As soon as I bought my JKU, based on fellow Jeepers advice, I had the Artec Armour system fitted by Ramy 4x4 as an insurance policy against the risk of bending the weak Dana 30 front axle. The work was done to a very high standard and I have been very pleased with it. Until very recently, on a night drive following Rubicon (full on Baction!), I slightly misjudged my speed and had too much momentum when cresting, and hit the base of the dune onto the Sabka quite hard, enough to scare the pants off my passenger! I checked the front end when we stopped and didn't see any damage, and the Jeep still drove and handled normally. Thank God for Artec I thought at the time.
Later that week when I washed the Jeep, I noticed a build up of sand on the inner side of my passenger side wheel, and around the yokes and axle. I washed it off and noted that it looked like the axle seal was leaking. About a week later I did notice a small oil patch on my driveway and after further investigation, saw the oil drip coming from beneath the axle shaft. I also noticed that my sway bar link was loose, and the top ball joint nut had loosened a little. I had a spare and removed the old one, with a little difficulty, only to then realize that the lower bracket (extended bracket from AEV 2.5" lift kit) was misaligned and I couldn't get the lower bolt back in for the new link. I did a close inspection of the axle and C's and could see no evidence of weld cracking or deformation anywhere. What I did see though was the wheel had a camber (leaning in at the top) which wasn't there before. I had another look at the suspension and axle area and could not see anything obvious. The car drove as it did before, no vibration or noise nor any steering misalignment.
I contacted Ramy and took the Jeep in this week for them to have a look. It transpires that the axle housing is bent, not in the Up / Down direction as is normal (that is what the Artec system prevents) but in the forward/backward direction, which the Artec system does not protect. Ordinarily, the axle housing can be straightened by a specialist workshop, however in this case, because of the Artec system it cannot be achieved to as good a degree as required. So my only option is a replacement axle.
I never thought that my driving style would cause such an issue, however it just goes to show that things can and do go wrong, and we need to protect our investment as much as possible. A point to note here is that when strengthening the JK axle, both the Dana 30 and Dana 44 share the same housing, so despite the axle shafts and gearing being more heavy duty in the 44, the weak link remains in the housing. They say that hindsight is a wonderful thing; at the time of the strengthening, Ramy offered internal reinforcement (axle sleeves) but I turned them down as I didn't think I needed them. If I had the sleeves fitted, I probably wouldn't have bent the axle!! All for the sake of a few hundred dirhams!
So the moral of this story is, as has been mentioned before in this forum, it doesn't matter what level of drive you are on, nor the area you are driving (mine was in Al Faya), things happen which you don't expect. My advice for all Jeepers with Dana 30 or 44 axles, if you haven't done it already, get your front axle fully reinforced, both externally (Artec System) and internally (axle sleeves (many options)) as soon as possible. It will reduce the risk and keep you driving.
I hope this helps those of you who have been undecided about this. I now have to go through the Police report, insurance claim, dealership repair, another axle reinforcement and loss of desert driving for the next few weeks.
But, I will be back soon and the Phoenix will rise from the ashes once more. Oh, and for you Nissan and Toyota drivers out there, yes, in this case, it is a "Jeep Thing", before you mention it!!
See you in the sand soon.
