Bending axles question

Clark Collins

Clark Collins

New member
I have a 2010 JKU Sport and recently swapped in 2014 Rubi axles (w/5.13 gears, C gussets, RCV & G2 shafts and RuffStuff covers) that I purchased from another forum member. I've now upgraded to 315x75x16 tires that actually measure 34" from the 285x75x16s I was running. On this forum there is a lot of discussion about the weaknesses of the stock rubi axles and if they should be sleeved and/or gusseted. I recall seeing a post by Eddie that he doesn't think either are necessary and he's seen very few broken or bent rubi axles other than at the Cs.

My question is: What have people been doing when they bend or break their axles? Do I need to consider any modifications to these axles?

I'm very satisfied with the performance of my 3.8 running the superchips 87 octane tune and the new gearing and tires. With the RCV and G2 shafts I shouldn't have any problems there. I'm not intending to ever run larger tires and I don't plan to do any jumping or serious rock crawling. I do run in the sand and on intermediate type trails. We will likely go to Moab someday, but don't plan on doing any trails that risk body damage as this is my daily driver.
 
Clark Collins said:
I have a 2010 JKU Sport and recently swapped in 2014 Rubi axles (w/5.13 gears, C gussets, RCV & G2 shafts and RuffStuff covers) that I purchased from another forum member. I've now upgraded to 315x75x16 tires that actually measure 34" from the 285x75x16s I was running. On this forum there is a lot of discussion about the weaknesses of the stock rubi axles and if they should be sleeved and/or gusseted. I recall seeing a post by Eddie that he doesn't think either are necessary and he's seen very few broken or bent rubi axles other than at the Cs.

My question is: What have people been doing when they bend or break their axles? Do I need to consider any modifications to these axles?

I'm very satisfied with the performance of my 3.8 running the superchips 87 octane tune and the new gearing and tires. With the RCV and G2 shafts I shouldn't have any problems there. I'm not intending to ever run larger tires and I don't plan to do any jumping or serious rock crawling. I do run in the sand and on intermediate type trails. We will likely go to Moab someday, but don't plan on doing any trails that risk body damage as this is my daily driver.
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Eddie doesn't recommend sleeves but always says c gussets are a must for the stock axle. You can bend the C's just driving on stock tires.

Just remember the only difference from a rubi d44 and a sport/Sahara d30 is the size of the pumpkin. They share the same size axle tubes and C's so the d30 and d44 will break/bend at the same spot. The rear axle in all models are true D44's.

The only mod you should do is c gussets. Otherwise just watch your tubes where they meet the housing as that's where all stock axles are prone to bending.
 
Run it how it is, if you do bend the axle, it will most likely be where the tubes meet the pumpkin. A truss could prevent that, but there is a good chance the axle warps during the install of the truss. With the type of wheeling you described, I'm sure the axle will serve you fine and don't suggest the taking the risk of installing a truss. Imo, it would be more economical to run it as is and if you did bend that axle, a prorock 44 housing is only about 2k. You can then stuff your current axle guts into the pr44 and not ever worry about bending it.
In a pinch, there are a few shops that can straighten a bent axle for a few hundred bucks, so don't stress about it:)
 
Thanks for the great replies regarding my set up. Regarding my question "what have people been doing when they bend their axle?" I was also wondering if people are bending their axles jumping their JKs or can they get bent or broken just rock crawling?
 
Clark Collins said:
Thanks for the great replies regarding my set up. Regarding my question "what have people been doing when they bend their axle?" I was also wondering if people are bending their axles jumping their JKs or can they get bent or broken just rock crawling?
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If you wheel it, it will bend. Driving fast will make it bend faster.
 
MTG said:
If you wheel it, it will bend. Driving fast will make it bend faster.
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Have you bent yours? If so did you upgrade or what?

I see you are from Reno. The axles I got came from Reno and were modified at High Rollin Customs in Sparks. Do you know of that shop?
 
Clark Collins said:
Thanks for the great replies regarding my set up. Regarding my question "what have people been doing when they bend their axle?" I was also wondering if people are bending their axles jumping their JKs or can they get bent or broken just rock crawling?
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Most people upgrade there axle to something like a pro rock 44. And yes they can be bent from rock crawling. Hell it can bent just from daily driving if you have large enough tires
 
Clark Collins said:
Have you bent yours? If so did you upgrade or what?

I see you are from Reno. The axles I got came from Reno and were modified at High Rollin Customs in Sparks. Do you know of that shop?
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I do. They did my gears and a few other things on Knuckles. They do good work. :yup:

Edit: No I haven't upgraded yet. I assume they are bent. But they are not leaking oil so not too bad if they are.
 
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Clark Collins said:
I see you are from Reno. The axles I got came from Reno and were modified at High Rollin Customs in Sparks. Do you know of that shop?
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I sent a friend there to gets his c-gussets burned on. HRC's work was expensive and the result did not look good. To be fair though, I think it may have been the first set of EVO C's they had installed and they tried to burn the entirety of the gusset instead of specific sections.

I would give them another try, but I would give very clear directions as to what I wanted done.
 
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