wj brakes on xj

[cal]

Ok So I can see your argument on spindle strength . we could say the 30 gets the advantage here, but it seems marginal to me for all intents and purposes due to the high cost of the kit.

its pretty well known about the Tbird caliper swap on the hp44s though to clear 15" steelies with minimal grinding (No problem clearing on mine) . They arguably pump as much fluid as dual piston fronts if not more and were stupid cheap compared to WJ brakes so you can retain 5 on 5.5. 900$ on WJ stuff or 40$ on t bird calipers and another 85$ on custom brakelines to fit them. advantage 44.

If you are going to spend 1600$ on a yukon hub kit for a d30 you can spend 1700$ for 30 spline RCV kit with 30 spline hub gears for your 44. I would say thats advantage 44.

Your numbers are totally invalid, though. Putting the two costs of upgrades side by side you are assuming someone already has fully built and bracketed 30 and 44 axles sitting in their garage, and are going to spend $900 to upgrade one or $40 to upgrade the other.


I'm not saying there isn't a right place for a front 44 (I have 44's on both XJ's), but its the 1% and not every ****ing person that asks a question about upgrading their front axle.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

if a good friend said: why jon, I have 4000$ and I want to put it into a hub kit and wj brakes on my 30, while gearing and locking it at the same time" I would probably freak out and say lets find you a HP44 if you're going to spend all of that money .

Now if they said I have 650$ id say lets find you a lunchbox locker and some used chromos and call it done . by talking about hub kits and WJ swaps he is implying gears and a locker and therefore a large budget.

 

[zachandandy]

I didn't intend to question your experience cal, my point was so many of us tried polishing a 30, throwing money away, only to wind up building a 44 or larger and most say they regret building the 30 at all. How many people have u seen wish they had stuck with the 30 instead of building something bigger?

 

[cal]

Thats really not a fair question though Zach, like asking how many people got a masters degree and wish they stopped at a bachelors.


Instead consider; how many people still have a dana 30 and don't regret not going to a 44?

When you find that its 95% of XJ owners, you can start to understand how few people need to go bigger.. ..and how frustrating it is to see people be constantly told they are wasting their hard earned cash if they don't build what you have. (not you specifically).

 

[zachandandy]

I agree bigger axles are not for everyone, but you'll never convince me that a free spin kit is a good investment on any axle. That $1000 gets you manual hubs that tons of easily swapped axles already have. But then again there are people dumping tons of cash on other products I'd never buy/ don't see the value in. You can build whatever you like, but I wish someone had steered me away from putting any money into my 30 and I will continue to at least some others don't follow in my footsteps.

 

[yossarian19]

The only front axle swap that's easy for most people is HP30 for LP30 or vice versa.
There is not a single other front axle swap that isn't going to be a major undertaking for 90% of us. That's why the kit exists : because a LOT more people would like lockout hubs (for whatever reason) than could pull off a good 44 swap.

 

[Demonoid369]

I agree bigger axles are not for everyone, but you'll never convince me that a free spin kit is a good investment on any axle. That $1000 gets you manual hubs that tons of easily swapped axles already have. But then again there are people dumping tons of cash on other products I'd never buy/ don't see the value in. You can build whatever you like, but I wish someone had steered me away from putting any money into my 30 and I will continue to at least some others don't follow in my footsteps.

What about the d34 swap? I remember seeing that thread here on swapping over 44hubs to a 30 which looked to be way cheaper than the kit.

I know for me and going only to 35" at most, a polished 30 would be cheaper for me than a 44 cut down and such. All the ruby d44's that are our width sell for 1k around here and by the time my 30 hits that number, ill have a axle that is more stronger than that stock 44.

 

[Root Moose]

I have a well polished 30 and have no regrets really. The hubs were a luxury but everything else was fine. When I bought the hub kit it still only cost ~$700 (2006?) so in that context it made more sense than it does today.

I don't need anything more for MY usage. I'm on 32s and at most will see moderate off-road trails with this Jeep. Not everyone is building a dedicated rock surfing device.

$0.02

 

[donthelegend]

What about the d34 swap? I remember seeing that thread here on swapping over 44hubs to a 30 which looked to be way cheaper than the kit.

I'm pretty sure the only reason that swap was cost effective was because the person who did it was a machinist and had free access to the tools necessary to modify the 44 parts. If you had to pay for that machining I think it would no longer be cheap at all.

 

[foxwar71]

if a good friend said: why jon, I have 4000$ and I want to put it into a hub kit and wj brakes on my 30, while gearing and locking it at the same time" I would probably freak out and say lets find you a HP44 if you're going to spend all of that money .

Now if they said I have 650$ id say lets find you a lunchbox locker and some used chromos and call it done . by talking about hub kits and WJ swaps he is implying gears and a locker and therefore a large budget.

This.

If you're doing it all at once, I wouldn't bother with a 30. If you wanna toss some goodies into to get going and later down the road add a little more, then it isn't too bad of an idea. Wow, I can't believe it actually sounds like I'm defending the 30. Then again, for less then $4k I swapped in built 1tons.

 

[yossarian19]

Less than 4K in the axles.
Now add in the tires to make those axles work
And the suspension to make the tires work.
See where I'm going?

 

[zachandandy]

Suspension and tires are needed even if you plan a polished 30? We all know you have to pay to play. If you're talking a street jeep, just run the stock axles.

 

[blondejoncherokee]

Thats really not a fair question though Zach, like asking how many people got a masters degree and wish they stopped at a bachelors.


Instead consider; how many people still have a dana 30 and don't regret not going to a 44?

When you find that its 95% of XJ owners, you can start to understand how few people need to go bigger.. ..and how frustrating it is to see people be constantly told they are wasting their hard earned cash if they don't build what you have. (not you specifically).

I agree 100%. most XJ owners have a non existent budget. so keep the 30 and wheel the heck out of the thing, they last a long time and are a dime a dozen. when someone comes in starting from scratch wanting to blow a ton of money I point them in the other direction. Im sure its like 1% or 5% of the time. 95%-99% of the time the answer is throw some chromos in, cover, steering, locker and gears and wheel it for as long as you can call it done. But the 1% or 5% or whatever it is, that says: I have a huge budget to start well then things are a lot different now.…

 

[blenny]

Just my .02 and that is about all it is worth. I had a disco 30 that I wanted to upgrade.
Junk yard WJ knuckles calipers $75
Autozone calipers (jy were frozen) $100
Ghetto truss $25
gears and install kit $200
Chromo axles $350
Sport track rotors $75
Ruffstuff steering $300
Ruffstuff cover $100
OTK trackbar and brackets $200
Spartan locker $250
Junkyard housing $125
01 Unit bearings $150
$1950
WOW that's the first time I actually added that up I thought it was closer to $1200, don't show my wife..... and all those are from memory and I am sure I forgot a few things.
It has been a good axle and the only thing I have broken was one bad weld, but a $2000 d30 seems excessive. In hindsight I wish I had just locked, geared, and new diff cover for about $500 (left out the $1200 wj swap) and saved for something bigger.

 

[DeftwillP]

What about balljoints Pat?

 

[blenny]

And jks spacers......

 

[walgren]

thx guy I don't plan on any ruff off roading as my back wont take it. I just plan on using it for everyday and weekends in the woods. my other question would be what are ur thoughts on exo and internal tube sleeves

 

[blondejoncherokee]

thx guy I don't plan on any ruff off roading as my back wont take it. I just plan on using it for everyday and weekends in the woods. my other question would be what are ur thoughts on exo and internal tube sleeves

if thats all you are doing then you really don't need the hubs or WJ brakes . Just leave the 30 alone. same for tube sleeves. they are good, but you sound like you are not really wheeling this thing and you have a bad back. at that point just leave the 30 alone.

 

[Root Moose]

Agree. Maybe do WJ brakes if you do a lot of towing. That was the primary reason I did mine... Well that and that stock XJ brakes generally suck anyway.

 

[cal]

Agreed. Buy a set of Black Magic brake pads and be done with it.