Dana 30 carnage

[TJDualsport]

In march I ran the Mojave rd trail with a bunch of prerunners and wannabe jeep speeds. almost got to laughlin and a friends XJ front vac disco dana 30 sheared in two.

one too many big woops with no trussing and or gussets.

me strapping up the loose parts.

part of our group is a "slow group" kinda like a chase team lol. they caught up and assisted in the work. thankfully the XJ had a beefy front bumper with a tow hitch in the front. we used an extension and the pintle hitch with a d ring to "flat tow" the XJ to the high way. about 10 + miles away. it actually worked really well. if it was legal we coulda towed it to laughlin or back to the trailers in barstow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_viFtZV-n0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9i9O2jfbC4&feature=related

 

[XJEEPER]

:confused1

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

that sucks. i bet the driver got a little scared when that happened. glad no one was hurt though. just makes me more thankful my XJ didnt come with a disco axle

 

[foxwar71]

now thats some quality D30 breakage :thumbup:

 

[dgrigorenko]

wow, thats a new one

 

[DeftwillP]

Axleshafts are one thing, shearing the axle tube? Just wow...

 

[Skullver]

Axleshafts are one thing, shearing the axle tube? Just wow...

there is a cast piece and no axle tube underneath, essentially it pulled the tube out of the cast piece. Looks like fun

 

[foxwar71]

there is a cast piece and no axle tube underneath, essentially it pulled the tube out of the cast piece. Looks like fun

Yeah. While the arguement can be made the a disco housing is stronge D30 because the UCA mount is a much beefier setup, this is the real downfall of the disco. its a regular 30 tube with like 4" chopped right out and a little cast piece to tie them back together. theres an awful lot of stresses on that disco housing.

 

[Hellbent]

this brings up a question: can the tubes be welded to the disco housing? i ask because i have a disco 30 with the gearing i need already in it, and an aussie locker. it will be going into the comanche at some point. that separating issue worries me, as i'm a bit hard on my junk. i'd like to use what i have instead of having to swap everything to a later housing.

Yeah. While the arguement can be made the a disco housing is stronge D30 because the UCA mount is a much beefier setup, this is the real downfall of the disco. its a regular 30 tube with like 4" chopped right out and a little cast piece to tie them back together. theres an awful lot of stresses on that disco housing.

 

[TJDualsport]

yea he hit a wash out that was waaay deeper thn expected. thankfully hes caged with five points. that housing has taken some serious abuse, verything was alrady bending before the trip. one of many big hucks and lots of time on th MDR barstow courses

 

[1990JEEPXJ]

thatll do it alright

 

[foxwar71]

this brings up a question: can the tubes be welded to the disco housing?

Sure, ive welded JKS track bar brackets to them. the disco housings are supposed to be cast steel so you can MIG them without pre/post heat successfully.

 

[Hellbent]

thank you! this is exactly what i was trying to figure out. will have to have that done.

Sure, ive welded JKS track bar brackets to them. the disco housings are supposed to be cast steel so you can MIG them without pre/post heat successfully.

 

[Goatman]

Sweet!

I was riding in a TJ that did that to a front 9" when we hit a bomb crater in Johnson Valley. In last years KOH one of the cars did that to their front D60. It's not just D30's.

 

[DieselSJ]

Meh. Break the short side of a HD44 front and then come back and talk.

 

[TJDualsport]

lol sorry deiselSJ i didnt know we were one upping.... where is the rolling eyes smiley face?


Goatman the bomb craters are sketchy at night. I saw a few rigs fall in over this past new years. hahaha

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Man, that is one clever trail rescue! That shoulda been a total nightmare to recover. Granted, not everyone is gonna have the luck of one very bitchin' Unimog with a pintle hitch come around to help, but I gotta give you guys props for putting your brains to work and use what you had to get it home! :thumbup:

 

[Goatman]

Unfortunately, we hit a bomb crater in broad daylight. But, by the time we got back to camp and brought out a truck and trailer to load it up, the rest of the gang already had the axle housing welded back together so it could be driven onto the trailer.

 

[TJDualsport]

Well Goat if its not a Diamond 9" tie fighter housing ripped in half i dont care, come back when you have a real story..... hahaha

thats crazy man. at least you guys were able to weld it up. along with the sheared axle, he bent both shafts on the bypass 2.5 king shocks. we had a welder but i dont know if it would have done much good in this case. plus using a mog to tow it out was fun hahaha

 

[Goatman]

This was a Currie 9", but not gusseted. Thankfully, it didn't hurt the coilovers or the axle shaft.

You're fix with the Mog towing it out is pretty cool.