JL/JT UD60s Question(s)

jackthejl

New member
It has been a little while since I posted, however, my JLUR recently underwent some fairly major upgrades including a set of UD60s, EVO long arms/bolt-on coilovers, and PSC steering, just to name a few. Maybe this thread could serve as a resource to those looking to upgrade to a set of UD60s or even those who already have them. I ended up going with 5.38s to spin our 40” tires and e-Lockers to keep the traction going. One thing I ended up doing with the UD60s was utilizing Z-Automotive’s locker harnesses which allowed me to still utilize the stock Rubicon switch and even still shows on the display/Off-Road Pages when the axles are locked. So far I am very impressed with the harnesses and they were literally plug and play.

One minor issue we ran into was the coilover kit interfacing with the rear brake calipers (which are massive!) as when the Jeep is articulating, the caliper just barely clips the coil. Nothing major that impedes the function of the suspension, but just something to be aware of. Another minor thing I did not realize is that the front UD60 shock mounts are raised compared to the factory Dana 44, whereas the rear are not. This of course resulted in the front end sitting a decent bit higher than the rear, but this was an easy fix and just required adjusting the rear coilovers to raise them a bit higher and lowering the front. Overall I am very happy thus far with the UD60s, I ran 40s on the factory 44s for about a year prior with no real issues, but the UD60s definitely give me peace of mind because they are pure beef. Beyond that, the braking power is much improved and the Jeep just feels much stronger and more rigid overall which greatly enhanced my sense of confidence (hopefully not to my detriment LOL).

Which brings me to my actual question. This past weekend we were able to take the Jeep on its first shakedown run since the upgrades. The Jeep performed awesome with no major issues, which is great considering how much was changed. However an interesting point was brought up by a local club member here with a JK on UD60s. He asked me if I had the tubes welded yet on my UD60s, which of course I have not since that had never crossed my mind on a brand new set of crate axles. Evidently, there were some issues with at least the JK UD60s spinning axle tubes. Does anyone know if this is still an issue with the JL/JT UD60s? Should I be looking for a truss or to have the tubes welded? Thanks for any input!
 

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Cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Great looking Jeep!

To answer your question, there was a thread on WAYALIFE.com where this concern was mentioned. In the thread I believe it was said that only early production of the JK UD60’s had this issue. They have since been fixed by Dana. I believe that is why the UD60 got a bad rap for a while when they first came out

Edit- post #36

DANA Ultimate UD60 TORTURE TESTED & PROVEN on the JL / JT Experience
https://wayalife.com/showpost.php?p=1172631
 

jackthejl

New member
Great looking Jeep!

To answer your question, there was a thread on WAYALIFE.com where this concern was mentioned. In the thread I believe it was said that only early production of the JK UD60’s had this issue. They have since been fixed by Dana. I believe that is why the UD60 got a bad rap for a while when they first came out

Thanks much! That is kind of what I was expecting, I had heard of the bad rap originally but didn’t know any specifics regarding why they got a bad rap. At least then they seem to have fixed the issue, and I must say, these axles are awesome so far!
 

jackthejl

New member
Nice Jeep. How much hard wheeling did you do on M210 axle with 40's?

I would say a decent bit. We ran it for over a year on the 40s with a couple of Moab trips included. We ran quite a few 8/10 trails with this set up, but never went “full send” or anything, I just let the Jeep crawl and do the work. I think you can make it work on 40s for sure, I don’t know for how long though.
 

JP223/3USA

Member
I would say a decent bit. We ran it for over a year on the 40s with a couple of Moab trips included. We ran quite a few 8/10 trails with this set up, but never went “full send” or anything, I just let the Jeep crawl and do the work. I think you can make it work on 40s for sure, I don’t know for how long though.

That’s impressive. I definitely don’t have gorilla size balls to run 40s on a stock axle


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