SGT.

I have the original front D-30, 5.13 gears, a front locker, and have been running 35's for 3 years now, and I havent had a problem. and Yes, I do use it.

wayoflife

well, techically, installing a locker and new gears doesn't really beef up the axle but, adding chromo shafts would and it's something i would recommend to anyone planning to keep their d30. if for no other reason, they would come with full circle clips and this would help prevent the number one cause of front axle breaks - u-joint failure. this if anything is what should be beefed up first and well before even thinking about things like sleeves.

regarding the JK d30's, they are different from a TJ in that they are wider and have c's that tend to bend. this is the reason why people want to have their axle gusseted up. also, while i have never seen it happen on older jeeps in all the years i have been wheeling , there have been a handful of cases (about a dozen or so compared to the hundreds of thousands of JK's out there) where the front housings have shattered clean in half. it is for these reasons that people feel that they want to sleeve their d30's.

it's not that the d30 is a terrible axle but, if you play with it, beefing it up certaily wouldn't hurt. having said that, for me personally, it makes no sense in throwing any money into beefing up a d30 housing (now that the prorock 44 is available) as in the end, you still just have d30 with it's smaller and weaker axle shafts and small ring and pinion. when you get up to a ratio like 5.13 (something most TJ's never did especially with just 35" tires), the pinion gets to be real small and can potentially break if playing hard. getting something like a prorock 44 unlimited would not only give you a real 44 with significantly thicker tubes and super beefy axle c's, you also get brackets that are 50% thicker than stock, positive caster built right into it, outboard shock mounts and, the ability to run beefier chromo shafts and a larger ring and pinion. but, that's just my opinion

DesignMonkey

Wayoflife.... what shafts would you reccomend?

wayoflife

if you're sticking with the 30, any good chromoly shaft would do the trick. superior makes a nice chromo shaft and i would probably go with it if you need it now. if you can wait a bit, there is another US company coming out with a set and from what i've seen, they are really nice. of course, if you really are determined to hang on to your d30 and have extra cash to spend, the rcv's are nice as well.

MyMopar

@wayoflife that is some good tech info. Regarding the Tj d-30, at the tine front axle replacements were big $$$ and spending $1400 on a d-30 was acceptable. Seeing how the pro rock 44 for the JK is much cheaper now compared to replacement axles for a tj I would probably spend the money on an axle upgrade ONLY if wheeling more than 30% is in the future.

Hoopa70

Exactly.... everyone thinks all 30's explode the first time they are wheeled or when 35's go on, I don't get it. You might regear the 30, maybe sleeve and gusset and NEVER need to upgrade,
I put 5:13's in mine a year and a half ago, If it blows up, I'll get the 44, but I'm not going to replace a working axle that isn't worth much $$ until MINE breaks. I paid for it when I bought the Jeep, I might as well use it until its junk.

drgreybow

Yep, this falls in line with Option 1. Everybody I know that's an old school jeeper says there's nothing wrong with the Dana 30. Just wheel it until it dies. If I regear'd and kept the Dana 30, I'd at least have the rear end done already if I had to replace the front. I'm thinking that if I had the Dana 30 for a couple years before it died, I'd be happy with that. I'm just not sure about scrapping something that isn't broken. I've already been through a whole season of some decent wheeling here in Colorado on my 35's and I haven't had any problems with the Dana 30.

I guess I'm leaning towards option 1 despite all the suggestions to go straight to the ProRock 44.

Grognard

Option 2 is to go straight to the ProRock 44, and sell the OEM axle to someone who has blown theirs up. Either option you get your moneys worth

drgreybow

So what would be a reasonable dollar amount to get for my stock Dana 30 with 3.73 gears? I haven't seen a lot for sale on the for sale section of the forum, but this could be a significant part of the decision to do a straight swap or stick with the d30. If its possible to get $1500-$2000 for the axle then that might sway me to the ProRock. If we're talking about 500 bucks or something then I'll probably just regear the d30 and wheel it til it snaps.

dmhines

$500 is even kinda high for a stock D30 ... I've seen them going for like $250 to $300 ... $1500 is what a Rubi D44 complete ready to bolt in front axle would go for ...