Gears - affecting my plans
 

Hello All,

I have a 2007 Unlimited X with a Dana 44 rear and a Dana 30 front, automatic transmission, 3.21 diff gear ratio. My goal is to build it up to run 37" tires, replace the front axle with a Dana 44 and also lock both axles. I know 37's can be hard on a Dana 30

My Goal:
3 or 4 inch suspension lift
trim fenders to fit (or Xenon flares)
37" tires
locked Dana 44 front and rear
5.13 gears

I cannot do everything at once and do not want to spend money twice. I think that replacing the front axle will be the last thing I do based on MOPAR raising the price on jk rubicon axles:mad:. I cannot put on larger tires without re-gearing

In order to make this work i will have to change out the gears in the Dana 30 to 5.13 knowing that I will lose this money when I upgrade the front axle.

I just cannot seem to figure out the best sequence of upgrades to limit wasting money yet continue to build towards the end goal:dontknow2:.

Any suggestions?

Save up and do it all at once.

if you dont want to do things twice you are going have to do the Axle and the gearing in one shot. so whether u want to do that last for 1st is your call but that is going to have to be the same time install

If you go with a Mopar axle you are going to have to regear that thing too because they come with 4.10's.

I'm in the same situation as you and have similar plans. Just to cut my losses I'm going to go to 5.13's now and a chromoly axle shaft upgrade if/when I break that. If I break that then I'll dump the whole thing and go with a Currie/Dynatrac/etc. 44 or 60 depending on the bank roll at the time of the break.

I figure the money invested in the 30 won't be a total waste because I'm sure there will be more guys like us needing to upgrade their stuff at that time. Depending on how bad the D30 break is you should be able to part it out and recover some costs.

With Mopar raising their prices they just moved me right up to the big boys when I have to buy a new axle. At their previously priced they were just in reach but now I'll just drop the coin on what we should all have anyway.

Another option (what I am doing) is building your D30. I am putting in some Chromolly Shafts, locker, tack welding the ujoint caps, and getting it gussetted. I decided last minute to go 35s instead of 37s though. I think for the trails I do and how I drive (slow and ez) I will likely never break the D30. I better knock on wood.


I am building my rig in stages. I have had stock, stage1, working on stage 2.

Stage 1 was 33" ATs, wheels, 2" BB with shocks.

Stage 2 is 4" FT long arm, OME LT shocks, 35" Mud Grapplers, Bumpers, Lockers, Gears, Skids, and Armor.

Stage3 will be Hemi, Front and rear D60s, 37s, coilovers, etc

what size tires do you have now?

i wish i could have stages...my stage one tires still have a ton of tread on them even for MT:naw:

My stage one tires did too. They gave me $400 toward these at the local tire hut. I had about 5k miles on them.

I swapped out the stock rims, tires, coils, and shocks for stock rubicon tires, wheels, coils, and shocks. A member of my club upgraded his rubicon so I bought the hand-me-downs.

I know there is some debate on whether a built dana 30 is equal to or better than a dana 44. However, I am kinda set on upgrading the front to a 44.

dude save up do it all at once its cheaper in the long run

I do not know for sure that I have the 3.21 gear ratio. It feels like it. I bought the jeep used so I did not get the build sheet. I'll have to jack up the rear end and have a friend rotate the tire one revolution while I watch the driveshaft to get an idea of the ratio.

It sounds like saving up the money and doing it at once is the best way to go. God that will take a long time. :sad2: