How Strong is The Dana35 TTB REALLY???

[RoidedRanger]

i might as well get prepared to replace these hubs with some WARNS...

i was reading about the heavy duty jeep hubs but am not really fond of the bushing between the axle and the hub as opposed to the bearing on the regular ranger hubs that the axle rides on when its not locked. my truck is mainly a street truck and id say that 98% of the time my hubs are unlocked. will that bushing really last liek the bearing would?

 

[brinker88]

I dont see why it wouldnt. They're just like kingpin bushings in big rigs, and those bushings last for 100k+ miles. Driven 24/7

Either way my set's coming on Thursday so I'll be the judge of how long they last.

 

[Bennybooster]

I have had them for a long time with no issues. Just occasionally take them apart and clean and re-grease them. Otherwise 4wd wont engage...

 

[RoidedRanger]

I'll Prolly end up getting some Jeep hubs if/when these mile markers break. Im not really crazy about the way they engage/disengage, they're kinda "sloppy"

 

[brinker88]

Yea I hate mine they're junk

 

[RoidedRanger]

i havent had mine fail to lock/unlock YET, but i dont like the selector on them at all. the o-ring on them suck tho, its like they are too big around for the groove in the hub so they overlap and dont seat properly. i assume they are sealing fine, my bearings and all the grease inside looks great and i cant see any signs of water having been in there.

i guess all these hubs have the same weak spot, the casing?

 

[brinker88]

That's where I've seen most of them break, but my guts actually SPUN in the casing. I've never seen that happen.

 

[kryptonitecb]

My hub just exploded and I didn't notice till my front end wouldn't pull me after I broke the rear flange lol. All I was left with was the ring and a sliver of casing. I have a front locker and this happened when I was pinned up on a rock and being "nice" wasn't working so I started giving the skinny pedal a little more.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[RoidedRanger]

My hub just exploded and I didn't notice till my front end wouldn't pull me after I broke the rear flange lol. All I was left with was the ring and a sliver of casing. I have a front locker and this happened when I was pinned up on a rock and being "nice" wasn't working so I started giving the skinny pedal a little more.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

thats usually the cause of the many driveline failures. lol

at what point does axle breakage occur? i guess what im getting at is will the hubs almost always be the weak link, even with the jeep HD ones? or will stubs and inner axles be the next weak link? IMO id like to keep the hubs the weak link because of theyre ease to replace and fairly cheap price tag, as opposed to axles which are more labor intensive to replace.

 

[brinker88]

^ Makes sense, plus shafts are relatively hard to find these days unless you fint a U-pull-it yard. Junkyards around here wont sell just shafts for some reason.

 

[4x4junkie]

I would have to say the Jeep hubs do tend to move the weak link to the axle shafts themselves (after all, no one's really been breaking the Jeep hubs, but occasionally do bust shafts).

The problem with the weaker hubs though is that they are probably not even half as strong as the shafts are, so you may wind up with too much nuisance breakage. If you didn't have to take the wheel off to replace it, it wouldn't be too big a deal, but each time it happens you have to get the jack and lug wrench out.
I would rather break a shaft once every couple years myself than a hub every other trip out (10-15 years ago I was breaking shafts at about that rate gettin' on it, but last 8 years almost I've pretty much avoided any more simply by knowing where it's limits are).

 

[brinker88]

Yea, if you know the limits, how to take the right lines on the trail, and the standard precautionary measures (c-clip eliminator mod, tacked u-joints or full c-clips, and WARN 37780 hubs) a D35 ttb can be pretty damn amazing.

 

[kryptonitecb]

I know it was my fault, but I also like having the weak hubs cause I don't have to get dirty to replace them.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[RoidedRanger]

looks like ive got a debate then. when these hubs break i can get the WARN ranger hubs and gain a little strength and not have to worry about breaking anything internal on the front. or i can get the much stronger WARN jeep hubs and worry about breaking stubs/shafts but have a much tougher front end.

i guess ill have to see how long these MM hubs last with the v-treads, that should give me some idea on how much more strength im going to need to handle these. if they survive a few trips out then ill just get the regular WARNs but if they explode within the first 5 min then i guess i know im going to need to upgrade ALOT.

 

[kryptonitecb]

Go solid! Lol, then you don't have to worry about hubs. Instead you get a whole new set of problems.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic