what to do

[drivenhardse]

hope this is the right place. not too sure what axles are under my jeep, so i was thinking would it be easier to locate some axles say from a rubi that is allready equipted with lockers and regear and install the neasasary hardware to make the air lockers work or to completly rebuild my axles to be what i want? any help and maybe some extra parts would be helpfull thanks

[goodtimes]

Rubicon axles are going to be very expensive, check e-bay for prices. After that, call your local jeep dealer and get the price from them, don't laugh at them too hard, then ask them for the "shop price". They will ask you what shop you are with, tell them the name of a local repair shop (don't worry about not working for that shop--they will benefit in the end too). If they have a good price, order the parts, and pay cash/credit card for them. If asked, explain that the parts are for your vehicle, and to save extra work for the accounting department at "work" you are doing a cash sale on their account. You get the discount (which can be over 50%!!!), and the company who you supposedly work for gets to write it off at the end of the year (tax break for them). BTW, this works for any parts---I paid $132 for a front axle shaft for my rubicon (inner, outer, and u-joint, all set up and ready to install). Cost to the "public" was $280.

Now, to get them to work, you will need a low pressure air supply (6psi). You can use any air source, as long as it is regulated down to that pressure. Then you will need to figure out a electrical control system for each locker. A simply SPST switch connected to a solinoid valve will work fine. Be sure to use quality valves to help avoid leaks, which will cause your compressor to cycle needlessly.

But before you do all that, ask yourself....do you really need the dana 44's? There are plenty of people running trails like the hammers in Johnson Valley, Axle Alley and Hiway to Hell in AZ, etc on locked dana 30's and 35" tires.

[drivenhardse]

thanks, so if the 44's may be to much the 30's locked with 33's will be strong enough, dont know all i do know is i like the rocks and to climb climb climb is why was thinking the 44's. the dealer idea is great i was thinking more along the lines of going to the salvage yard and getting the whole system off of a wrecked rubi, if i can find one.

[goodtimes]

It all depends on what you want to do with your jeep. For trails like the Rubicon, Dusy, most of Moab....generally anything under 4.0 (1.0 - 5.0 scale), if you have deep gearing (4:1 t-case, 4:10+ diff's) you will be fine with the 30. Even if you do blow up axle shaft, replacing that will be much cheaper than upgrading to a 44. Just be sure to stay off the gas while your rig is twisted up in the rocks, and don't try to make super tight turns while the front is locked and you have lots of traction. Many members here run the 30 (Nailer, BlkTJ, Igofshn <---all on 35's).

I suspect a junkyard rubicon will be very expensive, as will all parts coming off of it, since the junk yard will know what they have. You might watch the local insurance auctions (www.iaai.com), you might come across a good deal there.

Now don't take all this the wrong way. There are definately reasons to upgrade to a 44, or even a HP60. Just do yourself (and your wallet) a favor and make sure that the cost is worth it to you. It just doesn't make sense to spend thousands of dollars upgrading to dana 44's, when the 30 will work fine for you. That would leave lots of $$$ for other things like a roll cage, winch, beadlocks, lots of skid plates, etc.

[drivenhardse]

thanks i think i am just going to stay with the 30's and make them what i want maybe find some rebuildable 30 that way i still have the stock axles if something real bad goes on. thanks again for your help