I Broke My DANA 60 Axle Housing... Don’t Let This Happen To Yours!!

A few videos back, we took the JKU out for some high speed offroad testing. It did great, or so i thought.. At least we caught this issue early before it fully started to separate, which is unfortunately fairly common on these axles. I have had this axle setup since 2019 and they have done amazing! They however are not bulletproof (As found out from 40mph Ultra-4 course lol). The Barnes4wd Truss did a fantastic job holding everything together, and hopefully we can bend it back to spec and reweld it in place! To prevent this from happening again, Mike and I came up with a little lower mini truss for the axle. This will tie the diff and the tube in on the lower section, hoping to spread the load away from the pivot point on the tube/weld. We have to keep in mind that when we swap these axles into a linked suspension, we need to remove cast from the housing to weld our control arm mounts and shocks. By doing this, we naturally make the axle a little bit weaker. Some people will accidently cut too deep into the cast and score the tubes as well. This can also be a cause of something like this, if not much worse. In my case this wasnt the issue, and i did address to avoid that in my video playlist. I think we just took too big of a hit, too fast, without race suspension. So, my recommendation.. Truss, Weld Tubes, Tie in lower tube somehow. Im stilll a big fan of Junkyard axle builds, but im always welcome to finding improvements in spots that might need addressed.
Stay tuned for a 4 year review with these DIY axles! And of course an axle comparison video one the 2 door Crate axles arrive.
I would love to have pulled the axle and repair it correctly, however i am assisting Jeep Jamboree at Crossbar and need the JK ready to roll!
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[@JKGearandGadgets]

She took it like a champ and we are ready to roll back to Crossbar Offroad Ranch to help out with the Jeep Jamboree there! Stay tuned on the JK build and what all these crazy parts mean! Thanks for watching, and make sure you turn on channel notifications if you want to stay up to date with the JK build projects 🤙🏻

[@RadRover99]

When is that jamboree thing happening?

[@pugs13]

This is why I watch all your videos you never know what you will pick up on. That bucket trick for dismounting the bead locks saved me like 40 minutes over 5 tires instead of fighting them standing up makes the tire pretty much fall right off. Keep making these awesome videos

[@onebridge7231]

Rock crawl = fun. Rock run = your day is done! 😏

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Haha that’s a good one!

[@jeffcombs8237]

Solid advice. It will handle what it's built 💪 for.

[@TheRambler-pz1gx]

The reason that side cracks inst just because of the removed casting. The tube & truss is really short there. This means there is no material to dissipate the shock load.

[@MS-kh2je]

Cut out some steel crescents the radius of the inner wheel and mount them to the end and base of a bottle jack and push that wheel back into shape

[@fergotti]

How are you enjoying OK life? I hope you avoided the storms

[@jamesgorman1676]

Did you make anymore of those lower driverside brackets ? I would like to have some.

[@adidas4275]

grab some trailready beadlocks and be done with wheels. Mine are 13 years old, been in a 40 mph accident and taken many hits over the years and still in great shape

[@richardkucklick5284]

Are you coming down to Jeep Beach Week?

[@bretthormahlen3524]

I noticed that you didn't drill out the ends of the crack to prevent it from growing. Nice repair though.

[@jesseyjulson1967]

Lol I don’t think I’ve ever heard quick beadlock change before 😂

[@stinkymcstinkerton1854]

Me neither. I’m down to about 25 minutes per wheel . 4 pssses torque.d

[@SolosHold]

Haha, what caused it. I gotta good idea

[@Jeeptalkshow]

I'm surprised you need to truss a Dana 60. Oh wow it is trussed!

[@michaelhelwig96]

My only question is aren't you cooking the inner seal and or fluid that close to ring and pinion.

[@TwistedOff]

👍

[@dragop5698]

Any chance the axle seals melted with all that heat

[@jonocalvert2196]

Good morning. Did you shave the 14 bolt or dana 60 up front

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Did the Barnes 13 bolt diff cover shave.

[@okiesoonernews4645]

Had to pause the video to hide from tornadoes

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Glad you’re safe!

[@22yoshifan]

Drill out those plug welds in the housing and redo them. I added in more with my 8.8 Swap so it wouldn’t spin the tubes.

[@that68lifestyle]

Right about 11:50 in the video, Ben is contemplating his recent life choices. 😮

[@randygreen7871]

Your knowledge and abilities never cease to amaze me! I've learned so much from watching your videos, thank you so much for sharing.

[@donnieh174]

You have given me tons of ideas of how I want to continue building my rig. Just have to find the funding to start really buying parts. However I felt you pain as you watched the bolts go flying every where.

[@thetouchtonsoffroad3574]

Maybe you could plug weld the hole in the casting

[@jeepfamoverland]

That must have been a good hit for sure! We had ours out in Johnson Valley ripping through the desert and now I want to go look at my axle 😆

[@keithbrown4243]

Nice work Ben. Your mom was here for supper tonight, we cooked Hibachi and invited her to join us for mothers day. Keep up the good work.

[@paulcmad]

Curious if you suspect the truss was partially the cause here? Wonder if the truss was already applying a bunch of upward force to the axle tube and when you got rowdy it added enough additional strain to pop that axle tube. Nice work.

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Negative. Otherwise there would be a lot more truss related failures. This is from removing the cast diff section on superduty 60s

[@paulcmad]

gotcha makes sense @@JKGearandGadgets

[@GarageGeek]

Would it be wise to leave the oem housing intact in that area in future swaps? Does cutting off the housing serve a purpose?

[@calebsurpass]

Hey - Just wondering about the front SD 60 - a lot of places say 05+ ... until what year is that + good until what year? or even further? I've seen some people say that they have an 11' with 5.38 gears. Got a few deals with years all varying - just wanted some confirmation to make sense of it all. Thanks man and amazing to see the whole series.

[@AntonioPerez-kk8cj]

You should leave some space on the repair lower plate for water drainage in case water ever gets in there.

[@RandyThompson-o4o]

You should come out to Rugged Mountain Ranch for the Tackett creek challenge memorial weekend watch the races and check out the park. It is just south of Hartshorne OK

[@Sniperssx]

So strang UD60 with full support get cracked

[@av8orAH64]

I think you guys are closet metallurgists...Wow!

[@frdmbros]

I have a 2012 jk with a blown head gasket what would you recommend doing to the motor while I’m at it

[@OnTheSideOff-Road]

Don’t you need to worry about your seals with that much welding and hear while it’s all together???

[@BeauJohnson-z8l]

Forgive my ignorance but why couldn’t yo leave the casting and cut the truss so you don’t lose that strength?

[@brandoncroucher4572]

I doubt this will get out to you but take a bottle jack in the rim on a piece of wood and pump out the bend in the rim

[@hdrider2071]

When it rains it pours my friend. Only two situations that jumping a jeep is ok...its your buddies that is sleeping with your ol lady and rentals😅

[@vavendano2000]

good video, but here's a suggestion for axle longevity.......maybe dont bash it up onto the rocks so hard.....but i dont know. im just sayin'....lol

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Haha I mean you have a point, that’s a 100% foolproof plan lol

[@apexpredator_jku]

Lemme guess which crate axles you're going with... Advanced Driveline?

[@JKGearandGadgets]

You’ve been a good guesser before as well 🤙🏻

[@Cstepp]

Why when you could go with east coast gear supply which makes the axles for advanced for cheaper

[@philipdagariero5383]

​​​@@Cstepp connect the dots... Offroad Elements = Advanced Driveline. They've been featured on this channel numerous times. Ben's is or once was a Brand Ambassador for them therefore what you might pay for those axles & what it would cost him are 2 very different things.

[@David-yy7lb]

Man that is an awsome repair👍🏿👍🏿

[@av8orAH64]

I married my high school sweetheart and we have been together for 40 years. I like your family and applaud your commitment to them and to your passion for Jeeps. Well done Sir!!!!!!

[@2555brandon]

I may notch my truss to keep from cutting the cast

[@redbarry2540]

Advance Driveline Axles ….?

[@tomhubbard353]

Jeeps don't have wings so they don't fly! Make them fly, you will cry. LOL You heated the piss out of that housing, the next failure is probably going to be the inner seal you melted LOL

[@JKGearandGadgets]

I’d rather change out the seal than have a split apart axle on the trail haha. Luckily the 60s are thick and dissipate heat away from the seals pretty well

[@tomhubbard353]

@@JKGearandGadgets I was just saying you should probably change out the seal since a considerable amount was put into the casting and was absolutely necessary for welding cast. I highly dislike oil leaks and axle tube leaks are suck a PIA to clean up and deal with. PS after reading my msg, I can see where I failed to communicate well, my apologies.

[@philipwhatley6742]

Goodness the amount of pressure that thing had to have taken to crack that

[@redcanyonoutdoorquest6220]

As a CWI (Certified Welding Inspector) and professional certified welder, I highly recommend that you do NOT weld on that axle housing anymore if that’s the best you can weld. At a quick glance, I noticed the weld before you started grinding on it. If you’re going to use a 6010 type of rod, you better do another filler pass with a low hydrogen rod to cap it off. That’s why it cracked on you. All that undercut left from that weld actually left your housing weaker than it originally was. Congratulations.

[@CrucesNomad1]

What gears you running on that one ton please?

[@JKGearandGadgets]

5.38

[@ShaunsJeep]

A few things to note the axel itself was not a fault but who ever welding it was.. The shortening of the axel not likely. I can tell you 1000% was the welds of that that failed. Welds like that are not only terrible but dangerous. Be careful.

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Some people don’t even weld the tubes back. In my opinion it was the shortening of the axle, as well as a lot of professionals opinion on this axle.

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Naturally yes the weld failed, but if it wasn’t there the axle would have snapped in half

[@jlautomotive6349]

Another great video and looking forward to these future projects! Love how you actually use your jeeps and looking forward to the V8 swap as well!! 👍

[@ShawwwHa]

I can answer all your questions concerning the cause of the broken axle with two words, lead foot. And the question of how to avoid a broken axle can also be answered with two words, light foot.

[@JKGearandGadgets]

But if it was an aftermarket crate axle would it have cracked? If i had this truss on would it have cracked? Thats what i want to know.

[@zorgzev96]

@@JKGearandGadgets not much can handle a big hit at high speed honestly.

[@zxtuner4lyfe]

​@JK Gear and Gadgets ben i'm wondering if it's because just standard mig er70s wire was used? I think ni55 Is the proper thing to use. It's possible the weld was too brittle and started the crack. When I welded the tubes recently on my 14 bolt no matter what I did mig started to crack so I used that ni55 and it's perfect.

[@zxtuner4lyfe]

But I want to know too if the crate would have survived. Fusion has s60 housing for under 3 grand.

[@ironbearjku2233]

Ben, we gotta wheel soon, we were both stationed in Virginia and spoke but never met up now I’m in Kansas and your in Oklahoma about hour and a half away hahaha Look for a black 4 door JKU mountain on tons at crossbar sometime

[@Escape.Idiocracy]

Dude - you forgot to mention recommending side by side stuff is best done in sxs or KOH built jeep…. Jeep is best left to keep stuff. 🤣😂🤣

[@fogstain]

Dangit! Right when my checklist was about all crossed out!

[@TheRambler-pz1gx]

If you can trace this truss out on paper I can scan it,and draw it up in CAD for upload to a file share, or even make a printable scale PDF.

[@jtadams8500]

I am not a professional welder. I see a lot of people using wire feed welder’s on axle builds. I would think maybe mig stick welders would make a lot stronger welds due to better penetration of thick axle tubes. Wire feed has always seemed for more light duty welds and axles are definitely and heavier duty weld.

[@thomasleonard9685]

What happens if you need to replace the “c”? That’s going to be work. Love your stuff. Like to ride with you sometime

[@bayani3]

Oh man when that tire fell over it was like scripted hahaha hope it didn’t take long find all the screws. Amazing videos as always!!

[@matty86suk]

I have 2 rigs with SD 60s swapped into that i need to build these gussets for.. The artec truss welds to the inner C and might take some of the moment off the tube.

[@nicholascooper1193]

*cuts away the factory casting* “Known weak spot”… imagine that

[@joshup]

I was just going to ask you what dana axel should I go with, with a hemi on 37s. Lol and I see this...

[@Jeff-wu6wn]

You should check the axle seal and fluid since you heated up that axle so many times and up high temps?

[@motoboggin2619]

i would do a root pass then 2 stringers over the top all while its been preheated, you already burned the hell outta that axle seal and carrier bearing, might as well put a real weld on it. i dont understand why youre scared of heat cycling when your already beyond that point with the torch.

[@av8orAH64]

Go Coasties. I loved working with the USCG. Cheers brother.

[@seanmesaehable]

i have the same setup as you. i would by lower reinforcement brackets from you

[@offgridrecon]

Always great info. 👍🏻❤️🇺🇸

[@chrisgardner1431]

I bent a wheel the same way and fixed it with a 4x4 wood block and bottle jack and some heat on the wheel. Straightened it out enough no one could tell and zero balance issues on the highway. 👍

[@krisbarnard1684]

Thats the issue with low profile trusses... they arnt actually trusses

[@ShizzyIzzy1]

Had such a blast with you guys at Crossbar this weekend!

[@jonathonmarquez6644]

I can’t wait for the 2 door videos to come. I’m still in the fence on which way I want to go ls or hemi with mine.

[@gogerwi]

Ben, off point I know but which exhaust did you and Cassy go with on the LS in the LJ? The Holley/ Hooker stainless or cast? I'm looking for the discontinued stainless "Y" pipe.

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Stainless. Not sure why they discontinued it, very nice kit

[@jessedavis4699]

Like my wife always says, stupid hurts 😂

[@kingranch8516]

Just a question do you need to worry about seals with that much heat?

[@PhillipScull]

Nice 😊 ❤ cool to see mor videos coming 😀 congrats

[@jonjalbert1922]

Can't wait to see what you have coming for the two door :)

[@moejr14]

Does the axle have inner axle seals?

[@StormbornJKU]

I look forward to the 2 door build!!!

[@John-uo1qf]

Another option is to slow it down a bit. 😂

[@pranays]

A rosette weld inside the port you saw the half moon?

[@gettinbentfabrication9137]

Should have cut the truss it would have pulled down with less force and then welded the truss back up

[@JKGearandGadgets]

We thought about that! But need the jeep asap for jeep jamboree at crossbar to help out lol

[@beaumont9072]

America 🇺🇸 💪🏼

[@millstonejeepworx]

Dayum. That had to be a hell of a hit. On the 2dr, are you going to stretch it?

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Yes it will be stretched but not in the typical way. more on that soon!

[@stinkymcstinkerton1854]

For those interested, both Carli and Thuren offer a lower truss for Ram Dana 60 front . They may make one for superduty or may be able to modify the Ram version. Bombing the mega cab in the desert is fun from time to time 😅

[@JKGearandGadgets]

Only issue is they are designed around the factory cast I think. Our trimmed cast and control arms get in the way

[@stinkymcstinkerton1854]

@@JKGearandGadgets I don’t think the Ram diff has the casting so far over on the driver side. I’ll have to check when I get home. I think some kind of mod might be necessary. Plus it’s going to hang lower on the pass side. I’m glad you posted about it. I now plan to reinforce my jeep front on the low side.

[@darkenfly32]

And the next video will be how to change your axle seals because your seal looks like bacon 🥓,,,,, 🤣

[@JKGearandGadgets]

No issues with the seals the first time I welded this up. The 60 is so thick the heat dissipates before the seals can get damaged

[@schwanzmunster2503]

Great upgrade and fix. What stops the passenger side from cracking? Wouldn't a longer tube cause more leverage on the welds on the center section?