Well my new mud truck (01 ram 1500 4x4) is a blast and does not want to get stuck ANYWHERE!! but anyway its on 38s so im questioning its durability. ive been told to get 1-ton axles and 4.88 gears. so my questions are........
dana 44 dana 60?
How can i distinguish between them?
what 1-tons will bolt up?
do i have to change rear and front gears?
oh ya and if anyone has these parts it might help.

 

First off, if your truck wont get stuck anywhere, then you are not trying hard enough

38's is a bit much for the stock axles (dana44/9.25), but they will last if you are not extremely hard on them. I know several people who have wheeled with this setup. But, parts will wear out quite fast though, and if you are heavy on the throttle they WILL break.

An easy swap/upgrade for the front is a dana 60 from a second gen 3/4 ton or 1 ton. They basically bolt right up for the most part, although drive shafts will most likely need to be modified. For the rear, the 60/70 out of the same truck will also be an easy swap and quite an upgrade. Spring pad widths will be a half inch wider, but thats no biggy.

As far as gears go, yes, both axles have to be changed to a very close ratio within each other. Otherwise, binding and failure will occur to the transfer case and such.

 

meanwhitemopar is the guy to talk to about this. he just put d60's front and rear on his.

 

hey thats me... i saw mud truck, and had to look... ok, the dana 60s front and rear out of a 2nd gen dodge ram bolt right up, may have to mod a few things in the rear though... for instance.. the rear perchs... are set in to far, you have to grind them off, get new ones, and have them welded on professionally cause of heat issues on the axle tube...

i will tell you though,,, the ujoints will have o be changed... the front will bolt right up, its i belive a spicer 1350 series ujoint... but the rear how ever.. mine at least, is a spicer 1410 ( 2ton) series ujoint.. i went to a driveshaft place, had them machine my slip yoke of my old shaft, had a whole new driveshaft mde up, witht he 1410 weld in yoke on there... you dont have to do that, you can just get a new end put on the stock driveshaft ( plenty stogn enough) and it will be like 200bones if ya talk to him enough and talk him down... now not saying all 60s have this ujoint, but alot do... when you get that for, pm me and ill help ya find a solution to your ujoints because you may get one with a 1350 in which case all you ned is a conversion joint... like 50 bucks

if your running 38's regear for like maybe 5.13, forget 4.88 cause if you dont get stuck now, youll fnd something you want to go through and get stuck and up the tire size, nd youll have to regear again, just go big and stay there.. its what im doing... and yes, you must regear both front and rear... you will go about 10ft in 4wd, and it will go pop, and break alot of stuff...

and a way you can tell the differance in the two xles... ha,, just look at a 60, youll know its not a 44... much bigger...

lets see some pics of this beast that dont get stuck? you know i love mud trucks...

 

 

you have to paste it in the little mountain icon

 

now you just got to find urself a lady friend that likes doin it in a truck and u will have the best time with that truck-and get a sticker that says "lifted, cause fat girls can't jump"

 

how much lift do you have to run 38s, they look like they are stuffed into your fenders and looks like you cant turn, might just be the angle your at though.

Im not really digging the air filter out the side, wouldnt it get clogged with mud and defeat the purpose of it.

 

im running 38's with stock axles and 4.56 gears. I can roast the tires so I personally wouldn't go any higher than 4.56's... but I drive a lot of road too, so if its only a mud truck and will never really be reaching 70 mph than i would get 4.88's. Yeah ur lift looks tiny cuz with my 38's its obvious I have tons of clearance.

 

what kind of tires are you running, im looking at a few different kinds for when my truck is a toy only