decoy5657

3.21 gears in a 2012 sport, so 30 in front 44 in the back.

I'll be re-gearing to 4.10 and getting some sort of locker(s) - Still to be decided if I go truetrac or locker... just front... just rear... both.. unknown!


I'm going either with the BFG 34x10.50's or some Nitto Ridge Grapplers in 35x12.50.

Mostly mall crawling. Not a rock crawler. Trails and camping, that sort of thing...


Just curious if the Dana 30 is worth putting money into, or if I should just find a new take off front dana 44 in 4.10 that already has a locker on ebay. They seem to run about 2200 bucks and are complete.


Thoughts?

tgoss

If you aren't playing in the rocks I would just gusset the C's and regear. I however would NOT lock the front but that's just me, I'm sure you'll get mixed opinions.

I bet you can find a complete front rubicon axle that someone has ditched for an upgrade.... They are all over the place.

decoy5657

Why no front locker? I dont know anything about off-roading but isn't that where all of the weight is? I assumed that would be useful to assist traction.

nthinuf

I started typing on your questions, but I kept going back to this:

Why are you thinking about lockers and/or new axles for forest service roads? I get that while it is being regeared is the right time to add traction devices, but if you don't 'need' extra traction, make sure that you want to spend for extra traction... Add up all the costs for each of your options and do some side by side comparisons to help with the decision.

karls10jk

Trails, camping, and forest service roads do not require a locker at all. I do that frequently with my 30 using simple C gussets and 33's.

The BLD works pretty well, you've just got to give it a little more throttle. So if you can regear and do C gussets for under $2200 then you're bonus. The costs for the rear should be the same regardless if you go regear or replace. For someone using it as you do, you won't notice enough difference in a rubi44 to warrant the cost.

Mark Doiron

That was exactly my reaction to OP's post. Except "started typing". I didn't even get that far.

Consider, decoy5657, I have put 201,000 miles on my 2007 JK. I've done some rock crawling, until I learned about something called overlanding. Since I grew out of playgrounds over 50 years ago, I decided overlanding was really my thing. And I've been all over North America. On a "built" D30 axle. And your description doesn't sound anywhere near as demanding as some of the travel I've done. Here, this may give you an idea (though not all vehicles are my Jeep, my Jeep did drive almost everywhere you see--there was one trip where I rode as photographer in someone else's) ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl2D1KbMZpg If you, I'd just sleeve and gusset the front axle while doing the regear.

I also wouldn't lock either axle for your expected usage, but if you want that street cred, lock the rear. The reason is because you use lockers when stuck in slippery stuff and when going uphill, shifting weight to the rear. And because locking the front makes it difficult to steer, so you'll hardly ever want to use it. But, in that 201,000 miles I've probably locked my rear about a dozen times. Sometimes because I was stuck, so it helped get me unstuck. Other times just to ensure I got through. And the front maybe three or four. Usually because I was beginning a rough stretch and didn't want to get stuck, so it's unknown if I could have made it unlocked.

lloydsmale

unless your looking at some real hardcore 4 wheeling id skip the front locker. Had one in my tj and it was about dangerous on slippery roads and noticeable all the time. If I was going to do some kind of a front posi/locker it would be an air locker or electric locker or nothing at all.

Invest2m4

Save the money and buy a winch. You're not going to need lockers 99% of the time and if you do, as noted already, the BLD works very well. If you get stuck with that, you'd be stuck with lockers. The tires you're looking at aren't terribly aggressive either, so a winch makes more sense. Where lockers make a difference are playing in big rocks where you may not have all four tires on the ground or you need very predictable traction.

decoy5657

Thanks for the tips everyone! Lots of good info. It's nice to hear from folks who have actually done some miles and not keyboard warriors. Overlanding is what actually got me interested in Jeep life.

I dont plan on being on Ultimate Adventure or climbing walls in Moab. I couldn't stomach the cost of potential damage.

I mentioned lockers because the axles will be open... why not put a truetrac in?


Winch is definitely on my list of additions.

I'm going to:
* Reinforce the D30
* Truetrac in the D44
* Wheels/tires



Just gotta pick a gear ratio!

resharp001

Lotta good build specific advice in this thread for you. I'd just note that if you do reinforce that D30 with gussets, you're probably best off replacing ball joints at that time as well, especially if you have the factory BJs in there still. Not to keep lumping on the costs.......