Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Looking to go a bit harder. Have been told the Dana 30 will not stand up to comps.Asking advice on up grades for the front diff.

XJ high pinion D30 is supposed to be a bit stronger, then there's the Super 30 which I think is comparable with a Dana 44 up front (30 housing with stronger internals). You could then look at a real Dana 44 and beef that up, or maybe a Dana 60. Quite a lot of options depending on cash.

In saying that Wooders has done two tuff trucks with a low pinion Dana 30 in the front of his TJ and it still lives. He was running 36" tyres I think. Most of the daily driver/comp TJs still run a D30 housing at least, not many have swapped in anything else.

Cheers
Steve

Riley,

Speifically what sort of comps are you looking to enter and what's the maximum tyre size you plan to run?
The dana30 is a bit ouny - but it's not really as weak as some make out - so if you can enlighten us to your plans we might be able to add some more value to our input

your best bet is to do as the woods man says......but.....theres aftermarket axels out there, whole axel upgrades from 28 to 31 spline ( i think) and the thing can be braced for strength...that should be plenty strong enough for most.

I am planning on winch challange events.So my tyre size would be 35s to 36 max.Thanks for the help.

wooders ran 36 simex ( i think ) at tuff truck for th elast two years.

since its a winch event ( hi-speed running and slowly getting dragged over stuff ) id brace the axle tube, upgrade the tie rod to Skyjacker HD unit, install a diff guard, and get some chromo. axles to replace the factoy units.

theres a scouts dana 44 with air locker and 4.1 ratios for $1800 in the for sale section if ya really concermed.

stu wrote:wooders ran 36 simex ( i think ) at tuff truck for th elast two years.

since its a winch event ( hi-speed running and slowly getting dragged over stuff ) id brace the axle tube, upgrade the tie rod to Skyjacker HD unit, install a diff guard, and get some chromo. axles to replace the factoy units.

swampers i believe.

IMHO i would build the 30 and unless you're going every weekend and giving it a real hard time and breaking it.. then consider it as a future mod down the track.

Thanks guys for the info i might build up the 30 it sounds like the way to go.

Yeah I was n 36" TSL's.
Anyhow one good thing about the dand30 is it's small. and that means good axle clearance when competing in a class of limited tyre size - ie hopefully a bit more clearance than your fellow competitor on similar sized meats.
The other thing is most winch challenges are about power & weight - and the dana 30 IS nice & light.

IMHO if I was building (& pepared to spend some coin) for winch challenge I'd go:
XJ high pinion D30. Truss the bejessus out of it (benting the tubes is one of the more likely senarios otherwise).
Then go fo a Super 30 upgrade which gives you thicker shaft with more splines.
I'd also go for WJ knuckles with the dual piston brakes - all the more important is you have speed sections.
I'd probably stay wth a 4.56 ratio to keep a bit more meat on the teeth than you get with the 4.88 ratio.
Many get a hub convesion from Warn - but after you've blown the 3rd hub give us a yell & we'll supply one of our fixed hubs

Only problem is I;ve just blown a heap of coin on the above setup....
Another option would be to build a 9" diff to suit. Jp did an article about 18months ago where they build one and made it extremely light by:
Using a spool not a locker (much lighter),
They used gun barrellel drilled shafts,
They CNC'ed long sections of metal from the tubes to shave weight off. they also drilled the knuckles out,
rom memory the used an alloy 3rd member too......
But at the end of it they had a string but light axle....just what you really need - just expect to spend big for that sort of setup.

Anyhow my 2 main suggestion are focus on 1. Clearance & 2. Weight.
Strength is 3rd.....

Wooders wrote:
Anyhow my 2 main suggestion are focus on 1. Clearance & 2. Weight.
Strength is 3rd.....

clearance and weight are no good if you cant finish the track cos your broken

strength and reliability should be the number one priorty

followed by clearance

then weight ( diffs are the lowest things to the ground a good place for weight)

One of the guys over here has been wheeling rocks with a D30 on 37's for quite some time now without a problem. The axles are chromo with warn hubs... But in saying that there are also guys over here breaking stuff in the ruts with 35's. Get someone to watch your driving style and I think they will be able to give you important information about your driving. EG. You would get caught one rock if it was the only rock over one hundred square meters.

Guys
Is it worth putting Warn free wheeling hubs in .

No.....from what i hear they grenade quite often.

stu wrote:No.....from what i hear they grenade quite often.

Unless you fit upgraded Hubs

Wooders wrote:

stu wrote:No.....from what i hear they grenade quite often.

Unless you fit upgraded Hubs

or 5 on 5.5 full floater upgrade