ranger 30 swappin'
Well hey if the 30 is a perfect fit for width, wheels, brakes, etc etc then sure, i'm not going to tell anyone not to use it, especially for 31in to 33 in tires. Everything in life is 'it depends'. At the start of the thread, we didn't have a lot of info except it needs to be cheap. In that case i'd go with a high pinion unit, trying to find the gear ratio already in there, and i wouldn't pay 100 for a dana 30, maybe 50$.
And most of all it wasn't for hard core use. I've seen their tiny shafts shatter (in spite of the larger u-joint), hubs (for those equipped) explode, unit bearings go out, housings bend, ball joints scream in fear and throw up, ring/pinion teeth sheer off, i could go on.
Also, if 33s are in the future, then will the wheels still fit on the stock rims?
if it were me, before i decided i'd try to find a pair of 44s cheap from someone or out of a junkyard, with matching ring/pinion; that would be a score, right?
If i was someday planning to jump up to 35s (hey, we all evolve, eh?) then the upgrade would be done today, not someday.
And finally if after all the research, I found out the dana 30 swap isn't as cheap as i thought, then in accordance with economies of scale, it's an investment to upgrade.