I was wondering if any one could help me with my decision. First I have a Chrysler 8.25 27 spline with 3.55 gears. Then my dad has 2 Dana 35's 3.55 gears on one and 4.11 on the other one. So the options I have are: Buy a ring and pinion for the 8.25 (4.10 gears) or use the Dana 35 with 4.11 gears ( 90% sure it's the non c-clip version) and spend nothing. I have the ability to truss the 35 for free to strengthen up the axle tubes. Which one would be the strongest? would the 35 be able to hold up to 31's?

 

itll be alright on 31s

 

I plan on a locker sometime down the road will it hold up to all that?

 

you just have to be easy on spinning the tires and wheel hop. axle shafts usually break from when i tire is spinning or hopping hard and quickly catches traction.

 

Hmm I guess I can run it then save my 8.25" just incase the 35 breaks and look for a d44 rear or 8.25" 29 spline.

 

i wouldnt waste money on upgrading if youre staying 31s. just change the shafts if they break. d35 shafts are cheap and plentiful.

 

Or just go get the 29 spline shafts out of another 8.25 and swap them in. Its not hard at all. A 29 spline is good for about 33s if locked, 35s if open.

 

The whole point of this is to not spend a lot and have a good axle. It's also surprisingly hard to find those axles in the junkyard. You also need the carrier and seals and blah blah blah its way easier to find an entire axle for sale and swap it.

 

Ok I watched some videos on you tube to make my decision. First off there is no video of a 27 spline chrysler breaking! If you ask me that's proof enough. Now there's millions of Dana 35 videos breaking and they seem like they are hit and miss axles breaking with the slightest wheel spin. I would never recommend any one to ever run a d35 over anything else it's a complete piece of crap. For any one that has a Dana 35 remember it's not if it's when and for me I wouldn't want the risk because most of the time I'm in the mountains no service and a lot of walking.

 

The 27 spline isn't much better then the d35. Axle shafts are only .01" larger.

 

The C/8.25 27 spline is much stronger than a 27 spline D/35. Axle strength is more than just the shaft diameters, the main reason a D/35 is such a POS is the small ring gear, the weak differential housing, and the puny axle tubes that allow gear deflection causing the shafts to break.

 

Yep if you watch videos and pictures of damage those are the 2 things that break. The axle tubes bend and twist binding the shafts and breaking them. I'll just have to find a way to get 200$ for new gears.

 

I've got 32x12.5x15 on my 8.25rear/d30front, 3.55 never had issues. They're both open though so I'm not sure what I would break first if I locked.

 

Although I know nothing about the D35, I have heard (and seen) many good things about the 8.25...I went through 2 D35's with open diffs and 33 BFG's...

however you might want to keep in mind that you also have to change the gearing in your front axle to match the back.

Now I wouldn't go changing out the front axle if it seems "weak", because I have A D30 front with 4.88's and a detroit locker on 35x12.50 Pro Comps and it has never skipped a beat, even with a little wheel spin here and there

 

I have 4.11 stock Dana 30 gears when my gets his full size axles on.