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Build the Dana 30 or find a 44?

95XJman

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Folsom
I need some opinions on what I should do with my front axle. Ive been debating building up the Dana 30 thats in there now with a truss, Alloy 30 spline shafts, gears, locker, WJ knuckles, brakes and steering.

OR

Find a 44 and build that up, with similar parts

It seems like the prices would be similar in the end, but is it worth the effort of swapping in the 44 if the biggest tires im gunna run are 35"s? And its my daily driver, so I dont want to worry about blowing up the 30 and being stuck. Thats one of my biggest reasons to do it.

Need some opions, Im in a mental lock and cant make up my mind. Anyone have pros, cons they want to throw out there. I HAVE searched and read quiet a bit, just lookin for some more opinons, ideas.

Thanks guys.
 
I did the Dana 30 buildup and it has served me well but... 33's are as tall as I will ever go and I wish I would have built a dana 44. I think if you're good with fab work you can save 'some' money. It may take a bit longer to source the housing you want too.
 
whichever you build, your weak link will be the u-joints, and both of the axles, are the same size.

I have beefed up my D30 but know that if I go bigger then my 33's I want to go D60 for piece of mind. I dislike repairing shit on the trail... that being said if I had the forethought 1 year ago of where I would be today I would have skipped the D30 polish and went right for the D60.

D44 atleast will narrow down your fuze... bigger tubes, R&P, knuckles, better options for hi/cross over steering, etc, etc...

'spose that didn't help you much at all.

polish the D44, if nothing else re-sale should be higher if/when you do want to go bigger.
 
Id say go with a 44. you can easily find waggy 44 fronts for around 150.

more gearing options, bigger tubes, more aftermarket support, etc. the price to build both to the same point will be pretty close.

with the 44 you can get some upgraded u-joints and be over all stronger then your dana 30.
 
I built up my dana 30 a little bit, ran it for a few years with no problems. Later I bought another XJ that had a built hp44 in it.

With the 30, I went through balljoints once a year or so, and i had to worry about the ring gear (but i never actually managed to break it, and i did beat it hard).. I ran with 4.88's, 30 spline inners and outers, CTM's and 35's.

With the 44, I have broken 3 hubs, a CTM, and a balljoint. 5.13's, alloys inner and outer, CTM's, and 37's.

I would say the best reason to build a 44 would be the balljoints. When you do it, you're going to have to buy new wheels, re-do your suspension to push the axle forward (so the diff clears your exhaust and oilpan), build new steering, change the rear end for 5x5.5 or 6 lug, and of course build all the 44 bracketry.

If you havent gotten too far in your build yet, thats not a big deal.. but if you're running a longarm setup, have nice wheels, suspension that is dialed in .. just throw some money in the 30 and be done with it.
 
Most would agree the 30 built up is good up to 35s. A too built 30 moves the weak link to the ring and pinion and I have seen some sheared, but with way big tires and lots of abuse. For your purposes the 30 should be ok. Lots of fab work for the 44.
 
Eh, I was in the same spot as you, I have 35's on mine, I was worried about the D30. I thought about trussing it, alloy shafts, gears, etc. but in the end, you still get the thin axle tubes, small ball joints, 27 spline shafts and small gears. Plus when you get into steeper gears, the teeth get kinda thin on the ring gear I think 35 is where I would draw the line for the D30. I ran mine open and it's been good to me. If you wanted to keep the D30, if I were you, I'd either leave it open or maybe put a LSD in it. Lockers are gonna either kill the u joints or blow the ring gear.

One thing I never knew about the D44 is that they have the same u joint as the D30, but you get the thicker tubes, 8.5" ring gear as opposed to D30's 7.5", 30 spline shafts. One downfall to the D44 is the locking hubs, they tend to go if you wheel it hard with big tires. The nice thing about that though is it's a simple fix, doesn't take anything else out with it, and you can still drive the truck out the woods.

I actually just picked up a high pinion Dana 44 that I plan on putting in my Xj along with a 9" rear. Reason I did is I plan on going to 37's at the most, and I want to build the axles up right so I don't have to worry about them when I'm wheeling. I'm not a wildman by any means, so I think the D44/9" will work just fine for me.

So ultimately, it depends on your goals with the truck and your wheeling habits.


Think of it like this though, you can build a D44 for about the same price, only difference is a little fab work that needs to be done.
 
Pretty good advice so far. The built D30 will handle the 35" tires, if you have a little respect for it. The D44 built with chromo shafts and u-joints is virtually indestructable with 35's. Although, the D30 axles/hubs will actually be stronger than the D44 if you go with 30 spline stuff in the D30, since the 30 spline D30 stubs will be stronger then the 19 spline D44 stubs and locking hubs. The main weak point in the D30 is the ring and pinion, but tons of people run them without breaking the gears. You will get true high steer with the D44 if you do flat top knuckles and high steer arms.

Tough call. I'd either do a slightly cheaper build on the D30, and it will most likely be just fine, or do an all out build on the D44.
 
Pretty good advice so far. The built D30 will handle the 35" tires, if you have a little respect for it. The D44 built with chromo shafts and u-joints is virtually indestructable with 35's. Although, the D30 axles/hubs will actually be stronger than the D44 if you go with 30 spline stuff in the D30, since the 30 spline D30 stubs will be stronger then the 19 spline D44 stubs and locking hubs. The main weak point in the D30 is the ring and pinion, but tons of people run them without breaking the gears. You will get true high steer with the D44 if you do flat top knuckles and high steer arms.

Tough call. I'd either do a slightly cheaper build on the D30, and it will most likely be just fine, or do an all out build on the D44.
 
I have built up a D-30, my old 30 has served me well on 35's but its just a matter of time.

The new axle has;

Longfield Superaxle shafts
Yukon R&P 4.88's
Aussie Locker
RuffStuff cover
Home made truss out of 2"x4"x3/16" box.

I hope to get it installed in the next week or so. Here is a pic, all work, including the gear set-up was done by me.

P1020210.jpg

P1020209.jpg
 
why not run the thick gears for the D30 VS. a larger carrier? wouldnt this make them stronger and take a bite out of the slippin gears problem from the D30? ive been debating on this also... i bout a 04 WJ for the motor (for a 2000 0331 head) and kept the knuckles and all for my XJ... not installed yet but theres a dang D44 on CL built ready for a XJ for $900 with gears, lockers, and all... i actually come across them often on there as alot of people swap to D60's... ive just been debating on selling my D30 and stuff with it and going D44... but seems like the killer between the 2 is the ring and pinion... which i would think thick gears would take care of... my plans are 3.5 to 4.5 of lift and 37's but i dont want to go wide... and my XJ's gutted and chopped so less weight to strain the axles... guess what im asking is wouldnt Thick gears be stronger and possibly even take care of gear slip issue in a D30?
 
I don't think the thick gears are any stronger. I suppose maybe the actual block of material might be.


But the stress point (tooth contact) is further away from the retaining point (bolt thru the carrier). So I'd say the thick gears could be consider 1/4 hair weaker. I don't want to say what kind of hair :gag:



I built up my D30 ... mainly because of the logistics and just to prove naysayers wrong. Will it break eventually? Probably. But let's see how long it lasts and what actually breaks.



Joe
 
I have built up a D-30, my old 30 has served me well on 35's but its just a matter of time.

The new axle has;

Longfield Superaxle shafts
Yukon R&P 4.88's
Aussie Locker
RuffStuff cover
Home made truss out of 2"x4"x3/16" box.

I hope to get it installed in the next week or so. Here is a pic, all work, including the gear set-up was done by me.

Not bad. As long as that truss is welded to your third, you'll do well with that one. Make sure to run Spicer balljoints, the others just wont last as long.


Mine was similar but had a little more work in it:

Dana 30
Housing taken to bare tube and sleeved in 3x.250" DOM
Trussed with 2x4 .250" by Overkill Fabrications
Custom axle bracketry (.188 and .250) by Overkill Fabrications
Inner C's rotated for 12 degrees pinion and 6 caster
WJ knuckles with JKS spacer
WJ brakes
WJ ball joints (moog)
WJ style steering over the knuckle
JKS tie rod, 1.25x.375" with WJ ends
Custom draglink, 1.25x.188" with high misalignment 1 ton ends
Custom trackbar, 1.25x.250" with RE upper and 7/8" rod end lower, RE bracket+brace
2" Superflex joints for axle UCA bushings
ARB air locker, 30 spline
Alloy-USA 30 spline 4130 inner shafts
Warn 5x5.5 30 spline hub kit
CTM u-joints
Precision 4.88 gears, Precision install kit
Alloy-USA tube seals
U-bolt yoke
Crane CrMo diff cover

Housing2.jpg

Housing1.jpg

steering.jpg
 
Not bad. As long as that truss is welded to your third, you'll do well with that one. Make sure to run Spicer balljoints, the others just wont last as long.


Mine was similar but had a little more work in it:

Dana 30
Housing taken to bare tube and sleeved in 3x.250" DOM
Trussed with 2x4 .250" by Overkill Fabrications
Custom axle bracketry (.188 and .250) by Overkill Fabrications
Inner C's rotated for 12 degrees pinion and 6 caster
WJ knuckles with JKS spacer
WJ brakes
WJ ball joints (moog)
WJ style steering over the knuckle
JKS tie rod, 1.25x.375" with WJ ends
Custom draglink, 1.25x.188" with high misalignment 1 ton ends
Custom trackbar, 1.25x.250" with RE upper and 7/8" rod end lower, RE bracket+brace
2" Superflex joints for axle UCA bushings
ARB air locker, 30 spline
Alloy-USA 30 spline 4130 inner shafts
Warn 5x5.5 30 spline hub kit
CTM u-joints
Precision 4.88 gears, Precision install kit
Alloy-USA tube seals
U-bolt yoke
Crane CrMo diff cover

Housing2.jpg

Housing1.jpg

steering.jpg

Nice! Are you sill running it Cal?
 
No. If you look in post 5, I bought a rig with a hp44 in it and run that.

I flogged on the dana 30 for about 3.5 years this way, I went through a lot of balljoints but it never left me stranded. Now another local Naxja member has it and the matching 44 rear (35 spline, arb, etc), but hasnt installed them yet.
 
No. If you look in post 5, I bought a rig with a hp44 in it and run that.

I flogged on the dana 30 for about 3.5 years this way, I went through a lot of balljoints but it never left me stranded. Now another local Naxja member has it and the matching 44 rear (35 spline, arb, etc), but hasnt installed them yet.

That's good service out of that D-30 then, I hope to do as well with mine.

With the Longfields in there I'm no longer worried about the shafts or axle joints. I'm hoping that the trussing and the cover will eliminate any ring gear deflection there might be. I have the Spicer ball joints. I also pre-heated the center section with a rose bud before welding and then wrapped it up in fiberglass batting for 12 hours to cool slowly. It was still warm to the touch when I pulled the batting off. I also welded it completely assembled so I could keep more heat in it. When I welded the truss to the tubing I did short welds and alternated back and forth from one side to another and one end to another.

"An ounce of prevention" so they say, time will tell.
 
Cal & XJTrailrider... Nice axles (though spending the money on Longfields is out for me)- I have been running the same debate through my head. I think that I am now leaning toward building my 30... at least until I get the coin to build a 609!

I have one question that seems to be a common one. The ARB would be my ideal, but is definitely not a budget item to say the least. I had a Detroit fail on my last rig when I snapped an axleshaft and am now leaning toward an Aussie or Lockright, what are your thoughts?
 
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