Sorry for the Cheezy Title,..

But after the last competition, My XJ was left lame,.. broken rear shaft and no power from the front. I thought I had surely broken the front axel or stub on the D44,.. turns out I blew the Spiders all the hell. Now this may be a stupid question but what causes that? Can I just swap new ones in or maybe a LSD or something. I am a bit lost here. Happened on this,...

http://i36.tinypic.com/vwq4k4.jpg

That happens because you still have spider gears. :flipoff2:

(get a locker)

swap new ones in and weld them up and no more breaking, atleast from the spiders, shafts may be a different story

Too much traction and too little beef causes this.
Did you expect more from the little things?
If you want to go through this again, just put new spiders in and go.
You can weld them up and you'll likely break something else next time.
Also, without manual hubs or a disco axle your steering on dry ground will be severely affected. It'll plow around all over the place.
Spend a little coin on a locker and it'll live a little longer.
Spend a lot of coin and it'll live a lot longer.

Also, check the steering stops and make sure the joints aren't binding up at full lock.

yep weld it up for tha cheap or buy an aussie locker for the front. Mine is welded and steering is not fun, my turning radius is an 80 acre field. Need hydro assist...
Oh and dont let the front end "hop" very much while the tires are spinning cuz that will destroy the spider gears every time. If it bites then somethin might go boom.

yep weld it up for tha cheap or buy an aussie locker for the front. Mine is welded and steering is not fun, my turning radius is an 80 acre field. Need hydro assist...
Oh and dont let the front end "hop" very much while the tires are spinning cuz that will destroy the spider gears every time. If it bites then somethin might go boom.

Coming from a guy running 42's on a Dana 44:shaking:

Im going to say that flexing of the housing, causing the shafts to put a uneven amount of stress to the spiders. Think about it.

Now that you broke the spiders, you have an excuse for an upgrade. But I don't think that front 44 will last that long with a front locker and the size of your tires. what are those? . . . 38's?

Coming from a guy running 42's on a Dana 44:shaking:

Yep. I ride in woods/trails/and mud. Not much serious stress on my frontend like if i was pinned against rocks. And believe it or not me and 4 other of my friends run the same ford dana 44 up front and they run 44" boggers and tsl's. One broke the spider gears playing tug of war in my yard, a few have broken pass side axle shafts, but its not enough damage to warrant changing to a 60. We got a stockpile of spare 44 parts...

what are those? . . . 38's?

35 14.5 R15's

Here is the damage:

http://i37.tinypic.com/wiwyly.jpg

35 14.5 R15's

Here is the damage:

http://i37.tinypic.com/wiwyly.jpg

... All the ones i've ever seen break always crack in half. Never had one actually shear the teeth off.