Dana 30, how have they survived for you?

[barrelroll]

For me I've had mixed results. My yj with 260 joints, 3.08 gears, open diff, 35's survived just with lots of abuse. I broke 2 sets of 297 jointed d30 shafts when I had a detroited/ 4.56 gears and 36's in my s10. I broke 1 ring and pinion due to bad setup and 1 just broke, the detroit would loosen up all the time.


I'm trying to figure out what to do with my new CJ. It's a "basic cj5 with a dana 30 front, currently it has 4.56's, a detroit, bunch of new stock parts (ball joints, bearings, seals), Tires will either be 34x9.5 tsl's or q78's (skinny 36's).

I'm debating between keeping the 30 and swapping in a dana 44. If I keep the dana 30 it will get alloy shafts and super joints and get a spare carrier/ ring and pinion all ready setup and ready to drop into the housing. I'm looking at $500-$700 to upgrade the 30 with super joints and alloy shafts. If I swap in a cj width d44 with alloy shafts, gears, detroit, yada yada all re-built like my 30 currently is $2,000-$3,000.

I'm debating weather I go with 34's and finish polishing the turd to keep the dana 30. Or should I run q78's and build a dana 44 front? I figure with the 30 front I might put the alloy shafts in, run it till it breaks, when it breaks warranty what's broken, then sell it for the $$ I have into the shafts/ joints.

What would you do?

[Raduckal]

What would I do...

I'd run it, till it breaks and then fix it untill I got tired of fixing it.
And I'm not as skilled at fixing Jeeps as you are. Breaking them either for that matter. LOL.

[Dirt Dog]

30's or 2 1/2 tons. I really don't think theres a happy medium for you Andy.

If you bought it with a M1a1 tracked suspension w/ a turbine you would still be asking "whats better".

Wheel it. Yes you will break it. But you're no different than me and neither of us can call our selfs "hard core". I personally take pride in keeping mine alive while going where other people break "bigger" stuff. You know I have since we've wheeled together. I'm not a bad a$$, but still go where 80% of anyone we've been with.

I don't have a rock crawler and neither do you. (right now) Have fun with what you have and learn how to make it go where you want to.

A driver makes the machine.............not the other way around. If you want a tube framed F/R steer,big axled,350/cummins,ect..on and on crawler go for it.

I don't care. Just enjoy the one you have for now. Learn how to drive/fix/upgrade as needed.


While you have "my eyes" I don't remember having a "good night" with a woman with such dark,thick curly hair.

[TeamRush]

Dana 30 axles are weak units by anybody's standards.
Small ring and pinion added to small axle joints and flimsy steering linkage make for an interesting time trying to make the thing work in 'Serious' application.

If all you do is mild trails, and have lockouts,
Then a 30 with a $200 'Lunch Box' locker will probably do you OK.

If you intend to use a mildly built V-8, then you might as well switch when it breaks the first time instead of pouring money into something that will NEVER be as strong as a D-44.

I see guys spending a fortune on full on lockers, heavy duty ring and pinion sets, axles with larger U joints, and beefing up the linkages, but then they just bend a tube or tear a spindle off and start over again.

[bandhmo2]

I would run the 30 stock, while looking for 44. The best you can do to the 30 is give it as strong of shafts as a 44 but the ring and pinion will still be small. Given your build plans for a atlas transfer case keeping the 30 in any form just seems silly. An internal splined hub 44 with alloy shafts will be just as cheap if not cheaper then a built 30 and way stronger.

[barrelroll]

I've got time to think about this but thanks for your opinions. It's been a while since I've broken much in the woods though I also haven't put a whole lot of trail miles under my rear in a while. I've been able to control a lot of the full throttle random acts of stupidity.

I all ready have 1 set of spare 30 shafts. The axle currently has 4.56's, a detroit, all new u-joints/ brake parts/ seals/ bearings/ ball joints. Maybe I'll buy stock in spare shafts/ a spare carrier/ ring and pinion wheel it this summer ('10) and next summer ('11) build a front axle for it.

[Pete88YJ]

Maybe it's not worth much, but my D30 front has survived fine in the YJ. Been, what, 4 or 5 years now since I locked it.

It's just a stock '90 front axle, 4.10s, with '95 halfshafts with the larger u-joints, running 35s. Just a 258, stock auto tranny, SOA, locked f/r, lockrights, 8.8 in back.

I shimmed the vac disconnect so that it's locked in all the time, and took out all the vacuum crap.

I got (2) 1995 YJ complete front axles, with 4.10 gears at the yard for $150 each, and put in one set of halfshafts to replace my small 260-joint 1990 axles. So now I've got spare wheel bearings, axles, gears, carriers..... I carry the spare large-joint axles in the parts box, all set up on the wheel bearings, and can swap 'em out if they break with 3 bolts per side. (not counting the 2 for the brake caliper.)

I don't wheel as much as I'd like, and I'm probably not as hardcore or as skinny-pedal happy as some, but I haven't broken it. For me it works great, and it's cheap.

Just my $0.02
Pete

[Caver Dave]

I agree

Some folks can break an anvil with a feather duster... we've all seen folks destroy a D30 with 235 street tires!

OTOH, I know several folks running 35"s on D30s without any issues after years of abuse. Mine has lived on 33"s without so much as a broken shaft, not counting a broken 35 y/o hub, for 8+ years now (I'm easy on it though). Since I LIKE the narrow width, I opted for 4.27s, a lunchbox locker & a few years back, fell into a stoopid deal on alloys.

As already eluded to, a little brains will go a LONG ways towards keeping your junk alive!

[Jim_Lou]

After about 70K miles I shucked a handful teeth off the 3.54 ring gear with 10.50-31s backing up out of a soft dirt ditch. I wouldn't replace it while it's working unless there was a chance that it would strand me alone miles from civilization. But I wouldn't spend a nickel on it either.

[barrelroll]

Well I picked some 34x10.5 ltb's that I'm going to run for now and see how axle shafts survive.

Part of me really wants to run 37" boggers in the long run, I know a 30 won't survive with them.