mudd truck axel swap

[mallen881]

well I am going to make a mud slash trail truck and I was wanting to know if I run a sm465m tranny with a 205 t-case and put a dana 60 in rear and dana 44 in front what is the best gear ratio im looking to get and I will be raising it 25 inches so it gonna be tall so please help

[swamp rat]

Rotf................

[Morgantown Mafia]

Tire diameter plays the biggest role in determining what gear ratio. There are several other factors to consider as well. What size tire are you running?

[flyingtim01]

That front 44 will fight admirably, but won't live for very long with the 44"+ tires I'm assuming would be 'appropriate' for a truck with a 25 inch lift. I'm thinking of that moment when you're pegged at 4000rpm in the bog, spinning the tires, and then all of a sudden the front tires grab on relatively solid ground on the far side of the hole...

When you say 'mud truck' I think big lift, big tires, big HP - as in the kind of big tires and big HP that are probably pushing the limits of a Dana 60 while being thrashed through a bog. I think the bare minimum for a mud truck would be an Eaton or 14Bff in the back and a Dana 60 in the front.

[john@thepier]

Aren't there companies making stronger u joints and axle shafts than what was stock in a 44? Most of the time when a axle shaft/u joint broke in my 44s was when I was pulling some other stuck guy out and I was in reverse pulling them from behind. Once I realized this I never did that anymore. I turned around and hooked from my rear.

[willett]

Yes there are, but the carrier is only going to take so much of a beating, not to mention tweaking the axle tubes under heavy load and a bad bump......