I broke one. What I believe happened was the inner u-joint broke and wound the two yokes together climbing a hill. The passenger side of my differential cracked and a couple large pieces and bearings were laying on the trail covered in gear oil.
This was back in the day, before I carried a digital camera so I have no pics.
Interesting... (so just one response on this? ...one more than I expected too lol )
That makes exactly
two broken D35 housings I've ever heard about or seen in the last 9 years almost (besides damage from cheap lift kits) since I've been perusing the various RBV forums (and like the other, it was a casualty of something else breaking first). I think it's still pretty safe to say the aluminum housing is normally not a weak spot on the D35, they just don't break that often.
well i found a cheap dana 44 that i will probably buy instead and then ill just sell the dana 30
Agreed, much better idea, at least you aren't taking a big step backward with that (although IMO I still don't see it as a huge step forward).
The D35 is a pretty sturdy little axle that can easily be set up to take you pretty much anywhere you'd need to go. IMO, I'd hang onto it (along with the 8.8) and save the pennies for a D60/10.25" swap for when the time comes you actually do need something bigger.
