What to expect from my D30

Yorkie

Yorkie

Member
so im planning on going 3.5 lift with 33 tires. my concern is how long will that d30 in the front hold up? i definitely have ambitions of re-gearing in the future but my concern is will it be worth it to regear a d30 if it just wont hold up. i wont be wheeling to to hard but i like to sleep sound at night and this has been on my mind. thoughts? how hard is it to axle swap the front and what would be my options if that is the way to go? id like to go d44 in the back as well but im banking on the d35 being sufficient enough for the wheeling i plan on doing for the time being.

ps plan on gearing up to around 4.88
 
The shafts in a d35 are very small, just a little larger then the what the 30s are and this is concerning when you start going up to larger tires like 33's and 35s, when the majority of the power is sent to the rear wheels (depending what transfer case you have) The shafts are held together using c clips which are not the best situation if a shaft snaps. This will cause the brake assembly and the axle to slide out if your driving when it happens.

yes a d35 can probably handle a 33s if your easy on it and have no locker. Its when you throw a locker in there that causes a lot of stress on the shafts. I use to have a zj that had a rear d35, to sleep better at night I put in a super 35 kit; larger shafts and a detroit locker which eliminates the c clips. this was for 33's and 4.56 gears and i never had a problem.
 
Yorkie said:
What's the weak points of the d35? I heard changing the axel shafts of the d30 is a good idea so I'll probably go that route. Really appreciate the lead on the thread too.
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I left my stock shafts in there with a detroit tru track, which is an aggressive limited slip and never had a problem. chromo shafts in a d30 never hurt anyone of course. If you think you will get into crawling around on rocks and technical stuff a locker in the rear is going to help a lot and thats when finding a used rear d44 would be a money well spent.
 
I have D30/44 on 35's with arb's front and rear with 4:56 gears. I do hard core rock crawling in it and have run it across the Rubicon, along with a few trails in Moab. The only time i broke a front axle was when the u-joint went out and I didn't know it and drove it on nasty terrain which ended up shearing the ears off the stub shaft. More times than I can remember or count I thought mid obstacle that my axle was going to break and was surprised every time when I made it through.
 
thirst4ale said:
I have D30/44 on 35's with arb's front and rear with 4:56 gears. I do hard core rock crawling in it and have run it across the Rubicon, along with a few trails in Moab. The only time i broke a front axle was when the u-joint went out and I didn't know it and drove it on nasty terrain which ended up shearing the ears off the stub shaft. More times than I can remember or count I thought mid obstacle that my axle was going to break and was surprised every time when I made it through.
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You are also in a TJ which is very different then a JK.
 
thirst4ale said:
I have D30/44 on 35's with arb's front and rear with 4:56 gears. I do hard core rock crawling in it and have run it across the Rubicon, along with a few trails in Moab. The only time i broke a front axle was when the u-joint went out and I didn't know it and drove it on nasty terrain which ended up shearing the ears off the stub shaft. More times than I can remember or count I thought mid obstacle that my axle was going to break and was surprised every time when I made it through.
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That's awesome to hear cause Im thinkin I'm gonna get a used d44 and run 35s with 4.88 so that's a good thing to hear
 
I just bought the Dana super 35 kit as well. I am installing it next Saturday with 4.56 gears. I hope everything goes well. Does anyone know where I can find a similar build install? Also if I add truss and reinforced the shit out of it, will that help?

05 TJ "DIRTY GIRL"
 
Personally I say don't waste any money on your d35. The 30 however is worth investing in.

I ran my d35 rear- d30hp front on 37s for a short period of time. Broke the d35 twice, and the front never broke.





My ride- 2001 power wheel, 11" plastic tires, upgraded battery, boat sides, custom bumpers, tow hooks, new paint.
 
Dana 30 open is fine up to 35's. If you add a locker to the d30 with 35" tires, put chromoly shafts in it. Stock shafts and a locker will be fine if you are on 33's.

Dana 35 is reliable enough with a limited slip on 33's or even 35's only if you have chromoly shafts. I would only run a locker in a Dana 35 with a "super 35 kit" that includes chromoly 30 spline shafts and a 30 spline locker. With a super 35 kit you can reliably run a Dana 35 locked with 35" tires.

I wouldn't wheel a stock Dana 35 on 33's without at least carrying spare shafts and the tools to change them out.
 
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