HP30 woes...upgrade or 44?

I'm sick of the issues with my HP30. It's lived a good life and done me well in its mostly stock form, but I'm tired of throwing money at it when simple things break.
98XJ HP30, 4.88s, Lockrite, HD tie rod.
Ive thought about FW, and even got a set of axles, but the project fell through. I'm still leaning towards a hp44 front, but money is tight and I don't want to get stuck in a debt situation again. The main issues I've had are with the steering and unitbearings. The brakes suck, sure, but its managable.
My tierod has, on more than one occasion, knocked the lower pin of my JKS out of the mount. At 25$ each, this isn't too expensive, but it sure is annoying. The tie rod and drag link junction hits the endlink mount, which I'm sure isn't good for the steering either. It's not wobbly, it tracks well onroad too, but the tierod hangs really low and is in the way of every rock, stump, and even parts of my jeep. Should i get new knuckles and OTK steering, or just wait and get hysteer on the 44?
I've gone through 3 1/2 sets of unibearing hubs on the 30. I don't know why this is. Perhaps the spidertrax spacers put extra strain on the bearings? I'm running 15x8 TJ canyons and 33x12.50s on those spacers. What would cause all these failures? I went for a long time without wheeling and I STILL blew up a set. This is the main reason for wanting a 44, to get good, rebuildable hubs and stonger shafts/axletubes. Is there a feasible, cheap way to get better hubs on the 30 other than a 800$ hub conversion kit? Thats half the price of the 44 to put in...
If I got a 44, I'd want a narrowtrac HP, and I think I've gotten it down to a 75-78 ford f150, narrowed to waggy width with new shafts, flattop knuckles and hysteer, and all 5 on 5.5. I don't want FW because I have a perfectly great 8.8 in the rear that I can't justify losing just yet. Is this a good 44 build? I'm going to have the rear shafts made in 5on5.5, as well as redrill the rotors in the 8.8. Can anyone tell me, based on my problems, if they think I should just build up the 30 with new steering and hubs, or get a 44? Any idea whats causing the hub failures?
Thanks
-Bennett

Whats wrong with a LP D44. Just another thought.

Oh my vote is to get a 44 of some sort.

I would keep the 30 you are not gaining all that much by going with a 44 in the front to justify the money it would cost. I would also dith the spacers and go with a 15X8 wheel with 3.75" BS or 4"BS

I would guess it is the spacers killing the unitbearings. I think the best way to decide if you need the 44 is if it will upgrade the parts you break now. The shafts will not be that much stronger(they usually break around the ujoint).The wheel bearings will be stronger, along with the ball joints. If you are not sure if you can aford the 44 build up, then use what you have. From what I have seen, any build up like this costs way more than you orignally plan on.

As long as the 30 is still driveable, keep driving on it, but get the 44 housing and start the project as time and money permit, rather than just eating the entire cost and going into debt right now. Hopefully the build will be done before the 30 grenades again, but if not, the cost to finish will be that much closer to the cost of repairing the 30 again.

D44 Front ends have their weaknesses too. I have one on my CJ. I won't be putting one on my XJ. I have issues with axlejoint caps. The axles' tolerances aren't the best when you go junkyard, and I have had several in which the caps spun and eventually failed. Besides that... I have hub issues as I used D30 locking hubs and scout outer stubs. The hub bolts stay loose and often break.

I also did OTK steering on that D44 which worked great for a few months. The heims just aren't cut out to be steering joints in harsh environments. They wear quickly and get sloppy. I've never had one fail, but they get scary worn out.

You will loose some clearance under the diff. too. I'd stay with the 30... but you couldn't have told me that when I was ready to build my D44 front.

I have been debating this too, and came to the conclusion the xj is getting a 44.

The ujoints are still the weak parts of the drivetrain well it depends on the hubs you use. The key to any wheeled rig that runs over a 33 is to weld the caps onto the shafts, or you will spin them ALOT. Not tack weld them, full out bead them, just an 1/8 at a time as to not burn up all the grease and use 760 spicer joints. Or run warn shafts/ctms and have lifetime warrantys... you dont wanna replace a d44 shaft the hubs are a bitch

Run warn hubs, and chebby/waggy flat top knuckles, do high steer with quality heims or joint of choice you can make work. Clearance isnt much different, and balljoints are a good deal stronger, hubs are better then unibearings, and the knuckles arent known for wearing away from calipers like they do on every d30.

really, skip the HP 44 and go straight to a D60 front. unless you want to trick out the 44 with alloy shafts and joints, your better off going straight to a 60 with stock shafts. http://www.mallcrawlin.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=461

i would not put a full bead weld on a cap, it will make the joint wear fast if it is street driven (will shrink the cap slightly)
put a couple tacks, and grind for a full circle clip

Visit www.pirate4x4.com and look in the Tech section for Billavista's hybrid axle...this is what Imma be doing. There is only 1 problem and thats custom axle shafts, but I will have alloys anyways, so maybe they can be narrowed? At anyrate, something will get done to rid myself of those ghey hubs and balljoints.

Yeah... weld your caps all the way around and hope you never break a joint on the trail. If you do... have fun with the repair.

hjeepxj said:

Visit www.pirate4x4.com and look in the Tech section for Billavista's hybrid axle...this is what Imma be doing. There is only 1 problem and thats custom axle shafts, but I will have alloys anyways, so maybe they can be narrowed? At anyrate, something will get done to rid myself of those ghey hubs and balljoints.

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too many variables and everything has to be perfect for it to work properly...
Im planning a d44 swap for some time in the future - not because imhardcore enough to need the strength, but because i want to be able to unlock the front end...

Harvo said:

Yeah... weld your caps all the way around and hope you never break a joint on the trail. If you do... have fun with the repair.

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if a joint goes on a axle shaft it screws up at least one of the ears anyway, thats why you carry a set of spare shafts. I will never reuse front shafts that had a broken joint, because they normally wallow out of usefulness

hightimes2 said:

I would keep the 30 you are not gaining all that much by going with a 44 in the front to justify the money it would cost. I would also dith the spacers and go with a 15X8 wheel with 3.75" BS or 4"BS

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stronger housing
bigger knuckles
REAL bearings
good steering options
more gearing choices
stronger carrier
30 spline shafts

and most importantly, brakes that WORK!

yeah, you're right. that ain't much

XJ_ranger said:

too many variables and everything has to be perfect for it to work properly....

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How do you figure?

Cheap nailed it, dude.

I'm going LP44 out of a Wagoneer. Sure, it isn't the best <HP> but the price is right, and I can always upgrade later.

But for now-- it'll be just fine- also going leafs up front.

burntkat said:

Cheap nailed it, dude.

I'm going LP44 out of a Wagoneer. Sure, it isn't the best <HP> but the price is right, and I can always upgrade later.

But for now-- it'll be just fine- also going leafs up front.

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Rockin sounds like we have the same planes! What outters you planing on running?

CheapXJ said:

stronger housing
bigger knuckles
REAL bearings
good steering options
more gearing choices
stronger carrier
30 spline shafts

and most importantly, brakes that WORK!

yeah, you're right. that ain't much

Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong I know a 44 is marginally stronger than a 30 I just don't think they are that much strong to justify spending the money to swap one in if you are only running 33's.

they are if you keep goin through bearings and balljoints

rust bucket xj said:

they are if you keep goin through bearings and balljoints

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never had to replace mine. Bennet what size spacers are you runnin?

i have worn out unibearing hubs on 31s and stock wheels, and balljoints on both 31s and 32s both on stock wheels. two sets in a bout a year and a half