What are my front axle options

[xjoverkill]

Well my front dana 30 is bent has been from the time i bought it. And next
month i will have the funds to upgrade or as ive been planning to buy a new
d30 and build it up. But the more i research it the more i'am not sure if building
up another 30 is the answer iam looking for. I want to run 35s on my rig
and from what i gather the d30s not good for going bigger than 33's. I know
some do but i plan on going to uwharrie ohv many times this year. I would love
to have a dana 44 but cant never seem to find one that doesnt take alot of
fab work to fit under an xj. The question is where to find one? or what else
would surfice?

[rguignard]

you could try to find a dana 44 from a tj rubicon that would give you a 4.10 and a locker :D but i bet youll get lots more ldeas from everyone on here :thumbsup: take some pics and let us know what you do and how it turns out. good luck :patriot:

[4.3LXJ]

TJ Rubi axles to have lockers and a D44 center section, but from the center out they are really just a D30. Those axles do address the need for stronger gears, but they really don't like 35" tires without upgrades. So the question is: How much can you fabricate and what are you willing to spend?

[Mudderoy]

Dana 44 for sure, but let's think about this...

Dana 30s are plentiful. All you need to run 35s is chrome shafts. So you could but a couple of D30s chrome shafts. You can truss the D30 if you are worried about bending it.

From what I have read D30 is fine for 35s if you are unlocked. Chrome shafts if you are locked. Is something going to break? Sure it will but that's pretty much true of any axle depending on the punishment you are putting it through. I'm not going to climb on the rocks, so I think 35" tires locked with chrome shafts will be find for off road mud etc...

Please someone correct me here if I am wrong. I've been waffling back and forth between 33x12.5 and 35x12.5 for a while now.

[4.3LXJ]

It all depends on what kind of wheeling you are doing. If you are running in mud and snow or sand, then the D30 is plenty strong with stock axles. But throw in a locker and some rocks, then the stock stuff gets over stressed. Then you add 35s and the gears and case can be over stressed. The D44 center sections takes care of that. Chrome moly axles takes care of the axle shaft problem. You can get an assembly from G2 performance http://www.g2axle.com/axle-assembly/front-dana-44-assembly.aspx that has the right stuff and then bolt on the D30 outers. Then the only weak point is the unit bearings which were designed for 7 - 8" rims with stock back spacing. Move the rims out and add wider tires and that becomes the weak point. Most people can live with it, just replacing them often. But if you want to spend some more money and put on old school knuckles from Rieder Racing and real spindles and hubs you will have it all.

[Mudderoy]

It all depends on what kind of wheeling you are doing. If you are running in mud and snow or sand, then the D30 is plenty strong with stock axles. But throw in a locker and some rocks, then the stock stuff gets over stressed. Then you add 35s and the gears and case can be over stressed. The D44 center sections takes care of that. Chrome moly axles takes care of the axle shaft problem. You can get an assembly from G2 performance http://www.g2axle.com/axle-assembly/front-dana-44-assembly.aspx that has the right stuff and then bolt on the D30 outers. Then the only weak point is the unit bearings which were designed for 7 - 8" rims with stock back spacing. Move the rims out and add wider tires and that becomes the weak point. Most people can live with it, just replacing them often. But if you want to spend some more money and put on old school knuckles from Rieder Racing and real spindles and hubs you will have it all.

Well I think you can build a bullet proof Dana 35 but the cost to do it is more than replacing it with a D44, or Ford 8.8 at least from what I've read. So I guess it is all about the return on your investment. Also I guess it depends on where it breaks. 10 miles from the nearest road, as opposed to NOT breaking has value too.

If I get the money I'm going with the Dana 44 front and rear.

[4.3LXJ]

I think you would be ultimately happy with that. I will be upgrading too, but will be going in a different direction due to my fabrication skills.

[Mudderoy]

I think you would be ultimately happy with that. I will be upgrading too, but will be going in a different direction due to my fabrication skills.

I think full width Dana 60's would be the coolest. :smiley-laughing021:

[4.3LXJ]

Full width yes, but D60s no. Much to heavy for a light XJ

[Mudderoy]

Full width yes, but D60s no. Much to heavy for a light XJ

Really?!?!? I guess just because people put them on XJs and TJs it isn't necessarily a good idea.

[4.3LXJ]

It depends on what you want them for. If your only purpose for having more beef is rock crawling, then the D60 and 14 bolt Corporate and D70 make good axles because they are bullet proof and more importantly lower the center of gravity. But they make lousy road and trail axles because of their weight. They will skip around after hitting bumps because they will not make contact with the road again as fast as a lighter axle. This isn't important in ultra slow rock crawling. I do it all, so I am going for a lighter, but physically strong axle with high ground clearance. Which brings up another issue, ground clearance. A stock D60 with a 44' tire has about the same ground clearance under it as a D35 on 31s. This is a big issue in ruts and other areas where it is muddy.

[xjredneck]

Dana 44 for sure, but let's think about this...

Dana 30s are plentiful. All you need to run 35s is chrome shafts. So you could but a couple of D30s chrome shafts. You can truss the D30 if you are worried about bending it.

From what I have read D30 is fine for 35s if you are unlocked. Chrome shafts if you are locked. Is something going to break? Sure it will but that's pretty much true of any axle depending on the punishment you are putting it through. I'm not going to climb on the rocks, so I think 35" tires locked with chrome shafts will be find for off road mud etc...

Please someone correct me here if I am wrong. I've been waffling back and forth between 33x12.5 and 35x12.5 for a while now.
33x12.5 is plenty 35 i think r to big to fit on a cherokee i never had a problem wit 33 before on my f 250 then i went to 35 and stuff started to break and i was on same trails at that point i havent gone over 33x12.5 works just as well and alittle cheaper

[Mudderoy]

33x12.5 is plenty 35 i think r to big to fit on a cherokee i never had a problem wit 33 before on my f 250 then i went to 35 and stuff started to break and i was on same trails at that point i havent gone over 33x12.5 works just as well and alittle cheaper

I had 36.5 on my old 83 Chevy Pickup. I just love big tires. lol I don't know, I may go with 33s...

[x2elite]

No matter how you look at it, you are going to spend some dough upgrading your front. You could truss your D30, cryo your gears and carrier, and then buy alloy shafts, but then you are still looking at spending over a grand, and still have a D30. TJ Rubicon axles are hard to find used, and even when you do they are BIG BUCKS. You can buy a new TJ Rubicon front from Mopar for around $2500, but then you still have the D30 outers, and the Rubicon front is LOW pinion which is a weak point (A TJ D44 really isn't much stronger than a HP30). Other options are wagoneer axles, they can be made to work in the front with nothing more than a truss from TnT welded to the axle. However, waggy axles are still low pinion, and again only marginally stronger than the Dana 30 without major upgrades to that axle as well. Any high pinion 44 would be a huuuuge upgrade. My new front axle is a High Pinion 44, and even though it still has D30 outers, and unit bearings it is still a lot stronger than a D30. I have Chromo shafts, and will be trussing it soon as well though.

I wheeled a D30, on stock (big joint) shafts, with a truss, locker, and 4.56's for almost 2 years on 35's, and then 36's. Other than a couple shafts I have never broken anything on that axle, and I wheel my junk pretty hard. HP30's are strong axles. If you plan on staying with less than 35" tires, and just be mindful that you are still running a D30 front, you will be fine. I got away with it for so long because I was just aware of its weaknesses, and laid off the skinny pedal. If it got to where I was spinning tires or hopping, I would just let off and pick a different line.

[Mudderoy]

No matter how you look at it, you are going to spend some dough upgrading your front. You could truss your D30, cryo your gears and carrier, and then buy alloy shafts, but then you are still looking at spending over a grand, and still have a D30. TJ Rubicon axles are hard to find used, and even when you do they are BIG BUCKS. You can buy a new TJ Rubicon front from Mopar for around $2500, but then you still have the D30 outers, and the Rubicon front is LOW pinion which is a weak point (A TJ D44 really isn't much stronger than a HP30). Other options are wagoneer axles, they can be made to work in the front with nothing more than a truss from TnT welded to the axle. However, waggy axles are still low pinion, and again only marginally stronger than the Dana 30 without major upgrades to that axle as well. Any high pinion 44 would be a huuuuge upgrade. My new front axle is a High Pinion 44, and even though it still has D30 outers, and unit bearings it is still a lot stronger than a D30. I have Chromo shafts, and will be trussing it soon as well though.

I wheeled a D30, on stock (big joint) shafts, with a truss, locker, and 4.56's for almost 2 years on 35's, and then 36's. Other than a couple shafts I have never broken anything on that axle, and I wheel my junk pretty hard. HP30's are strong axles. If you plan on staying with less than 35" tires, and just be mindful that you are still running a D30 front, you will be fine. I got away with it for so long because I was just aware of its weaknesses, and laid off the skinny pedal. If it got to where I was spinning tires or hopping, I would just let off and pick a different line.

Great information, thanks. This is about what I have gathered from reading various posts. I can never remember if the people doing the post know the information first hand or they are just regurgitating it (like I do). So really great information because it is first hand.

[x2elite]

I know lots of guys still running D30's with 36's, and wheel 5 diamond trails.

[BlueXJ]

They are unbreakable in my experience.

[xjoverkill]

Thanks for all the reply's fellas. Ive been thinking about it for awhile
now and i think iam going to get a d30 and build it with the chromoly
shafts and truss and go with 33's. That is if i dont find a d44 first
then i would build it. I think iam going to like this board here. Its not
over crowded and has good knowledgeable folks here. :thumbsup:

[4.3LXJ]

We aim to please

[Jim]

So if your going to upgrade to shafts that will house the bigger (760) U-joints what are the scrap yard options to do this. I will eventually go with Chrom's but would like to throw something in quickly as I'm tired of breaking my stubs.

[xj4life2]

Personally a chrome molly 30 would sufice in most situations, I have run 35's on mine with no issues other than poor fuel milage and alot of wear on the gear box. Dana 44 is nice but does require fab work no matter what. As for the sixty mentioned I agree with 43LXJ,to heavy for a uni body vehicle.I have seen them tear the sub frame apart. So my recomendation would be to stay with the 30 and build the crap out of it . the 30 is actually under rated in my opinion and is much tougher than the Dana 35 rear axle. So there you have my .02 cents

[x2elite]

To upgrade to the shafts with the bigger joints, you just need shafts from any TJ dana 30, or 92-95 XJ front shafts from a rig with ABS, or any 95 and up XJ shafts. All of those will have the 297 joints (big joints). If you want to replace the joints with something stronger but still reasonably priced pick up some Spicer 760 joints.

Also 99 times out of 100 that I have seen a D30 shaft fail it was the ujoint letting go, and then the inner and outer shaft tear each other up. To help prevent this, tack weld the caps on the ujoints when you install them. This will hopefully keep it from spitting out a cap, which is usually how u-joints fail, and what starts the demolision.

Hope that info is helpful.

[Mudderoy]

To upgrade to the shafts with the bigger joints, you just need shafts from any TJ dana 30, or 92-95 XJ front shafts from a rig with ABS, or any 95 and up XJ shafts. All of those will have the 297 joints (big joints). If you want to replace the joints with something stronger but still reasonably priced pick up some Spicer 760 joints.

Also 99 times out of 100 that I have seen a D30 shaft fail it was the ujoint letting go, and then the inner and outer shaft tear each other up. To help prevent this, tack weld the caps on the ujoints when you install them. This will hopefully keep it from spitting out a cap, which is usually how u-joints fail, and what starts the demolision.

Hope that info is helpful.

Once welded you have to replace the axles since you can't get the u-joints out?

[4.3LXJ]

Tack weld. It can be ground out with a die grinder. But on the down side, the heat of the weld ruins the hardening in that area. It needs to be done on the thick part of the cage area.

[Mudderoy]

Tack weld. It can be ground out with a die grinder. But on the down side, the heat of the weld ruins the hardening in that area. It needs to be done on the thick part of the cage area.

I was thinking about some epoxy "glue" on the cap ends.

[x2elite]

I usually just put one good tack weld on the cap at the inner most part of the ear on the shaft (closest to the shaft). It really doesn't heat it up enough (long enough) to compromise the strength, and it can easily be knocked off with a grinder in about 5 seconds. However, it is strong enough most of the time to keep it from spitting the cap out, and gives me that extra piece of mind. Another good option is just to grind off enough inside the ear of the shaft to run full circle clips around the u-joint caps. The shafts that are currently in my D30 has the full circle clips, and is welded. My D44 is just tack welded. Hopefully I will be upgrading to alloys soon, and then I can upgrade the current shafts while they are out (since they will still be my spares).

[Jim]

To upgrade to the shafts with the bigger joints, you just need shafts from any TJ dana 30, or 92-95 XJ front shafts from a rig with ABS, or any 95 and up XJ shafts. All of those will have the 297 joints (big joints). If you want to replace the joints with something stronger but still reasonably priced pick up some Spicer 760 joints.

Also 99 times out of 100 that I have seen a D30 shaft fail it was the ujoint letting go, and then the inner and outer shaft tear each other up. To help prevent this, tack weld the caps on the ujoints when you install them. This will hopefully keep it from spitting out a cap, which is usually how u-joints fail, and what starts the demolision.

Hope that info is helpful.

That's exactly what I needed.:thumbsup: I just want to strengthen them this way until I can afford the Chrome molly kit. As far as welding I don't expect to every need to take em apart. I'll end up using the whole thing as a spare and carry it in the back when I can afford the Chrommolly kit.

Thanx everybody for the input.