breaking a dana 25/27

I have tried to research how durable dana 25's & 27's are and can't get a clear picture. It always seems to be someone hearing of someone else breaking one. I am wondering if the people who have personally broken one of these axles would describe the situation; tire size/wheel size-backspacing/ locker or not/ engine/ severity of terrain-driving. On the other hand, if either axle has proven durable for you, would you also describe the same?

I would really like to come close to pinning down what these axles can handle based on your own personal experiences.

Thanks in advance.

 

I ran a D27 with 33 x 12.50 Mud Terrains with a Powerlock LS on the gnarliest trails in Northern Cal and never broke an axle or carrier. Rubicon, Fordyce, Dusy Ershim trails, all a 10 in my book. V6 power and easy on the right foot. I know people who break D44's and 60's on the same trails. How you drive is one of the biggest factors. When I went to 35" tires I put in a D30. Most people will tell you that you can't run 35's with a D30 but I haven't had any issues with it in the three years I've had it in there. I am using chromoly axles in it with D44 sized u-joints.

 

The overriding factory is how you drive, and whether you abuse the vehicle ... or don't.

 

i run 33 13.50 15 super swampers on mine and have a lockright installed hasn't given me any problems. You can break any thing if you try an some folks do.

 

Yes, timgr, I understand this. But I don't want a theoretical description of what someone thinks the axles will or won't handle. There are plenty of people who tell you this axle isn't tough and to throw it away. Many of these I'm sure have never driven a jeep with one. Instead I would like to hear from those who have real-life experience and the situations that they have experienced. Maybe then we can have a real world understanding of them.

 

I have wheeled mine for almost 10 years now with no problems at all. I run an F head and 33x12.50's and I am pretty easy on the right foot compared to the guys I wheel with. Some of them get off on breaking stuff, I don't!!!!

 

jasonjp62,
what size tires do you run, and do you have an open diff?

 

33x10.5's a power loc and a V6, have not had a problem yet. I have run the same trails as Posi with the exception of Fordyce.

 

i run 33x12.50's with an open diff. the back is locked.

 

well when I was new to wheeling , I was running with some much better built rigs and really pushing the little guy to keep up
I was running a horriblely running V6 , higher gears(more speed) and 32s and no idea how to drive !!!!. I broke alot of 27 axles at the carrier side never at the joints and KIlled many spiders( I have a box dead ones) but never a ring and pinion ,I started out open carrier, and slighty pumping the brakes to get the carrier to pull,this does work but it's hard on things if you don't know how much to pump, I then went to a power lock that was fine but I did break axles ,in the carrier on the granite slabs of the rubicon , and backing up a dune in the desert(nono)
I now run the same V6 (that runs like a sewing machine) , a lockered D30 ,low gears ,33s and have been wheeling the same jeep for 16 years,with never a breakage, when these tires are done I'm moving to 35s on that D30

 

I run a 27 with 4.88's and a powerlock diff. It's held up to 10 years of Colorado trails, but I have 31's, a stock 225 and a light right foot.

 

I think they are actually quite a bit more durable than most give them credit for. My experience:

Blew the spiders in the D27 (CJ5) just backing up to turn around. Very little throttle but it was steep. No other problems with mostly stock V6 5, 28 to 31" tires, open diff, and used on some relatively gnarly trails.

No problems with open D25 (Spicer axles) in the 3B, but know I am treading on thin ice with this one (381 cid under the hood), and used on trails even more gnarly than with 5. With it open, I end up using the winch more than I should but pretty much know what will happen with any sort of traction device in there.

I don't think you need to worry about the spindles and bearings-very strong. Use any backspace wheels you want. You may want to put in studs to bolt spindles to knuckles as the bolts can and do pull out of the tapped knuckle bores. Should be some topic treads on that.

I have had both of these vehicles for around 40 years, but I drive like an old man, which i now am

 

I ran 33 12.50's for years with a slightly warmed up 231 and a fairly right foot on a 25. I finally broke front spider gears and then built a 44. When I broke the spider gears I was coming out of a nasty mud hole, tires spinning, and the tires grabbed traction on an unseen rock. Snap! That's when I built the 44. For most people depending on how you drive a 25/27 or 30 is plenty. I went to the 44 because I knew I was going to get real aggressive and I could build it myself.

 

Mild V6, stock running gear, 33X12.50'5 (at the time), open diffs, 3.73 gearing. Ran the heck out of my 71 for years. Then on a soft hill blew the spiders out. Installed a Powr Lok and have never had a problem since.
Points of the story...
As timgr stated, it is how you drive. Or more important, how the last four owners drove.
Early CJ's were designed as utility vehicles. That being said, the front axles were there as auxiliary units to get you through whatever obstacle is between you and hunting camp. 25's, 27's, and even 30's, were just fine in these applications. As offroading transitioned from a need to a sport,and the engines became larger and more powerful, the "durability" of these axles becomes more subjective. What will hold up just fine for a weekend wheeler running desert duelers in New Mexico may not last the day for an aggressive mudder or rock climber pushing a set of swampers in the mud of Kentucky.

 

cj5/442- do you feel like the dana 30 is a much stronger axle or do you think that with the lower gears and your improved driving style that the 27 would hold up? is the difference the axle or the set-up and the driver?

 

personallly I think it's the low gears,suspension , and well, driver that makes it last .all that upgrading happend in a short time with a Ford T 18 and TD300,cj7 springs but..... I'm not hopping anymore ,I know and try not to turn and gas at the same time ,don't back up under throttle don't pull rigs out backing up and stuff like that ......if I threw a 27 in it now ,,,,,,IDK i think I could make it last .... but I like rocks and abuse !!!!!

 

33X12.5 tires, 4.27 gears and a warmed over Corvette 327 powering it.
I’ve busted just about every part of my Dana 25 except the axle shafts.
First set of spider gears went when I was trying to conquer a short climb with horsepower that I couldn’t get with traction. Front end got airborne and when it landed it grenade the spider gears which locked up just long enough to take the front drive shaft with them.
Second set of spider gears went while I was trying to bump a full sized truck out of a mud hole, had to have a friend with a Toyota finish the job. That’s been probably 9 years ago, that friend no longer even has the Toyota and I still hear about it.
A Powr Lok LSD took care of the spider gear problems. It’s just a much stronger case than the stock open diff.
Broke a tie rod end on the trail and ended up separating the spindle from the knuckle trying to get it out. Knuckle stud conversion is well worth the time and effort, as is a sturdy set of aftermarket steering links.
Scattered a ring and pinion pulling a friend off a gravel bar in the middle of the Neosho River, he had buried his ¾ ton Chevy up to the frame. Took a lot of tugging and effort to get him out but I eventually did even with a hobbled front end.
That’s about all I can think of right now, but I can relate 90% of these failures to the loose nut behind the wheel.
Best advice I have for keeping a Dana 25 alive is that if it starts to wheel hop get out of the throttle. Wheel hop will kill just about any axle though.

 

Never broke my 5.38, open carrier, D25 with L-134 engine. Not even when I was running tires as big as 36".
However the 36" tires did not last long because the fresh built Go-Devil couldn't turn them more than 45 MPH

Never broke my 5.38 Powr Loc D25 with F-134 on 30" tires. Lots of throttle from the Hurricane is "A"- O.K.

Never broke my 3.54 open carrier D30 with the AMC 304 running 32" tires. Lots of deep mud, deep water and snow.
On that Jeep I stripped the Corporate 20 rear in a deep snow filled road ditch and now I only drive Kaiser / Willys.

I currently operate D25's with Hurricanes.
But I also have D27's and D30's to use with D-225.

Differences between D25 and D27 are mainly insignificant.
D25 has larger ring /pinion but D27 has slightly larger spindle bearings.

Powr Loc provides twice as many differential gears. A must have for me.
I currently have 2 D25 Powr Loc carriers and wanting to set up the D27 and D30 with Powr Loc.
Of course all my rear D44 axles have Powr Loc too.

ZERO BREAKAGE excepting the model 20

 

dont drive like this. These guys are unfamiliar with the dana 25/27
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra2Ct9HbVL4&sns=fb