Good Discussion, I'm in the same boat myself. I can't really go much over a $450 a month payment and still be able to eat. so it was an older Rubi or Newer non-rubi... I'm thinking the newer because of the Pentastar, and this thread has been confirming my thoughts...
I Also want to go 37's but everything I've been told is that the Dayna 30 would be under alot of stress if I went with them before Upgrading. Any other thoughts? Anyone running 37's on a D30 without issue?
I'm not going to be crawling it untill the axel is upgraded, and lockers are installed, so Daily driver, and fire road/light rocks would be all the D30 will see.
Go with a 2012 or newer. 2007-2011, just not a great choice unless you have gobs of cash and are going to tear it down to the frame and throw everything away. as for the D30, I don't know if there is any topic with more threads and opinions on the internet.
There are more D30's running trails than all the dana 44's, D60's 9'' etc.. combined. The most vocal about the weakness of the D30 are from people who are not running them. You will hear alot of guys says if you put it in drive the whole diff will implode right there in your driveway, the truth of the matter is, people run 35's 37's 40's etc.. on D30's ALL THE TIME. Most of the naysayers are from internet wheelers simply repeating what they heard from some dude who they think is an authority, they have no personal experience.
Now as with any opinion its subjective and there are lots of variables that come in to play. Tires size matters, vehicle weight matters, terrain matters, air pressure matters, horsepower/torque matters, upgrades to the axle matter, driving style matters, quality of the diff in question matters (sometimes you just get a lemon), it all comes in to play and with so many variables you are bound to get lots of opinions.
Me, I have never broken a 30 and I have had 3 vehicles with D30's. I am not always kind to my vehicles but I have always run stock engines and fairly modest tires sizes usually 33's. They took everything I threw at them and then some, jumps high wheel speed etc.. and these were all old D30's. The new D30's are better. I also have never once seen a guy with a broken D30 on the trail, ever. That is just my experience.
If you have the money, there is no reason not to upgrade the D30 but if you dont, there is no reason to stay at home out of fear your D30 will explode. The greater majority of people who run D30's never have a single problem even on larger tires, but you may always be THAT person. I don't debate that is is the weakest of the standard choices what I do debate is exactly how weak it is. So bottom line is you can beat the crap out of the D30 stock on 33's. Bump up to 35's I would suggest you either be a bit more conservative and or start investing in some upgrades, c's at least. Going to 37's again just be mindful and at this point decide if you want to invest in more upgrades or save the money for a bigger better axle. If you are not doing difficult trails, slap on the 37's and you will may very well be fin forever.
Also FYI there are many jeep forums some have been around A LOT LONGER than others, take a look around get some opinions from folks who have been wheeling jeeps well before the JK was even a vision for jeep......................