Australian Class 8 4wd TTB dana50

[SteveG]

As of late the quality of the available R&P's has dropped and they have been failing before the spiders.

That seems to be the case with lots.of stuff. A lot of my go-to manufacturers' quality has gone downhill and they are no better than he next guy... running out of good parts.

[outlaws4x4]

planing on running 5.14 i think or is it the 5.13 gears?? The bolt in stub is the better option isnt it?? what machining is involved to get it to fit the dana 50??

[RyanDS650X]

Todd Douglas at Desert West Outdoors did my truck. All my prep and fab is done by him, great honest guy. Im sure he would make you one if you are interested.
(602) 689-3740

[300]

300: on a TTB or on a straight axle?

Philo, you are correct, these would be on a straight axle. The one exception that comes to mind was on a buddy's D44 ttb work truck and I believe the spider gears were the initial failure point as well. A straight axle may be tougher on the R&P than a ttb because there is distortion to the case since it is a stressed part of the axle. A ttb gear housing just rides around attached to the beam. Trussing the straight axle housing does not help gear life either as you can't avoid distorting the gear housing. Other than that, the gear sets are identical between the two axle types.

[outlaws4x4]

Ok guys i pulled both my dana 50 and i think dana 44 chunks out to compare the two and try and decide which one i am going to use. Im still not sure which one to use. I am leaning towards the dana50 however im not too sure about running a spring to retain the inner axle. Can someone who runs this tell me what problems they have if any??? The dana 44 inner axles & slip-joint are significantly smaller and although the design of the axle retention is great bigger is stronger! I looked at converting the dana 50 to the same sort of axle retention setup as the 44 but although its very doable, at this stage i dont want to spend the money on the machining.

So i suppose i have two option with maybe a third down the track.
option 1:run the small dana 44 with the dana 44 inner axle/slip-joint (not too keen on this option)
option 2:run the dana 50 with a spring retention setup (preferred option)
option 3: machine the dana 50 to be the same as the 3-bolt dana44(prefer down the track)

[RyanDS650X]

Option 2 with the spring until time and money allows the 3bolt stub shaft upgrade would be my sugestion.

[outlaws4x4]

Just a few update pics guys,
The truck is really coming along now as i sold my daily drive to free up some $$ to help with finishing the truck.
I have started plumbing it all up but still have a long way to go.
As far as fab work goes all i have left is a few tabs here and there and make a mount for the brake peddle.
Iv been getting quotes on axels for the rear and front and rear drive shafts also, If you know of any good places let me know.







cheers
Ash

[ESHALLBETTER]

Awesome work! Love that you sold the DD to keep the project going!

[outlaws4x4]

Hey guys been a while still progressing. I got my custom rear axles made, i ended up getting 300M 35 spline Black Max custom axles which are also cryro treated.
Well now its time to look at the front axles and i need to lengthen them. I read somewhere that alot of people cut and weld a tube in to lengthen their axles??? how strong is this i.e what tire size would you be happy to run and secondly wheres a good place to buy custom extended axles?

cheers

[outlaws4x4]

here is a vid where we finally started her up for the first time. Timing is out and also needs to be re-tunes for the bigger injectors but still a big step forward in this epic build which has been going on now for more than three years.

[Rmc]

Congrats guys! That should renew your enthusiasm in the project, nice progress.

[baja-chris]

To lengthen the axles, use two of them cut at different spots and weld them together so there is continuous axle material there. Cut the ends so they have a V where they join and fill the V with weld. Sleeve the joint and rosette weld the sleeve in place. Good for at least 37" tires and likely ok with any size.

[outlaws4x4]

Hi all, im back again with an update and some questions!!!

Well i got the truck finished and had my first race on the weekend. The front end works really great, very happy with it. The rear end i need to change the spring rate a bit but thats not too bad either. i manage to do 240km in the truck, not sure what that is in miles but not with out issues. That was expected though for a first run. We bent a new method race rim, shredded a tire, broke the front axle and did a few other little things.

Now my question. Im running the dana50 IFS front diff i know the center joint uni is bigger but are the axles and stub axles the same as the dana44? I need to get a set of custom length axles made so what im asking is do i ask for custom length dana50 axles or can i ask for custom length dana44 axles as i haven't really seen anyone making dana50 axles?

I broke the short side, the ear on the uni tore apart. But if im going to get one side made i might as well get both sides made.

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Check out rcv axles. They do CV axles vs stock. Pricey but worth it I would think in your application.

[Rmc]

X2 on rcv there lifetime warranty I think. There in Chicago area.

http://www.rcvperformance.com/

[AussieRod]

I had 2" longer TTB axles made by Dutchman for the FSJ TTB race truck I built, they were excellent. Using CTM uni's and Jeep outer shafts (used FSJ parts on the TTB knuckles to use 6 stud hubs, etc.), I never had any issues. As far as I know, those parts are still running in it (if it is still racing). The shipping cost me almost as much as the axles

[drewbee88]

I had 2" longer TTB axles made by Dutchman for the FSJ TTB race truck I built, they were excellent. Using CTM uni's and Jeep outer shafts (used FSJ parts on the TTB knuckles to use 6 stud hubs, etc.), I never had any issues. As far as I know, those parts are still running in it (if it is still racing). The shipping cost me almost as much as the axles

FSJ ttb? Pics please. I got a waggy that I couldn't imagine a ttb under. Its already got a good 44 up front

[outlaws4x4]

Thanks for all the sugestions guys. i am currently looking at trying to make a set of dana60 axles fit. looks like i just need to re-spline the diff center side and the outer needs a little machining to make it sit the same as a dana 50 outer. i will just have to buy new drive slugs to suite the dana 60 i think. Has anyone else ever done this???

[AussieRod]

I had 2" longer TTB axles made by Dutchman for the FSJ TTB race truck I built, they were excellent. Using CTM uni's and Jeep outer shafts (used FSJ parts on the TTB knuckles to use 6 stud hubs, etc.), I never had any issues. As far as I know, those parts are still running in it (if it is still racing). The shipping cost me almost as much as the axles

FSJ ttb? Pics please. I got a waggy that I couldn't imagine a ttb under. Its already got a good 44 up front

I wish I had some to post up. I still have the prototype chassis with the spare body on it, but the working model got sold a long time ago.

[PaulW]

A quick fix is 2WD. Engage fronts only when traction is really needed. Been doing that for 10 years and all I ever have done is to wear out the various joints on my 44. Yup. I have busted some joints , but the yoke survived when I went to 2wd & unlocked.
Seems like back when we were gigging thru the Spicer specs one of the yokes was forged. Chris posted the instructions in this thread for axle splicing, and posted the instructions that the FAA uses for splicing on another thread that you will have to dig up using search.

I am beginning to wonder if the 44 is a better solution, especially after Chris' experience with his 50. I am sure he will figure out how to make the 50 stronger than the 44s we all have been using forever? Read his writeup.
PW