Rear Dana 44 axle shaft strength

So how many of you have ever twisted one in half ?
Was it a Dana tapered axle shaft or a Dana flanged axle shaft ?
Perhaps you twisted off an aftermarket full floating rear axle shaft.
Any opinions on what brand of full float axle shaft is best ?

 

I broke a flanged 44 at the splines, It also took out my carrier. I was running 35's and got a wheel in a under cut. I went to superior shafts after that and broke one with 37's in the same spot a year later. It all depends on what you want to do with your jeep. I would say Superior is one of the better shafts made but if I remember right they mad them custom at the time they didn't offer that length shaft.

 

Ken, I have never "broke" a tappered shaft, I just kept shearing the keys and spining the hubs (and yes, they were torqued to spec). The AA FF (and I do not know if they made the axles or farmed them out) have worked for me for better than 30 years with only 2 drive flange failures, neither of which ruined the axle splines. The last time it was apart (to dispose of the Detroit Locker) 2 years back, the axle shafts showed no signs of any twist. That said, the biggest tire they have seen are the 33-12.5's which no doubt is a factor along with my "old man" approach to driving off road. I sometimes go quite a ways without ever hitting the throttle and just use the gears to control the speed. I have seen a few sets of the AA shafts at swap meets in the past but none recently. Herm's kit would appear to be the way to go if you want 30 spline axles but having them neck down to clear the spindles, about all you gain is a bigger selection of traction devices.

Now that I said that, I will probably pop one the next time I am out, but at least the wheels will hopefully stay put.

John

 

I've "twisted" but not "sheared" or broken a couple of short side rear tapered 19 spline tapered shafts. I twisted them at the splined area. Also bent one outside of the axle bearing on the flange side. Never broke one or spun a shaft in a flange.
This was with 33" tires and lots of abuse.
I've seen lots of tapered shafts spun in the hubs but most of them I attribute to the nut working loose or a poor fit between the shaft and the hub.

I've seen a few with the splines sheared on 19 spline tapered axles, seen lots of 10 spline tapered axles with the splines sheared and a few with the splines sheared on 30 spline flanged axle shafts. Usually what I see on the flanged 30 spline are the splines get worn out then they shear or simply spin the splined ridges off. Frequently due to a Powerlock limited slip with 2 piece side gears. They work back and forth and wear the splines out on the shaft and inside the side gears and rings.

I've seen a couple FF shafts worn or sheared. Usually the old Smittybuilt shafts or people's home made ones. We've had a few twist over the years (Dutchman builds our shafts) but not too many. The Warn shafts were by far the strongest but not made any more. Randy's Ring and Pinion bought the Warn Axle Division but are not making any of the parts yet (if they will).
I've got a set of the Dutchman shafts in my '59 CJ-5 that have been there for about 15 years of very hard abuse/use and are still in good shape.

 

on my 2A, I broke 2 shafts, one short and one long..these were D41 tapered shafts.
after I built the D44 tapered with 19 spline, I broke 2 short shafts, one was literally backing out of the driveway at the cabin.
It should be noted that of the 2 D44 short shafts to break, one was original Dana, the other was from Crown (not Dana marked).
if I were to return to tapered shafts, I would prefer only good, used Dana shafts.

I've seen some D44 flanged axles twisted in the splines.

 

Jpflat2a brings up a good point I forgot to mention.
All mine were original Spicer shafts and the non-ff shafts I mentioned were original Spicer shafts.

I've seen tons of the aftermarket non high strength shafts twisted and broken. The Crown or Omix-ada shafts and gears I absolutely try and avoid. Way too many issues with them. We had 1 customer break 2 of them (tapered shafts) and we found a good used Spicer for him and he's been fine since. This was just on a hunting rig used only a couple times a year around his Cabin property.

 

My first and only axle shaft failure was back in 1977.
I was jeeping a 1976 CJ-5 equipped with 304 and every heavy duty option.
Well you know what they say about the AMC corporate axles.
It's absolutely true.
During a snow I ran the right side of my jeep into a deep drainage ditch.
I drove the jeep back and forth trying to get my right wheels back up on the road.
All a sudden CLUNK ! I sheared the axle splines right out of the hub.

By then I had it with that so called Jeep. Sorry if I offend any late CJ-5'ers but I've been there and done that.
Ever since that moment in time I've been jeeping with real jeeps, Willys and Kaiser Jeeps only.

I have never had a single problem with Dana 23-2 full floating nor the model 41 semi floating axles.
Of course both of those have 10 spline shafts and were powered by the Go-Devil on stock tires.
I have never had a single problem in the past 25 years with Dana tapered model 44 powered by the Hurricane.
That's the 19 spline version with Powr-Lok turning 5.38's and running up to 36" tall tires.

 

oldtime,
I agree with you on the AMC tapered axle set up. Don't know what AMC's engineers were smoking when they designed that rearend. A strong center section with weak outers. Go figure.

I also agree with you on real Jeeps. I kick myself in the arse every time I think about the nicely setup 64 Kaiser CJ-6 I sold for a 76 CJ-5. I guess I was young then and just wanted something shiny and new. The 76 was geared all wrong and instead of screwing with it, I sold it and bought the 80 that I have had for the last 30 years. I put a little bit of $$ in it but it's a good Jeep.

 

Twisted the splines on a flanged long side shaft, no breaks.

 

i have a 350 sbc in my 55 M38A1. have the stock 10 spline axles front and rear, with a power-loc in the front and a lock-right in the rear. have been running them for 20 years, 99% off roading. well i installed a new HEI in my motor and decided to do some speed shifting on the highway. didnt take long, broke one rear axle and twisted the other. considering there 55 years old, and ive done a ton of hard core four wheeling, then id say thats not bad. you can break anything.

 

The AMC corporate 20 is a holdover from the earlier cars. My buddy had a '68 Ambassador with the AMC 20 rear end from the factory. They used what they were already building when they took over Jeep instead of outsourcing the axles. It was a cost-saving measure that was a huge mistake, at least for us Jeeper's.