To lock or not a D30

Gibbo · Nov 24, 2012

Is it pushing the limit of a D30 to lock it with 35's, or maybe ok if used in mud and sand only, or would that matter.

Serg5000 · Nov 24, 2012

Your going to hear from both sides. Yes it can be done and has been. Others will say not worth the waste of money. I know in my case I would begin pushing it knowing its locked. That would result in failure one day or another.
I would suggest saving that money for a D44.

wayoflife · Nov 24, 2012

Gibbo said:
Is it pushing the limit of a D30 to lock it with 35's, or maybe ok if used in mud and sand only, or would that matter.

for how you would be using your jeep, i would think you'd be fine. i might recommend that you upgrade your axle shafts to chromoly with full circle clips or, at the very least, modify your factory shafts to allow you to install full circle clips. if you regear, 5.13's will give you more power but 4.88's will give you more r&p strength.

Metalmasher · Nov 24, 2012

Gibbo said:
Is it pushing the limit of a D30 to lock it with 35's, or maybe ok if used in mud and sand only, or would that matter.

Played that game, locked it ,broke it ,replaced it and finally upgraded it!

wayoflife · Nov 24, 2012

Metalmasher said:
Played that game, locked it ,broke it ,replaced it and finally upgraded it!

i utah, i wouldn't doubt it but, he's in austrailia and for the kind of wheeling he'll be doing, i would think he might be okay. still, an upgrade would be the better way to go for sure.

OverlanderJK · Nov 24, 2012

I have no plans of locking my D30. A locker is $500 probably at the lowest so thats a good chuck toward a prorock 44 or even a rubi 44.

1BAMFR · Nov 25, 2012

Nobody EVER gives credit to a well built D30...I just got back from the trails....still mud in my hair....my D30 w/ 37's, locked, 4.88's, sleeves, gussets, and RCV axle shafts.

Shit is beast!

mackey · Nov 25, 2012

1BAMFR said:
Nobody EVER gives credit to a well built D30...I just got back from the trails....still mud in my hair....my D30 w/ 37's, locked, 4.88's, sleeves, gussets, and RCV axle shafts.

Shit is beast!

Looks like your ring and pinion may be your weak point. From what I am told, to replace those on the trail are extremely difficult.

Serg5000 · Nov 25, 2012

I guess I am wrong. I thought I had read that locking a D30 was asking for trouble. I will take this as a lesson to keep my trap shut and read more posts before offering any input. Last thing I want is to send someone in the wrong direction.

wayoflife · Nov 25, 2012

1BAMFR said:
Nobody EVER gives credit to a well built D30...I just got back from the trails....still mud in my hair....my D30 w/ 37's, locked, 4.88's, sleeves, gussets, and RCV axle shafts.

Shit is beast!

what can i say, you're talking to a guy who's been able to break dana 44's and a 60. one trip out to the trail and back won't necessarily cause something to break. repeated trips out to the trail and back is a different story. also, everyone has a different idea of what "hardcore" is or how often one goes out qualifies as "often".

mackey said:
Looks like your ring and pinion may be your weak point. From what I am told, to replace those on the trail are extremely difficult.

he is running 4.88's and they'll be stonger than a 5.13 but still, i'd have to agree that they'd most likely be the weak point. that or an axle shaft. just because you run cv joints won't mean that the skinny chromo shaft can't still break. either way, not a good thing... at least, not in my opinion.

Serg5000 said:
I guess I am wrong. I thought I had read that locking a D30 was asking for trouble. I will take this as a lesson to keep my trap shut and read more posts before offering any input. Last thing I want is to send someone in the wrong direction.

no, you are right, locking a d30 with 35's or bigger is asking for trouble for the kind of trails we have out here in socal. out in austrailia, things are different and that would need to be taken into consideration when offering advice.

Gibbo · Nov 25, 2012

wayoflife said:
i utah, i wouldn't doubt it but, he's in austrailia and for the kind of wheeling he'll be doing, i would think he might be okay. still, an upgrade would be the better way to go for sure.

I think your right about the kind of wheeling I do here I should be okay. I'll gusset the C's though. Just thought while I was there replacing gears I'd put a locker in. Priced some cv axles here 1550.00, can only guess what a complete D/44 would cost. Thanks everyone as always great advice and opinions.

wayoflife · Nov 25, 2012

Gibbo said:
I think your right about the kind of wheeling I do here I should be okay. I'll gusset the C's though. Just thought while I was there replacing gears I'd put a locker in. Priced some cv axles here 1550.00, can only guess what a complete D/44 would cost. Thanks everyone as always great advice and opinions.

cv axles like the kind rcv makes is overkill and really, i would save your money and just get a set of standard chromoly shafts with full circle clips. trust me, they are all you really need. unlike factory shafts which just use c-clips and fail at the u-joint because of it, chromo shafts with full circle clips will not fail in the same way if at all. they are every bit as strong and you will save a ton of money.

Notajerryskid · Nov 25, 2012

A built Dana 30 is as strong as a 44 said...... Nobody.

.

It all depends on you, what you do, how you wheel.

1BAMFR · Nov 25, 2012

wayoflife said:
what can i say, you're talking to a guy who's been able to break dana 44's and a 60. one trip out to the trail and back won't necessarily cause something to break. repeated trips out to the trail and back is a different story. also, everyone has a different idea of what "hardcore" is or how often one goes out qualifies as "often".

he is running 4.88's and they'll be stonger than a 5.13 but still, i'd have to agree that they'd most likely be the weak point. that or an axle shaft. just because you run cv joints won't mean that the skinny chromo shaft can't still break. either way, not a good thing... at least, not in my opinion.

no, you are right, locking a d30 with 35's or bigger is asking for trouble for the kind of trails we have out here in socal. out in austrailia, things are different and that would need to be taken into consideration when offering advice.

No argument from me here .....you are the king of offroad....I do offroad once a month and all i can go on is to say that
My D30 has been through the ringer and is repeatedly driven through some pretty gnarly stuff.

wayoflife · Nov 25, 2012

1BAMFR said:
No argument from me here .....you are the king of offroad....I do offroad once a month and all i can go on is to say that
My D30 has been through the ringer and is repeatedly driven through some pretty gnarly stuff.

LOL!! come on, you don't have to be like that. if you haven't broken anything yet, more power to you. i was trying to do is put things into perspective.

Donny · Nov 25, 2012

wayoflife said:
LOL!! come on, you don't have to be like that. if you haven't broken anything yet, more power to you. i was trying to do is put things into perspective.

So with all this being said....where do I start looking for a used Dana44 front for my 2013 :brows: when the time comes?

Donny

1BAMFR · Nov 25, 2012

wayoflife said:
LOL!! come on, you don't have to be like that. if you haven't broken anything yet, more power to you. i was trying to do is put things into perspective.

Hahahahaha, I hope it never breaks but im hoping to do PR44's front and rear in the future....just dont have the cash for them yet!:

FoxC · Nov 25, 2012

Donny said:
So with all this being said....where do I start looking for a used Dana44 front for my 2013 :brows: when the time comes?

Donny

You'll possibly find one here on this forum or jk-forum. Offroad Evolution in Fullerton has them sometimes from rigs that switched to dynatrac's. Just keep in mind that a stock D44 fr housing in no stronger than a D30 housing. The only thing you gain is moving up in ring and pinion size which will add strength. This is a step in the right direction, but you'll still have the same tubes and very weak C's with a D44.

wayoflife · Nov 25, 2012

FoxC said:
You'll possibly find one here on this forum or jk-forum. Offroad Evolution in Fullerton has them sometimes from rigs that switched to dynatrac's. Just keep in mind that a stock D44 fr housing in no stronger than a D30 housing. The only thing you gain is moving up in ring and pinion size which will add strength. This is a step in the right direction, but you'll still have the same tubes and very weak C's with a D44.

agreed. well, the r&p plus the shafts as they are beefier too but otherwise, the tubes and knuckles are the same as a 30. if you can, you might be better off saving up for a prorock 44 instead.

Donny · Nov 25, 2012

wayoflife said:
agreed. well, the r&p plus the shafts as they are beefier too but otherwise, the tubes and knuckles are the same as a 30. if you can, you might be better off saving up for a prorock 44 instead.

So in order to physically run 37" or 40"s one needs to have prorock 44 front and back for something like the "JK Experience" with lockers and all trussed up in order to have lesser chance of breakage?

I might have to sell my Harley:naw:

:crazyeyes::shock:

NOT!!! I will save for better Axles and the like.

Donny

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