I have broke 2 axle shafts, 8 spider gears, 1 differential,pinions , 1 axle housing and a few bearings!!! This is because i tryed to 4wheel with 4:10's and 35in tires!!! Weak! of course they would not cover the damage the second time so i said forget it!!! So I just had the dealer put in the rubicon dana 44 with locker and switch pod ...the difference in cost was only $600 so now i have a front dana 44 with locker!!! still less expensive then buying a Rubi so now i have to figure out what

 

What was your total cost on having this done by your dealer?

 

Its been a weak axle since it came out in the YJ 20 years ago. Just never was made to be used with big tires.

 

ive always been told 33 if you are going to push it and it still might break, after the second time breaking i would have upgraded

 

Aww Hell , forget it ! I'm just gonna save up for D-60's. Although I've been eyeing my dad's not in use dump truck axles for a while now. Only prob is that they're still on the trucks he's trying to sell.

 

It goes back even farther than that. The CJ's had the D30 in the front too, only the CJ had a worse problem...the AMC 20 rear end.

 

Yep, he's right.

The AMC 20 could be made pretty stout with a few mods though. Add some 1-piece axles and weld the tubes to the pumpkin to keep them from spinning and your good. The ring gear is actually bigger than a D44.

 

As the D30 has historically been OK up to 35's with reasonable go go juice input, etc....and the new D30 is supposed to be stronger than the TJ's, etc....

....I'm thinking that its quite likely that your go go juice input is more than reasonable for the conditions.



So, while the D30 is no D60, neither is the D44. You might want to consider a bit more finesse on the trails, unless the breakage is acceptable from down-time/$ perspective.



Some people break D60's too, on the gas at full lock, etc...one side catches, the other's spinning, and BANG!

Its the nature of the game.

 

I think it is common to break a D30 on the trail with 35s. I've seen a few. I also think it is common to tweak the housing. This causes absurd things like repeated failures that are not easily traced.

Between a marginal component design for mods (big tires is one), a marginal housing for off road (and abuse), and the possibility of poor workmanship when repairs are performed ... repeated failures are common. I think this is why you see some rigs on 35 with no problems for years, and some guys that have smoked multiple units.

At least this guy admits he was 4 wheeling. Many people start their D30 post with a rant about Dana or Chrysler and then say "I was just driving along ...". It is the part after the "..." that gets left out. " I was just driving along I90" is a whole world different than "I was just driving along ramming fire hydrants".

Congrats on the upgrade, I agree that there is no sense spending big money on the D30 when you can upgrade for almost the same cash. Watch the outer u-joints on your 44, they are failure prone too. If you did kill your D30s from overuse of the skinny pedal, your D44 outers may also not live long.

 

I just ordered the chromoly replacement axle shafts/ujoints for my busted front D30 - I figured it was cheaper than putting in a D44.

Any thoughts on this vs. going with the D44?