wrangler unl145

I have a 2011 JKU Sport with 32,000 miles on it. I have 35" tires and 3.5" Rock Krawler lift since it was new. I wheel it when a get a chance, probably 6 to 8 times a year. Recently, I have had to start replacing parts on the dana 30 front. I replaced both front unit bearings, u-joinst on front axles and now the front cv joint went out on front driveshaft. I was originally thinking of up grading the dana 30 to a dana 44, but now I'm not sure. Seems that the parts I have had to replace are the same as the parts on the dana 44, as well as are the ball joints, which I assume I will need to replace soon. My question is once these parts have been replaced with after market parts, do the parts last longer? If I up grade the front axle, is it worth replacing with a dana 44 or should I wait and save more money for a dana 60? I'm assuming that the 60 would have better components, such as bearings and ball joints. A 60 seems that it would be over kill, but I don't feel like replacing all these parts every 30,000 miles. Seems like there should be a better option.

The rear dana 44 seems to hold up well though. No issues.

Mark Doiron

You have a 3.5" lift. Make it 2.5" and you'll get a lot more life out of Rzeppa joint driveshafts. If you don't want to do that, then replace with CV-joint driveshafts, add the necessary control arms (if you haven't already), move the axle spring perches (if you haven't already), and do a proper alignment.

As for the axle U-joints, you may want to consider RCV shafts. But beware that some folks believe that you're moving a fairly easily repaired U-joint failure into an expensive differential failure. Another option might be to find some greasable U-joints, though some folks believe that the greasable ones are weaker than the lifetime lubricated ones (due to the channel for the grease). And having 23 grease fittings on my Jeep, I'm here to attest that it's a messy job to lubricate every few thousand miles, and before any off-road adventure.

As for unit bearings: Nothing aftermarket that I know of is better than OEM. I had a couple fail, too, but shortly after running in quicksand-filled rivers. That is just the nature of the beast when you use gear hard.

Ball joints: I know, you didn't mention ball joints, which is a bit surprising. But there are several good aftermarket solutions, from less than a couple hundred, to five or six hundred dollars. Any greasable ones would seem to be better than those plastic-lined OEM/aftermarket "lifetime lubricated" BJs.

wrangler unl145

Thanks for the response. Ball joints are on the list to be replaced soon. Getting ready to order a new drive shaft on Monday.
I will stay with U-joints since they're easy to replace.

Blakspire

Since you dont wheel very frequently, I definitely wouldn't concern yourself with trying to swap an aftermarket axle. That D30 is plenty strong for your purposes, plus it's light. BJ's and a driveline are really the only things I would worry about. If you want some insurance, sleeve and gusset the axle. Other than that, respect the gas pedal and upgrade failures.

Monte417

Before you go buying stock ujoints for that axle I would do some research on chromoly axles with full circle clips. Forget rcvs and get some ten factory front shafts with the sealed spicer ujoint and be done with it. Northridge sells a kit with the inner and outer shaft, ujoints and full circle clip. Been running those in my 44s for two years with no problems. I keep my stockers as trail spairs

TheDirtman

You could go the Spintec route and do lock out hubs and better bearings on the front axle but will require different wheels and is costly but not near as much as a D60. It will also save some wear and tear on the front driveshaft and save you a little on fuel as you will get slightly better mpg's with the lock outs. You would be looking at around $2k for the mod.

Monte417

Just curious if there is a conversion out there for the rear. Kind of like a full float conversion

TheDirtman

Not that I have seen but parts are out there and you can get custom shafts done. But why do all that work on a 44 when you can just throw a cheap dana 60 or 14 bolt under the rear.

JE8154

Teraflex put out something like this. Full float d44 conversions. They were price prohibitive.

Monte417

Eh...if it was bolt on and cost effective it could be an option I guess. I would love 60s front and rear but I'm not a very good welder