i was wondering what axles compare to the cruisers axles in strength. like is a cruiser axle as strong as or stronger than a d44 or chevy 12 bolt. i have heard that the cruisers axles are equivelent to dana 44. i was just wondering because a friend at my highschool was asking me what kind of axles my cruiser had under it and i wanted to give him a comparison. thanks

well the axle shafts are similar to D60 (a hare smaller) and the 3rd member is just like a 9" but again a hare smaller. of course the front axle has the birfeild joints, wich are not as strong as D44 joints. correct me if i'm wrong

The big difference between the 9" 3rd member and cruiser is the support bearing on the front of the pinion. The rear axles shafts are comparable to Dana 60 cause 30 spline but 30 spline D60s are full floaters, Dana 44 is not really comparable to toyota front cause d44 is stronger.

Originally posted by USFSIHC
The big difference between the 9" 3rd member and cruiser is the support bearing on the front of the pinion. The rear axles shafts are comparable to Dana 60 cause 30 spline but 30 spline D60s are full floaters, Dana 44 is not really comparable to toyota front cause d44 is stronger.

This reads like you are saying a Cruiser axle is caomparable to a D60, because they are equal strength, but a Cruiser axle is not comparable to a D44 because the D44 is so much stronger. :rolleyes:

I will agree that a FRONT D44 is an upgrade over a Cruiser axle ONLY because I think a 297x Ujoint is marginally stronger than a Birfield joint, however, the Ring and Pinion on a D44 is not stronger than a Cruiser, especially in the rear.

The only reason Cruiser 3rds get a bad wrap is all the heavy Cruisers with soft springs doing SOA's WITHOUT traction bars.

Do a properly set up SOA with a D44 and a Cruiser and you will have a stronger, easier to service 3rd member with the Cruiser axle.

D60 is the strongest...IMO, there are plusses and minus to the D44 vs stock Cruiser discussion. Birfields are the weak point on a Cruiser front, but the balance of the system is quite strong. Wrap bars in the rear are a must with SOA work, IMO.

...Oops...to answer your question...

The stock Cruiser driveline is largely stronger than a Dana 44, however the front birfields are a known weak point. The rear weak point is the pinion on SOA or softly sprung trucks not running a wrap bar. The rear shafts compare to a Dana 60 but are c-clip which is not as desired.

so if you upgraded the birfields to something like a newfield then the front axle would be stronger than a d44. is that right?

stronger yes...but still not as good as a D60. (some may argue this point too.....not the D60 issue, but the stronger issue...)

Stock birfields, in good condition and relatively new, are stronger than D44 joints when the wheels are straight ahead. Turning the wheels, especially to the outer limits, is when most birfs snap. You can adjust your axle stops to limit this somewhat. Additionally, because of a birfield joints tendency to "wear" in the direction of travel, they remain stronger in forward gears and weaker in reverse. Likewise, installing a right side birfield on the left side of a truck will supposedly net you a weaker installation since your forward power is on what was the reverse wear side of the birfield. (confused?!? lol)

Nolen did NOT like his Newfields and upgraded to the D60 setup. I (thus far) have no Newfield complaints, beyond the initial working thru of various versions - we have similar setups. I have not pulled mine in a while, but will be prior to any serious spring runs and will inspect them closely at that time. The inner sleeve and the cage are supposedly the suspect parts when running Newfields, tho those are upgraded as well on the most current versions.

BTW: coarse spline birfields found on drum front axles are just waiting to break. Next in strength is 76-78 birfields. 79+ birfs and minitruck birfs are the same and are stronger. Then you get into Newfields and those other new lifetime jobbies....

Originally posted by 75CRUISER
so if you upgraded the birfields to something like a newfield then the front axle would be stronger than a d44. is that right?

You have a coarse spline Drum brake setup and cannot upgrade to Newfields or Super Birfields without doing a disc brake swap.

Originally posted by woody

The stock Cruiser driveline is largely stronger than a Dana 44, however the front birfields are a known weak point. The rear weak point is the pinion on SOA or softly sprung trucks not running a wrap bar. The rear shafts compare to a Dana 60 but are c-clip which is not as desired.

Here is what happend to my stock course spline pinion and this was with a wrap bar :D

Originally posted by MetalMender


Here is what happend to my stock course spline pinion and this was with a wrap bar :D


Okay broken part. But how did it happen? Nolen can show a pic of his rear 60 with a busted driveshaft yoke....
And how is your wrap bar designed?

More info please :D

Okay, from a "newbie" point of view. I have broke a rear toyota axelshaft, which I might add is indeed very comparible to a Dana 60. I have always been told that a front birfield is your weakest link. No doubt this is true. However one must consider the driving experiance of the wheeler. Everyone worries about that damn Birfield joint. However, I think if you just keep your wheels straight on the hard stuf you will be okay. I have never broken a birfield. And I can say I have done some pretty extreme stuff with them.

Originally posted by Jason M



Okay broken part. But how did it happen? Nolen can show a pic of his rear 60 with a busted driveshaft yoke....
And how is your wrap bar designed?

More info please :D

I was trying to get up a rock face with the rear tires and all it took was a little hop and PING it went. My bar has the traditional upper and lower mounts on the diff but I use a slider on the forward attaching point instead of a shackle as this also gives it the ability to rotate which I belive helps with articulation.
I have hammered with the new fine spline pinion and have had no problems .
I can't seem to find a pic of the whole bar but this is what the front slider looks like.
Oh yea the bar is made a 1.250 X .125 4130 that I got from work :D

well as far as a birf and a 297x comp goes, when I had the runner i broke about 3 birfs in 1 year, went to the D44 and broke 4 297x u- joints and 7 axle shafts in 6 months

D60 F & R:nuke: from here on out