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Axle trusses

9K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  J. Dub 
#1 ·
I’ve seen many threads with conflicting information about axle trusses and their usefulness. Some say it doesn’t add strength, others say it does.

How can it not add strength and help prevent the axle tubes from bending? If it is welded down each tube and across the diff housing, it adds rigidity which I believe (been a while since I’ve taken a physics class) does add strength and reduced flexing in the axle tubes.

Am I misunderstanding how the truss is installed or how they’re believed to not add strength?
 
#2 ·
I'm not sure most folks really know if the trusses aren't worth it, but I used my outer tube gussets, inner C-gussets, and truss kit as an excuse to learn how to weld. None of it is structurally critical, and it was all cheap insurance. I became confident enough in welding to replace the flimsy control arm brackets and a new set of engine frame brackets. I have new rear axle brackets but it's hard to install them when the wheels are still rolling lol.

If the housing bends after adding all that metal (doubt it will), I'll be out about $200.


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#3 ·
A proper axle truss will add strength but almost everything out there is not a proper truss and just is welded down the tube. A proper truss should go from wheel to wheel and across the differential. Some people call a bridge a truss which is just some steel that is welded to the tubes on each side of the diff and has steel over the diff to mount links on. All these so called trusses for the JK axles are a waste of money and don't offer any strength from deflection of the housing. They are all the rage though with the JK crowd that has to buy everything that is put on the market on their jeeps.
 
#4 ·
This is one from synergy, I see many like it. This one appears to weld to both sides of the diff housing.

I’m moving up from 35’s to 37’s soon and want to get my axles ready for more abuse. Along with the truss kits, I’ve been considering sleeves, ball joints and possibly Reid or teraflex outer c’s. My only hesitation to outer c’s is that I don’t want to use a steering flip since I don’t need it with a 2.5” lift.
 

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#5 ·
Waste of money, welding to the center section takes a special process most will not do and it will crack which results in no strength. Its your rig if you feel it makes a factory 44 be able to handle 37's then go for it.
 
#7 ·
My kit (pic above) is from EVO / Off Road Evolution. It has a center section that ties the two sides together but does not need to be welded to the cast pumpkin. It may not meet the approval of the truss gurus but whatever, it's better than nothing imho, and now I can weld lol.

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#11 ·
Maybe its just me, but when I see someone that welded a truss on, I always wonder why.

The truss is welded on top, and any deflection in the upward motion, the truss might help, depending on the design and strength of the truss. I don't go jumping things (well, try not to.. :homersimpson: )

Maybe it is just how I wheel, which is mild in comparison to others, but most of my "hits" on the tire, are in the rearward motion. What I mean is I'm moving forward and the force on the axle is pointed aft. In this case, how does the truss welded to the top of the axle, actually help? I don't have numbers but I can't image it helps much at all. If I were to bend an axle tube, it would be in the aft direction.

Just my $0.02. TIFWIW.
 
#12 ·
Truss "KITS" are funny to me. Let me add more weight on my axle while at the same time doing nothing when it comes to giving it structural support.
The only truss' I've ever seen worth a shit are the ones custom done. And they look more like a bridge. And they PROPERLY heated the metal & PROPERLY let it cool.
 
#14 ·
Step one of one on running 37's on your stock-ish 44... don't be an idiot.

Not knowing how and why stuff breaks is the number on way to break something.

Sure there are some folks that wheel the crap out of stuff in an elegant manner and manage to break things. Then there's a whole list of jack-wagons who think that standing on the skinny pedal will get them out of anything.

My 2013 JKUR has 52k miles on it now, more than 20k of that were off-pavement with 37's on the stock Rubicon axle. It's not bent, it's never broken.

Being an ignorant jack-wagon breaks stuff. Don't be a jack-wagon. >:)
 
#15 ·
Here's my alignment check from a couple weeks ago (don't mind the toe, that was me eyeballing it in the garage). Up to this point, I installed the Rock Slide Engineering outer tube and inner C gussets first in 2014, and THEN put on heavy 35's for about five years / 40,000 miles of daily driving and monthly light to moderate trail rides. The truss was installed and run for another few thousand miles. Now on 38's and a Hemi, the bigger weak point is probably the flimsy roll bars haha, but I still don't expect problems with the housing getting bent.

The real weak link in the stock axles that can't be changed much is the R&P, and beefing up the housing helps ensure it stays that way. I agree that some of the truss designs are risking more problems than they solve, but I don't buy that they don't add any strength at all. For me, the reinforcements help prevent damage from road hazards and light-to-moderate trail use. If you don't do KOH-style shit, or try to wheel locked up on dry rocks like out west, you probably won't get any related carnage.

If I were living/wheeling out in the rocky desert, I'd probably have tons by now...


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#17 ·
For me, the reinforcements help prevent damage from road hazards and light-to-moderate trail use.

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How do you know the reinforcements are helping to prevent damage?
 
#16 ·
I do like to play in the rocks. I also wheel with a light foot and don’t mash the throttle over obstacles. A truss of any type should help or eliminate the tube itself from bending, unless the tube bends at the differential housing. I will look into c-gussets as well. As for gearing... that isn’t something I can help till I can find 10 g’s for 60’s.
 
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