D30 or D44?

Well lets hear some opinions on what everyone thinks is the better route to go, either build up my D30 with alloy shafts, upgraded steering, and a locker or not waste any time and money and just go to a D44 front with a locker and eventually run alloy shafts in it as well. I currently have a D44 rear that I am going to build and throw under the jeep but cant make up my mind on the front. I am going to be insalling my 5.5 RE lift and T&T long arms soon and will run 35" tires.
If I go the D44 route what is the best donor vehichle to get one from? I know you can find them under a waggy but they are low pinion correct? What about bolt pattern for the wheels? Also I know you can get them from older mid 70's ford pickups but I believe they are full width and I dont really want to go full width since my rear D44 is out of a cherokee. Lets hear opinions or suggestions....

Sean....

As far as donor vehicles you would want an early bronco for the right width then run newer 150 outers to get discs if you didnt find one with discs already. I have been running a 30 with 35s for some time now and have a govloc in the front with tj shafts and xj 44 outback with alloy shafts and Detroit it works really well and i am not really hesitant to lock the front fully with a good set of shafts. my xj is a 96 so no funky disconnect axle I already have good steering and swapped in tj shafts to get the bigger joints, I run the rubicon and fordyce and live in Pollock Pines CA where I peel out in the snow with reckless abandon and if you stay on the u joints or run CTM and run alloy shafts and a selectable locker it should take quite a beating with the 35's. If you beat it hard the C willl spread but a gussset and offset balljoint would fix that prob. It all just comes down to what you can do yourself or are willing to pay for, are you planning on fully getting it peeling out on grippy rock? can you drive? do you have an auto, or a stick and deep gearing? Bottom line short of the Hammers and extreme stuff that would destroy a rig with so much body the 30 can be made pretty darn good. If I had it to do over I would probly have gone the 44 route for the hubs and piece of mind but since my stering is done and brackets are all gusseted already I will run the 30 till it lets me down in a tragic way but it hasnt yet. Hope this helps?

Most guys can be happy with a well-built D30. Unless you're into crazy stuff, it should hold up fine.

What's your longer term goal? What kind of trails?

The D30 can hold up fine to 35's if you have chromo shafts and u-joints........in most situations. Since the Spicer axle shafts and u-joints are the weak point, I'd rather have a D30 with chromo shafts than a D44 with Spicer shafts. Basically, if you're going to upgrade to a D44 you need to budget chromo shafts from the beginning, otherwise it's not really an upgrade.

If you want.........call me.

Unless you get a smoking deal on a Dana 44, to me it's not worth the upgrade. Steering is better, usually you get hubs, so money-wise you can probably build one for the same or less than a Dana30. But if I'm going to go through fabbing mounts, gear setup, etc., I'll be swappin gin a Dana 60, or a 44 or 9 inch with 60 outers.