So I keep hearing so much negative talk about the stock Dana 30 axel that is in the "less than Rubicon" jeeps. I have a JKU and a ZJ with an 8 cyl. Both have Dana 30s up front and have never had any issues.

My question is.... has anyone ever broken a Dana 30? If so, what were you doing that caused the failure? I understand that a bigger axel is better for lower gearing due to space for larger splines, but I'm talking about the actual strength of the axel.

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to hearing your opinions.

 

running anything bigger than stock tires will cause the axle c's to bend - this is a fact and one that even happens on JK dana 44 front axles as they have the same c's. running 35" tires will greatly increase your odds of breaking an axle shaft at the u-joint. i see this happen all the time but, a set of chromoly shafts will help prevent this as they come with full circle clips - no need to go all out and get something like rcv's as, they simply aren't needed. to this day, i have only heard of one dana 30 axle housing break - the dozen or so others have all been on 44's. not sure why this is but, even at that, there are literally thousands of JK's on the road today and so, your odds of breaking your housing is really pretty low. for people running 5.13 gears, the pinion on a dana 30 is really really small and this will become a weak point. if you install lockers, you really need to be careful about blowing this out.

 

So here is where I admit some noob-ness;


RCV's?.....

 

sorry, that's a brand name for a fancy axle shaft that uses cv joints instead of u-joints. i run a set on our orange jk and, while they are nice, i don't know if they are worth the extra money. a good set of chromoly shafts are all that you really need and again, because they use full circle clips as opposed to basic c-clips like the stock shaft do, your will not have the same kind of breaking problems.

 

Will these require anything else different since they use CV instead of U joints? Any company you recommend?

 

I've only had my JK for a few months, so obviously I've seen no problems.

I had a YJ and ran larger than stock tires on it and wheeled it fairly good...never had an issue. My buddy had a YJ and was rough as hell on it...even jumped it with all four off the ground sometimes. Not one single issue. My father drives a TJ with heavy oversized TreadWright tires and has wheeled it fairly hard. Zero issues. I'm not even going to get into the ZJs we have built and modded and wheeled.

I have NEVER once seen anything on a Dana 30 break or bend. Not a U-joint, C, housing, gear set, shaft, nothing. Not one failure.

That's just my personal experience. I think the D30 is tougher than a box of nails.

 

Sorry to go off topic hear but I was thinking about beefing up my Dana 30 and running 35's to 37's. Just cant afford the price of a new axle. I was planning on going with 5.13 over the 4.88 but now I cant make my mind up. I hear thing about the really small pinion on the 5.13 and that has worried me along with them on highway driving. Should I stick with the 4.88 and my superchip? I will be running 35 inch Kevlar or Trail Grapplers and then I picked up a cheat set of the old goodyear MT/R at 200 for all 5 and plan to run those offroad only. I dont do any extreme offroading although some day I would like to but I dont think Ill get those opportunities for a few years plus its my daily driver so dont want to break things. Im completely lost at which gears to get. Hope someone can help me finally decide here... All I ever get is the bigger the better and you will want as big as you can go but maybe that isnt what is best for me with doing mainly highway driving and only running the 37's offroad once and awhile. Help!

 

5.13's as a rule are run if you have an automatic. Other wise on a standard you would want 4.88's. I run 5.13's and havent had any real issues to speak of. Good luck.

 

This is kind of a worn out subject, but I'll throw in my 2'c's for the fun of it. As WOL said, yeah the C's are really the weakest point on an all stock D30 with stock wheels. And yeah, you'll probably bend one, or both if you romp on it enough with big tires and such. So the cheapest solution then is to get C gussets, and while youre at it sleeves I suppose.

Shafts are perhaps another weaker point, though IMO really no more so than a D44. You could get chromo shafts, or carry trail spares...this would be the cheapest way.

If you do all that then you got the ring and pinion as the weak point. 4.88's are really the highest (numerically) that I'd go, but thats just me. Plenty of guys run 5.13's.

Now from my personal experience, and speaking for I'd say 80% or better of the guys on this forum, my jeep sees 80%DD use and 20% trail. I've never broke anything or had any issues. I had an XJ on 35" swampers on a D30 and never had a problem. Also had 2 ZJ's, same basic setup but smaller tires, never had any issues.

IMO heres what it breaks down to: money. Always does. Pro rocks, curries and such are WAY too much money for me to spend on my jeep for my purposes. Junkyard axle swaps are another option but I've looked very deeply into this...just as much money. Rubicon 44 swap?? Really pointless.

I'm running a smaller 35 now (KM2) and plan on moving on to 37's. Even if you snap a shaft from time to time or whatever, that will still be pretty infrequent and a cheaper fix than a full blown axle swap.

Again, this is just my opinion and works for my needs.

 

Im planning on getting the evo kit with the gussets, sleeves, and skids for just a precaution and dont plan to ever upgrade my axles. as you said just way to much to spend for my use. Going with the 4.88 will I still be capable of OD and stuff and on the trails will it preform fine with 37's? Ive just heard people being skeptical on the 5.13 and I want to be confident with whatever gears i am running. I know many people run the 5.13 with no problems but im skeptical and the preformance on the highway puts doubt in my mind too... I have 4.10 right now and wonder if there is that big of a difference between the 4.10 and 4.88 and yes I have automatic so maybe then I truely do need the 5.13... Im not sure.