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27 or 30 spline for Front Axle Upgrade? Opinions wanted!

thebyus

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Albuquerque, NM
Getting ready to upgrade the front end. Let's just start from the premise that I do not have enough $ lying around to swap the Dana 30 for a 44, so looking to upgrade the stock 30.

I am rolling 35's greared at 4.56 on the otherwise stock front end Dana 30, spend most of the time on trails, but do some crawling now and then. I am definitely a creeper, not a gunner.

Will be adding a truss and c-gussets as well as a locker (still up in the air over selectable vs. detroit (probably really a Yukon Grizzly)), so here is the question - when I pick a locker, do I go 27 spline because the axles are relatively easy to pull from a Junk Yard when they snap, or do I go 30 spline which are WAY more expensive, but less likely to snap?

I can see the logic both ways.

I really am interested in what you have experienced, seen, etc.
 
If You Plan To Do All That Is Sounds Like A 44 Is In Your Budget.

I Would Keep The More Common 27 Spline Ifyou Keep The 30. Just Get Chromos And Keep Your Stock Shafts For spares
 
Well, if you are a creeper and don't go nuts with throttle or rock crawling you might be best to save your $$ and put an Aussie locker in your front end, reinforce the LCA / UCA mounts, put a Solid or Ruffstuff cover on it and call it a day.
By the time you've trussed, gusseted, added a selectable locker and geared a 30 you are getting close to an entry level 44. That in itself isn't a reason not to put money into a 30, though. It's the right axle for most of us.
Anyway, and this is based on reading instead of experience, if I was going to run a 30 w/ 35" tires I would stick with 27 spline axles and run full circle clips on the shafts. This way you don't have to be worried your ring and pinion gears are going to blow up before your shafts. Put a full case locker & cromo 27 or 30 spline shafts in there, it's up in the air where your fuse is located and what will break first.
 
I wouldnt do 30 spline..

I was breaking stock shafts with the blip of the throttle in high traction spots, I upgraded to 27spline Alloy shafts, and then started breaking Ring and pinion teeth..

Looking back, Having the stock shaft snap is a much easier Trail-side repair.
 
If you want to do 30 spline, just do it. It is stronger.

You'll get a hundred opinions here, and pretty much everyone of them is "buy what i bought" or "buy what i want" so that people can validate their personal opinions.

You'll get a handful of "I did 27 spline, then 30, then a 44, then a 60". If you're asking these questions, those guys don't wheel like you do, and take it with a grain of salt.



..that said, I did 27 spline, then 30 spline, then a 44, then a 60 which I sold without installing to build another 44, with 30 spline dana 30 outers (and still run that one).

The setup I was the most comfortable with was the 30 spline dana 30 stuff.
 
Personally I love my dana 44... It lets me go harder into the skinny pedal than I would trust in my dana 30. I dont worry about the Ring and pinion any more, I worry about the U joints but on 35s I should be ok. I also like the perks I got like better steering and lock outs.
 
Wait, I've heard of putting 44 outers on a 30 (Reid Racing knuckles) but going the other way around...
You mean fitting D30 C's & (I'd assume) Super 30 outers onto 44 tubes & center, like a TJ or JK 44, and running 30 spline stubs & hubs?
That does sound like a pretty awesome setup. Do want!
 
Its done quite often yossarian. We do that on the Team Naxja car.

To make it even more complicated, we used WJ knuckles, and then a warn hub kit to convert it back to 5x5.5 ;)
 
Personally I prefer my lock outs. My font Detroit has an issue with not unlocking, It is nice to hop out and undo my hubs and forget I even have a locker. If I pop a hub it isnt the end off the world, I throw in a spare and keep wheeling. A call to warn later I will have another lock out...
 
I should rephrase.
It works fine offroad and when you want it locked. It doesnt like to unlock and the guy who did my gears looked had said that that was normal for this particular locker in this axle. I bought it pregeared and locked.
 
yeah, that is not normal.

usually indicative of a bent axle housing or broken locker
 
At the price of a detroit, wouldnt that put you pretty much at the baseline for a 44 swap?

No.. because then you have to buy all the stuff to do a 44 swap (a 44, all the upgrade parts, new wheels, new or modified rear end for bolt pattern)..

..and then still buy a detroit for teh 44.
 
Maybe warn out its from the 90s. Dunno or care. I can still drive it like normal and not worry
 
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