Mildest SAS.

[Dusty_Ranger]

well its true u know everyone's all talking mutual respect but once in a while u get idoits that think there above everything like c'mon man lol it worked tho i hope i dont get reported lol

 

[dirtraider]

dirtraider dont be a asshole listen to wut Broaner has in mind it could be interesting and yes the danna 35 is a ok axel maybe some ppl like it its not up to you to be an ass and contradict wut ppl got to say so my advice to you is to shut up and listen to the full story and respect ppls views. have a good dogfucking day

Why don't you learn how to speak the english language before trying to tell me anything.

Nicely Put.

My D35 has held up to some serious shite.....

And i blew up my spider gears, axle shafts, 2 u joints, a set of stock hubs and a set of warn jeep hubs on blad 33's, open...whats your point?

Really, I don't know if an SAS is for me. This thread is more or less to determine that. Ultimately I'd like to have a very capable and versatile truck. Very capable to me means good in all weather conditions; I love going for a drive in a blizzard when most others don't dare and the occaisional off road adventure be it through snow or a simple trail. Hauling @ss down a dirt road is one of my favorite activites followed shortly by bombing through a field covered with two feet of snow. At this point this truck is my DD and its got a really straight body on it so I don't wanna go messing it up just yet on rocks or extremely technical trails with trees and such.

Currently I've got dead balljoints on the D35 and I'm debating with myself which route to go. I've already had my fair share of problems with the hubs, now the balljoints and I'm getting rather fed up with it. And thats only with 31's. My thinking is that anything larger will really take a beating on the front end with my driving habits. Also, I'm very hard on my brakes. I'm so used to having light cars with discs all around that the braking on this truck has me wishing for more. To help with that I'm gonna do an Explorer rear end.

So, my thinking for the SAS using a D44 is that everything that I've had problems with so far is beefier and will stand the abuse better. Am I correct in thinking this?

If thats what your looking for go SAS, as long as you are willing to put the money in to get everything right. You basically want the same shit i wanted out of mine and i haven't looked back.

 

[4x4junkie]

Uh-huh..., for years now I've watched people here over and over who broke something on their D35s go swapping to D44s thinking they're such a badass axle and whaddayaknow... they still break shit (yeah don't forget about yours too, dude). Kinda funny how that happens, most of the shit in a D44 is the exact same crap that's in the D35. You are hardly upgrading whether you think so or not.

Coming from someone who DOES do some fairly serious wheeling, I can also easily say straight up the Dana35 is a plenty stout axle (especially for someone who just simply wants to bomb down some trails occasionally or through some fields).

Really, I don't know if an SAS is for me. This thread is more or less to determine that. ...... So, my thinking for the SAS using a D44 is that everything that I've had problems with so far is beefier and will stand the abuse better. Am I correct in thinking this?

Well, sortof yes and no.
Have you read through this post at the top here? Everything is pretty clearly explained about the D35 and where it can be upgraded (such as the hubs for example).

Although on the other hand, if you like stabbing the throttle to the floor and holding it there, then you'd probably be wasting your time with both the D35 OR a D44, you might want to consider something bigger still (D60 or maybe the AAM9.25" out of a late-model Dodge 2500).

 

[crbnunit]

I have a lot of offroad miles and some SERIOUS pounding on the d-35. Sure, I break stuff once and a while and it takes a bit of maint. to keep it alive but if I weren't doing really serious 4x4 work, I'd keep it. My biggest bitch is I can't keep the water out of the hubs/wheel bearings and I play submarine a lot up here! The Dana 35 is a tough little axle. If you treat it right, it will get you through some nasty stuff.

 

[dirtraider]

Uh-huh..., for years now I've watched people here over and over who broke something on their D35s go swapping to D44s thinking they're such a badass axle and whaddayaknow... they still break shit (yeah don't forget about yours too, dude). Kinda funny how that happens, most of the shit in a D44 is the exact same crap that's in the D35. You are hardly upgrading whether you think so or not.

I broke my 44 being stupid, doing something the first time out i'd NEVER attempt with my TTB shit plain and simple. Since then i've beat the living shit out of the 44 and it hasn't skipped a beat, ask some people who wheel with me i'm not easy on it at all.

I DD my truck on bias ply 36's with 5.13 and a welded rear, driven it 4+ hours to go wheeling (work is 60mile commute), followed trailered rigs all over trails (which i would have never done with the 35), destroied driveshafts, and yet it gets me home everytime. I haven't touched the wheelbearings/balljoints/hubs once other than checking on them when rotating my tires and they are still fine almost 2 years later. If you can honeslty say thats not ANY improvement over a dana35 then so be it, but theres no comparison in my eyes.

 

[littleredrangerhood]

I agree that the D35 is a pretty tough axle and is similar in strength to a solid D44. The D44 does have several advantages over a D35 TTB including better clearance, increased flex, better steering, etc. but I don't thing a increase in strength is necessarily one of them. However, the solid D44 does allow you to upgrade to alloy shafts but by the time you spend all that money to upgrade a D44 you might as well just bought a D60.

 

[BlackBII]

And i blew up my spider gears, axle shafts, 2 u joints, a set of stock hubs and a set of warn jeep hubs on blad 33's, open...whats your point?
QUOTE]


Perhaps my point is that some people know when and how to use that pedal on the right, some do not....

 

[dangeranger01]

This is starting to get like pirate4x4 in this thread lol

 

[4x4junkie]

I broke my 44 being stupid, doing something the first time out i'd NEVER attempt with my TTB shit plain and simple. Since then i've beat the living shit out of the 44 and it hasn't skipped a beat, ask some people who wheel with me i'm not easy on it at all.

But certainly you never broke your D35 by being stupid...
Although if it's working for you, then that's wonderful. It's not because you put some incredibly stronger axle under there though.

 

[JohnnyU]

This is starting to get like pirate4x4 in this thread lol

You say that like it's a bad thing.

 

[Broaner]

Dammit you guys aren't making this any easier. I feel like theres three chicks tuggin on my balls in different directions.

Short story to illustrate my driving style. Yesterday and last night was an awesome day for people like me that live in south central Wisconsin. It snowed over 9 inches all together yesterday here in Madison from 12PM to 1AM. It was pretty steady most of the day but really kicked up at about 11P. Being the crazy @ss that I am, I went out for a spin with a buddy at about 10:30P. I was awseome! Near whiteout conditions at times. I was bombing down every road I could find. Passed a couple cops doing about 65 in a 55 and they didn't even bother. My roost musta been 200ft long. Well after about 15 minutes of bombing down the completely covered and occasionally drifted roads I got bored. It was ditch running time. At first I was a bit timid and just ducked in a out of the ditches keeping speed up. But the snow was so fluffy that even in almost 2ft of ground cover my open diffed truck could easily push through. So I got a little bolder. I went for a really deep one with my buddy in the passenger seat hollerin the whole time. I was cooking through it pretty good with everything spinning with the go pedal pinned and at redline in 1st. All the sudden the motor bogged down to about 3k. I'm like, "Oh sh!t" and pull outta the ditch before it dies and we're stuck. I get to the nearest streetlight to check it. The entire front end is packed with snow and popping the hood reaveals a serious steaming pack throughout the engine bay. I know already why the motor bogged but I pull the air filter anyway. It is 99% covered with packed snow. Only one "fin" of the filter wasn't packed so the motor was breathing through that tiny restriction. Pics of this coming.

So, am I the type that would benefit from a 44 or do I need a 60?

 

[BlackBII]

Dammit you guys aren't making this any easier. I feel like theres three chicks tuggin on my balls in different directions.

Short story to illustrate my driving style. Yesterday and last night was an awesome day for people like me that live in south central Wisconsin. It snowed over 9 inches all together yesterday here in Madison from 12PM to 1AM. It was pretty steady most of the day but really kicked up at about 11P. Being the crazy @ss that I am, I went out for a spin with a buddy at about 10:30P. I was awseome! Near whiteout conditions at times. I was bombing down every road I could find. Passed a couple cops doing about 65 in a 55 and they didn't even bother. My roost musta been 200ft long. Well after about 15 minutes of bombing down the completely covered and occasionally drifted roads I got bored. It was ditch running time. At first I was a bit timid and just ducked in a out of the ditches keeping speed up. But the snow was so fluffy that even in almost 2ft of ground cover my open diffed truck could easily push through. So I got a little bolder. I went for a really deep one with my buddy in the passenger seat hollerin the whole time. I was cooking through it pretty good with everything spinning with the go pedal pinned and at redline in 1st. All the sudden the motor bogged down to about 3k. I'm like, "Oh sh!t" and pull outta the ditch before it dies and we're stuck. I get to the nearest streetlight to check it. The entire front end is packed with snow and popping the hood reaveals a serious steaming pack throughout the engine bay. I know already why the motor bogged but I pull the air filter anyway. It is 99% covered with packed snow. Only one "fin" of the filter wasn't packed so the motor was breathing through that tiny restriction. Pics of this coming.

So, am I the type that would benefit from a 44 or do I need a 60?

From that description, perhaps you should consider building a 'pre-runner' with some serious coilovers up front....It sounds like you want to go fast and 'bomb' the shit, not crawl the shit.....

 

[brendank]

From that description, it sounds like you'd be more than fine with the D35. Hell, I'd probably do that type of 4x4ing with a D28.

You don't need to do an SAS to bomb through snow. That type of 4x4ing doesn't require a high strength frontend.

 

[F150hybred]

Personally, I'm thinking you should get a snowmobile and save the "wheelin" for the summer time.

 

[4x4junkie]

I agree, the D35 (or a 44) is pretty tolerant of snow abuse, although antics like that on dry, hard surfaces could call for having some beefier hardware under there (blasting past cops like that on the road is a bit reckless too, don't you think? ).

One sure-fire way to break almost any axle is to slam into a ditch with the throttle pinned and the tires spinning. The shockload from the spinning tires bouncing can easily strip gears, twist shafts & u-joints apart, bust driveshafts, t-case, you name it.


I'll also 2nd getting a snowmobile or ATV or something small that can better handle balls-out abuse.