Work stuff, vehicle related

[DirtyRyda]

Some interesting things coming through at work for Dana Axle. Not a lot of interesting details unfortunately.

We are building the axle housings for the new Bronco and they just started laying the ground work for the line.

We are starting production of PHEV Wrangler axles soon.

There is another jeep axle that they are only calling "Jeronimo" right now, but no one here knows much about it. It's very similar to the normal Wrangler axles with increased height on a couple of the component brackets.

Most interesting is that we are doing prototype work for a wide track Raptor version of the Bronco axles. Not sure if it will be called a Raptor or what as we don't have a lot of info. We will likely be doing the production on these but not sure yet.

[Jeff V.]

That's interesting. I wonder if Jeep is planning some kind of off road high performance truck similar to the Raptor?

[DirtyRyda]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]That's interesting. I wonder if Jeep is planning some kind of off road high performance truck similar to the Raptor?[/quote]

We did the prototypes for the Jeep truck and they are totally different than the Wrangler axles, so I doubt the Jeronimo stuff is for the truck. They've put the Hellcat engine in everything else though, might as well finally build a real Wrangler with it. Lol

[Jeff V.]

I think they said the Hellcat engine won't work due to crash test problems. It'll physically fit, but they can't certify it. Maybe they found a way around that?

[ChargerX3]

Woot for beefier Dana axles. Are these 44’s?

[DirtyRyda]

[quote=""ChargerX3""]Woot for beefier Dana axles. Are these 44’s?[/quote]

Not sure. We just use chassis codes and internal part numbers. We buy the tubes, then weld the components to them. We make most of the components in house. Aside from the part numbers we just refer to them as JL axles which is the chassis code for the 2017+ Wrangler. According to wikipedia, the fronts are 44s, but not the rears, and we make the housing for the rears only.

[ChargerX3]

Wonder if its the Chrysler axle or 60?

[DirtyRyda]

From https://www.quadratec.com/c/blog/which- ... y-right-me

Currently, if you have purchased the new JL Wrangler, you have Dana 30 front and Dana 35 rear axles, unless you specifically bought one with upgraded Dana 44s. All Rubicon JL owners have a Dana 44 front and rear axle. However, these aren't your father's Dana 30, 35, 44 axles though as Dana has made these stronger and lighter than any other generation. So much so that these are not interchangeable with earlier generation axles. For more information on these axles, as well as other JL Wrangler changes, check out our JL Wrangler showcase page.


The Geronimo axles are similar to the 35s that come on the base Wrangler.

[DirtyRyda]

[quote=""DirtyRyda""]From https://www.quadratec.com/c/blog/which- ... y-right-me

Currently, if you have purchased the new JL Wrangler, you have Dana 30 front and Dana 35 rear axles, unless you specifically bought one with upgraded Dana 44s. All Rubicon JL owners have a Dana 44 front and rear axle. However, these aren't your father's Dana 30, 35, 44 axles though as Dana has made these stronger and lighter than any other generation. So much so that these are not interchangeable with earlier generation axles. For more information on these axles, as well as other JL Wrangler changes, check out our JL Wrangler showcase page.


The Geronimo axles are similar to the 35s that come on the base Wrangler.[/quote]

I think... Now that I think about it, they may be like the ones on the rubicon. I can also tell you that the only difference in the base and Rubicon axles is the bearing end where the hub mounts to the axle. The base has a flange that is arc welded on to the tube and the Rubicon has a friction welded flange. They are machined differently as well, but I don't deal with them past the weld stage.

Confirmed with our CMM tech. They are the same as the Rubicon axles with taller brackets. Assuming the same ground clearance, they would have less suspension travel. None of us in the QC lab can figure out what they would be for.

[DirtyRyda]

There is a bump stop bracket that will stand taller on top of the axle and the upper control arm bracket will stand taller.

[ChargerX3]

[quote=""DirtyRyda""]I think... Now that I think about it, they may be like the ones on the rubicon. I can also tell you that the only difference in the base and Rubicon axles is the bearing end where the hub mounts to the axle. The base has a flange that is arc welded on to the tube and the Rubicon has a friction welded flange. They are machined differently as well, but I don't deal with them past the weld stage.

Confirmed with our CMM tech. They are the same as the Rubicon axles with taller brackets. Assuming the same ground clearance, they would have less suspension travel. None of us in the QC lab can figure out what they would be for.[/quote]

So same axle. Any benefits to the welding or flanges over the other?

[aaronatstate]

Wonder if that Jeep axle is for the new Wagoneer?

[DirtyRyda]

I'm not sure of the benefits to friction vs mig welding the flanges. Considering the Rubicon gets the friction welded flanges, I would guess it is superior.

[ChargerX3]

Comes down to penetration and quality of the welds in ideally an oxygen free environment.

[DirtyRyda]

The engineering report came through yesterday that SOP on the Bronco axle tubes is November of this year.

[Jeff V.]

Do you have any idea how that relates to SOP on the truck itself? How much lead time does Ford give to stock up on parts before they start sending trucks down the line in volume?

[aaronatstate]

[quote=""Jeff V.""]Do you have any idea how that relates to SOP on the truck itself? How much lead time does Ford give to stock up on parts before they start sending trucks down the line in volume?[/quote]

They give a pretty long lead time. Typically we get production approval for our belts 6-12 months in advance, and then orders gradually ramp up (note our parts to go another supplier first). I think it's usually a month or 2 ahead of SOP they start stocking up on parts for our belts that go directly to Ford.

[DirtyRyda]

We send the tubes to Dana and they'll be finished there before going to Ford. Not sure of the lead time myself. I thought it was going to be a 2021 model. Depending on lead times from us to Dana and them to Ford, it could be a ways into 2021 before they begin production.

[Jeff V.]

Ok. I guess I wasn't paying attention. I thought you guys built the completed axles. Some of these model years are getting weird. It used to be a new model started July-August of the previous year.