4140 vs 4340 axles

olejunky

olejunky

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Location
knoxville
a friend of mine has broken a 4140 axle shaft the last three trips his outers are 4340 warn outers and inners are yukons and that is what keeps breaking. He is going to have to buy another long side inner for his dana 44 has anybody upgraded to 4340 do you feel they are stronger. Looking for real info such as you used them or know somebody who runs them just wondering if they are worth the money. And if you know somewhere local i can get one. THis is a post for a friend who lives close to asheville. thanks for the help
 
It all has to do with how its heat treated. You get what you pay when it comes to axles. The reason you hear that yukons brake so much is because they have a poor process of treating. 4340 is the material of choice because of its ability to be treated. just my two cents.
 
Yukon isn't the best choice for axles to begin with, x2 on you get what you pay for. We run Moser, Superior and Foote shafts. Price can get a little extreme with some of them but its worth it. Its one thing you don't cheap out on. Process does have quite a bit to do with it, but it comes with the price.
 
lbyota85 said:
It all has to do with how its heat treated. You get what you pay when it comes to axles. The reason you hear that yukons brake so much is because they have a poor process of treating. 4340 is the material of choice because of its ability to be treated. just my two cents.
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x2. Another thing you may want to consider before ordering is that some brands (alloy usa for example) are on a pretty steep backorder. I was kind of forced into ordering yukons because I needed some shafts. I'll be having these cryo treated.

There are a few vendors on here on the nc board that can help you out.
 
01blktaco said:
x2. Another thing you may want to consider before ordering is that some brands (alloy usa for example) are on a pretty steep backorder. I was kind of forced into ordering yukons because I needed some shafts. I'll be having these cryo treated.
There are a few vendors on here on the nc board that can help you out.
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I was wondering about cryo treatment for axle shafts. Will that make them less prone to twisting and breaking or will they not have enough flex and break anyway?
 
foreman1063 said:
I was wondering about cryo treatment for axle shafts. Will that make them less prone to twisting and breaking or will they not have enough flex and break anyway?
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x2 i have been wanting some opinions on cryo myself does it really help as i have talked to tom at us cryogenics and he said they will do any part $6.50 per pound+return ship. he est. about 40% increase but needed to know test method and yeld before he can give an acurate number.
 
novacayne75 said:
x2 i have been wanting some opinions on cryo myself does it really help as i have talked to tom at us cryogenics and he said they will do any part $6.50 per pound+return ship. he est. about 40% increase but needed to know test method and yeld before he can give an acurate number.
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It won't really make them less prone to twisting or anything like that. The big advantage to Cryo treatment is that takes any weak sections out of the material it got from being made by rearranging the molecules in the material and spreading them out evenly. Yukon doesn't do extensive treating to their parts like superior or alloy usa which is why I want to get mine done. Here is some helpful links that will give you a bit more info about axle shafts and treatments:


http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=320377&highlight=cryo
Info about Cryo Treatment

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=467075&highlight=axle+breaking+machine
Bobby Long's axle Breaking machine and the results.

http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/PR-BV60/index1b.html
Good axle shaft tech. Info on brands, treating processes and and design.
 
GubNi said:
Has he considered upgrading to a Dana 60? I was told a stock 60 shaft was stronger than a chromo 44 shaft.
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It is. Bobby's axle braking machine snapped a yukon chromo 44 shaft at 5800 lbs of tq. A stock 60 shaft broke at 6500 lbs.
 
I was popping d44 4340 and 4140 left and right with 36's on an XJ....your options would be...wheel less aggressive, smaller tires, lose weight, or bigger axles (D60).
 
What if you got 33 spline moly 44 shafts? Thats what makes the 60s stronger, right?
 
BIGWOODY said:
I was popping d44 4340 and 4140 left and right with 36's on an XJ....your options would be...wheel less aggressive, smaller tires, lose weight, or bigger axles (D60).
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I agree. I talked to Bobby long on the phone for a while about the test results with different brand shafts and while alloy usa and superior both tested to be a couple hundred pounds stronger than yukon, that probably isn't going to be enough of an increase if the guy is snapping them every trip out. He probably just needs a 60.
 
we waited for randys ring and pinion to send us one back for a month and a half and then just got a check in the mail saying they were out of stock. Problem is we have a trip to windrock oct. 31 and now we don't have an axle. We either need to just give him a passenger seat, tear the front axle out and part it out now, (which means he doesn't get to drive on the trip) or upgrade to a better shaft and see if it helps which is probably what we will do because it sucks having a rig and having to be a passenger
 
Well don't bother with alloy usa, they are on back order. If he can swing it hes probably best off with a superior shaft. they are one of the strongest but expensive.
 
I just talked to scott (machinewave on pirate) and he told me some info I thought everone with a dana 44 would like to know. Alloy usa is on backorder as already mentioned but they are also having internal problems. Superior stopped making their evolution 44 shafts. So you can count them out on axles.
 
Superior does still make d44 evolution axles, I talked to them Monday morning. If not you could go to Foote axle and get the same shaft. Don't count on Alloy.
 
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