Upgrading to lockers

denver98

denver98

Member
Ok, it's time to upgrade my 2016 JK to at least a rear locker and 4.10 or 4.56 gears. (leaning toward the 4.56) I've read on here that upgrading the front dana 30 is pretty much a waste of money. My set up, 33" tires, Mopar 2.5" lift and I won't run bigger than 35s. I'm already pushing the hight limit of my building's garage parking. I love to wheel here in CO but I don't intend on running the "extreme" trails.

My questions are this:

Is it worth replacing the front axle to run 4.56 gears and front and rear lockers or just run a rear locker and re-gear to 4.10?

Another question I found this setup for sale locally and I wonder if this would be worth the $5K asking price:

2010 Jeep JKU Rubicon. These are Dana 44's with e-lockers front and rear. They have less than 70k miles on them.

Front Axle Details:
E-locker
Artec truss, raised track bar mount, and control arm mounts.
Evo C gussets.
Teraflex inner axle sleeves.
Yukon 5:38 gears.
Synergy ball joints (27k miles old).
Poison Spyder diff cover with lube locker.


Rear Axle Details:
E-locker.
Yukon 5:38 gears.
Rock Krawler rear truss.
Artec control arm mounts and track bar mount.
Rock Krawler raised shock mounts.
Poison Spyder diff cover with lube locker.

Both axles are set up for 3-link suspension.

Thoughts?
 
nbunga

nbunga

Caught the Bug
That’s a lot of money for those axles. You could get the dynatrac trail leader package for roughly 1500 more and get a much stronger front and upgrade your rear at the same time.
 
desertrunner

desertrunner

Active Member
To start I agree don't waste your money on the D30 to beef it up other than gears. And I wouldn't lock it.

I also wouldn't waste my money on 4.10s and for 35s 4.56 should be fine maybe even 4.88s if you wheel a lot

I didn't see if you auto or manual?

In regards to those axles for sale if it were me I would pass. 1 the 5.38s are way too big for 33s or 35s and the pinion is TINY in a D44. Also they way those are set up for a 3 link would be a significant amount of work to your rig to convert over to a 3 link.

If I were you I would go 4.56 and a rear ARB or E locker based on your preference and you will be set for a while. If your interested in making your rear a bit stronger I recommend looking at dynatrac rear axle package that has 35 spline shafts an ARB and gears.
It is what I am running in my rear. (Not sure if that kit has 4.56 option but you can always call and ask)

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dpetersen1988

dpetersen1988

Member
I would scrap all that and go with a pro rock 44 in the front and a pro rock 44 in the rear unless you do serious wheeling and want bigger tires and bigger gears then i would go with a pro rock 60 and i would put lockers in the front and rear. If money is an issue put a pro rock in the front and a locker and then maybe a locker in the rear or wait until you can put a different axle in the rear or do the rear first and then the front later but i wouldn't waste any money on the Dana 30.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
If I were you, go with the 4.56 and just lock the rear. Are you doing the work yourself?
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
dpetersen1988 said:
I would scrap all that and go with a pro rock 44 in the front and a pro rock 44 in the rear unless you do serious wheeling and want bigger tires and bigger gears then i would go with a pro rock 60 and i would put lockers in the front and rear. If money is an issue put a pro rock in the front and a locker and then maybe a locker in the rear or wait until you can put a different axle in the rear or do the rear first and then the front later but i wouldn't waste any money on the Dana 30.
Click to expand...

Didn't know they made a prorock44 rear.
 
OverlanderJK

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Those axles are garbage for $5k. 70k miles and 5g’s? No way in hell. Not to mention 5.38’s are way to high for 33’s.

Just put 4.56 gears and gussets on the front. Do the rear locker if you want. That setup will be fine for light wheeling even with 35’s.


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denver98

denver98

Member
WJCO said:
If I were you, go with the 4.56 and just lock the rear. Are you doing the work yourself?
Click to expand...

I would like to do the work myself. But I'm just not sure about the gear swap I figure I can do the rest. I'll have to really look at some of the gear swap threads here to see if its something I can do.
 
denver98

denver98

Member
OverlanderJK said:
Those axles are garbage for $5k. 70k miles and 5g’s? No way in hell. Not to mention 5.38’s are way to high for 33’s.

Just put 4.56 gears and gussets on the front. Do the rear locker if you want. That setup will be fine for light wheeling even with 35’s.


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Click to expand...

Thanks for all the replies. I think a rear locker would be nice to have to do some of the wintertime wheeling around here.
 
denver98

denver98

Member
WJCO said:
If I were you, go with the 4.56 and just lock the rear. Are you doing the work yourself?
Click to expand...

On second thought, I'll have a shop do the work. I just read your gear swap write-up that's a little more involved than I care to get. :eek:
 
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