Wanting to upgrade to Dynatrac 60/80's W/40's or Equivalent. Advice please!

Delicate Flower

Delicate Flower

Member
I'm looking to make the rig as bullet proof as possible for future adventures. I live in Florida so I don't have a ton of rock crawling possibilities except a few off road parks. I do plan on traveling out to the west coast and tons of places in between in the future. I want to be ready for whatever trail I find myself on as much as possible. So, with that said...

I am currently running a 4" lift with 37's. I will be going to 40's with the axle upgrade.

My shop quoted me for Dynatrac 60/80 set up with 538 gears, ARB lockers (already have compressor and currently running ARBs), new drive shafts and steering assist. The also are suggesting the anti rock sway bar, rear only.

I do have a couple of questions:

1) Smaller or larger axle width?
2) Beadlocks or non beadlocks?
3) Which brand of wheel? KMC? I was thinking in the 20" size but can't decide on offset. Also want to get trail grapplers probably in 13.5 width, maybe 15.5.
4) While I'm doing this are there any other upgrades I should do under the jeep?
5) Do I need a larger lift than the 4"?
6) Anything else I'm missing or not thinking of?
7) Any alternatives to Dynatrac that is worth a damn?

I am a buy once cry once type of guy and just want it done right. TIA.

EDIT #1: I want to go up to 40's which is started this rabbit hole lol.
EDIT #2: Added some extra details to clarify some questions below.

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If you plan to use the jeep in the next few years I would look at another axle. Dynatrac is notorious for take 12-18 months to get axles.
 
As much as I think Dynatrac makes a great axle, I will have to agree with OverlanderJK here and say that you will be waiting the better part of the year to get your hands on them. Also, being that you're just wanting to run 37's, I'm gonna say that you might be fine running what you have now. If it were me, I might recommend that you upgrade IF the need arises.
 
wayoflife said:
As much as I think Dynatrac makes a great axle, I will have to agree with OverlanderJK here and say that you will be waiting the better part of the year to get your hands on them. Also, being that you're just wanting to run 37's, I'm gonna say that you might be fine running what you have now. If it were me, I might recommend that you upgrade IF the need arises.
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I forgot to put in the body (had it in the title) that I’d be putting 40’s on if I go through with the upgrades.
 
Delicate Flower said:
I forgot to put in the body (had it in the title) that I’d be putting 40’s on if I go through with the upgrades.
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Okay, with that, running 60's with 5.38's is a good idea. And, if you're wanting something sooner, I might give Dana UD60's a look. They're what we're running on our JT with 42's.

Also, I would not recommend an antirock. Me personally, I would run a Rubicon sway bar which you can find used for less than $200. (EDIT: Unless you plan on doing a lot of fast and hard driving across the desert and then, this IS what I would recommend)

Regarding your other questions.
1) I would go with a standard full width. No need to go wider.
2) Beadlocks. If you're going 40's, you should just do it right.
3) KMC is what I would recommend. I know some might disagree but I personally like the 20's especially with 15.50 wide tires.
4) 1350 driveshafts front and rear
5) If you plan on running 40's, yes. You need more like 6" of lift or at least, if you don't want to do a lot of trimming.
6) This will get you started. You will know what you need as you start to use your Jeep.
 
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Delicate Flower said:
I'm looking to make the rig as bullet proof as possible for future adventures. I live in Florida so I don't have a ton of rock crawling possibilities except a few off road parks. I do plan on traveling out to the west coast and tons of places in between in the future. I want to be ready for whatever trail I find myself on as much as possible. So, with that said...

I am currently running a 4" lift with 37's.

My shop quoted me for Dynatrac 60/80 set up with 538 gears, ARB lockers (already have compressor and currently running ARBs), new drive shafts and steering assist. The also are suggesting the anti rock rear sway bar. I do have a couple of questions:

1) Smaller or larger axle width?
2) Beadlocks or non beadlocks?
3) Which brand of wheel? KMC? I was thinking in the 20" size but can't decide on offset. Also want to get trail grapplers probably in 13.5 width, maybe 15.5.
4) While I'm doing this are there any other upgrades I should do under the jeep?
5) Do I need a larger lift than the 4"?
6) Anything else I'm missing or not thinking of?

I am a buy once cry once type of guy and just want it done right. TIA.
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Not a lot to add that others have already answered, but it looks as if you have the Apex disconnects in the front. If you had already installed and AntiRock, I would say it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go with the rear too. Since you already have the Apex, I’m not sure why they are suggesting the AntiRock. The factory rear bar is just fine with the Apex. I have both front and rear AntiRocks and they work great together, but I wouldn’t get rid of what you already have for them. I think the 20” wheels look great with 40s. It’s going to be sweet. I think JTs look perfect on 40’s.
 
wayoflife said:
Okay, with that, running 60's with 5.38's is a good idea. And, if you're wanting something sooner, I might give Dana UD60's a look. They're what we're running on our JT with 42's.

Also, I would NOT recommend an antirock. Me personally, I would run a Rubicon sway bar which you can find used for less than $200. I have found antirocks to offer too little resistance on road and too much on the trail. But of course, that's just me.

Regarding your other questions.
1) I would go with a standard full width. No need to go wider.
2) Beadlocks. If you're going 40's, you should just do it right.
3) KMC is what I would recommend. I know some might disagree but I personally like the 20's especially with 15.50 wide tires.
4) 1350 driveshafts front and rear
5) If you plan on running 40's, yes. You need more like 6" of lift or at least, if you don't want to do a lot of trimming.
6) This will get you started. You will know what you need as you start to use your Jeep.
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Thanks of the info. I'll take a good luck at the UD's. Have a link by chance for reputable seller? I'm not sure why they are suggesting an antirock either for the rear other than to give some more articulation in the rear. I have the APEX Autolynx up front already and will not be switching those out.

If I'm doing a 6 inch lift what would be your recommendation? Also, my wife's 21 wrangler JL SU sits on 2.5" with 35's, I wonder how much of this stuff I can hand down to her. She is interested in 37's along with a higher lift. Could be a perfect storm.

Thank you for your other suggestions. I'm going to go in there with a "build sheet" of sorts to ensure all the parts I need to be upgraded, are. So the 1350 drive shafts are definitely going on the list.

Edit: Grammar
 
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onlyone said:
Not a lot to add that others have already answered, but it looks as if you have the Apex disconnects in the front. If you had already installed and AntiRock, I would say it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go with the rear too. Since you already have the Apex, I’m not sure why they are suggesting the AntiRock. The factory rear bar is just fine with the Apex. I have both front and rear AntiRocks and they work great together, but I wouldn’t get rid of what you already have for them. I think the 20” wheels look great with 40s. It’s going to be sweet. I think JTs look perfect on 40’s.
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Yea I'm really excited about going up to 40's. Some people locally just said to slap them on and I keep telling them why purposely open yourself up for breaking stuff when you're usually out in a remote location. I rather do it right and make sure it's as tough as possible. 100% honesty here I'll probably never put whatever axles I purchase to the real test, but peace of mind is nice.

I'm not sure either. I can only imagine to have the rear articulate more. Definitely not switching out the APEX. I love them. Thanks for your post.
 
OverlanderJK said:
If you plan to use the jeep in the next few years I would look at another axle. Dynatrac is notorious for take 12-18 months to get axles.
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I do plan to use the jeep while I wait as nothing is broken currently. I will call them on Monday and see what their wait time is. I am open to other suggestions for axles. I'm not attached to Dynatrac. Eddie suggest UD 60's so please any other suggestions that are worth it I'm all ears. Thanks for the heads up. That is as long as it's taking for a suppressor or a short barreled rifle at this point so unfortunately I'm used to waiting haha.
 
If the shop you're working with can't help you with axles, I would contact Disciple Offroad here on the forum to see if they can.

As far as running 40's on stock axles go, the biggest problem is that you really want to be running 5.38 gears to 'help' restore the power you WILL lose with them and in a Dana 44, the pinion will be really small. That's where you will see a break even on easier stuff.

Regarding hand me down parts, just about everything on the front of your JT can be donated. The rear stuff, not so much.
 
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It looks like you are on the right track and have to agree with the wait times on axles which also include Currie it seems lately. UD60's are a solid choice and ones that we could get much faster. Sounds like you are already working with a shop which is awesome but happy to help in any way if needed with questions or getting you some axles.
 
Also might want to look at Fusion and ECGS axles. Both solid choices.
They both offer that 60/80 package as well as a front kingpin 60 and shaved 14 bolt rears.
 
Disciple Off Road said:
It looks like you are on the right track and have to agree with the wait times on axles which also include Currie it seems lately. UD60's are a solid choice and ones that we could get much faster. Sounds like you are already working with a shop which is awesome but happy to help in any way if needed with questions or getting you some axles.
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Thank you for the phone conversation! I really appreciate you willing to chat on a Sunday.
 
If I wanted to beef up the 44’s what would be needed? Would the 44’s handle 38’s and would 488’s be appropriate for that? Trying to weigh all options. TIA
 
Delicate Flower said:
If I wanted to beef up the 44’s what would be needed? Would the 44’s handle 38’s and would 488’s be appropriate for that? Trying to weigh all options. TIA
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I didn't realize that you have a Rubicon. That being the case, YES, the 44s will handle 38's just fine. I ran that setup with 5.13s and it's a perfect setup. Save BIG TIME money going that route and really, it's all you really need.
 
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