I just recently finished my new Dana44 for the front of my chevy..
I installed a Lockright in it, when I had the new u-joints pressed in the shop that did it warned me that they were "light duty" axles and I should upgrade them..
Long story short, to save money I did not do this thinking winter is here and I am going to play in the mud and snow so what could happen..Wrong... I saw this killer hill and had to tackle it.
right at the top while the tires were only turned a little I completly blew out the u-joint in the axle on the left side taking the axle with it.
My question is, is there a better axle I can get? and how big of an axle can I fit into this front end?, it's a 30 spline unit on a pre73 Dana. Can I get one from the wricking yard?
I am open to any help here I want to do this right this time, since I have a run coming up next sunday and the beginning of the run is harder then what I broke this axle on yesterday.
Thanks,

Sean

You can't get any bigger shafts (except for some new custom stuff just coming out), but you can get aftermarkets made of stronger alloy. The real problem, though, is the joint. the better shafts will hold up better when the joint breaks. If you serch back on the General 4x4 section there is a lot of discussion about stronger joints. If you have a healthy V-8 & bigger than ~36' tires, you probably need a D60.

well, i will bet the farm you had 35"+ tires and that with a locked front is a recipe for carnage. Dana 60 is your only hope, that or rockwells:D

Sounds like the norm. One thought is I'm not sure what the year it was... maybe 72 or 73... but D44's used a smaller axle u-jt and then changed over to a larger u-jt in one of those years.

Basically it is about what has been said. You lock up the front and put a little muscle or get those wheels turned a touch and it can be disaster. You can get chrome moly axle shaft from Offroad Design(although they definetly aren't cheap). Also you can call up Jess at High Angle. I know he was working on some higher strength u-jt's. One word of warning:It may just move your breakage elsewhere (hubs...R&P?).

Overall the cost of the u-jts and the aftermarket shafts will run about 70-80% of what a D60 will cost, but even a D60 isn't an instant prescription for breakage. It would most likely hopefully save breakage of the R&P and would be much more worthy of your upgrades IMO, but you may have to look into your driving style. If you are used to open axles you might be a little heavy w/ the right foot. Just my $.02.

Thanks for the input guys..
I will look into some better axles for now and see what I can find.
as far as my driving style goes, when the u-joint gave I was hardly into the throttle, had the wheels turned a little not a whole lot and then POW!!! it blew, and yes I am running 35's.
If I were to go for a Dana 60, is it as easy as a swap as the 44 was? Or are there some mod's I am going to have to make for it to fit?