gsg

Ok so I know that switching to a 44 is a good thing however. Just curious - I am running 35's on AEV 3.5 lift with 513's and I have the Stock Dana30 front end.

Since is have already spent the money on the gearing I am only partially married to the shafts. That being said I want to add lockers. Am I better to stick with the Dana 30 or go for the 44 and eat the cost of the gearing?

dahreno

That depends on what you do with your Jeep. Some feel they need a 44 and lockers to go to the mall.

Desert Crawler

Meadowood does have some sizable speed bumps, but at the summit he should be fine.
The issue is how small (i.e.:weak) the pinion is at that gear ratio.

urmyboyblue

I'm by no means an expert but I'll chime in.

I live in Florida....South Florida. Where it is flat until you're about 4 hours north then we have a few off road places to go which are actually quite fun.

I did my drivetrain in October-ish with my D30 and rear 44. I went ARB's, 4.56's, truss, gusset, and ball joints. I came out at about $4500. I could've picked up a PR for for ~$4800 like I want it, but then would still have to regear the rear and lock it which would be another ~$2k, sell my stock D30, I would've maybe had $6k in axle work. While not crazy as opposed to those who put serious parts in their rigs, I did a reality check:

I drive to work and home about 50-60 miles/day. I've got 3 kids, a job that keeps me busy, so at the end of the day, I get up north about 4-5 times/year. ALSO, since I owe on the Jeep, I have fun, but I'm not bouncing off rocks like some of my buddies do because my money needs to go to other stuff, like house, wife, kids, etc. whereas they are single and no kids....they can afford to break something. That's not saying I don't wheel, I just wheel smartly. Case in point...Last trip, group of 10 Jeeps went, 2 tried some gnarly rock face and just beat their front bumper and skid plates and never made it up...I figured I wouldn't even try.

So for me, it suits my purposes for now.

HOWEVER, seeing where you live, if I lived there, I would have access to more areas to wheel and I'd probably wheel more often, so I would've done it right the first time and just got the PR44...

Fusion 4x4

If you add lockers, you are going to pay the full cost of install all over again, so that money is gone regardless. Depending on miles on your current gears, you may need a minor install kit. If it is a lot of miles, you will likely want new major install kits. The little bit you'd lose in the actual cost of the ring and pinion, you will likely get back when you sell the re-geared axle.

Adding a locker creates more stress on the R&P when wheeling. A D30, 35s and a locker is risky. Having that and 5.13 gears is high risk. As you go to numerically higher in gear ratio, there are less teeth on the gears. So, you have far less contact surface than say the stock 3.21 or 3.73 gears. Even on a D44, 5.13 is not ideal in terms of engagement.

Given your location, you are already have a situation that often leads to D30 failure. You can get out of it now with not too much of a loss. Add a locker, and you wont be able to sell it used for much more.

With all that said, don't spend $5k on a D44. That's just crazy.

shabbernigdo

thats me except my mall is walmart : )

jtphoto JK

Right now you can likely get into a G2 Core44 all set up for you for around $3500. However, Fusion may have a D60 alternative for you for around that price.
Personally I wouldn't waste money on a D30. I went with a D44HD/J8 housing and bulit it myself with an OX locker and 5.38 for 37" tires.

sa29560

This might be what I'm reading in a bunch of threads.

But it's likely what I'll be doing. I've got a d30 I wheel the grit out of sitting at 101k. I have a bad driver lower bj, that's a ball joint gentleman, and need a new Ujoint on the passenger side.

Figuring these will really be the last hurrahs for this axle. If I break it in the coming months or accrue further failures it's going bye bye.

I have been looking at the fusion axles and if the prices are what they are, i will go front first and rear 6-10 months after.

gsg

Thanks for the info

gsg

I do a fair amount of off roading both here in Colorado and in Utah. it is a daily driver as well though