I know alot of people will say not to waste money on a d30 but i dont have 2500-3000$ to drop on a pro rock right now so i gotta work with what i got. As of now i have a stock pile of parts waiting to be installed....ie....nitro sleeves, gussets, superior 30 kit( chromoly shafts w/30 spline inners & 32 outers) and a eaton e-locker. This is my first time doing this so im not to sure what im going to need as far as seals or other necessities. I know that i should replace ball joints as well but thats gotta wait. Any info with tips, tricks or anything im missing would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

 

Sleeves and gussets that's what im going to do when i get my lift and 35's.

 

I wouldn't waste money on a locker for a D30. Just lock the back and save the money towards a better front axle

 

Ya but i got a really good deal on the superior 30 kit and the e-locker ( $800 ) from another forum member, otherwise i would agree with you. It cant hurt right? I figured why not.

 

Actually...it could hurt. Most guys that are successfully running 37s with a dana 30 are running it open. Seems thast most of the breaking of parts occurs when it is locked.
I'm running 37s on a dana 30, axle has been gusseted and have heavy duty ball joints. I'm not doing any rockcrawling or hard wheeling but I'm over 35K with that set up and my front axle is holding up great. I would agree with the previous poster, lock the rear, it is much stronger than up front.

if you are going to open that axle...why do it several times. Be once and done. wait a bit longer, get your ball joints, ring and pinion and master overhaul/install kit and be done with it. Doing your ball joints the same time you do your C-gussets makes the gusset install much easier. Just my two cents. Good luck on your install

 

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it

 

So decided to omit the locker and im gonna stick with my stock 3.73's until i get bigger rolling stock (33's now but going up to 35's next spring). Ball joints on order this week. I dont think im gonna need any overhaul or instal kits because i've only had my jk for 3 mths and im trying to avoid ripping the diff open.( for now anyway) Should probably order some seals as well just incase. Thoughts?

As you can probably tell im new to this so i apologize for any stupid questions.

 

No question is a stupid question. This forum is for asking questions. Most of us knew very little to nothing about these jeeps when we first came here. The learning curve is huge.

For me...I like to try to be once and done. So when I did my front axle I got all the parts, tore it down and put it all on. In your case with a 2012, I'd wait also before opening the axles. Ask some other forum members about your gear ratio/tranny combo and tire size. I have an '08 with the 3.8L and that needs a different gear set than your 2012 with the 3.6L to restore performance. You may even be able to get good performance with the 3.73s when you go 35s with that motor.

Personally, good call on the ball joints, now you will be able to pull your old ones, weld on your C-gussets, reinstall the new ones and be done with it will make your C-gusset install easier as you won't have to worry about boiling the grease out of your stock ball-joints. I have heavy duty greaseable aftermarket ball joints and have been running them with 37s for over 35K miles and they are still solid. My factory ones were showing a little play by 20K mile with stock tires.

 

Um I could definitely be wrong here but I didn't think that you could run axle sleeves with aftermarket axles. I know I remember reading about how the aftermarket axles are thicker and the sleeves wont work. Granted those were EVO sleeves I was reading about but I would assume the same would apply to the Nitro sleeves. You may want to check into that. If i'm wrong sorry for the stress.

 

You can't run RCV shafts with the Evo sleeves because the seals get in the way of the CV Boot, other than that the various combos fit. Many guys run Nitro's with aftermarket shafts.