quick question regarding dana 30's

Joined: 19 Apr 2004 Location: the sticks - Tas

Hey all, just running a quick question's by you.

Were loooking at buying a cheep 95 jeep cherokee LTD (4l, with auto -210807 ks) with a bit of front damage and looking to run it in vic winch as a smash and grab car (pretty much dilligaf racing-and just for fun), however the question/s to you are;

1) will the drive train take 35's?
2) How easy is the car to break?
3) If the drive train its going to break, how much would it be to do an basic up/grade to get the drive-train to take 35's?

cheers, and hopefully some useful response....

jimbob inc. Cool

Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Location: Warragul Vic

Reddo wrote:

Hey all, just running a quick question's by you.

Were loooking at buying a cheep 95 jeep cherokee LTD (4l, with auto -210807 ks) with a bit of front damage and looking to run it in vic winch as a smash and grab car (pretty much dilligaf racing-and just for fun), however the question/s to you are;

1) will the drive train take 35's?
2) How easy is the car to break?
3) If the drive train its going to break, how much would it be to do an basic up/grade to get the drive-train to take 35's?

cheers, and hopefully some useful response....

jimbob inc. Cool

1) See Question 2
2)Very
3) heaps.

have a look on www.ausjeepoffroad.com for all you jeep tech, JimmyB the owner use to have a sweet ass xj on 35s they'll help ya out![/b]

Joined: 29 Nov 2002 Location: Canberra

Hi Reddo,

The front Dana30 is the same as all TJs which people run 35s on in comps but you need to be mindful of how to drive it as 35s is around where people start doing lots of upgrades or swapping in a D44.

However, your XJ should have a rear Dana35 which AFAIK (I'm a TJ owner with rear D44) is really the weak one due to its design. Google for XJ rear diff upgrade or similar. Having said that people have run 35's under an XJ - JimmyB's being one of the most well known. Budha's XJ (also on 35s) I think was on sale on Outers a couple of times. I don't know what these guys ran in the rear.

Aside from the diff, clearance will be an issue for 35's on an XJ. (Without cutting) I'm pretty sure you need about 5.5" lift to clear 33's and those kits have relocation brackets for the control arms etc. Then you get vibe problems and need slip yoke eliminators etc

I would drop JimmyB on Ausjeep a PM - or search on ausjeep for a writeup on his old XJ (long gone due to RTA defects). Or Wooders. Or as I assume you are in Vic, try TW at USA4x4.

Joined: 23 Aug 2004 Location: Mornington

most xj's have a hp dana 30 which in fact is stronger than the dana 30 on tj's,

and in my opinion can handle 35's as well as a patrol can handle 35's. Drive it like an idiot and you'll break things. I've actually had less breakages with dana 30's than with patrol diffs.

for an xj i recommend this.

Front
super 30 locker (arb) with 30 spline axles and alloy usa inners and outers. this will handle 35's easy. change ratio to 4.56 at same time while diff is out

rear
take a d44 out of a tj, cut all the coil crap off and weld on some spring perches, stuff an arb in there with 4.56 ratios and your set for 35's.

this set up however will cost you about $5grand.

but if you think about it, only slightly more expensive than having a curiser or patrol fitted with dual lockers and ratios.

remembering a jeep on 33's has the same diff clearance as a patrol on 35's.

good luck on the comp car, i'd love to see more xj's up there, great base i reckon. lighter than a tj if you can believe it, and a better wheel base than anything out there.

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 9:37 am

I agree with Yankee - The d30 is a good little diff that will nicely handle 35"s. but it will need regearing to be able to effectively spin them. Unlike Dave I'd probably stick with a regular D30 size locker/axles. Unless you really want to invest a bit more coin for a longer term toy then the Super 30 makes more sense....Also conside trussing the diff as these aren't that had to make smile Wink

Rear - also agree with dave That the TJ D44 is a good option - but they can be hard to find. The standard D35 will NOT be strong enough. It will need regearing and new stronger shafts (eg Super 35)....But really to run 35's a TJ D44 is probably the best swap.

Suspension - you will want a lot of lift and a lot of cutting to fit 35"s on an XJ. think MINIMUM of 4.5" lift (with massive cutting).
they are a good cheap platform and we are just starting out XJ project too 9target is TTC09) so I can appreciate where you're coming from.....