Axels, pro rocks or no?

I have the dana 44 in the rear and 30 up front on my sport and I know the 30 needs to go. I'm thinking long term here and this isn't something that is going to happen in the near future but I want to get it figured out now. I want to one day run 37's, going for 35's right now until my jeep is no longer my daily driver. I don't wheel my jeep hard most of what I do is crawl over many smaller rocks nothing huge like out in Moab. What I am asking is what would be a good axel choice and should I go front and rear or just front, and should i get them with the lockers and gears, and if yes which locker and which gearing?

I know that was a lot and an odd question but any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

To be perfectly honest, for the kind of wheeling you do, you may not need to upgrade anything at all. your rear 44 will be fine for sure and aside from gussetting up your front axle c's, which really are a must even with 35's, i'd bet you could get away with just running your front 30 as is without too much fuss, even with 37's. new front chromoly shafts with full circle clips will probably be needed sooner than later but, that's about it. if it were me, i would just slowly save up for a prorock 44 as it really doesn't make much sense to spend your money on anything else and, if you start to play harder and harder (which happens a lot to most jeepers), you'll have the cash to upgrade if and when you break or can afford to upgrade. and, if you never do more than you're doing, you'll have a nice nest egg that you can cash out on other parts. :yup:

Sounds good, I was thinking gussets but I only know one guy who has a welder and he is only good at it when he drinks which worries me :doh: so I'll probably have to have it done at a shop. If I were to upgrade to a 44 would you recommend swapping the rear as well? But if i can save the money and stick with the stocks than cool, and I assume you recommend arb lockers right?


Does it matter which brand gussets and shafts I get?

bl17z90 said:

Sounds good, I was thinking gussets but I only know one guy who has a welder and he is only good at it when he drinks which worries me :doh: so I'll probably have to have it done at a shop. If I were to upgrade to a 44 would you recommend swapping the rear as well? But if i can save the money and stick with the stocks than cool, and I assume you recommend arb lockers right?

Does it matter which brand gussets and shafts I get?

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your factory rear 44 will be fine for your needs and so no, i would not upgrade it. as far as lockers go, yeah, i personally would recommend arb. as far as gussets go, they'll all do the same thing but, i prefer evo as they are the ones who came up with them. i like to support innovators.

Ok sounds good, I'll have to look around for the best price. Chromoly isn't the brand right, just the type?

Oh, and is installing gussets doable with the assembly still installed on the vehicle?

bl17z90 said:

Ok sounds good, I'll have to look around for the best price. Chromoly isn't the brand right, just the type?

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Correct. It's the type of metal.

Oh, and is installing gussets doable with the assembly still installed on the vehicle?

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Yes. You need to have the welder take his/her time and use rags to cool the metal while working. There are several write-ups on jk-forum.

Good luck!

as mentioned, chromoly is the type of alloy used. there are a lot of companies that make them and you just want to make sure it comes with full circle clips.

regarding the gussets, again, as mentioned, you just need to explain to your welder that the ball joint has plastic components inside that can melt so you need to take a lot of time in between welds and used wet rags to cool things down continuously.

working on getting a part time job in a fleet shop (worked there few years ago) and when i was there we did fabrication maybe I can take my jeep in one day after hours and do the gussets myself, or get my buddy who still works there to do it being as his primary job for the last 15 years has been welding.