stub axles
- dandjcr
-
Topic Author
- Offline
31 Oct 2012 20:35 #1
by dandjcr
David and Janet Ribbans - Oka 148
Oka148 profile here.
Visit our technical and travel blogs: here.
dandjcr created the topic: stub axles
Forum Home > OKA Maintenance > stub axles
chris @ shirley james
Member
Posts: 18
Hello,while checking my front hubs for grease etc, I found that I have 30 spline stub axles. Surely that is not a standard fitting? I am now wondering what inner axle I have. What is a standard inner? What is involved in changing to 35 spline outers,bearings etc. with the correct FW hub. Chris, #96.
--
November 13, 2011 at 4:27 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Tony Lee
Member
Posts: 539
Standard arrangement.
Upgrade requires new 35 spline stub axles, new (greasable??) uni joints and new locking hubs
Price for parts ranges from $500 to $1500
Question is how many stub axles break on stock XTs?
Not many.
I'm only upgrading because I have to pull it all apart anyway to replace the inner axle seals.
--
Tony
picasaweb.google.com/114611728110254134379
November 13, 2011 at 9:04 PM Flag Quote & Reply
joseph baz
Member
Posts: 331
Chris,the 30 splines fronts are not that much of an issue,you will find that most of the breakings occur around the uni area/lugs,sure if you are uncomfortable with it you can upgrade,you can still use the inners and just upgrade the outers to 35 sp,prices as Tony mentioned are related to what you want to spend,for normal touring Dana 35 sp are adecuate,then if you want to do rock climbing Cr molly are the go,if you are a driver who looks after the gear you have no worries.
Cheers,Joe
November 13, 2011 at 9:36 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Tony Lee
Member
Posts: 539
Put a limited slip diff on the front and the potential for breaking axles probably increases significantly. Then of course you have to decide where the weak point should be.
--
Tony
picasaweb.google.com/114611728110254134379
November 13, 2011 at 10:26 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Hal Harvey
Site Owner
Posts: 510
As Tony said, it's the standard arrangement: Dana only ever made 60s with a 30-spline outer. I read somewhere once I think that the logic was that if you're going to break something, better that it be an outer stub than something internal - true or not I don't know.
The fact that Dana only ever made them that way indicates that in normal use breakage is not considered a problem. Very rare. Strength upgrades are common because they're easy and lots of Americans who use big tyres and go rock crawling find a need; here's one such conversion.
I don't know about limslips in the front but I opted for an air locker (both ends) as much as anything to avoid breakages; used judiciously, the theory being that you can never get a wildly spinning wheel attached to a drivetrain that comes to a sudden stop. All that inertia needs to go somewhere in that scenario; but with lockers, the stresses are distributed fairly evenly and nothing much happens quickly.
--
Hal
November 14, 2011 at 12:33 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Dean & Kaye Howells
Member
Posts: 79
Hi Chris,
As part of our quest to make #413 as bulletproof as possible I upgraded the front outers to 35 spline, which have bigger stronger yokes, and fitted a Dana Spicer LSD. Along with the rear LSD it makes the vehicle very capable off road. Don't like air lockers as they're too much trouble and another bit of complexity to tempt fate. The LSD's are simple to fit, engage and dis-engage automatically and smoothly. Basically set and forget, my sort of device.
At the time I needed to replace the upper plastic king pin bushes and one of the front axle uni's as well so I had it all in bits anyway. Pay particular attention to the various seals in the front axle/hub assembly, I replaced the lot as it didn't seem sensible to put the old ones back. If you change to 35 spline outers you will also need to replace the FWH's. I replaced mine with AVM's and there is an issue with them coming loose on the hub. I machined about 2mm off the outer end of the FWH steel 'drive gear' (for want of the correct name) to fix the problem.
The whole exercise was relatively simple and I sourced the parts from OKA Paul whose advice was very helpful. Several outback trips later and I'm very glad we went down this path, not having to worry about engaging/dis-engaging air lockers when the going gets tough means you've got real 4WD when you need it and you can concentrate more on driving.
Deano
November 15, 2011 at 12:51 PM
chris @ shirley james
Member
Posts: 18
Hello,while checking my front hubs for grease etc, I found that I have 30 spline stub axles. Surely that is not a standard fitting? I am now wondering what inner axle I have. What is a standard inner? What is involved in changing to 35 spline outers,bearings etc. with the correct FW hub. Chris, #96.
--
November 13, 2011 at 4:27 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Tony Lee
Member
Posts: 539
Standard arrangement.
Upgrade requires new 35 spline stub axles, new (greasable??) uni joints and new locking hubs
Price for parts ranges from $500 to $1500
Question is how many stub axles break on stock XTs?
Not many.
I'm only upgrading because I have to pull it all apart anyway to replace the inner axle seals.
--
Tony
picasaweb.google.com/114611728110254134379
November 13, 2011 at 9:04 PM Flag Quote & Reply
joseph baz
Member
Posts: 331
Chris,the 30 splines fronts are not that much of an issue,you will find that most of the breakings occur around the uni area/lugs,sure if you are uncomfortable with it you can upgrade,you can still use the inners and just upgrade the outers to 35 sp,prices as Tony mentioned are related to what you want to spend,for normal touring Dana 35 sp are adecuate,then if you want to do rock climbing Cr molly are the go,if you are a driver who looks after the gear you have no worries.
Cheers,Joe
November 13, 2011 at 9:36 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Tony Lee
Member
Posts: 539
Put a limited slip diff on the front and the potential for breaking axles probably increases significantly. Then of course you have to decide where the weak point should be.
--
Tony
picasaweb.google.com/114611728110254134379
November 13, 2011 at 10:26 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Hal Harvey
Site Owner
Posts: 510
As Tony said, it's the standard arrangement: Dana only ever made 60s with a 30-spline outer. I read somewhere once I think that the logic was that if you're going to break something, better that it be an outer stub than something internal - true or not I don't know.
The fact that Dana only ever made them that way indicates that in normal use breakage is not considered a problem. Very rare. Strength upgrades are common because they're easy and lots of Americans who use big tyres and go rock crawling find a need; here's one such conversion.
I don't know about limslips in the front but I opted for an air locker (both ends) as much as anything to avoid breakages; used judiciously, the theory being that you can never get a wildly spinning wheel attached to a drivetrain that comes to a sudden stop. All that inertia needs to go somewhere in that scenario; but with lockers, the stresses are distributed fairly evenly and nothing much happens quickly.
--
Hal
November 14, 2011 at 12:33 PM Flag Quote & Reply
Dean & Kaye Howells
Member
Posts: 79
Hi Chris,
As part of our quest to make #413 as bulletproof as possible I upgraded the front outers to 35 spline, which have bigger stronger yokes, and fitted a Dana Spicer LSD. Along with the rear LSD it makes the vehicle very capable off road. Don't like air lockers as they're too much trouble and another bit of complexity to tempt fate. The LSD's are simple to fit, engage and dis-engage automatically and smoothly. Basically set and forget, my sort of device.
At the time I needed to replace the upper plastic king pin bushes and one of the front axle uni's as well so I had it all in bits anyway. Pay particular attention to the various seals in the front axle/hub assembly, I replaced the lot as it didn't seem sensible to put the old ones back. If you change to 35 spline outers you will also need to replace the FWH's. I replaced mine with AVM's and there is an issue with them coming loose on the hub. I machined about 2mm off the outer end of the FWH steel 'drive gear' (for want of the correct name) to fix the problem.
The whole exercise was relatively simple and I sourced the parts from OKA Paul whose advice was very helpful. Several outback trips later and I'm very glad we went down this path, not having to worry about engaging/dis-engaging air lockers when the going gets tough means you've got real 4WD when you need it and you can concentrate more on driving.
Deano
November 15, 2011 at 12:51 PM
David and Janet Ribbans - Oka 148
Oka148 profile here.
Visit our technical and travel blogs: here.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.