I agree with others, Just go have fun with the Dana 30 upfront. The Dana 30 can handle plenty of wheeling with 35 inch tires, just be smart and since it's your daily driver as you mentioned you want be doing anything to crazy. I have had zero issues out of my 30, technical stuff I just crawl and let the tires and gearing do the work. You start putting power to the front axle and it gets to hopping that's when the weak links show up.

 

Budget is a big deal in building and many people go thru just what you are talking about. I am one of them that has been thru the process. Reinforce you current axles, buy rubi take offs, reinforce the rubi axles, buy a pro rock 44, buy a big brake kit, buy a pro rock 60 or other ton axle. This waste a huge amount of money. I am not telling you to go out and get a 60 front but that is the typical route.

I think your gearing is too low for a DD. 4.1-4.4.56 for a 35" tire.

If an aftermarket housing is not in the cards because of price just put your 34-35" tires on the factory axles and run it. The dana 30 front with a lunch box will handle it and if you are not doing really hard trails with lots of throttle you will likely be fine. You will find that running with 35's will make the trails easy and I bet you find yourself trying harder lines and climbs to keep the excitement factor up. This is where you can go off the rails and dump big money into the upgrades. Bigger tires, lift, axles.

I would not go the rubi take off route.

Actually trading your jeep off on a rubicon with 4.10 gears makes perfect sense if you can make the right deal.

If you have any thoughts about going to 37's (which I presume since you mentioned 4.88 gears) I would go with an aftermarket axle. Here is one of the biggest things people do when buying an after market axle, they buy one in the factory width. IF you do go the route of an after market axle go extra width. I would go at least 4" wider then stock for 35's and 6" wider for 37's. This takes the stress off the ball joints and unit bearings and gives you better steering angles. It also gives you more room for brackets like was mentioned for shocks earlier. Also ask yourself if you want a lock out hub when upgrading axles. I say its worth it but requires more money and different bolt patterns on the wheels. Big brakes should also be thought about. Adding a big brake kit and lock out hubs to a PR44 puts you in the cost range of a PR60 or a hybrid 40/60. You can also find after market axle built with king pins instead of ball joints. Fusion 4x4 should be on anyones list for an after market axle.

My recommendation would be to throw the 35's on and run what you have. Once you get more off road experience the path should be clear to you.

 

Not sure what seat heaters you installed. I put in WarmSeats years ago and they've been great. They sure do eat the damn switches up though. I've replaced several times now. Just replaced again this weekend and ordering the little caps for the switches this time. Not sure if I get dust/liquid (from cleaning) down in there or what, but they tend to stop working over time.

I have this kind of switch -

 

Yea that’s the same switch.

 

Looks like build up my Stock axles is the best bet for now. So much to learn but I’m having fun. I’ve always been into import cars or motorcycle before this. Hoping this won’t break as many bones lol. Thanks everyone if your near NW PA look me up.

 

So you are just going to throw money away.

 

I don’t plan on doing a full build guess I wasn’t clear. Probably just C gussets maybe a lunch box and up grade ball joints when they start to go. I’ll see where that gets me and go from there. Probably stick with my 295 70 17 tires until I’m ready to fully commit to a axle route. Then I’ll invest in gearing and better lockers on whatever axle I’m gonna stick with.

 

I run a G2 Core 44. For the price, it's a heck of an axle. Beefier than an ultimate 44 and less than a Prorock or a RockJock. They do frequently go on sale and you can do a completely custom axle.

If you are going to wheel it moderately hard, don't waste your money building a Dana 30. You can dio a decent job with a Rubi Dana 44 but it's still weaker than most of the aftermarket axles.

 

too bad you can't get in a 68" WMS

 

what’s that I’m guess 68” is width. Still learning all the lingo.