razrburn

My jeep's(2011 jku sport) days of running 35's with 3.73 gear ratio is coming to a end. I'm considering arb lockers, but I'm on a budget, and have a stock dana 30 up front with a open diff. and and dana 44 rear with a limited slip. 12k winch, even a sand anchor
I'd like to take it out on some challenging rock crawls out of state, and lifeless desert(no mudding). I'm questioning if I would really see a major difference with a arb in the rear. Before I swapped tires the limited slip/brake lock differential would have the rear tires sing just while turning out of a shopping plaza. I'll presume the limited slip clutch pack has a good amount of life left. While I've yet to search it I'm assuming I can add into the clutch pack possibly to make it sing even more often as if it wasnt enough for the rocks. I'm 100% sold on slaping a arb in the front. If you had to choose rear arb or sleeved d30 axle with money towards rcv axles, which would you lean towards? I might as well add yes, I know I could swap in a better front axle instead of building one. I dont have any plans to go top gear up/down a mountain and in the desert. if I need to force the jeep through a challenge, i'd prefer to winch it, rather than brute force. currently I have some treadwright(terrible customer service) tires, they are more aggresive then bfg's, if they cant get enough of a grip, I'm winching. I'd also would find a interest in any info on adjusting the brake lock differential sensitivity if such a option or product exist?

Smudgeontheglass

If you're an automatic, a selectable locker would be great. I personally think that e-lockers are a much better way to go due to ease of use, install and repair. If you have a manual then you may want to think about getting an automatic locker. The automatic lockers don't like the ABS system (I know it was a problem with the 2012+ 5spd, I don't know how the computer in the 2011 is set up).

Automatic lockers won't interfere with your day to day driving and would be a good upgrade for the limited slip in the rear as well. They have a bit of give which makes them a bit more forgiving than solid lockers and are known to perform better than a solid locker in a lot of situations. Since you're driving with a 3.8L and 35s, you may want to consider regearing. I have seen 4.88 as a good ratio for that setup.

nthinuf

I wasn't all that impressed with the bld system, though others on here seem to like it and say it works well for them. But, if you are serious about

then bld + factory limited isn't really a comparison.

Definitely get a rear locker. Up front, decide how much money you want to throw into a d30. (selectable + rcv's + sleeves + labor starts adding up real quick. Nice chunk of change that could be put toward a new axle if/when that one blows up) Maybe just leave it open for now? Or go for a lunchbox or even a truetrac?

DJ1

There are guys who have run the Rubicon trail with front/rear open. I've ran it with D30 front open and rear limited-slip.


For harder trails like Fordyce, then yes, front/rear lockers are ideal but then again that doesn't guarantee you'll make it up "Winch Hill" on 1-ton axles and 40s without beating the shit out of your rig and having it look like a stunt car on the set of Mad Max..........hence the name "Winch Hill."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J19S_Fzyhw
Hell, most guys don't even use their rear lockers and once in a blue moon will only ever engage their front locker. Since you have a winch, you can get by without a rear locker. If I were you, I'd put money aside for an aftermarket front 44 and go ARB or Tru-Trac.


I'm not sold on the BLD. With the rear limited-slip, you can "fool" it mechanically by engaging your e-brake a couple of clicks and essentially "locking it" if you're in a situation where 1 of the rear wheels is off the ground. Worse case, pull out the winch.


The main issue with the factory limited-slip Trak-Loc are the clutch packs which will wear out eventually which is why you want to have at least a Tru-Trac which are clutchless.


Me personally, I'll be running front 44 ARB/RCV and rear 60 Tru-Trac here within the next couple of weeks.


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TheDirtman

Nice videos.

cedarraider

I personally wouldn't lock a 30. Maybe a truetrac if I was going to keep my 30 and not upgrade. As far as shafts I'd look into others like tenfactory and Carbon offroad. They are quite a bit cheaper and have pretty good warranties. They both warranty their shafts 10 years and they are 500 for the pair. 540 for ten factory. RCV while limited lifetime are 1250 for the pair. If you put a arb RCV and all that into a Dana 30 that's 2400 ish into a weakish front end. I've thought about this several times. When I upgrade next year or so I'll go with a aftermarket 44 with arb and other good stuff and it's about $4400.

razrburn

I would be telling a lie if i didnt say those aftermarket dana 44's are tempting but its a bit out of my budget I might put off a front locker as suggested.

as for weak dana 30's it very well maybe true, especially with those smaller axle shafts. but when I hear about a dana 30 housing busting apart it makes me think. At one time I worked at a car manufacture, and my job required processing sheet steel, and the steel mills would cast a giant slab of steel and turn it into a few 20ton coils of sheet steel. my point is going from slab of steel passed through hundreds of rollers gradually stretching the stab into a 1/2mile long ribbon of steel. slag can hide within the ribbon of steel, without any exterior signs on the sides of the sheet, this might affect .5%-1% of the steel coils, and i've seen it hide in .75mm thick sheets of steel. during the stamping process of the steel blanks suddenly they would find a whole coil's worth of blanks or several coil's worth made from the same slab with embedded slag. during stamping the twisting and drawing out the steel blanks would at times crack the blanks and expose the slag embedded in the blanks.
I'm not 100% on the rarity of a dana 30 crumbling apart but most people would want to vent about a super expensive part breaking apart with no apparent reasoning and that might very well be 1% we hear about, and might be worth taking a second look if a jeep dealer is saying its not covered by a warranty, slag in steel is usually a vein of contamination usually metal oxides, dirt and will look different then the surrounding metal can at times just brush off, or at times needs wire brush like its something burned to a cookie sheet lol. I know not every dana 30 failure suffers from slag, and I agree its under built. at the same time I'm sure a select group of people have found a way to break modified dana 44. i'm 100% it takes more effort to break a dana 44


as for elockers i've heard eaton cant handle larger tires, and will break. I didnt dig up that kind of stuff on arb, but arb has some exciting failures like diff fluid backfeeding into the compressor. i'd actually prefer a elocker is there another brand other than eaton that can handle 35's without busting up, I'm leaning towards selectable lockers to get better traction while turning on ice.

DJ1

It's not the D30 housing that implodes, it's the teenie-weenie ring gear inside it that implodes with the larger tires + axle hop, sudden traction under throttle, housing deflection, etc......


Leave the 30 open, nitro sleeve it, c-gusset it and call it a day. If you don't have the fundage for an aftermarket 44 like Dynatrac, Currie, etc., you can find front rubi-44 takeoffs in the 4 sale section here and other forums all day.


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nthinuf

Eatons 'D44' e-lockers used to be a 2-pin design, and were said to be weaker than arb's 4-pin lockers. This is no longer the case, their d44 version was redesigned a few years ago to be equal in strength. D30 e-lockers have been 4-pin all along, shouldn't be a strength issue there as far as the locker goes.

Ox has an electric activation option you can look at as well.

And as mentioned a few times, the detroit truetrac, though it is a limited slip, could be a very good option depending on your actual use/needs. No problems on ice, and good offroad (though of course a full locker would be better with a lot of 'tires in the air' time).

And as far as the factory housings go, the d30 and d44 are basically the same specs and strength. You don't gain anything, externally, by going to a factory 44. Just the nice interior upgrades.

CJ7nvrstk

IMHO! The best and quickest way to break a 30 is to lock it.

FWIW, I'm super happy with my rear Detroit Locker and front Tru Trac in my 30/44 combo. I'll lock the front eventually but that will only be after I get a 44 front.