35" tires on factory Dana 30 axle (non rubicon)

xflstl said:
In an earlier post you said you wheel hard, everyone has there opinion on what a D30 / D44 and so on can handle, same as they have there own opinion on what wheeling hard means. You will hear people tell you "I have been wheeling 37's on stock D44's for 3 years and never broke a thing!!!

Well I am hear to tell you different, I wheeled 33's then 37's on rubi 44's. I broke thing's with both setups. Mostly u-joints with the 33's, when I went to 37's, I sleeved, C Gusset, and got RCV front shafts, and alloy rears. I new I wasnt bullet proof, but new my axles were built about as well as they could be for D44's.. Then this happened.

View attachment 18642


Snapped a rear pinion, which destroyed the ring gear, carrier and e-locker.

So Honestly if you truley wheel hard?? Stay with the setup you got, save up and plan to go strait to 60's, then do your tire upgrade to 35/37/40's whatever.... Just know that no matter how well you build it, there is always a weak link. You decide what that is by how you build it. Hind sight being 20/20 and all, I wish I could go back and have left my stock rear shafts in my 44. I might have well broken a shaft that day instead of the R&P..... Just my :twocents:, worst case you will figure it out thru trial & error like me :)
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Thanks for the great advise!! It sounds like I have a decent and safe set up for what I do.
That sucks about your ring in pinon Hopefully you can get it fixed soon and get back out on the trail.
 
CombatVetJK said:
Thanks for the great advise!! It sounds like I have a decent and safe set up for what I do.
That sucks about your ring in pinon Hopefully you can get it fixed soon and get back out on the trail.
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Got it fix awhile back!!! Now I am putting 60's in.
 
Just thought I should through this question out there, say I have a Dana 30 up front and I locked it with 35"s, how much more prone am I to breaking something? I realize it all depends on the driver, but is it safe to say that if you properly build your axle and wheel responsibly and don't gear to deep (probably 4.56), locking a Dana 30 with 35"s is very plausible with not much risk of total destruction? Or are you better off (capability wise) with just 33"s and being locked vrs 35"s and open?
 
jkmohican said:
Just thought I should through this question out there, say I have a Dana 30 up front and I locked it with 35"s, how much more prone am I to breaking something? I realize it all depends on the driver, but is it safe to say that if you properly build your axle and wheel responsibly and don't gear to deep (probably 4.56), locking a Dana 30 with 35"s is very plausible with not much risk of total destruction? Or are you better off (capability wise) with just 33"s and being locked vrs 35"s and open?
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Everyone's experiences are different but there is a guy in our local club that has a D30 with a auto locker, RCV's, 5.13 gears and 35's. He broke a shaft once but not sure if he had all this done at that time or not but he's not worried about it blowing up while wheeling.
 
I was just going to start a thread similar to this. I personally feel that the Dana 30 is plenty for what most of us do on/off road. As Eddie stated in an earlier post, "the only difference between a Dana 30 and a Dana 44 is the differential." This tells me many things. One main thing being that I dont need to even worry about looking for a Dana 44 front anymore. Most of us are never going to run 40's or 37's. A front Dana 44 is prone to the same stuff as a Dana 30. (Tubes bending, shafts breaking, C's bending..etc) Building up the Dana 30 to prevent these occurances from happening is good for the average Jeeper. Dont take this the wrong way, because you are reading and cant hear my tone. (Im in a good mood by the way) All the talk about you need 60's or PR44's is kind of rubish. There are other Jeepers here that are looking for a good solid build, creating a very capable vehicle, from an already outstanding platform. A smart driver with some good technique and a bit of strength added to the weaker points can make a standard Jeep an extrodinary vehicle. Does running a Dana 30 make the Jeep any less capable, not necessarily. You have to factor how much more weight some of the other rigs added with accesories. (Bumpers,skins,skids, etc..) Yes that requires some additional strength, but again, we arent all building Mobys and EVO1's. I have watched Rubicons with mild lifts and 35's take on some pretty vicious trails and all they changed was lift and tires. With a bit of strength to the Dana 30, the Non Rubi could go anywhere that Rubi went. (Provided it had lockers..lol) What Im tryin to say is that too much stuff is hyped up. We dont all need to run heavy duty 60's and 80's. People are scared of their rigs and afraid to take them out because they think they are flawed and weak. Look at what you want to do with your Jeep and build it off of that. Dont throw 60's under your rig just because someone claims you need them because in the end you may not. Its wasted money in my mind. Im building my rig to take on some stuff that I know is challenging. If there is catastrophic failure somewhere then yes, I will need to change something. Until that occurs, I will run the stuff I built on and made work for me. Isnt that a famous Jeep saying anyway? "Built not Bought"


If you can't walk my beat unarmed, maybe you should consider becoming a police officer.
 
Philip *AZ* said:
As Eddie stated in an earlier post, "the only difference between a Dana 30 and a Dana 44 is the differential." This tells me many things. One main thing being that I dont need to even worry about looking for a Dana 44 front anymore. Most of us are never going to run 40's or 37's. A front Dana 44 is prone to the same stuff as a Dana 30. (Tubes bending, shafts breaking, C's bending..etc).
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My name is Chris not Eddie ;)
 
Lol, Dammit Chris you made me go look like I quoted the wrong person. Eddie posted where I got that quote, but if it was posted by you then thank you and props! Eddie is a quote thief..I think..lol.. Im so confused..lmao!! Either way. It was good info and something I was unaware of between the D44&D30.


If you can't walk my beat unarmed, maybe you should consider becoming a police officer.
 
Philip *AZ* said:
Lol, Dammit Chris you made me go look like I quoted the wrong person. Eddie posted where I got that quote, but if it was posted by you then thank you and props! Eddie is a quote thief..I think..lol.. Im so confused..lmao!! Either way. It was good info and something I was unaware of between the D44&D30.


If you can't walk my beat unarmed, maybe you should consider becoming a police officer.
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I was just kidding...I posted that earlier in this thread...but I'm certain Eddie and many others have said it before me. I only know from hearing it from others, then comparing the parts in person. If you want anyone to respect the source I recommend using Eddie rather than me anyway lol
 
Nah, youve had some smartass.. I mean very knowledgable things to say too..lol.. You got good info too man. I just like raggin Eddie now and then. I like messing with the top dogs..lol


If you can't walk my beat unarmed, maybe you should consider becoming a police officer.
 
Yeah I'll add this, I've done a lot of research about Dana 44s and Dana 30s and I did come to the conclusion that, as the person before me said, it really is just the Diff itself. A 44 still have the same weak points as the 30. The only time I would feel safer with a Dana 44 over my Dana 30 is when it comes to the ring and pinion gears. Here's a good picture of the difference: ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1365515980.603367.jpg

But the breaking of ring and pinions is not as likely as say a shaft, so your better off beefing up a Dana 30 than trying to buy a feature that odds are, you won't even use (the large ring and pinion.)
 
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