actually to keep performance and load closest to stock levels you would want 4.56 with 35" tires and 4.88 gears if your going up to 37" tires....keep in mind if you do offroad the stock 1500 axles do not hold up well with 37" tires...they will likely be breaking things all the time..

 

Might as well go to a truck farm and get Dana 60's off a 3/4 ton. My truck comes with Dana 60F's. And as Augiedoggy said, 4.88 go with 37's. It pretty much keeps the RPM and performance as close to stack as possible. I see guys mess up their trucks all the time cause they oversize tires without changing out the gears. Its pretty rough on trucks. Plus, if you don't change out the gears then go 35's+ then you're practically slaughtering your trans. Dodge trans are pretty tempermental

 

That's good to know, looks like I'm gonna do the brakes cuz it needs new rotors as well, then gears locker and true track, and looks like I'm gonna drop about $2200 in a bds lift

 

I can see tht I'm hurting my trans right now, but I don't really want to swap axles unless I get a great deal on a set so I guess I'll just stick with 35s they shouldn't look bad under a 5" lift

 

Well I had my passenger wheel bearing finally give out after making noise for over a year (glad I waited cuz I always thought it was the driver one) and while I was at it I did the 2500 caliper upgrade and it was worth the hassle on the side that didn't want to cooperate. Mustang motor should be done next week and I can put it in the following, I just can't decide if I want to hurry up and turbo it or start by putting gears and lockers in my dodge, any votes on what I should do first?

 

Uh, gears. And get ready to break those 1/2 ton toothpicks. Weekly.

 

Axles that bad? Any good upgrades for them?

 

If you put big tires and a stock motor together, you won't break much. If you put a mildly built motor together with stock tires, you won't break much. Put large tires together with a stompin' motor and you will be breaking things a lot more often than you'd like.

Another factor that most people do not recognize: when you upgrade to lower gears, you are putting more stress on the axles themselves. The increase in torque that you feel when you upgrade, your axles feel as well. So you are making your engine stronger, and your axles weaker.

There are upgrades for the stock axles, but nothing that will make them as strong as a stock set of dana 60's. Find a 3/4 ton in a junkyard and take the axles out from under it. That is really your best option. From that point you can upgrade gears, shafts, lockers, etc. It would just be a shame to spend all the money on the half ton axles, just to break them and change them later on.

 

Weekly come on now, I have been running 35's for a few years and the truck has had 3.92 gears since new, yes I do wheel this truck in the snow hard and I have never broke anything in the Dana 44. That said I do go through unit bearing's on a yearly basis but that's not from wheeling the truck hard that's just a bad design for wheel bearings and the type of roads I drive on. You can get better cross joints and better axles for the Dana 44. Up here you can find Dana 60 front and a Dana 80 rear as a set for around $500.

http://alberta.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ348766112

35's look fine with a 5" lift.

Edit: I do recommend getting ride of the lsd if you have one in the rear diff, I have gone through a couple of those, but I have also killed a couple of Detroit Lockers as well. Also add the cost of new 8 bolt rims to the Dana 60 upgrade as well.

 

And I have been wheelin' my '72 on 39's with a 19 spline D44 up front for a long time as well. Lockers, more than 210ft/lbs, and lower gears would, in my opinion, be a bad idea.

It was a bit of an exaggeration, but I believe that upgrading stock 1/2 ton axles is a waste of time and money.