While surfing this weekend, I came across MudDuck Central that is full of various stats, some I’ve seen before and some I haven’t. One of the more interesting stats was a table of axle strengths. You can see the graph here borrowed from this page. The one thing that caught my eye was that the Dana 30 is actually stronger (due to it’s slightly larger axle size) than the front Dana 44. Anyone run across this before? And does anyone know if the front Dana 44 housing is stronger than the Dana 30 (in some measurable way)?
Axle Strength Based on Material and Size
Size |
Material |
Yield Torque |
Axle Model |
| 1.10-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 3,550 lbs-ft | front D44, front GM 10-bolt |
| 1.11-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 3,640 lbs-ft | D30(27-spline), D35(27) rear, 8.25(27) rear |
| 1.18-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 4,389 lbs-ft | Ford 7.5-inch 28-spline |
| 1.19-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 4,484 lbs-ft | D60(30) full-float |
| 1.20-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 4,643 lbs-ft | Ford 9inch(28) rear, GM 7.63, GM 8.5(28) (10 bolt) |
| 1.21-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 4,706 lbs-ft | AMC-20, Chrysler 8.25(29) rear |
| 1.25-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 5,206 lbs-ft | D60(30) front, D50(30) front,
D44(30) rear, GM 8.5 and 8.6(30) |
| 1.29-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 5,707 lbs-ft | Ford 8.8(31) rear, Ford 9inch(31),
Chrystler 9.25(31) |
| 1.34-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 6,394 lbs-ft | GM 10.5 (14 bolt) full float
30-spline |
| 1.36-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 6,699 lbs-ft | Ford 10.25 and 10.50 rear
full float 35-spline |
| 1.37-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 6,828 lbs-ft | D60HD rear full float 35 spline,
D70 rear full float 35-spline |
| 1.42-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 7,619 lbs-ft | GM 9.5 (small 14 bolt) rear
semi-float 33-spline |
| 1.45-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 8,097 lbs-ft | D60 rear semi-float 35-spline |
| 1.46-inch | 1040 carbon steel | 8,283 lbs-ft | Ford 10.25 rear semi-float 35-spline |