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Dana 30 or Dana 44?

T

tweakeyjeep

Soccer Mom
Location
Sandy
Now tell me, what do you guys here at RME think I should do with my frontend on my YJ. I have the stock YJ Dana 30. Now I have a Dana 44 I can put in the rear with 4.10 gears and an ARB locker, but I will not put it in until I can either regear the 30 or put in a regeared 44.

My problem, my YJ is my daily driver. I am still in high school, and I have a job. I have only paid off about half of my Jeep. I have put alot onto it as well.

I want my jeep not only to look good, run good, but also wheel good. My front 30 has some steering problems, everything but the ball joints are shot for steering. Should I go to Carl @ rocklogic4x4 and have him build me a high clearance steering for a quick fix? He has done work for me before, and I am really pleased with it. Or should I put in a Dana 44 if I can find one with correct gears in it.

What I have heard about Dana 44's and dana 30's is that they both use the same U-Joint. And that the U-Joints on the 44's is their main weak spot, so... If I'm busting U-Joints on my 30, technically I would be busting U-Joints on a 44, correct? Now on a 30 I can always throw in Shafts and do a Warn manual locking hub conversion (which will give me 5 x 5.5 wheel bolt pattern same as my rear 44) and make it as tough as a stock 44 or I can spend about the same money putting in a new steering, brakes, other problems, etc.

What do you guys think?
 
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Economos

Economos

Slick
Location
Coastal NC - a LONG way from UT
It depends on what rear 44 you've got. If is a 5x5.5 bolt pattern then I'm guessing you've got a Scout rear (?). To easily match the Scout rear axle, you can run a Ford HP 44 from a '70s F-150 (there are other years that will have this axle, but these are the easiest to find). These axles are an excellent swap and are 5x5.5 bolt pattern, but are around 67" wide, so you'll have to cut it down and get custom shafts made, or simply get the long side shaft shortened and resplined (pretty cheap). Also, if you want to skip the whole shortening process, you can find a standard cut Wagoneer front D44 and swap out the outers for Ford components, this will change the bolt pattern for you from 6x5.5 to 5x5.5, but will also extend the width to about an inch more on each side. Stock Waggy width is ~60.75" vs. 60.5" on your YJ D30. Also, the Waggy front 44s need to be checked out for the vacuum disco housing before you buy, you don't want these 44s.

Building a front 44 isn't gonna be cheap, you could certainly build your D30 to take the abuse but think about the cost that it will take. You've gotta regear to 4.10s. fix your steering, beef the ujoints or just keep spares on you and add a locker if you don't already have one (if you want one that is). I was in the same boat as you, trying to decide which way I want to go and I've decided to build a pair of Waggy 44s for my XJ. These are an excellent swap and pretty easily found.

Also, a D30 will never be as strong as a 44; the housing and ring gear is weaker than that of a 44. Yes, you can load your D30 with bombproof CTM joints and alloys, but I'd rather have that money in the D44.

Its up to you basically. Figure out what size tire you want to run and the types of trails you want to run, as well as your driving habbits and style. Then see what your budget is and go from there.
 
S

sukaB

Banned
I'll give you a great deal on a set of new axles that will work awesome for you 44's or 60's. Or you can come look at this (as bullet proof as it gets) Dana 30 that has all brand new parts in it-wheeled once!
4:56 gears, no-slip locker, warn shafts-297 joints, Italy ring and pinion,high steer M.O.R.E. kit and new brakes and all kinds of spare parts and steering spares ready to be sold.
 
S

sukaB

Banned
More has had the 30 kit out forever now.
Chris Overacker designed it and then sold the company but yes it's been available for sometime now.
Way nice kit. CLEAN;)
 
S

sukaB

Banned
Sorry,
It's usually comp jeeps or YJ's TJ's around here
RCKteeth usually tries to get us talking Bronco's but that usually doesnt last to long.......Unless we are talking about his (WHOA).
Taker easy
Coming to the swap meet or what!:confused:
 
T

tweakeyjeep

Soccer Mom
Location
Sandy
Sorry it has taken me so long to reply, my computer broke down and I needed to take it into a shop to get fixed.

You guys have been really helpful in giving me information I needed for this front-end problem I have.

Currently I have Carl from Rocklogic4x4.com looking into a custom steering for my YJ. I am undecided if I want to do a Spring-Over at this point so he is going to look at a YJ which has a Spring-Over right now and see if the high steer will be compatible with the D30 and not be in the way of the Springs when the Spring-Over is installed. Also he said depending on the Width and components of a D44 it should be able to swap right over, if the width doesn't work, then most of the parts could be reused for my D44 if I get one.

So what I am thinking, since Carl has the best prices I have ever seen!! :D

I will do the steering adjustments when I can scrounge up the $$ and then when I do a Spring-Over or put on my 6" lift (undecided which one to go with) I will work on axles then. I would like to run at least 35's, the 6" can do that fine, but I would love to run 37's or 38's with a Spring-Over. I also may have an offer on a new prototype Spring-Over from someone, so everything for me is all up in the air.

Thanks again guys!
 
Greg

Greg

Make RME Rockcrawling Again!
Admin
Location
Grand Junction, CO
Go SOA..... You will want to eventually, if you don't the first time. Do it right the first time! (I loved the flex of my SOA YJ.)

What gear ratio do you want? If you stick w/ the 30, 4.10's are available from 4 Cyl YJ and the Dana 30 can hold abuse better than the Dana 35 in the rearend ever could.

Granted it wasn't a 'stock' 30, but ask Brandon (SukaB) about front Dana 30's and the abuse they will take.......
 
Economos

Economos

Slick
Location
Coastal NC - a LONG way from UT
Originally posted by Greg
Go SOA..... You will want to eventually, if you don't the first time. Do it right the first time! (I loved the flex of my SOA YJ.)

What gear ratio do you want? If you stick w/ the 30, 4.10's are available from 4 Cyl YJ and the Dana 30 can hold abuse better than the Dana 35 in the rearend ever could.

Granted it wasn't a 'stock' 30, but ask Brandon (SukaB) about front Dana 30's and the abuse they will take.......
Click to expand...

Agreed. Or if you want an easy axle swap, run Wagoneer D44s. For your SOA, all you'll need will be new spring pearches and I believe Waggy springs work.

I'd go SOA simply because you can run Boomerang shackles at all corners and relatively flat springs, but will get plenty of lift from the SOA. In my experience, flatter springs work much better than a spring with a high arch; allows for a much better upwards-downward spring travel.

HTH.
 
S

sukaB

Banned
I'm not as good as I used to be with leaf springs...
Once I worked at Tera, 6 years later I know coils inside and out and purged leaf info.
Need some coil overs-350?
I don't know if I can say there is an axle built that will take abuse more than a Dana30...
Look around and see how many are still being used every day on the street and then being beat and I mean beat Offroad...
Regardless on Chris's rig he goes through 60's like I went through 30 joints but the d 30 should recieve high amounts of praise for what they are and what they do...........
My hats off to a 30....It won me one BIG trophy....
I'll always be grateful:D :D :D ;)
 
S

sukaB

Banned
Hey it's Andy,
How the hell are ya....
You coming down to the swap meet.....
Bring some junk and make some money or trade for some cool crap...:eek:
 
S

sukaB

Banned
Let's talk about that one....
I need and so much need to sell that damn thing but I'm not going to give it away either.....
Yah let's figure out a price.
I willl definetaly be negotiable..
B
 
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