Axle confusion

97jeeptj

New Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Location
Pineville, NC
So I know alot about rearends of jeeps having rebuilt my Dana 35 twice, but not so much about the front ends, in may 2010 the bearings blew up in the pinion of my front axle, having no idea how to fix it i got a quote from a family mechanic for 600 bucks to rebuild, 3 days later i get a call back saying its done and i owe him $1100 bucks because it all fell apart when he opened it up. Now its the middle of october and all the bearings blew again and this time blew the axle tube seals, i was quoted at least $1400 bucks for a rebuild. Not happening. Currently i just have my front driveshaft disconnected. I am running a RE 5.5in long arm kit with 35s. I have looked everywhere for a dana 44 and am having trouble finding one in my price range, until tonight a friend suggested i just get a High Pinion dana 30 and use my gears and locker out of my old axle. So can some one please help me and tell me should i be getting a HP dana 30 of try and find a 44 and regear it. All i want is my 4 wheel drive back before uwharrie closes and have it be reliable and as inexpensive as possible. Thanks!
 
hp d30s are cheap and pretty sturdy. I never had any trouble out of mine (1 broken shaft and some busted ball joints, once). When you can get one for $100 or so, no need to shell out all the cash for a rebuild!

however, most of the d30 failures I've heard about are r&p when they are geared to 4.88. if this could be the root of your problems, maybe it's time to go for d44/9" or 8.8 combo or something.
 
The HP30 is a good choice for 35s (I have seen 37s) and moderate wheeling, Just don't beat on to hard. It will bolt right up. As for the locker and gears, You locker from a LP30 will work in a HP30 but your gears will not, HP30s are reverse cut gears.
 
Okay awesome, the only have problem ive had out of this dana 30 is these bearings blowing up and i talked to a good friend about it who has a shop and he said he feels like its the driveshaft angle that ends up chewing up the bearings, does that sound right? Also would i have to get a new driveshaft or is it the same as well? And what did the HP dana 30 come out of so i can start looking around for one? Thanks so much for all your help
 
HP30s were used in all XJs up until '99 or 2000. The eariler ones have smaller axleshaft U-joints and/or a center axle disconnect (CAD). Look for the mid-later 90's XJ's to bolt in your TJ.
If you have enough lift, the driveshaft should be fine, otherwise you might need to shorten it up a bit. I would think 5.5" is more than enough lift.

YJs also had a HP30, but they are leafsprung and won't bolt right in.

As mentioned above, the HP/LP gears are not interchangeable. The locker should swap over though.
 
Okay, I am the proud owner of a HPdana30. I have the hubs shafts and bearing caps off have not pulled the carrier yet I am planning on doing that tomorrow. In the mail tomorrow will come my reverse cut ring gear and pinion, so tomorrow i am going to take apart my axle and start pulling it out. So i can pull the carrier out of my LP dana 30 and put the new gears on it and put it straight into my HPdana 30 is my question? also my second question which may be a dumb one but i am not as familar with front axles, can i use the axle shafts out of my LP dana 30? Thanks everyone for your help!
 
You could probably do that, but it might not last long. When swapping ring and pinion gears, a professional would check many things (endplay, backlash, pinion depth), and adjust the ring gear position and pinion depth with shims for the optimal gear contact. I have to admit, I've read too much about it and never done it myself, but the way I understand it, if its off a few thousandths on an inch, your gear setup is bound to fail.
Other things to consider are bearings. Did you get new ones? I can't remember, but I think the D30 pinon bearing is pressed on the gear.
Don't mix up the bearing races, they are matched to the bearings.
Bearing caps..they need to go back on the axle exaclty how they came off...ie the LH cap needs to go back on the LH side in the same orientation it came off, no flipping top/bottom. They are usually marked with some one or two punch marks, or an arrow cast in.
I guess you're keeping the same gear ratio..if not be careful of the carrier break. 3.73 and up (4.10...) uses one carrier, 3.54 and down (3.07...) uses another.

Shafts should slide right in.
 
yes your axle shafts will work! everything but gears will swap from both axles. im going to rec. that you stop where your at before you remove the carrier and find someone that can help you with setup on the gears. i dont think i would use the same mechanic for any axle work in the future if thats what he charges for bearings.
 
So i can use the carrier out of my LP dana 30 as long as i change the gears to the new ones? and i have kept everything seperate and in order no worries there!
 
No worries i have everything very organized. Im working bymyself so nothing is getting mixed up. Got the new gears in today and pulled my axle almost all the way out, went ahead and pulled the locker and regeared it. Tomorrow im pulling the 2 lower long arms off and going to slide the axle out and hopefully install the HP one. I have tons of pics, thinking about doing a thread on it anyone think itd behelpful?
 
Finished it yesterday, everything lined up great, got an appointment for my alignment which is way out thank god for lifetime alignment at firestone! Thanks guys for all the help!
 
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