35's on stock axles

[Big Red]

IMHO, the cheapest most effective and "fairly" reliable way to run 35's is to:

1) Get an XJ 44 or an 8.8. It aint that expensive. $400 AT THE MOST... could be done for under $200 if you're resourceful (unfortunatly you didnt do that BEFORE you got gears :doh: ... so tack on new gears to the price)

2) Swap 760x shafts/u-joints into your dana 30.

3) Make sure you adjust your steering stops to avoid u-joint binding

4) Run it... As long as your not a throttle jockey you should see minimal breakage.

-jm

Good points jm. How do you adj the steering stops? Be easy on it is 1 of the best things, lockers are nice because you will feel less of a need to throttle it, but also contribute to breakage due to the added stress.
Troy

 

[loop]

a different view for balance-

just because you can doesn't mean you should. :nono: poor build decisions(the rush to go bigger without corresponding strength modifications) end up being a damper on everyones time on the trail. don't be "that guy"..... :dunce:

 

[Goatman]

a different view for balance-

just because you can doesn't mean you should. :nono: poor build decisions(the rush to go bigger without corresponding strength modifications) end up being a damper on everyones time on the trail. don't be "that guy"..... :dunce:

Right, loop. It's easy to say "just run them and carry spares", but it's not fun for the other people that are out there with you.

I dont drive the trails real hard and i know my limits so i think that will help if i go bigger. I dont want to see myself under the rig on the trail contemplating whether or not i should call a tow truck. ON the street i drive a little harder but nothing to give me problems, i know this jeep isnt speed racer and i have accepted that.

Why do you want to go bigger? If you don't run the trails that hard, then why not stick with 33's that are closer to what your axles can handle? If you wheel to enjoy yourself, then why go to something that will dramatically increase your odds of having to fix a major break on the trail?

Another thing is that I wish people would make a little comment on what type of wheeling they do when making statements on a topic like this one. The type of terrain makes a lot of differrence. If you do mostly dirt or mud, you have a much better chance of not breaking than if you do rocks. In the west, with the dry rocks that we regularly wheel on, we see D35's break with 31" tires. One friend in my local club bought a TJ with a D35. He put 35's on it and went wheeling with us on the harder trails. He broke a rear D35 axle shaft every single time he went out, and he finally bought a D60. One time, he took off in low range and forgot to release his emergency brake and immediately snapped both D35 axle shafts. Last year on one XJ trip, we broke six front axles in one day. The funny thing was that they were all Spicer axles and they all had 33's. None of the guys with upgraded axles and larger tires broke anything.

Since you already have geared the D35, just relax and resist the temptation to go to the 35's. There are a whole bunch of reasons that you could end up regretting it. Some of the fun of wheeling is the challenge. I'd rather live with the fun and challenge of tackling an obstacle with a smaller tire than live with more frequent breakage.