your thoughts on front end upgrades

[ylwrnglr01]

hey everybody, i was hoping that i could get some ideas/and advice from everybody before i spend on money on my front end. right now i have a d44 with a detroit in the rear of my 01 tj. I have an open 30 up front. im running 4.56's for gears. wheeling that i do is kind of all around, some mud, some rocks, shall, ect. my rig is also my daily driver.

with that out of the way heres what im thinking: def going to put an arb up front, i want the ability to turn the front locker on and off. not right away but at some point i will upgrade to lock out hubs as well. My question is: should i put the locker in the d30, or save up some money and upgrade the front axle to a d44 with a locker? im not sure if i really need to upgrade the front axle, but i know that the locker is def going to rock. any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks.

oh check out the pics if you have time i finally got some trail damage from this weekends creek run...sparks were flying

[king4wd]

Change the front axle? That depends on how big you're going to go tire-wise. for 33's the 30 will be OK. You might want to go bigger axle-wise if you go pst 35" tires. Lock-out hubs are a bit redundant if you're running a selectable locker up front (OX, ARB, etc.). If you were running a Detroit or lock-rite up front, then the hubs would be just the ticket. Let us know how your front-end upgrade comes out!

[WheelingPiazza]

It all depends on what size tire your running and your driving style. IF you dont plan togo over 33s then I wouldnt worry about upgrading. Just carry spare shafts both inner and outter.

Personlly if you dont have tera low or some type of 4 to 1 @ an slipyoke elimnator I would go that route before I would go front locker. You would be suprise how well your rig does when you dont have to worry about the gas and clutch and brakes and what not. People think a front locker is the end all, ITs not turst me. I drove rubicon and places like that with 33s open front, Locked rear 4 to 1 in the t-case and a slip Elim kit. on a 30/35 combo for years and didnt brake a single axle or part.



Steve Piazza

[ylwrnglr01]

sounds good guys, thanks for all of your help and advice, i think i may keep the 30 and lock it, i've been looking into a 4 to 1 t case for a little bit along with a sye. thanks again

[Chris_L]

Get a high pinion 30 out of an XJ/cherokee. the housing is a high pinion and will move the drive shaft up about 4 inches and will be 33% stronger than your low pinion 30. All of your current dana 30 parts will swap on to the new axle, but the gears will be cut differently. This is one of the best mods you can do before you regear and lock it.

[WheelingPiazza]

Why waste the time and effort, IF your swaping axles just get a 44 or bigger. This way you dont have to duplicate your efforts twice.

[Chris_L]

Because this is a straight bolt in by just changing the housing. Gives you a 33% strength gain over the stock 30. Most of the guys in our group run this set up on 35's in Johnson Valley with no issues. Throw in some ctms and a hub kit and your good to go. Besides the 44 uses the same size u-joints and outers as the HP 30. I've had both.

[Jerry Bransford]

Gives you a 33% strength gain over the stock 30.

33%? Not 32%, not 34%, but 33%?

[goodtimes]

I dunno...I heard it was 33.33%.

[ylwrnglr01]

thanks for all your help, i think im going to just wait it out and save up and swap in the 44 with an arb. by that point i may have burned out my tires enough to have to get new ones, and then of course, you can't just replace, ill upgrade to 35's with a 1 or 2 inch body lift. . thanks

[Jerry Bransford]

I wouldn't bother swapping in a Dana 44 into the front. It uses the same u-joint as a D30 and thus isn't really any stronger since that's where things usually break. You can get the same D44 axleshaft strength in a D30 by swapping in hardened 4340 chromolly axleshafts from Alloy USA, Warn, or Superior Axle and go with a stronger u-joint and have an axle that would hold up to nearly anything. There's a whole bunch of wheelers who have done just that, me included, with very good results. And a bunch of them regularly wheel their D30s with those stronger axleshafts in some of the toughest rock crawling areas in the U.S.

[Jeri Lyn]

...go with a stronger u-joint ...

any suggestions on make?

[nagal]

Stick with the Dana-Spicer if doing 33s maybe go CTM (or is it CMT?) for 35s would be my opinion.

[Jerry Bransford]

any suggestions on make?

CTM makes a nice one at $180 apiece. Lifetime warranty.

[aston]

any suggestions on make?

Take a look at the OX U joint. I just installed them in my D30 with Superior evolution shafts.

In my experience, the common failure mode is the u/j caps backing out. I chose the OX over the CTM 'cos of the clever cap retaining system.