30 or 35 spline for the prorock 44?

FuriousDz

New member
Hey everyone,

After the holidays im looking to upgrade my front axle to a prorock 44. I will be going with the Trail Leader package so the rear shafts are 35 spline. So my question is up front what are the pro's and con's of going either 30 or 35 spline shafts? The shop Im going through said I can do either and both are fine setups. They said one of the differences would be the 30 spline shafts are thicker before it gets to the splines. Does that mean its stronger and are there any other things I need to be aware of?

The setup will be Arb air locker with 5.13's and 37" tires. JE Reel front and rear drive shafts.

Thanks
 

WJCO

Meme King
Hey everyone,

After the holidays im looking to upgrade my front axle to a prorock 44. I will be going with the Trail Leader package so the rear shafts are 35 spline. So my question is up front what are the pro's and con's of going either 30 or 35 spline shafts? The shop Im going through said I can do either and both are fine setups. They said one of the differences would be the 30 spline shafts are thicker before it gets to the splines. Does that mean its stronger and are there any other things I need to be aware of?

The setup will be Arb air locker with 5.13's and 37" tires. JE Reel front and rear drive shafts.

Thanks

35 is larger, but since you're going with ARB, I believe there are only a couple choice of axle shafts for the ProRock for 35 spline. At the time I did mine, the only axle shafts available for a 35 spline were RCV and G2, and I didn't want either. I ended up doing 30 spline ARB with Dynatrac chromoly shafts.
 

Speedy_RCW

Hooked
35 is larger, but since you're going with ARB, I believe there are only a couple choice of axle shafts for the ProRock for 35 spline. At the time I did mine, the only axle shafts available for a 35 spline were RCV and G2, and I didn't want either. I ended up doing 30 spline ARB with Dynatrac chromoly shafts.

As far as I know those are still the only choices. I went 35 spline and the size difference is noticeable. Same U-joint though.


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Exodus 4x4

New member
35 is larger, but since you're going with ARB, I believe there are only a couple choice of axle shafts for the ProRock for 35 spline. At the time I did mine, the only axle shafts available for a 35 spline were RCV and G2, and I didn't want either. I ended up doing 30 spline ARB with Dynatrac chromoly shafts.

Nitro makes some 35 spline front axle shafts.


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QuicksilverJK

Caught the Bug
It's been a while, but I seem to remember Dynatrac did not recommend the 35 spline ARB for some reason. That plus the lack of options for shafts is why I just went 30 spline up front.


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QuicksilverJK

Caught the Bug
Just pulled this from the PR44 FAQs turns out there is a specific one that works, there is another ARB part number that Dynatrac says will not set up properly.

10. Will a 35 spline ARB work with the ProRock 44 conventional locker pumpkin?
Yes, in order to take advantage of a 35 spline locker in a ProRock 44 you will need a specific combination of locker parts. The standard 35 spline Dana 44 ARB, part number RD-109, is manufactured to fit 3.92 and up gears. It uses 3.92 and up gears which are manufactured in the thin configuration. The JK gears are thick gears and require a 3.73 and down carrier even though the ratio is numerically larger than 3.73. ARB part number RD-117 is a 3.73 and down carrier which his recommended for use in the ProRock 44. However, the RD-117 is a 30 spline locker. In order to use a 35 spline locker you will need the internal parts of a RD-109 in the body of a RD-117. As an alternative to purchasing two lockers and swapping around parts ARB offers a locker with this conversion already setup from the factory. It is the ARB RD-147 and it will fit our conventional style pumpkin with JK gears and 35 spline shafts.
In addition to this there is also a locker being manufactured by ARB which fits into the JK electric locker PR44 pumpkin. This locker part number is RD157. We do not approve this locker for use with OEM stock or Dynatrac JK 44 pumpkins. It will not setup correctly and we have tested it extensively with our ProRock 44 and also the stock JK 44 pumpkins. In both cases the locker fails to setup correctly and we do not recommend its use. The RD157 is not approved for use in JK 44 pumpkins by Dynatrac.


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FuriousDz

New member
Just pulled this from the PR44 FAQs turns out there is a specific one that works, there is another ARB part number that Dynatrac says will not set up properly.

10. Will a 35 spline ARB work with the ProRock 44 conventional locker pumpkin?
Yes, in order to take advantage of a 35 spline locker in a ProRock 44 you will need a specific combination of locker parts. The standard 35 spline Dana 44 ARB, part number RD-109, is manufactured to fit 3.92 and up gears. It uses 3.92 and up gears which are manufactured in the thin configuration. The JK gears are thick gears and require a 3.73 and down carrier even though the ratio is numerically larger than 3.73. ARB part number RD-117 is a 3.73 and down carrier which his recommended for use in the ProRock 44. However, the RD-117 is a 30 spline locker. In order to use a 35 spline locker you will need the internal parts of a RD-109 in the body of a RD-117. As an alternative to purchasing two lockers and swapping around parts ARB offers a locker with this conversion already setup from the factory. It is the ARB RD-147 and it will fit our conventional style pumpkin with JK gears and 35 spline shafts.
In addition to this there is also a locker being manufactured by ARB which fits into the JK electric locker PR44 pumpkin. This locker part number is RD157. We do not approve this locker for use with OEM stock or Dynatrac JK 44 pumpkins. It will not setup correctly and we have tested it extensively with our ProRock 44 and also the stock JK 44 pumpkins. In both cases the locker fails to setup correctly and we do not recommend its use. The RD157 is not approved for use in JK 44 pumpkins by Dynatrac.


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Yeah I read that as well. I thought the part number they were referring to was the RD-147 which is the 35 spline locker they say is ok but i didn’t see anything about the shafts



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jorgelrod

Hooked
A lot of people run the trail leader package with 37's without issues. I also think that on the case of the front, the inners will be 35s, but the outers are still 30 so I'm not sure 30 splines would be that big a deal. The reason for 35 splines in the rear is because the rear axle does the brunt of the work most of the time plus being that the axle is semi float a bigger diameter shaft is in effect a little harder to bend at the flange, but still doable with our heavy JK's
 

fiend

Caught the Bug
I read something in another forum about an ARB conversion kit to go from 30 to 35 splines. P/N ARB728H031. I haven’t verified this, so do your homework before getting out the credit card.


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WJCO

Meme King
I also think that on the case of the front, the inners will be 35s, but the outers are still 30 so I'm not sure 30 splines would be that big a deal.

I think the outers are 32 spline on all JK front axles. So it fits the unit bearing.
 
J

JKDream

Guest
I think the outers are 32 spline on all JK front axles. So it fits the unit bearing.

You're right. I kept the stock shafts up front personally. I figured most of the breaks are u-joint related anyhow.
If the shaft ever goes it's easier to find a stock Rubicon shaft locally than a custom 35 spline shaft.
If the u-joint breaks it typically takes out the shaft too, so it would suck to have the stock u-joint on your 35 spline shaft.
You could get a spare u-joint easily, but not a spare 35spl axle shaft in a hurry.
 

desertrunner

Active Member
35 is larger, but since you're going with ARB, I believe there are only a couple choice of axle shafts for the ProRock for 35 spline. At the time I did mine, the only axle shafts available for a 35 spline were RCV and G2, and I didn't want either. I ended up doing 30 spline ARB with Dynatrac chromoly shafts.
That's exactly what I did about a year ago when I got my trail leader package

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WJCO

Meme King
You're right. I kept the stock shafts up front personally. I figured most of the breaks are u-joint related anyhow.
If the shaft ever goes it's easier to find a stock Rubicon shaft locally than a custom 35 spline shaft.
If the u-joint breaks it typically takes out the shaft too, so it would suck to have the stock u-joint on your 35 spline shaft.
You could get a spare u-joint easily, but not a spare 35spl axle shaft in a hurry.

Very true. Rare that just a ujoint fails without damage to the shaft.
 
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