Axles....to ProRock, or not to ProRock....

caminton

caminton

New member
So, fairly new here, but it's easy to see that most of you guys swear by the ProRock axles. This is a good thing; those axles are stout. If I had the money, I would put a 44 up front and a 60 in the rear right now. But, I DON'T have the money, so I'm here, asking this question...

For someone (me) who doesn't wheel very often, but does enjoy it, and wants to start wheeling more on some harder trails, am I better off spending my money on a ProRock 44 for my front end, or saving my money and getting a used Rubicon 44, doing some minor upgrades, and using that extra money towards my new wheels/tires?

I'm in a 2012 2 door Sahara JK on 33s right now, looking to go to 37s or 38s by the end of the year, regearing to 4.88, and adding lockers.

Please keep in mind the application part of this question. This isn't me asking "Is a ProRock 44 good?" because I know the answer to that question. This is me asking, "Is the ProRock 44 overkill for my situation?"

Thanks in advance, and happy wheeling! :wings:
 
If you plan on putting 37's, my advice is out the money towards the PR. I bought a brand new rubicon a year and half ago thinking that would be all I'd ever need. Now I wish I had a bought a 2007 with a ton of miles because I'm going to end up replacing everything, including a LS swap. My point is, plans change.
 
If you really don't wheel that often and if you don't play hard when you do, I would recommend that you just wheel with what you've got, save up your money and then buy a ProRock 44 when you can afford it. I personally would NOT waste my money on a factory 44 as it's only a 44 in name. With the exception of the diff and axle shafts, everything else about it is just a Dana 30.
 
caminton said:
So, fairly new here, but it's easy to see that most of you guys swear by the ProRock axles. This is a good thing; those axles are stout. If I had the money, I would put a 44 up front and a 60 in the rear right now. But, I DON'T have the money, so I'm here, asking this question...

For someone (me) who doesn't wheel very often, but does enjoy it, and wants to start wheeling more on some harder trails, am I better off spending my money on a ProRock 44 for my front end, or saving my money and getting a used Rubicon 44, doing some minor upgrades, and using that extra money towards my new wheels/tires?

I'm in a 2012 2 door Sahara JK on 33s right now, looking to go to 37s or 38s by the end of the year, regearing to 4.88, and adding lockers.

Please keep in mind the application part of this question. This isn't me asking "Is a ProRock 44 good?" because I know the answer to that question. This is me asking, "Is the ProRock 44 overkill for my situation?"

Thanks in advance, and happy wheeling! :wings:
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PM Cozdude and talk with him about PR44 options, if I remember correctly he got his for about $4400. At least on here, most of the used Rubicon 44s that I've seen for sale have been between $2500-3500. By buying used first you'd be spending way more in the long run rather than just getting a PR first.

Keep playing with what you have and upgrade when you have the funds.
 
MR.Ty said:
Keep playing with what you have and upgrade when you have the funds.
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This is basically what I was looking for. Thanks! Also, LOVE your build man.

wayoflife said:
If you really don't wheel that often and if you don't play hard when you do, I would recommend that you just wheel with what you've got, save up your money and then buy a ProRock 44 when you can afford it. I personally would NOT waste my money on a factory 44 as it's only a 44 in name. With the exception of the diff and axle shafts, everything else about it is just a Dana 30.
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Thanks for the response Eddie.
While I do know that the "44" they put in Rubicons is basically a 30, isn't it a High Pinion, and therefore MILES ahead of my crappy D30?
 
caminton said:
This is basically what I was looking for. Thanks! Also, LOVE your build man.



Thanks for the response Eddie.
While I do know that the "44" they put in Rubicons is basically a 30, isn't it a High Pinion, and therefore MILES ahead of my crappy D30?
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You can gusset the Cs on your front axle for cheap. That's probably the only money I'd throw at the existing axle, beyond that just save your $$ for the PR.
 
USMMA11NC said:
You can gusset the Cs on your front axle for cheap. That's probably the only money I'd throw at the existing axle, beyond that just save your $$ for the PR.
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Yeah, not looking to throw any money at this 30. I don't even want to regear without a new axle. Waste of money.
 
caminton said:
Thanks for the response Eddie.
While I do know that the "44" they put in Rubicons is basically a 30, isn't it a High Pinion, and therefore MILES ahead of my crappy D30?
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Miles ahead? Not even close. The tubes are still small and thin and the end forgings small and too easy to bend especially for how much heavier a JK is compared to the TJ.
 
I'm hoping to order a PR in the next month or so. Another selling point for me was this: http://www.dynatrac.com/downloads/ProRock FAQ_revK.pdf. I couldn't find any other D44 manufacturer that took this amount of time to provide specs/info to their customers. Along with countless email exchanges that I've had with Dynatrac regarding my special situation (no JK).
 
I agree with granite_head. The more you wheel - the more you will want to wheel. And this will lead to wanting to tackle harder and harder trails. After researching forever, all roads lead back to a prorock44, at least for me. With the dana44 sharing many of the common failing points of a Dana 30 I wouldn't bother with swapping especially when you're relatively close to the cost of a such a solid axle like a Prorock. My.02
 
Judesign said:
I agree with granite_head. The more you wheel - the more you will want to wheel. And this will lead to wanting to tackle harder and harder trails. After researching forever, all roads lead back to a prorock44, at least for me. With the dana44 sharing many of the common failing points of a Dana 30 I wouldn't bother with swapping especially when you're relatively close to the cost of a such a solid axle like a Prorock. My.02
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Good way of looking at it. It'll be a little funny if a go with a PR44 though, because my front will be beefier than my rear.
 
caminton said:
Good way of looking at it. It'll be a little funny if a go with a PR44 though, because my front will be beefier than my rear.
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The rear 44 is a lot stronger than you think. It is a true 44 with thicker tubes. You should be just fine up to 37's on a pr44/factory rear 44
 
jagrubb99 said:
The rear 44 is a lot stronger than you think. It is a true 44 with thicker tubes. You should be just fine up to 37's on a pr44/factory rear 44
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This ^^^
A factory rear 44 is a true 44 with 3" tubes. Granted, the tubes are only .25" thick but it still holds up fairly well to running 37's especially if you only go rock crawling. The only really downside to it is that it still runs semi-float shafts and they tend to bend at the flange.
 
I run a PR44 front and factory 44 rear. But I upgraded everything in the rear and trussed it. I wheel pretty hard and run lockers with 37's. It's been just fine, but I understand my limits.

As far as your situation, you will probably spend 1/2 the money on a ruby front end once you add up buying it, and then doing a few upgrades to strengthen it. Almost not worth it. You'd be better off doing C gussets and a truss on that Dana 30 and just wheel until it breaks. Then save and buy a PR when funds are available.
 
Sullivan said:
I run a PR44 front and factory 44 rear. But I upgraded everything in the rear and trussed it. I wheel pretty hard and run lockers with 37's. It's been just fine, but I understand my limits.

As far as your situation, you will probably spend 1/2 the money on a ruby front end once you add up buying it, and then doing a few upgrades to strengthen it. Almost not worth it. You'd be better off doing C gussets and a truss on that Dana 30 and just wheel until it breaks. Then save and buy a PR when funds are available.
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Wheeling out in CA is a bit different than wheeling up in the Great Lakes area. It's not the rocks or mud that'll wreck havoc on a rear 44 housing, it's speed. Adding a truss is completely unnecessary and I personally wouldn't waste the time or money on one. Again, the biggest weak link on a factory rear 44 is its semi-float shafts. Regardless of what brand you choose to buy, you WILL bend the flanges if you play hard enough. If you lived in an area where you can drive hard and fast, it'll happen even sooner. Of course, that's just what I've seen.

As far as throwing any money at a Dana 30 goes, I personally feel that's a complete waste of money. But then, that's just me.
 
wayoflife said:
As far as throwing any money at a Dana 30 goes, I personally feel that's a complete waste of money. But then, that's just me.
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It's not just you, it's most everyone I've ever been around, because everyone's seen/heard of someone breaking a completely upgraded D30. Sounds like a toothpick breaking.
 
MR.Ty said:
PM Cozdude and talk with him about PR44 options, if I remember correctly he got his for about $4400. At least on here, most of the used Rubicon 44s that I've seen for sale have been between $2500-3500. By buying used first you'd be spending way more in the long run rather than just getting a PR first.

Keep playing with what you have and upgrade when you have the funds.
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Yup got mine for about 4500 thru ORE. They sent my order to Dynatrac and it was built by them and drop shipped from them. If I could do anything differently with how I built mine it would have been to spend the extra $400 for the prosteers
 
wayoflife said:
Wheeling out in CA is a bit different than wheeling up in the Great Lakes area. It's not the rocks or mud that'll wreck havoc on a rear 44 housing, it's speed. Adding a truss is completely unnecessary and I personally wouldn't waste the time or money on one. Again, the biggest weak link on a factory rear 44 is its semi-float shafts. Regardless of what brand you choose to buy, you WILL bend the flanges if you play hard enough. If you lived in an area where you can drive hard and fast, it'll happen even sooner. Of course, that's just what I've seen.

As far as throwing any money at a Dana 30 goes, I personally feel that's a complete waste of money. But then, that's just me.
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Yeah, flanges are an issue. I haven't bent any yet, but I assume will soon. I stay the hell away from the mud around here. I travel and wheel but I also trailer it everywhere. (Moab in October) So a bent flange isn't that big of an issue to me.
But also I will just run this rear until it breaks. Then I'll upgrade. I'm already ahead of the game considering the wheeling I've done with it so far.
 
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