for the price of everything i did to my X. 5.13s, lockers, 37s, lift, ect....i have a rig that cost a hair more than a stock rubicon and i do black trails all day long without any problems. Its just all in how you drive and if you are smart a dana 30 will last fine with the 37s. It just requires something called common sense.

 

i went with the rubicon....definitely wont look back...do yourself a favor and get the rubicon

 

We just got our rubi and love it. Its my fiance's daily driver, so I can't go too wild with it. I wanted something that was fairly capable out of the box. I do some mild/medium off roading and the stock rubi...err ok.. a BB, 33's or 35's, some bumpers and a winch will get us anywhere we wanna go. But that's me.

It all depends on what your long term plans and expectations are. I've seen alot of TJ Sports go from " I'll just put a small lift with 35's" to "now I need a long arm kit, dynatrac 60's locked with 37's and a full rol cage, seats with 5 point harnesses... now I need to swap in a V8....... I think I'll get another stock jeep or a beater truck for my daily driver..."

So... like I said... You need to figure out what your expectations for it are.

and FYI I'm still jealous of every one of those kickass, purpose built Jeeps!!!

 

haha, that is so true....I now have a "jeep budget" hahahaha

 

Go rubi.

Warranty and most all wrapped up in the finance package!

I couldn't be happier with that part of the selection and I'm sure by now with what we've done - and what I've heard - we would have been broken down due to my harsh driving habits and inexperience.

Rubi, Rubi, Rubi!!!

 

"Its just all in how you drive and if you are smart a dana 30 will last fine with the 37s."

Stop fooling yourself. Nothing smart about owning a Jeep that is basically for graded dirt roads. Do yourself a favor and hold off for another 3-4 months and save a little extra dough for a Rubicon. Installing 37 inch tires on a Dana 30 is like putting a 1/4 drive socket on an adapter and then using a 2 foot long 1/2 drive breaker bar on a frozen bolt. Something going to break and it ain't going to be the 1/2 drive breaker bar.

You can beef up your Dana 30 as much as you like but its still not going to be up the task. Its simple physics. In my estimation even the Rubicon Dana 44 will eventually fail under aggressive use with such a large tire. Going from the stock X tire which is probably around 28-29 inches to a 37 inch tire is not wise.

 

Well if you dont think a dana 30 will hold up to wheeling than you must use your gas pedal as an on and off switch. I let low range do the work for me while im crawling. I wheel with several friends that use high pinion dana 30s in TJs with 35s and another with 36s. THe one with 36s spun all four tires climbing a rock face. He had both arbs locked front and rear and nothing let go and he hammers harder on his rig than i do since i drive mine everyday. Dont tell people to not buy an X model unless they plan on swapping everything drivetrain related out if they want to make a strong wheeler.

 

You can't turn a sows ear into a silk purse, read the latest issue of JP magazine and see where they rated a Dana 30 on strength. #18 I'm pretty sure. Try talking to local people who belong to Jeep clubs or guys behind the counter at your local 4X4 shop about Dana 30's and they will probably roll their eyes back and take you in the back and show you a pile of broken ones that were swapped out. Just because you settled don't try and convince newbie he should too...

 

Rube is the only way to go. If funds are low an X is a great start and can be modded piece x piece. Otherwise a stock Rube is a great start.

 

Jpmagazine also built a HP dana 30 using cromo shafts and a 30spline ox locker and beat the crap out of it with 38s and a 4.7 stroker motor too and it survived fine. Plus they also said in that issue of JP rating the front axle swaps that the HP dana 30 is one of their favorite axles if their jeep came equiped with the 30 stock.