Axles

[beast_4x4]

My grandpa who is the owner of the shop i work at keeps telling me the way i drive off the road with my truck he says iam gonna snap a axle all the time i mean non stop he says like if u were in the mud and were spinning and one tire hits solid ground id snap it is it true or like iam think bout putting a 401 in and he says ull be snapping axles left and right

[Sycho15]

Not unless your spinning 35-36" aggressive mud tires really, really fast.
Eventually you might snap an axle-shaft from continued fatigue, but these things are the weak little twigs he makes them out to be.
Normally, you'll snap a couple driveshafts first.

Oh yeah- and if you've got open differentials, you've got even less to worry about.

But then- I've never seen how you drive off-road.

[ January 08, 2003, 07:25 PM: Message edited by: Sycho15 ]

[scotty]

ya,if youve got open diffs and d44 axles,youll be snapping spider gears lots more often than you snap axleashafts smile.gif

[Bob Barry]

No; you'll be snapping something driving like that, but it'll likely be your driveshaft U-joints, though you could take out a front axle U-joint as well if you're bouncing the front end. Especially if you upgrade your front driveshaft to prevent it from breaking.

The general rule still holds; go as slow as possible, and as fast as necessary.