Axle Swap....What to do???

[XJRN]

I currently have a 99 with D30(Aussie)/8.25(open) and 33in tires. I broke my D30 carrier and screwed my ring and pinion in the process. I was hoping to find a D30 and 8.8 with 4.10s and do a swap for pretty cheap as funds are limited, however I didn't find what I wanted at the pull a part. This is what I found:

D30 with 4.10s although it was a vac disco and had a missing shaft and brakes.

8.8 with 4.10s and disc brakes although it did not look like it has the ls diff and it too was missing all brakes and wheel studs.

Stock D30 with 3.55s (match my current gearing)



So I really don't know what to do and am looking for some advice. I want to get this together before winterfest too. These were the only options I could think of.
1) Stick with 3.55s and buy a full front axle assembly and end up with spare parts ($180)

2) Take the carrier and gears out of the D30 4.10 axle ($80) ...BTW I don't know how to set gears, get the 8.8 without LS Diff and replace brakes ($90 + calipers and rotors)

3) Do something other than my ideal or wait for the right axle to show up.


Thoughts????

 

[Rmart30]

Easiest/quickest will be another 3.55 front to get ya back going....

You might try here http://www.car-part.com/ and see if anyone close to you has some with 4.10's.... I found 2 sets on there and had them shipped to a local JY where I picked them up at.

If you are planning on doing a locker somewhere down the road in the 8.8 you dont want a LS.... the carriers are different and wont accept a locker.

 

[in4aride]

dont forget to look in the Grand cherokees.
you might find a 3.73 dana 30 to go with a 3.73 8.8 for now

 

[dragthatsht]

Throw your shafts knuckles and units on the 4.10 disco housing. And don't use 4wd till you find a complete 8.8. It won't take long. you can easily mod the lsd into basically a locker. Or run an open till you can buy a proper locker.

I pretty much suck.

 

[kastein]

agreed with dragthatsht 100%.

You can make the vac disco into a non disconnect with a cheap seal+blockoff plate kit, and you get a d30 housing with a stronger passenger side UCA mount as a result. It will be stronger in every way unless you plan on jeepspeed or a lot of jumping, at that point it becomes more of a trade-off vs the one piece passenger side axle tube.

No brakes and shafts isn't a big deal anyways, brakes you should transfer over anyways as yours are newer and the calipers are already bled. Just unbolt the calipers from your existing axle, remove them, and pop the rotors off then swap onto the new axle. You can unbolt the unit bearings and yank your axle shafts and unit bearings as a single unit and install them right into the disconnect housing as long as you get the seal/blockoff kit.

While you are in there plan on replacing both axle side UCA bushings, they are WAY easier to replace while the axle is sitting on the ground than when it's jammed under a jeep.

Only hang-up is that if the disco housing is an old RENIX one, you probably have to swap the knuckles. You should replace the balljoints on an axle that old from the junkyard, so just knock the knuckles off, replace the balljoints, and install your knuckles.

 

[87manche]

agreed with dragthatsht 100%.

You can make the vac disco into a non disconnect with a cheap seal+blockoff plate kit, and you get a d30 housing with a stronger passenger side UCA mount as a result. It will be stronger in every way unless you plan on jeepspeed or a lot of jumping, at that point it becomes more of a trade-off vs the one piece passenger side axle tube.

No brakes and shafts isn't a big deal anyways, brakes you should transfer over anyways as yours are newer and the calipers are already bled. Just unbolt the calipers from your existing axle, remove them, and pop the rotors off then swap onto the new axle. You can unbolt the unit bearings and yank your axle shafts and unit bearings as a single unit and install them right into the disconnect housing as long as you get the seal/blockoff kit.

While you are in there plan on replacing both axle side UCA bushings, they are WAY easier to replace while the axle is sitting on the ground than when it's jammed under a jeep.

Only hang-up is that if the disco housing is an old RENIX one, you probably have to swap the knuckles. You should replace the balljoints on an axle that old from the junkyard, so just knock the knuckles off, replace the balljoints, and install your knuckles.

as someone that has a franken housing, just swap the knuckles complete.

If you want to mix and match it can be done. The d30 in my MJ is a HP d30 from a 97, with the 97 shafts and bearings, but with 87 knuckles. So I've got 87 calipers and pads and 97 rotors to line it all up on the 97 unit bearing.

Usually when I come in the parts counter guys stop asking questions about what I'm working on and just go get me the part numbers I wrote down.

The long and the short of it, after about 12 trips for brake parts, is that if the rotors match the bearing and the caliper matches the knuckle it will all line up and work.

 

[XJRN]

Thanks for the input guys. Is there a good write up on how to swap out the knuckles? Where can I get a vac disconnect block off plate?

 

[87manche]

Thanks for the input guys. Is there a good write up on how to swap out the knuckles? Where can I get a vac disconnect block off plate?

rustys used to have the disco kit. For what it costs it isn't worth tracking down the seal and making a plate.

Swapping out knuckles is no different than doing balljoints. Search for a balljont how to and you'l have all the steps. just use the newer knuckles when you put it back together.
Not hard, but usually PITA, especially if they've never been apart before.