Ultimate Dana 44™ AdvanTEK® Front-Drive Unit Axles

[Colo_Ranger]

New gears for front

Its finally being released. This is a game changer for those who offroad.

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[crazyrazor21]

Yeah I'll pass since my Dana rear end exploded at 32k miles.

 

[Russd]

I saw today apg is releasing a “210” bolt in unit for the ranger. Not sure what that means compared to what’s posted above. Not up on all the new axle terminology.

 

[Colo_Ranger]

I saw today apg is releasing a “210” bolt in unit for the ranger. Not sure what that means compared to what’s posted above. Not up on all the new axle terminology.

I’ll have to check that out. As long as it’s factory width, I’m happy to see options. If it has to be long travel, I won’t be able to use it.

 

[Russd]

I’ll have to check that out. As long as it’s factory width, I’m happy to see options. If it has to be long travel, I won’t be able to use it.

Says it’ll need custom half shafts. What’s that you posted? Is it a new front diff also?

 

[Colo_Ranger]

Says it’ll need custom half shafts. What’s that you posted? Is it a new front diff also?

the one I posted is a full front replacement. There is an option for 32 spline and 29 spline. I *think* we have 29 spline, which means we could get away with just the diff replacement. This is all speculation at this point.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

New gears for front

Its finally being released. This is a game changer for those who offroad.

HI CR,

I am glad to see more hard core parts being released for the Ranger and Bronco. It has been slow in bringing aftermarket parts of robust nature to market for the Ranger. Not a Dana fan though due to production quality problems... This front diff unit seems to be well done but I would like to see what testing Dana did to prove out the design.... That is somewhat of a worry bead to me....Customer proveout is a dangerous flaw and leaves the buyer hanging if a design flaw surfaces... If it were me, I would sit on the sidelines for quite some time. JMO...

Best,
Phil

 

[Colo_Ranger]

HI CR,

I am glad to see more hard core parts being released for the Ranger and Bronco. It has been slow in bringing aftermarket parts of robust nature to market for the Ranger. Not a Dana fan though due to production quality problems... This front diff unit seems to be well done but I would like to see what testing Dana did to prove out the design.... That is somewhat of a worry bead to me....Customer proveout is a dangerous flaw and leaves the buyer hanging if a design flaw surfaces... If it were me, I would sit on the sidelines for quite some time. JMO...

Best,
Phil

Well… I haven’t seen a price yet and I bet I can’t afford it. ? so, I’ll definitely be waiting awhile. MegaRanger, who runs 37” tires, will probably be the first. I saw he posted something about it. He will definitely put it through more torture than I will. I hope they offer and option without a front locker, as I believe if I need a front locker, I shouldn’t be on that trail. I wheel some trails that are “difficult” but never to that point.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Well… I haven’t seen a price yet and I bet I can’t afford it. ? so, I’ll definitely be waiting awhile. MegaRanger, who runs 37” tires, will probably be the first. I saw he posted something about it. He will definitely put it through more torture than I will. I hope they offer and option without a front locker, as I believe if I need a front locker, I shouldn’t be on that trail. I wheel some trails that are “difficult” but never to that point.

Hi CR,

I hope this shows up in Off Road Racing...that usually flushes out any design issues and/or quality issues.

Not sure if this back story was told by me before but in off road racing we routinely battled broken rear spring shackles on Stock class Rangers. Never showed on durability but clearly the shackles need attention as there were some customer experiences with cracked shackle brackets. So the Design Engineer came up with a casting in place of the stamping. More money/ tooling cost and part cost. I was opposed to this approach. So I proposed we "cheat the stamping tooling" which means slip in material thicker than the stamping dies were designed... So we stamped out about two dozen parts with XC Part numbers (experimental). I put then on Deputy Steve Williams 7300 Stock Ranger run by the LA County Sheriffs. These parts completed three races without failure where before these parts were replaced during a particular race. So three times improvement and after several more lab tests, we released a revised thickness and these parts continued through the 4G Ranger until Jacque Nassar killed the 4G Ranger...

Die cheating of which is rarely heard can be a useful avenue when properly tested and validated and we used Off Road Racing as an initial proveout.

Best,
Phil

 

[Yinzcity]

Die cheating of which is rarely heard can be a useful avenue when properly tested and validated and we used Off Road Racing as an initial proveout.

Best,
Phil

Hey Phil,

As someone who used to do quality work for metal stamping, this is interesting to me. Does the distance between the 2 dies need to be adjusted or is there enough give in the material to compress the extra thickness? I'd imagine you'd have to be careful otherwise you'd start cracking the die or breaking other things.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Hey Phil,

As someone who used to do quality work for metal stamping, this is interesting to me. Does the distance between the 2 dies need to be adjusted or is there enough give in the material to compress the extra thickness? I'd imagine you'd have to be careful otherwise you'd start cracking the die or breaking other things.

Hi W

It is really just using a tiny thicker material at the top of the tolerance range of the material. Stampers try to use the thinnest metal in the tolerance range and we make them go up to the upper range of the tolerance for thicker material plus a "nat's eyelash" thicker. There is no adjustment to the stamping press in most cases. I always let the Stampers figure out what they need to do to prevent die cracking... And it doesn't work for some more "delecate" parts.... or a stamper that flat refuses to make change... This usually results in a resourcing to another stamper as Ford used to own the dies... (do not know if this business practice is still used)

Best,
Phil

 

[Blmpkn]

Says it’ll need custom half shafts. What’s that you posted? Is it a new front diff also?

What apg is selling is a bolt in diff from the Bronco.

 

[WyoRanger]

I am intrigued by this as it could be an alternative to the ARB air locker.

I haven't looked into the APG yet.

Has anyone done this yet?

Kym

 

[Colo_Ranger]

When they finally release, these will be the options. Though this say 2022 and its being released in 2023. I think they are doing a slow rollout. A local guy to me has one coming already. The main reason for doing this for me is regearing, so changing out the rears is necessary.

 

[Wolfman00]

glad to see a 3.73 option for a direct swap.
im wondering about high angle cv’s. Wonder when we will see more of those options.

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