Front diff questions

[Hamilton LJ]

I have an '04 LJ w/ D30 I'm wondering if I should add a lunch box locker or save for along time and get a D44 W/ a selectable locker.
Is the 30 strong enough?
How will act in the snow?
I wheel in the pine barrens mostly mud & water I crawl once in awhile.

[mach2_nh]

I would save for the 44.. Go for what you want the first time. You will save alot that way... And i would not put anything other then a selectable locker in a front. Its not very fun on the road with a locked front.. Even on the trail sometimes the front being locked is a pain and its nice to unlock it and have it turn nice and easy and then lock it back up when you need it. I mean ya you could just unlock a hub to turn but thats even more of a pain...... But thats just me....

[Jim_Lou]

I wouldn't put any serious money into a D30. Some guys have beat the tar out of them with no problem, but I shucked a bunch of teeth off the ring gear backing up hill out of a ditch, with 31s and an anemic 258.

And it's definitely not a good idea to put a locker in the front of a street vehicle unless it's a selectable.

[Hamilton LJ]

Thanks Mach and Jim. I guess I have some saving to do. Anybody have a junk rubicon.

[Crazy Eddie]

You could keep your D30 and put a Detroit Truetrac in it. You won't know it's there on the street in 2wd and they're great in snow when using 4wd. Also for your style of wheeling it'll be nearly as effective as a locker. The Truetrac is very aggressive for a L/S and probably the most durable one on the market.(Gear driven rather than clutches) Plus it will be a lot easier on your D30 than a locker. For your style of lighter wheeling and emphasis on streetability this would be a great choice and a lot easier on your wallet! Oh by the way I used to have one in my D30 and really liked it, my jeep just happened to "outgrow" it.
Good luck,
Aaron.

[JeepMan]

X2 what "Eddie" said.
I love my Truetracs! No question if you are going to drive this on the street or country roads, this is the way to go!

No sliding around on slick roads or gravel roads, no 'NO STEER' problems you have with lockers, No noise like lockers make, and I don't have to try and remember to engage the darn locker when I'm getting ready to jump off in something...

Have one in the back of my little jeep, and one in the front of my dedicated wheeler, and these are the best thing I've done for my self in a while!
Excellent expenditure of my hard earned money!

[pontiac58]

Originally Posted by Hamilton LJ

I wheel in the pine barrens mostly mud & water I crawl once in awhile.

Nice to see a new face here from Jersey.

I havent been to the pines for a long time. But i do have some suggestions for you.

Being there and done that in the pines. My 30 held up fine with 33 in swampers. My 30 took a noise dive as soon as i started twisting the old CJ up in the local sand pits. Then i found rocks and i new the 30 was a goner. Saying that, all i could break were the joints. You jeep has the larger joints.

If you run a not to aggresive 33in. tire the 30 will probably hold up just fine for what you do. It can still break but probably not in the pines, there is a better chance in the rocks, of course, but with a tire that is not aggresive that will give it a good fighting chance.. I ran a lockrite in my 30 in the pines and never had a problem. I found the offcamber twisty stuff and it broke just about right away. Took the locker back out, and it was fine. Once i found the rocks though, a 44 was built and installed. I also run the smallest tire with the group i used to wheel with. So i had to hammer hard some times to keep with the bigger boys.

I wheeled with plenty of guys/girls in the pines and most ran a 30 without a problem.

As for which locker go with, a gear driven posi is the way to go if you dont want to fork down the money for a selectable and still thinking in the future to swicth to a 44.

As for snow, it will of course want to pull both front tires. So yeh it will want to slide the front out. But its all in the skinny pedal. Hit it hard and it will slide.