2006 Jeep Wrangler LJ Rubicon Long-Arm Suspension

As you can see, the ACOS spacers also look sweet once installed.

We don't recommend running 37-inch tires on a stock Dana 44 front axle, especially in rockcrawling applications. As such, we upgraded our donor Jeep's front axle with 4.88:1 gearing from Yukon Gear, a pair of chromoly inner axleshafts from Alloy USA, along with 300M replacement U-joints from Longfield Super Axles. These axles are much stronger than stock, and the new Longfield joints come with a lifetime guarantee against breakage. We like them because they're less expensive than other high-strength U-joints on the market while still maintaining superior strength. The Alloy USA shaft upgrade comes with Spicer 5-760x U-joints, but we felt the Longfield joints were a better choice for this application. It's true this upgrade would theoretically move the weak link to the ring gear, but for now we want to see how well all these upgrades live before taking the next step: cryogenically treating the ring-and-pinion (we'll delve into that some time down the road). The good folks at Right Gear and Axle of Salinas, California, did the gear and axle swap for us in a short afternoon visit.

We also decided to upgrade the rear Dana 44 axle with 4.88:1 gears from Yukon and dual-pattern Alloy USA axleshafts to ensure we wouldn't have any axle issues. These shafts are made from a higher-strength alloy that is double heat-treated to produce a 35 percent increase in strength over stock shafts. We also like that these shafts come with a 10-year warranty and include bearings, seals, and wheel studs.

Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next

Discuss in Our Forums

2006 Jeep Wrangler LJ Rubicon Long-Arm Suspension

Related Photos

Related Articles

More Related Content

Car Research Guide