stock axles with 44s???

Hey everyone i have a 715 that i am finnally gonna do over.Im gonna do a spring over,shackle flip etc etc.Iam setting it up to run 44s and was wondering the strenths of the stock dana 70 and 60. (As far as axle and tube strenth) The front appears to have small diameter tubes.Is it worth putting the money into these or am i better off just swapping to a gm 60 front and a 14b or something along those lines???? Thanks everyone Mike



Stock 715 with the exception of a small block chevy. work in progress....:)

They are strong enough, but may not have enough brakes.

What kinda setup are you running Maj.Business? Just curious, as I have a stock drivetrain 715 with 38" XLs and so far I personally haven't run into any trouble. It does make me wonder though when I bought my 725 from a guy and he did this to the front axle with all stock drivetrain and 34" NDTs.

Pinion:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3...smalleraf8.jpg

Passenger side axle shaft:
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/6...smallerho1.jpg

Interestingly enough, the ring gear doesn't even have a scratch on it.

Personally I would not sink much money into these axles. Mainly because you can't do much (can you do anything?) to them to improve performance. Disk brake kit alone is what a 60/14 bolt is worth, right? Takes considerably machining money to go 35 spline in the front (check out the full writeup a guy did on that in the manuals section, its down towards the bottom). Basically only have Detroit or Power Lock differentials as traction aid choices. Have to either stick with the split rims and run tubes or pony up roughly 250 a rim for custom made ones due to the 715's unique 6 bolt pattern. Hmm, what else am I missing? Its just not a good option if you even think you would like to upgrade your axles now or in the future. Anyway, thats my opinion.

Thats pretty much what i figured.For the price of the disc brake swap i could have got the one ton axles under the truck.And after seeing the twisted splines i made up my mind.Time to find some axles lol Thanks for the info.

Well looks like the guys at JP magazine may be misleading people a little bit. Just got the latest issue, in which they have an axle write-up. Part of the information they have is max tire size for each axle. Under the Dana 60 it states 39-42 and the dana 70 it states 44s. They do make one qualifying statement that the stock shafts are small and metallurgically inferior to modern stuff.

I have 39.5 on mine right now and that makes me a little nervous. Does anyone want to swap some CUCV axles under my ride?:D

I found some axles!! Im goin this weekend or maybe next depending on the guy.... but i picked up a 60 front and 70 rear out of a late 80s 3/4 ton dodge truck.I think these should be stout enough.Maybe upgrade the outers to 35 spline.Some gears,a spool for the rear,a detroit for the front with some big outers and about two thousand for parts and i should be good lol now i just need the cash... MIke

I watch guys run 44's on half ton Chevy's and have for years. 39's are common. Whether it's strong enough or not depends on what you plan on doing with it. I'm basically settled on 42's and I don't expect any problems...but then I'll never do more than run through a field with it.

I had 44" Cepeks on stockers with a springover for a few months after buying my 725- it drove great and the tires had around 14K on them. They were worn evenly. Swapped a 60 kingpin front with beefy outers and a 14 bolt rear- both gone through, 513's, lockers, rear discs and 39.5 MT MTZ's. 4K later and they're doing fine.

i've had 44"boggers on stock axles for 5 years.no problems yet but i'm putting in a new 600 horse,750 ft/lb torque engine that will probably kill them off pretty quick.

As with all axles it depends on a few things.
Mainly, what condition the axles are in, and how they will be used (this part also includes vehicle components, etc).

Heck, I could put 66" monster truck tires on stock axles and they would be ok, IF I only putted around, rarely turning ;), stuff like that.

I ran 44's on my rig for a couple years with a 6.2 GM diesel. I easily broke both front axles in the sand and one rear axle pulling a heavy load in the sand with a locked rear diff. Each time I was using the M715 to pull something else such as another stuck rig or a log in the case of the rear. Running empty it would be harder to break axles.

Rollie