....if any, there are numerous disc brake kits available for the D60, and used parts are readily available from somebody that is always in search of something different for their D60, etc...etc....etc......

While the 30 spline D60 would be plenty strong for most guys running 37-39" tires with lockers, if your looking for a large strength increase and still wantthe availability to have all the aftermarket goodies, I would recommend the D70 (even though I have a D60). The D70 comes with a tone ring and wheel speed/abs sensor that is needed for the Dodge and the swap into a 1/2 ton Dodge is as easy as they come. Whereas there are a few hurdles with the 14 bolt. Either axle is plenty strong, but the D70 would be a easier swap, but maybe not as readily available as the 14FF.

If you have a D60 and you want to keep it, you can alter it to accept D70 axle shafts, butI would have to ask why do that instead of just swaping the D70 in to begin with?

If you keep your front D44 open and resist the pressure to put a locker in it, you can run 37" tires with the 1/2 ton stuff and still off road with it. if you want a front locker, don't waste your time or money in putting one in a D44. If you have reached the point where you want bigger than 37" tires or a locker in the front axle, it's time to do a 3/4 ton axle swap. While the rear D60 is not the best option available in 8-lug 3/4 ton axles, it is more than adaquate for most guys running tires under 40" IMHO.

 

My memory is fuzzy on the subject
but I have read several posts where 1500 Ram owners broke axles
perhaps a dozen or more posts.

It is not a bad idea to pull the axles and have them magnafluxed at a machine shop for cracks...for piece of mind if you go off road regularly and don't want the hassle. My guess is that the axles are strong and most breaks are due to cracks that were not caught at manufacturing quality control.

On the other hand
the 9.25 seems to have continuing problems with pinion bearings, oil seals and big pinion nut pre-load torque setting not holding.

 

Lockers for 14 bolts cheap? Holy cow no. There are hardly any lockers out there for the 1 bolt for some reason even though its one of the most popular in the wheeling world. There are Detroit's and ARB's, thats about it except for spools. Thats why I just welded mine in the Jeep. You can shave them too since they do hang pretty low. But thats besides the point.

For light wheeling you can run 40s on 1/2 ton crap. I know people who do it, yes they break but these are in TRAIL only rigs so they get beat to crap. A truck on the streets and some light wheeling they'd be fine for quite a while. Don't go to 1 tons unless your going to build a trail only rig like ramv's

 

Has anyone put 3" leaf springs on their 1500 instead of remounting the perches for the 2.5 inch springs.If I can I'd like to.

 

I disagree with Hank too. 95% of the time when shafts break its either at the neck down or the joint breaks and takes the ears out with it. Rarely do they break at a more or less "random" spot. If they were cracked or something similar they'd break alot sooner, even after regular 4wd use, not necessarily wheeling.

I dunno, just my opinion. I've seen alot of broken shafts.

 

The 9.25 axle replaced the 8.75. They put the 8.75 behind the early Hemi's but when it became obvious that an upgrade was needed, they used the Dana 60, which is substantially stronger than either the 8.75 or 9.25. The 9.25 is considered somewhat stronger than the 8.75 and is typically trouble free for the average guy. If they fail, it'll usuallybe loss ofpre-load torque on the crush sleeve first, thenpinion bearing failure. I just had the pinion bearings replaced in the 9.25 in my 95 Ram 1500 4WD at 148K. My mechanic says he does that job quite frequently on 9.25 Dodge trucks, often enough that he considers it a weakness. He couldn't remember the last time he had a Dana 60 apart for repair. I've owned quite a few 9.25 equipped cars and trucks over the years, around a dozen, and most of them with high miles,and this was my first problem with a 9.25. My father, a retired Dodge dealershipservice manager, considers the 9.25 to be very good in terms of reliability, butthe Dana 60 to be fantastic.