Dana 30 non disco shaft swap

[OU812]

I don't have the carrier or the inner shafts in my 30 right now. I think before I order these seals I will pop the cover and measure the tube diameter first. I have a cylinder hone if it needed to altered. I think the hardest part of that seal location is there is no lip behind it so you have to make sure it is all even and you don't go too far in with the seal.

[Shadly1]

Just out of curiosity, why are you getting rid of the axle disconnect? Doesn't seem like you'd gain much strength if you're just replacing them with stock XJ shafts.

[OU812]

The shafts are not so much bigger but the u-joints are. And it's just all togeather less moving parts which is not a bad thing.

[Shadly1]

The shafts are not so much bigger but the u-joints are. And it's just all togeather less moving parts which is not a bad thing.

Ahh, so it's that TJ type shaft from a newer XJ, I guess? Ok, I get that. A lot of guys tend to replace the axle disconnect because it seems like a weak point or they broke a vacuum switch or something. I wanted to replace mine until I found out exactly how it worked and the benefit it provided. I know enough about them now to be able to do trail repairs or bypasses. Don't forget to get that front driveshaft balanced once you get your diff back together... It's full time now.

[OU812]

The diso is not a bad IMHO. But to get bigger ujoints you need to find either a 95 YJ or a newer XJ or TJ. YJs and TJs are not really found in my local salvage yard. But I bet there are a dozen XJs. I also used a dremmel to grind out a little of the yoke ears so I can use full circle snap rings on my bigger ujoints. I never broke one of my tiny spicer 297 ujoints but I didn't have a locker before.

[Jerry Bransford]

I never broke one of my tiny spicer 297 ujoints but I didn't have a locker before.

Are you talking about your OE u-joints? Those were 260 size, 297 and 760 is the size used '95 and newer.

[OU812]

Right. My bad.

[Geebo]

I didn,t want to open a new thread so I,m stealin a quick question here, what would be the best way for me to go to beef up my front 30? either a truss welded on or the hp 30 I want to try and get it done by the IDTT camp trip..Sorry for bustin in and Thanks ..Geeb

[Guest]

Mitch is correct. Ken did mine too. He also had to grind something. Then put a different seal in there. No leaks.

[Mitch]

As far as the seal goes, Ken used a Dremmel to cut the spot for the new seal to go. Ken said that he has done a bunch of those. It is a tight work area coming in from the diff housing. And like Ron said, never have had a drip.

Mitch

[GP4Play]

So how's it going Scott?Hope you got lots of coffee and you can gett'er done for IDTT.

[6spdYJ]

Can we get a picture or detailed description of what needs to be cut and how much with which seal?

[jjlaw]

I would love details too have A new shaft and will be doing this in a couple of weeks

[Guest]

The Jeep Guy - Ask for Ken
760-953-9007

Ron

[OU812]

Ok I got all this done on Sunday. Using the correct size seal makes a huge difference. I compared the seal I was trying to put in there and it is more than a tenth of an inch too big. I did not to any grinding on the axle tube I just put the seal in place. I did not put a seal in the Disco housing. I just put seals on either side of the diff.

On the driver’s side there is a seal seating surface machined into the axle tube. You can see the shoulder for the seal in this pic.


The passenger side does not have a shoulder to help seat the seal straight. It wasn't hard to get it in strait but I was careful not to drive the seal too far in.


I used a piece of 5/8" all thread some washers and the old seals to drive in the new seals.



I figured out the flair on the old seal that helps you guide the axle shaft thru the seal was a perfect size to fit inside the cup shape of the new seal. So I pried out the rubber seal material and found a washer that fit inside. In this picture you can see the nut, the washer sitting in the old seal and the new seal you cannot see but it is in the housing.





I put a Aussie locker in and ground out my yoke ears just enough to use full circle snap rings. I went and found a rock pile and tested out the locker. I think I am going to like this a lot. My Jeep feels unstoppable now. Thank you guys for your help with all of this. And for the record and any one that might be reading this in preparation to doing it themselves. I have a 92 YJ and I used Napa part number 11899 on the driver’s side (which is the stock size seal) and Napa part number 11800 on the passenger side. They both have the same inside diameter but the 11800 has a smaller outside diameter. I used my stock unit bearings and my shafts were out of and newer (96 maybe?) XJ.