axle shaft swap

Does anybody know if you can take a non-diconect axleshaft and put it in a disconect axle housing that does not work anyway? dana 30

doesn't work?
i put 297s in mine a couple of weeks ago....i didnt even take the fork out...just be sure you get the c-clip on the end of the axle shaft in the carrier..or else you wont get the inner shaft out.....try to get as much of the fluid out of the disco section cause if not it will leak do to the axle tube being to small to properly seal @ the outer seal in the disco section...no need to worry cause fluid is no longer required at that section of the diff....hope i answered your question

So if I am understanding you correctly, take the disconect out including the c-clip plug in the non-disconnect axle and try to find the right seal that goes inside the diff by the carrier or inother words the inner axle seal. If this is the case what is the differece between the two inner seals?

You can always cheat and put in a disco 297 shaft like I did. The disco has been handy.

What is a 297 axle shaft? how much is it? and where do I find one? But the main reason I ask is my buuddy is the one with this problem and I have extra axles for my jeep and I was wondering if I could make it work with his. If so I would give it to him so he could go have some fun with us on sunday.

The 297 refers to the u joint. There are disco and nondisco 297 shafts out there. The non disco are stronger, but there are some advantages to having the disco axle. The 297 is the bigger ujoint, with 260 being the smaller. Hope this helps.

This will help ... CRASH's D30 Tech Thread

thanks for the reference

Where are you guys getting the 297 shafts from, the junk yard, or are you ordering them from some place?
...lil help...

Thanks

junkxj said:

The 297 refers to the u joint. There are disco and nondisco 297 shafts out there. The non disco are stronger, but there are some advantages to having the disco axle. The 297 is the bigger ujoint, with 260 being the smaller. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

I just got done reading the thread that Crash wrote and now the joint sizes make sense. There is still the quetion of whether or not I need to replace his inner axle seal. Are the dico and nondisco shaft diameters different? Which would cause me to replace the seal.

If you replace it with the 297 disco, everything is the same, no changes. The internal shaft is the same between both 260 and 297. Every D30 axle shaft break I have done or seen is at the outer ujoint. I have never seen a break at the disco or the internal axle. That is why I didn't bother to do the whole axle shaft swap. Now having said that, the one piece axles are a lot more common and may end up being cheaper.

The thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to put a whole lot of money into a D30 if you can keep from it. Ultimately they are on the weak side for major off roading. I have run one with my 4.7L stroker and 35's doing some pretty nasty trails for several years. I have survived but not without breaking a few shafts. I used that time to save a few dollars and work on a replacement. If you can fab a bit, there are some viable Dana 44 alternatives that can be done for a reasonable amount of money.

His non-disco is not working. All the vac lines are all jacked up and I don't want to mess with them. I don't mind throwing a 260 in his ride. he doesn't wheel that agressive. I have had mine apart a # of times so, in a garage setting I can perform the swap in probably less than an hour if I don't run into any problems. There is a manual disco actuater kit called posilok? out there but by the time you get it shipped to the door you would have spent around $200. I have an axle in my garage and if all I have to do is replace a seal or add one that would be the cheapest thing for him and it would get him on the road, or offroad. So yes money spent on the 30 is a factor that is why I need to know if this route is feasible. Thanks for any and all replys to this.

I can fab a bit that is why my xj is getting a 9" in the rear and either a 60 or a 9" in the front. My rear axle should be complete next week. Next month I will start my research on what I want to do for the front. I am going big because will have 38"s possibly up to a 39.5 under it befor long.

Does anyone have any info on the seals for this app?

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?p=447567#post447567

try this

lgorman00 said:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?p=447567#post447567

try this

Click to expand...

Thanx!!