Front Truss / Pull front gears to remove axle seals?

[JeepingNet]

Looking at some winter projects and thinking about adding a front truss to my Rubicon Dana 44 front axle.

Should I remove the inner seals and pinion seals? I'm thinking they might melt in the process. Not really wanting to pull my front gears since they were just installed. I'm on the fence about needing a truss in the first place..

 

[Steel City 06]

I would think as long as you weld in short segments you should be fine. You wouldn’t want to dump too much heat in the axle tube anyways because if it warps, you just ruined an axle. I would recommend pulling the shafts and visually inspecting the seals after you are complete.

Most people here don’t bother with trussing, as axle beam failure is relatively uncommon unless you are jumping the Jeep. Generally you’ll blow up a ball joint, bend the inner C’s, or tear off a bracket before beam failure.

The only truss I would bother installing would be the one included in the Savvy mid-arm. That replaces all the bracketry and adds a significant amount of capability at the same time.

I did install pound-in axle sleeves after a scare where I thought I may had bent an axle tube. They only add a small amount of stiffness, but are also inexpensive and quick to install. Again, most forum members don’t bother.

Here is a (rare) example of a beam axle failure, taken from Reddit:

 

[SvtLdr]

I'd recommend pulling everything out of the housing before installing a truss (shafts, carrier, gears bearings & seals). You'd be fine leaving the pinion race and shims in place. You need to get the cast center section pretty warm before you weld the truss to it. Welding to the axle tubes doesn't require any pre-heating - just when you're welding to cast steel. I feel like that's one of those things that you'd probably end up regretting if you didn't do it properly. End up wishing you had just gone the distance and pulled everything out first, especially seeing how you've got brand new gears, bearings, and seals in there. Just my 2cents...

 

[JeepingNet]

Agree with both of you guys. I think I'll likely skip the truss for now.

Got thinking about it because on the trail I'm normally the only Jeep without a front truss. I think they are common here because we are near TMR and wheel with a lot of JKs. The Tj guys listen to the JK guys and get them installed.

I also have a spare housing so worst case I bend one, I have another ready to go, and it's already stripped and ready for a truss.