Inquiring mind, inside looking to be enlightened

Bunn

New Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2008
Location
Winston Salem
So, general rule of thumb (respectively) is with Dana35's and a locker your gonna tear stuff up, and I dont mean the trails !! Axle shafts and whatnot, Right ?
Well with a light foot,smaller tires(31/32") and some common sense you could pull it off for a while but your still sitting on a time bomb, and not a fun one to deal with id imagine.
I road raced cars,motorcycles, and have been wheeling since I was 10 (lived on a farm) so I know about throttle control and what you can and cant get over, or around. But still ....

Ive owned my chilli pepper red TJ since the showroom floor in 1998. Its got 72k(actual) miles on it and up until yesterday was completely stock all its life READ: I still beat the snot outta it in the woods for the past 12yrs though !! Its been a rough life for her but shes doing great !!
I added a 15x10 and 31's untill I install the lift kit at the end of the month and have been wanting a locker for her. My old sammi needed one but I never got around to it and my xj did too but ... you guessed it ... i never got around to it ..... Well dag on it im going to do it this time!!! But ive decided NOT My D35!! This time ill build my rig slowly while still driving her and do it right.

The one thing I dont see discussed much is the Dana30 though. I see rigs with a d44 or ford 8.8 in the rear all the time locked up. Ill get to that on my rig later not in a hurry right now for what I do. And a 30 up front no worries....

FINALLY MY QUESTION are they locked upfront ? As far as I can tell it would be almost just as beneficial to lock the front and not the rear in a 30/35 combo case ....

Is it stupid to lock the front and not the rear?? Ive noticed plenty of time where my front being locked would have afforded me to get unstuck or over something. Can a D30 handle a locker with nothing over a 33 and not be worried ? Or do guys just build and lock the rears and leave the fronts open until they do a 1 ton conversion or what ever else ? Sorry for the long post I tired to keep it somewhat interesting but now my coffee is wearing off .......
Discuss
 
Locked in the front only is way better than not locked at all. During acceleration and climbing, about 60-70% of your traction comes from the rear due to weight transfer, so thats why it is more beneficial to lock the rear. Also, a locker in the front makes steering more difficult, particularly under throttle. I had a D30 in the front of mine with an ARB air locker, and it was fine for 32's, 33's, and 35's. When I went to heavy 36's, I needed better steering, which is what pushed me towards a D60. The Dana 35 didn't hold up with crap, which pushed me to a D60 while still on 32's or 33's.

With that said, I've now gone full circle and am back to a D30/D35, on 35's. I don't plan to keep the D35 though, but the D30 should be fine if you're reasonable with it.
 
Yeah ... During acceleration and climbing, about 60-70% of your traction comes from the rear due to weight transfer..... I thought about that ...... thanks for the insight though !!! Oh and if you read my whole post God bless you LOL its was waaaay long for a small question
 
I'm running a D30 in front with a 36 12-50's, Spartan locker, Yukon chrom shafts ans super joints. I had 32's with the same locker and the factory "big u-joint" axels and never had any trouble. I'm pretty hard on my stuff. I've only had the 36's for about 3 trips. We will see how it holds up. If you stick with around 33's or smaller, I would sat the D30 with a locker and "big u-joint" axels will be pretty dependable.
 
Awesome insight from all !! I thank you guys !! I am not planning on running over a 32/33 any time soon so i should be good...
 
im running the 8.8/30 in my jeep with nothing but positive results... wheeled the crap out of mine at the beach(30 is stock with 5-760 ujoints as only upgrade) (8.8 is lsd with different clutch configuration) and it worked phenomenally well. the lsd worked as good as a locker and even did on the tarmac and rain.
 
I'd say it all depends on the rest of the drivetrain... IOW, do you have a 2.5L or 4.0L? Manual or auto tranny?

My front D30 has been locked & spinning 'heavy' 33" bias Swampers/steel rims for 10+ years, now stuffed with some cheapo alloys/larger joints, but have had zero issues... which I equate to several things:
  • the auto being "softer" on the driveline (despite some rather brainless application of the V8 :D )
  • leaving a little more air in the front = a little LESS traction than the rear (welded D44)
  • Not being a complete dumb@$$ destroying stuff... pulling cable rather than sitting and wailing on it repeatedly

OTOH, I've seen a 4-banger/manual combo absolutely destroy components with 33" radials on dirt roads!

IMHO, driving with a little "finesse" (*NOT* "shocking" the drivelines) and not getting ridiculous with tire size/grip will let it live just fine
 
Ive run a locked 30 under a cj with a 350 running 36 TSL's and I only very, very occasionally broke the ujoints. moved up to the big yukon shafts and never had the issue again. locked front for the win! leaves it stock for the other 99% of the time. makes snow kinda iffy unless its deep, though.
 
Is an 8.8 in the budget? Locking front like said above is better than no locker at all. Personally I'd save for an 8.8 first then lock the front.
 
depending on what ratio you want they can definitely be cheaper... if you stick with the regular ratios (3.55, 3.73, 4.10, 4.56 "rare"). pull a part in charlotte must have at least 15 to 20 ford explorers with complete 8.8's and disk brakes and they are deadly cheap there. its the same price no matter the ratio or if its open or lsd. so id just look for one with the lsd and take it. then about the only thing youd need to buy is fresh gear oil, coil spring buckets, shock mounts and trac bar mount.(im sure if your good with the grinder you can salvage them off the d35. i personally have no more than 400 in my 8.8. thats for the axle, new bearings, lsd rebuild,spring perches and ubolts and brake pads.
 
dang, Its been a min since i signed in after starting my new job, yeah I will be converting to 8.8 by this fall and im runnin a 2.5 manual
 
Been running 30/35 combo on 33's for a a while, and other than just wearing out front u-joints, the only trouble I've had is the ring and pinion on the d35, but I believe that's my own fault for setting up the 4.56 gears wrong when i installed my limited slip. Been using Detroit Trutracs with phenominal results btw, highly recommend them, work flaw. lessly offroad, and you never know they're there on the street unless you punch it mid corner. Just gotta use good sense (if you start hopping and twisting shafts, time to find another way). 8.8 is the way to go imo, but I'm shooting farther than that later, so it doesn't make sense for me to build an 8.8.
 
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