I am trying to decide what kind of money I need to spend on spares for my axles.

The guys at Sunray told me to spend my $$ on something else, but I hate the term "bullet-proof"

If it is made, I can break it, I just need some odds.

I am refering to 35 spline inners and outers w/1480 joints in the front and 35 spline shafts w/spool in the rear.

I am 100:1 with 38" SX's and a straight 6.

Any "war stories" are greatly appreciated, but please give me the specs of the vehicle doing the breaking.

shattered one cryoed 30 spline stub axle in an arca comp and a 35 spline inner at the yoke first run out with 35 outers in a situation that would have broken just about anything all in 2 years gearing is 120:1 with a worn out v8 38" sx's arb frt. rear spool no problems in back...yet

Been running my HP 60 in the back now for two years. Broke the first ring and pinion due to a faulty gear set. But the shafts no problems. Has been running great since I replaced the ring and pinion.

The front HP 60 I haven't had in that long. I have broken one lock out. Other than that it has held togther. Before that I was breaking a 44 shaft and u-joint on every run I made this year. So I am happy. I didn't buy spare shafts for either but that was more of a monatary descion. So far so good.

Had my RC ford 60 since 1984. Last thing that broke was 1480 u-joint that took 35 spline inner & outer axle ears with it. Broke pinion gear not to long ago,also when stock stub broke it took detroit with it. If you really want to be prepared for the worst I would carry long and short side axles (complete).You might not have troubles,my truck is kinda heavy,7430 pounds.:) :) :)

Is that one break in 18 years? What kind of wheeling? Shit, that is a damn good record if you ask me.

I don't have a D60 under my truck. Went bigger. Why? Everyone, and I mean everyone that I know of locally with a D60 has broken it at least once. Both F&R. In the past 2-3 years, at that. Full-size trucks, yes, big blocks, yes, but that's what I'm running.

--Rob

If you start wheelin' that Toy hard Nolen, you will break it.

I was twisting off the splines on my 30 spline stubs and just upgraded to 35 splines. I had a little problem last time I went out with them too, but it was not a problem with the strength of the parts. Kind of a brainf@r+ on installation. My bad, not Spicer's. I have been wheeling harder than ever with mine and it is holding up pretty darn well.

With your setup, just get some good driveshafts for spares and come on out. Better hurry and wheel before the baby comes. It will keep you closer to home than you think!

Ed

Damn,
Here too I am catching hell from you!

I have been wheling every weekend (minus 2) in the last 3 months since I got these axles.

What the hell? Most people are jealous of how much I wheel and here you are saying I don't wheel enough?

Damn, I need to tell my wife. ;)

OK,just to clarify,18 years on RC ford 60. ,3 steering knuckles,1 inner long side,3 stock stubs,1 ring&pinion,4 yokes on 300M 35 spline stubs,20 sets of wheel bearings,and 3 spindles. Also stripped splines in rotor.Also a couple sets of spicer hub gears. Still way better than my D44 closed knuckle,drum brake,3300#.original front end. Probably should have mentioned this earlier(not quite awake).:eek: :eek:

I've busted one joint, 6K# K5, Tera60 front w/ ARB and 5.13's, 35 spl GM inners, 35 spl GM outers with warn lockouts, 468 cu in, TH700/ Doubler, 42" TSLs, and really good line locks......
I had the front at full right steering, not a lot of traction, it was in loose dirt, but inadvertantly left the brakelock on, or hit the switch accidently and gave it a little too much torque. The cross from the joint landed near the rear tire. It also mangled both axles and since it was in competition I went ahead and finished thrashing them.
both the inner and outer splines had a slight twist to them also, probably happened when it broke.
In the tow rig I carry a spare driveshaft (fits front or rear), a set of front axles (just old 30 spl assemblies), a pair of shafts for the 14 bolt, and spare hubs. In the K5 I usually just carry hubs.

I have a friend with a similar setup that's still running 30 spline and has very few problems, he did break an inner out by the yoke but it was an original late 70's shaft, so it was time. I don't remember if it hurt the detroit but I think it did.

Another friend busted a 30 spl stub on his Bummer conversion on 44's doing front wheel burnouts in his shop. He went to 35 spl and I haven't heard any problems since.

I have a friend that has busted 3 30 spline stubs in the front and 2 35 spline rear axles but his rigs get wheeled hard and that is with a big block and 40's. I have busted a ring gear on my RC60 rear once but think it was a bad ring and pinion since I only had about 3 trips on it.

I have broken two joints which resulted in the ears of the inner and outer axles being broken whcih were 35 spline inner and outers (.. I am running 44 inch tires with a very healthy motor. My tires were straight ahead and my motor is moved back 18 inches from the orginal motor mounting location and still they blew apart..

A good friend of mine has been taking out 2-3 stock stub axles, 2 inner, every year now. Then again he is running 40 or 44 boggers, and a 600+hp 460. Also this is in a 76 crew cab. with lots of weight added.

just curious but why is everyone running 35spline outers? you move the weak point to the joint instead of the stub shaft. it seems to me it would be cheaper to let the stub be the weak point. if the u-joint is the weak point you take out not only the joint but also both shafts at the ears. save the joint and inner shaft and just keep the 30spline stub as the "fuse". it makes sence to to me. what am i missing?

You are correct, to a point. It's just that I try to limit breakage at all, so since the 30 spline stubs let go so easily (comparatively), I wanted to fix that weakness.

Also, I have heard about the stubs blowing out and taking the spindle with them. In that instance, trail repairs get really time consuming.

Give me a 5-332x joint as the weak point and I am fine with that.

Ed

Originally posted by high5
just curious but why is everyone running 35spline outers? you move the weak point to the joint instead of the stub shaft. it seems to me it would be cheaper to let the stub be the weak point. if the u-joint is the weak point you take out not only the joint but also both shafts at the ears. save the joint and inner shaft and just keep the 30spline stub as the "fuse". it makes sence to to me. what am i missing?

Every time I saw the stub axle brake it always killed the lockout on the way out.

Originally posted by emsoffroad


Every time I saw the stub axle brake it always killed the lockout on the way out.

would it still not be cheaper to replace a stub and a lockout rather than a stub, inner shaft, and u-joint? especially if the inner shaft has been narrowed?

Possibly. I don't run lockouts, I have drive flanges to keep breakable parts to a minimum.

I guess if you are talking lowest cost, it would make some sense to have a single weak point to fail rather than a larger, less likely, but more catasrophic failure.

It is just nice to not have breakage frequently or at all as compared to the 30 spline parts.

When stuff let's go in my rig, it always seems to be a the worst possible time, so the fewer wrenches that have to be turned on the trails, the better.

Hey High5, aren't you somewhere here in the Lone Star State? FWD is having a little competition in March. You ought to check out www.cowtownjeeps.com 's forum on it. If you are close enough around, you may want to come up or enter a team.

Ed

Originally posted by Rock Taxi
Possibly. I don't run lockouts, I have drive flanges to keep breakable parts to a minimum.

I guess if you are talking lowest cost, it would make some sense to have a single weak point to fail rather than a larger, less likely, but more catasrophic failure.

It is just nice to not have breakage frequently or at all as compared to the 30 spline parts.

When stuff let's go in my rig, it always seems to be a the worst possible time, so the fewer wrenches that have to be turned on the trails, the better.

Hey High5, aren't you somewhere here in the Lone Star State? FWD is having a little competition in March. You ought to check out www.cowtownjeeps.com 's forum on it. If you are close enough around, you may want to come up or enter a team.

Ed

well i havn't broken anything in my 60 yet so i guess i'll decide weather or not 35spline stubs are for me when i do.

yes i live in springtown (west of fort worth) and work at ti in dallas. the comp. sounds cool i'd be interested. i put a 99 vortec350 and 4L80E in my pos at the end of the summer and i never have gotten it going right. i finally gave up and took to to sunray to have them figure it out. it has been there for 5 weeks now and as of last week it has not even been in the shop yet!!!! i was told id should have gone in this week so when i get off in the morning i'll to my weekly drive over to weatherford and check on it. anyway i'd be interested in the comp. we'll see when the time comes. also i have a few buddys who will probably enter to. is this gonna be a team effort like the last run you guys had in clayton?

No fuses:barf:

Hey, High5, I was in there last night and they were cussin it tyin to figure out what was up!!! Anyone local know where I can get d60 or 14 bolt "roughly" the same width as my widetrack j10 axles, I think 66 or67", LOCALLY. I want to get some 35 spline 6 luggers to match the front, you guys are scarin th sh$$#@t out of me for runnin a D44 Hp in the front with a puny 297 u-joint, Tom at Sunrays been laughin, but my wallet seems to laugh even harder, this Navy sh#$$t doesn't pay $$ at all!(Brian, I think you towed an 81 POS I sold to Jason in Springtown out to NAPA for him, I also have an 83 toy truck, and 84 runner)

I'm pretty much in the same line of thought as high5 for now but I do see eventually upgrading to 35 spline.

I think I'm up to 4 stub shafts in the front D60 and 5 axles in the rear D60 in the past 2 years but that's wheeling hard with
44" boggers and a 468

Originally posted by jslamerman
Hey, High5, I was in there last night and they were cussin it tyin to figure out what was up!!! Anyone local know where I can get d60 or 14 bolt "roughly" the same width as my widetrack j10 axles, I think 66 or67", LOCALLY. I want to get some 35 spline 6 luggers to match the front, you guys are scarin th sh$$#@t out of me for runnin a D44 Hp in the front with a puny 297 u-joint, Tom at Sunrays been laughin, but my wallet seems to laugh even harder, this Navy sh#$$t doesn't pay $$ at all!(Brian, I think you towed an 81 POS I sold to Jason in Springtown out to NAPA for him, I also have an 83 toy truck, and 84 runner)

yeah i went by yesterday morning (friday) after work and it wasn't outside. i'm glad. i really wish after i set the motor and tranny in i would have just taken it to them to let them handle it all from the get go but oh well. i'm like you i don't like paying to have stuff done. i enjoy doing stuff myself. i may have wired something wrong who knows. i am sure they'll figure it out. they do good work. yes i am the one who got that tan toy from the base. jason didn't do anything with it and didn't keep it long. another guy here has it now and runs 35 boggers, welded rear, bobbed bed, and lots of body damage. he rolled it early this spring. pretty much right beside where i rolled mine. you have the maroon 83 toy right? i don't know anyone with the 60/14bolt combo. you need to figure out how to get a set of the axles from one of the military chevy's. they come with 4.56's and the rear has a detroit. :)

regardless of what equipment i have on my rig i am of the mind set that i try to alyways have a spare for every thing possible. maybe it comes from my off-road racing days but i seem to have more fun knowing i can wheel as hard as i want knowing that i have a spare almost everything back at the trailer.

so wheather it is a spare computer for my efi or a spare ring gear i usually have one back at the trailer don't see why a 60 axle is any diffrent. if it is on my rig it will be broken at some point and i hate it when i travel 400 miles to wheel for the weekend and have to put the rig on the trailer early due to a lack of spare parts.

Thanx Bri, took yor advice, transportation (on base), told me to call Scottie from the Firehouse, he had some. He owns a piece of the old Wolters Army base in Mineral Wells. He sold me a rear 14 bolt with 4.56s and a Detroit for $380! He had no fronts, so I'm gonna commit suicide and let Sunray finish my front (Dana 44 Reverse Rotation center section from a 77 bronco onto my old standard rotation 44, adjust for caster(springover), install 4.56s and a detroit, and install the flatop knuckles I have with 1" rise Bob Roggy Hi Steer arms) Tom keeps saying I am gonna become intimately aquainted with him due to my "little" front axle, but limited funds(E5 pay sucks)!!!!!!! I am installing a 4.3 vortec CPI, so horspower shouldnt be an issue, but the weight of my J10 will be! Later.

Talk about "GROUND CLEARANCE ISSUES", sheesh, and I was worried about the 14 bolt!!

2 steering knuclkes, & a couple weeks ago I took out a stub, spindle & hub.

& I've seen 2.5 ton rockwells break shafts (front & rear) with open diffs & mild 460s... 50 year old metalurgy sucks ass