J20 D44/D60 axle opinions

[aallison]

I need your opinions on the axles out of a 75 J20 D44/D60 axle combo. Are they just regular axles? I want to put something like 39's on it. I'm in Florida and will be in mostly mud and sand. Very rairly in rocks.

Are the axles up to it? More importantly, can anyone think of anything that I sould know about that is different about these axles that would make parts hard to get? Current owner welded the rear and I'd like to replace the welded parts and put a Detroit Locker.

Thanks for all the help.

[j20brett]

Depending on how hard you romp on it the axles will hold. Hard parts to find will be axle shafts should you break them. All the differential pieces will swap from any other d60.

[derf]

Those are terrible axles. They won't hold up to anything. You should just send them to me so I can dispose of them for you. I won't even charge you for the service... ;)


Seriously, they are pretty good axles. But with 39's I'm not sure if they'll hold up. 39's are pretty good size tires. The rear axle will fare better than the front. The ujoints in the front axle aren't up to handling tires like that. If you're light on the throttle, they will hold up for a while but if you get on it, you'll be wishing for a stronger set of axles.

If I was going that big on tires, I'd look at a D60/14 bolt combo from a 1 ton Chevy.

[LTS06]

The rear should be fine unless you get stoopid.

The front can hold BUT may not be a question of IF it will break but When it will break. Not saying it's a sure thing as I've seen trucks run 38-40's with big blocks and have a D-44 hold...and I've also seen a D-44 break under a baby jeep with a stock motor and 35's.

[bg29fan]

lose the 44 and get a 60 front. i broke my front 44 this weekend and i am running a stock 360 and 38.5s, but my rear 60 welded held up just fine.

[J10Mike]

I have rebuilt and swapped in J20 axles on my J10. I will not go above 35s. I don't think I need that much meat with the tires.
They seem to work for me.