Question on locking a D35

Hey all. I have a 97 XJ with 31s and a 3" lift. I use my XJ mostly for expedition/exploring in the desert. The only rock climbing I do is mild and I mostly just do hill climbs. I would like to spend what little money I do have on GPS, Radios etc and not on expensive swaps. Since I don't rock climb or really abuse my XJ is it acceptable for me to just lock the D35 and not worry about a swap? Thanks and sorry for the long question.

I would not waste a penny on a D35!! I am sure that most here will agree!! Your vehicle & money, so do what you will.

Don't do it I have seen what an ARB does to a D35 and it ain't purty! Spend a couple huundred bucks on a 29 spline 8.25 or a D44 or even an exploder 8.8!

I understand the money thing...
...and I know I'll be going against the grain here :roll:

Lots of people lock D35's, and have very good luck doing so. When I got into this recreation, that's mostly what people wheeled; a locked D35 and 31" tires. Where they started breaking things was when they went big tire, and started doing more agressive stuff.

Now at this point, I will mainsteam a bit...

Since you are doing expeditionary things, you may want to consider an axle upgrade, if for no other reason than your piece of mind. It's one thing to snap an axle in an Off-Road park and be inconvenienced, and yet another to snap one in the middle of a desert and be truly F'd.
You could do a Super 35 upgrade and that's expensive unless you can find some used axle shafts. Or either of the two axles previously mentioned in this thread are much stronger than the D35 right out of the box. With an Exploder 8.8" rear, you get rear disc brakes to boot. As you mentioned though, money... For $500-$600 you are locked with a stronger axle.

Either that, or carry a spill kit, 2 quarts of gear lube, and a set of shafts with you.

Your rig, your money. I'm not going to push you either way. I have locked a number of D35's and never saw an incident of breakage where there wasn't real abuse involved. However, the web is full of D35 horror stories...

-Ron

Mine was not locked, and all it took was a burnout on gravel with nice new meats

I have run a locked D35 for a couple of years now on my 89 XJ sitting on 33s without a problem and I've wheeled it hard up in the rocks of the Mohawk Mountains on the east coast. I always carry spare shafts and fluid with me just in case and I'm always in a group. If I was doing expeditionary wheeling without many others around me I don't think I would be comfortable with this set up though.

i agree with the others and say go with like an 8.8 with discs. if you do expendition and have more weight the discs are going to help you out and you wont have to worry so much about breaking an axle when you are out. ya you can lock the d35 and probably not have problems but worrying about it all the time is enouph for me to not go with it imo

A friend of mine wheels a D30/D35 combo with ARBs in both. Last trip out wheeling, he snapped an axle shaft. The D30. He's had great luck with it. He also is very gentle, he tries to crawl everything, from crawling over rocks, to crawling up a dune. He doesn't get very far on the dunes as a result, but his axle has survived.
I'd recommend going to the junk yard, finding an XJ with an 8.25, then swapping that in. If you haven't regeared your axles yet, it should swap right in without having to regear. Lock that and don't worry about it snapping unless you're being really hard on it.

I was thinking of swapping rear ends on my Jeep but to me, it's too much money and work for my budget right now. If my Jeep wasn't my DD, or if I didn't have ABS, I'd be all up for it.

I am not a fan of the the Dana 35 but just adding a Lock-Right locker would probably be the cheapest way to go.

Dana 35 horror stories: I have broken an axle shaft on a dana 35 and had the wheel seperate from the jeep while driving about 15 mph on a dirt road with 31's. I have had the carrier bearings go bad on a street-only dana 35 with stock tires. My wife has a 91 with the 8.25 rear that I have been torturing for years and I have never had any problems with it. I swapped the dana 35 for a 8.25 in the XJ I have now in the very first week I bought it. I know some people have had luck with the dana 35 but I think that all jeeps should have come from the factory with a Dana 44 rear.

I ran a D35 with a Detroit truetrac for about a year. After blowing out the R&P i swapped for a 29 8.25... it is currently still open which needs to change ASAP. But besides that, i was happy with the D35 and Trutrac, its not a total locker but it deff made a huge difference in mud and on loose surfaces...

Also... its also all in how much of a throttle junkie you are, if you got a heavy foot.... you might want to upgrade

I owned an 89 XJ sitting on 8.5" of old school lift and 35" M/T's since the early 90's. D30/D35. They had lockers the last 2 years I owned it and had maybe 20k miles put on it, mostly street as it was a Daily Driver for a good portion of those years.

Never had an issue with the D35, and I had a cam and high compression pistons in the motor too!

I've since sold that Jeep and gotten a newer one, and am avoiding some mistakes of the last XJ, so it's sitting on a little 3" lift and 31's. Still got the 30/35, and, this weekend, they're both getting Lockers, and the D35 is getting alloy shafts ($199 from 4x4groupbuy.com) as well. Stockers will be carried as spares.

While I have no doubts that the D35 is one of the weaker axles under a 4x4, especially when it comes to Pounding Rocks, I believe if you use a combination of your Brain as well as your skinny pedal, your D35 will probably last. (Probably!)

Eric :wierd:
P.S. Putting my money where my mouth is too! Going to NWFest with 30/35 setup. (Tho I do have a D44, in case the D35 just doesn't hold up)

Get an 8.25 from the JY for cheap... Dont waste the time on the D35

codyyy said:

I was thinking of swapping rear ends on my Jeep but to me, it's too much money and work for my budget right now. If my Jeep wasn't my DD, or if I didn't have ABS, I'd be all up for it.

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Swapping in an 8.25 is reasonably cheap and pretty simple and straight forward. You'll just need new u-bolts. If you've lifted and installed new leafs, swapping the axle is the same basic task.

sounds like you do some Solo trips, possibly out exploring and enjoying scenery, not really alot of "wheelin trails"

I wouldnt want to be miles from cell service, alone, when a D35 shaft breaks..

If I hadn't run across my '35 locker as cheap as I did, I wouldn't be bothering locking it.
As it is, this will get me by until I can scrape the funds together to put in a strong rear, and lock it at the same time.

Nick

Darky said:

Swapping in an 8.25 is reasonably cheap and pretty simple and straight forward. You'll just need new u-bolts. If you've lifted and installed new leafs, swapping the axle is the same basic task.

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I would, but I still have this stupid thought about tweaking with the ABS. I kinda don't want to get rid of it. Right now I'm at the mentality "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I guess I just need a little push to get to that point.
I'm in the same situation as the OP is though. I'm not much for rocks. I love the back trails and a little mud, just general off-roading.

Exactly my "Dilemma".

I already had a locker for an ABS D35, but picked up a D44 out of an XJ a few months back.

Upon closer inspection, the 44 looks a little rough, so I want to do a total, unrushed, rebuild including a GOOD locker and re-gearing, as well as a thorough cleaning and painting as well. Anything worth doing is worth doing right the first time. :roll:

I was just gonna drop the rear locker in without the new shafts, but, I figured for $200 for alloy shafts for the D35, I could add those for an extra margin of safety now, and take my time and do the D44 right while not missing any wheeling.

Hopefully I won't be :tears: @ NWFest. I'm just sticking to the moderate trails though, not the Epic Run.

Eric :wierd:

Thanks for all the info guys! I really have a lot to think about. I have crazy work hours and am off on the weekdays so I am forced to wheel by myself. I guess I'll have to save a little and find a 8.25 or 8.8. Are these direct swaps or is there any welding involved?

8.25 is direct as it came stock in the XJ. 8.8 is from the Explorer. Needs Jeep spring pads.