twiztedzuki said:
weight and cost varies in greatly. build a rock to withstand abuse is big money, spend that on a 14b steering or a 60 and save weight. take a 400hp motor and tryn get a set rocks up hill or same motor and tons! tons go farther everytime!
I am not so sure. For the sake of discussion, since we have no real numbers on these hybrid axles, lets try some "fuzzy math" as old "w" used to call it...
Lets compare a coleworx "type" 14 bolt.
STOCK 60 with a little tie rod is 516 lbs. A stock 14 bolt center and stock 14 bolt tubes probably does not weigh less than the equivalent 60 front with tubes. I would say more likely the 14 bolt weighs more in "stock form." . But, lets just say it is the same to just work with numbers we know...Guessing that in a coleworx type 14 bolt you use 4 feet of 4" O.D. .500 wall DOM to sleeve the tubes. That tube weighs in 18.69 lbs PER FOOT for a total of 74.76 lbs. Lets guess the truss is made from 2 square tubing that is only .250 wall. That weighs in at 5.949 lb per foot. Once again assume 4 feet used comes in at 23.76 lbs. Thicker even more. These two items ALONE combine for 95. 55 lbs. So that would bring the "top of the line" 14 bolt to 621.55 lbs if we assume the center of the 60 with stock tubes would weigh the same as a 14 bolt center with its stock tubes. . Add a little extra plating to that truss and you could easily tack on another 10 lbs of metal, particularly if plated..Maybe more...Now you are at 631.55 lbs. Added more "robust" knuckles SOLID brand for example, for 5 lbs at a minimum per side( not surehow much OEM knuckles would add). The total is now up to 641.lbs...MMM... add some 2 inch 47 splines shafts,inner and outer and you can tack on an easy 20 more pounds compared to 35 spline shafts. So now you are sitting at 661 lbs for that 14 bolt front built with the 4 OD .500 wall tubing and beefier knuckles, and "unbreakable axleshafts. Not to mention you would have to run OEM spindles, bearing hubs, knuckles to accommadate those 2 inch 47 spline shafts. These additional items might just add another 10-20 lbs..Guess then would be 681 to 691 lbs. BUt, if you keep it manageable in terms of cost and less weight with 60 hubs,and knuckles you are probably looking at 640-650 lbs.
A debraked rockwell steering front is 692 lbs. Making a rockwell stand up to big abuse is no more costly than building an equivalent 14 bolt front( think coleworx or tim C type). Weight savings is looking minimal, depending on how it is built.
A strong ,but, breakable 14 bolt front is righ at $5000 or can go higher.. A dana 80 like on Tim C new buggy I would guess are well above 10K each....
Rockwell front ,$800. 3500$ with everything for the 2 inch stuff...$4300 and nearly equal in weight to the breakable 14 bolt front... Add OEM knuckles to eliminate the weak point after all the other mods compared to an equivalent 47 spline 14 bolt or D80 front....and everything starts gettin cloudy.
Could any of the above scenario's be built for less, sure. They could be built for more..Probably could be built lighter or heavier to depending on how someone did the fab work...
Until we get real weight numbers it is a guessing game...But, it appears it may closer than many would like to admit for whatever reason.
I am not arguing which is better. More I would like to know real weight and cost benefit analysis like many others.
Thats what you call good luck! 
Only down fall I really see with them is the center section. But if your building around them should be all good. Hope to have about a 4500 lbs or so buggy with 44's and see what happens.
uke:
