Hello team,
I would like to find the best option to update my axle.
Currently:
JK 3.8 Auto, Axle open DANA 30 in front and 44 rear with 3.73

Goal:
Add a locker at rear and running with 35" on highway, downtown and offroad (daily driver).

I'm looking for both Dana 44 from Rubicon and to upgrade the ring and pinion to 4.88 but impossible to find the front axle.

According to your experience, What's the best option to do that with a minimum of cost ?
Can we use a JL axles ?

Thanks for your help.
Ludo

 

Keep looking for that axle but in the meantime your 30 will hold up to 35's if you don't spin the heck out of one front wheel then it grabs. Best way is to recognize you are spinning and going nowhere and try another trail angle instead of flooring it. The weak part is more the C's at the end of the axles. If you 4 wheel gently and don't listen to spectators saying "floor it" then you should be ok for a while until you find a new diff. I lock my front on straight climbs even if I think I will spin one wheel simply because of Jeep age and what I said above. I have mentioned before that Motech in Las Vegas does lots of Chev conversions and he might have a lead on diffs because a few of his customers remove the diffs and put tons in with the bigger power of a 6.2 engine.

 

So your proposal is just to upgrade the pinion/ring to 4.88 on both of my stock axle. Right ?

 

https://fusion4x4.com/collections/je...rcial-shipping

This will a very nice set up for 35's and you are good to go on 37's when the time comes. Go min 68" WMS.

 

Thanks a lot but I don't want to pay the price of my car just for 2 axle. And I prefer to do myself and learn

 

Yes just do the upgrade. If you are not a rip, shit and bust 4 wheeler you will do ok for now.

 

You will end up spending around $6k on factory axles. Better off with the fusion. Not sure what you are trying to learn other than making a poor decision.

 

Too bad you don't live closer to OKC. I have a D30 and D44 from my 2007 JKU coming out. The D30 is sleeved and gusseted with Superior Chromoly axles and an Auburn LSD/e-locker (yes, it's both, though I suspect the LSD is pretty worn out). The D44 is stock with an Eaton e-locker. They have 286,000 miles on them. Riddler diff covers and 4.88 gears on both. I've told my mechanic that he's free to do with them as he sees fit.

 

If you are ok, I can pay the delivery and buy both of your axles.

 

It is my mechanic with whom you must deal. The axles belong to him now. I visited with him yesterday and asked if he was willing to handle shipping, and he is. Be aware that means strapped to an open pallet and shipped as freight--not UPS, FedEx or the post office. Freight via semi. I imagine if you asked him to inspect the axles thoroughly, include drain and inspect the gears to make sure they are fine, he'd be happy to do that. They probably need to be drained before shipment, anyway. That would be smart for you to ask for that because--I'll write it again--these axels have a lot of miles--286,000--and unless you work something different out with the mechanic (Tim), you're receiving them as is. They have been cared for with proper fluid changes (Note, because of the Auburn locker up front, I use only dino lube in the axles), but I don't want you to receive something and discover it is defective. The rear axle was rebuilt not all that long ago--perhaps the last 30K miles or so. New gears, all bearings and seals. It's been a lot longer for the front axle-maybe 100K miles. Anyway, if you're really interested, confirm that one more time, please, and I'll PM you Tim's phone number.