Dana 30 Front Axle Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

[Ice_Man]

So the XJ has 140k on it, and as far as I know the front end has never been rebuilt. FYI: its a 2000 Cherokee Sport with the Dana 30 front axel, a 4" lift, JKS uppers/Teraflex lowers (short-arm), JKS adjustable track bar, and I’m running 33" tires with 1.5" wheel spacers. The unit is non-abs and open on the differential. The reason for this overhaul, aside from the mileage/age is the fact that I need new wheel bearings, so here are my questions:
· What are the best bearing hubs I can buy/from where? (Timkin?)
· What are the best u-joints (both sides) I can buy/from where? (Spicer?)
· What are the best upper and lower ball joints I can buy/from where?
· What is the best/strongest tie-rod I can buy/from where?
· Should I do the inner axel seals (near the diff)? How difficult is it to do these?
· Do you recommend servicing any other parts? How about upgrades while I have the axel apart? (I’m all set with the stock axel shafts and the diff for now)
· Will I need any special tools besides a ball-joint press and a 12-point socket for the hubs?
Any ideas or advice is welcome, I want this thing to be as bullet proof as a Dana 30 can be with out any real fab work. I’m trying to get this done before the end of the month because I’m taking the Jeep on a 400 mile road/camping trip up in the White Mountains. Thanks in advance for all your help!
atriot:

 

[lowicz96]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

What ever happen to dont fix what isnt broken?

Look into a V8 ZJ tie rod, its much beefier than stock XJ's and cheap at a jy

 

[Stukboy]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Bullet proof?
Alloy USA Axle shafts!!! 10 year replacement warranty!
Bearings and seals are a good idea since you need them and it's apart.
New shafts come with u-joints.
What's wrong with the ball joints? I wouldn't replace them unless you need to.
Good luck,
Stukboy

 

[sunburned]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

I'm at the same mileage as you and running around the same parts. Only difference is I had 4.56's installed 1.5 yrs ago.

· What are the best bearing hubs I can buy/from where? Timkin, bought mine from www.rockauto.com and got them the next day.

· What are the best u-joints (both sides) I can buy/from where? Spicer 760's, lots of companies sell them, but you could probably get them from NAPA

· What are the best upper and lower ball joints I can buy/from where? Moog are probably the best (rock auto again), but I just replaced one and got it from Car Quest.

· What is the best/strongest tie-rod I can buy/from where? If you want a generic one, pick up a ZJ tie rod for a stock replacement. If not, lots of companies sell replacement tie rods that are thick DOM. Any one of them could be bent though. I bent my TnT tie rod on the first day. Now I've got the Currie steering that has solid bars and my tie rod is bent again.


· Should I do the inner axel seals (near the diff)? How difficult is it to do these? Leave them alone if they look good. You'll only be able to see them if you take out your gears.

· Do you recommend servicing any other parts? How about upgrades while I have the axel apart? (I’m all set with the stock axel shafts and the diff for now) Upgrading the u-joints with 760's (full circlip mod too?) and replacing the unit bearings will help drastically.

· Will I need any special tools besides a ball-joint press and a 12-point socket for the hubs? A 36mm socket for the hub nut. Hope you have an impact or a 6 ft breaker bar (175 lb-ft torque). Nuts for the ball joints are 1-1/8" and 7/8" IIRC.


Any ideas or advice is welcome, I want this thing to be as bullet proof as a Dana 30 can be with out any real fab work. I’m trying to get this done before the end of the month because I’m taking the Jeep on a 400 mile road/camping trip up in the White Mountains. Thanks in advance for all your help!
atriot:

Bulletproof without fab work doesn't really go hand in hand. Upgrading the u-joints will help. Grinding the axle ears for full circlips is even better. I've done some crazy wheeling with my front axle stock other than the gears. Since you have 33's though, I would recommend 4.56's or 4.10's at least. Makes all sorts of difference.

 

[kastein]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Don't really think you need to do this unless the parts need replacing, but hey, if you want to, go for it.

Moog balljoints are good like Stukboy said, Spicer also makes good joints. AllJeep.com and rockauto.com should have the best prices by far.

Leave the inner axle seals alone like he said, basically top off your gear lube and park on a sidehill in each direction for an hour or so, if you don't see any gear lube dripping out of the axle tubes then they are fine for now.

On a stock XJ d30 I seem to recall the balljoint nuts both being close to some metric size I used. On a WJ d30 (or an XJ d30 with WJ knuckles) I know that the lowers are too large for a 27mm and too small for a 30mm, so either 1 1/16" or 1 1/8".

Where in the white mountains? I might be joining my brother, his girlfriend, and a few of our friends for a camping/hiking trip up in that region for the June 11th weekend.

EDIT: oh yeah... load the hub surfaces and mounting bolts up with antiseize. You will thank yourself in the future. And dump the disc brake dust shields in the scrap bin and forget about them. Go for a ZJ tie rod like was mentioned - just make sure it's off/for a V8 ZJ because the I6 ZJ tie rod is the same as the stock XJ one, i.e. a toothpick. I picked mine up used at Sam's pull-a-part in Worcester for ten bucks.

 

[jeeperjohn]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Like has been said some alloy shafts would be a good choice. It wouldn't hurt to replace the ball joints and bearings/seals for peace of mind.

 

[JohnnyTurbo]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

I have mine apart right now as well to put the WJ knuckles on it. Would that be on your list of upgrades?

 

[RCP Phx]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Best idea would be to buy a HP D30(to get rid of your LP D30) and rebuild it.Then just swap out the entire axle!

 

[XJensen]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Best idea would be to buy a HP D30(to get rid of your LP D30) and rebuild it.Then just swap out the entire axle!

x2 Then you can still use the jeep while building the stronger HP D30

Josh

 

[redrider2911]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

x2 Then you can still use the jeep while building the stronger HP D30

Josh

x3 HP Dana 30. Find one that has abs, like out of one of the grands and you can use the axle shafts which come with the bigger joint (1 3/16 cap) replace the joints with spicer 760 joints and you can even tack the caps in place. No need to spend the time grinding for full circle clips when/if the u joint breaks anyways it will take the ears with it.

I would go crossover steering with a beefy tie rod and draglink. I believe all the tierods from the factory come with the clearance bend in them which is a easy place for a bend to start and get worse.

 

[Mtb Jak]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

get the axle tube seals!!

 

[kastein]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

x3 HP Dana 30. Find one that has abs, like out of one of the grands and you can use the axle shafts which come with the bigger joint (1 3/16 cap) replace the joints with spicer 760 joints and you can even tack the caps in place. No need to spend the time grinding for full circle clips when/if the u joint breaks anyways it will take the ears with it.

I would go crossover steering with a beefy tie rod and draglink. I believe all the tierods from the factory come with the clearance bend in them which is a easy place for a bend to start and get worse.

correction, HP d30 from an early ABS rig or any 96-up (95-up?) since they switched to the 297s on everything instead of just ABS in one of those years. The stock tie rod is perfectly straight, it's just a toothpick, replace with a V8 ZJ tie rod which is solid bar stock and larger in diameter.

 

[Ice_Man]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

The Dana 30 HP sounds like a good idea, however I don’t think I'll have the extra cash right now. I’m going to do the ball joints for peace of mind. Timkin hubs/wheel bearings. Moog ball joints. Spicer u-joints. I guess they make outer axle dust seals, that are greasable and ribbed for her pleasure and to keep dirt out. Ill probably throw those on and leave the inner seals alone as long as they are in good shape. And the V8 Grand Cherokee tie-rod sounds like a great idea. Thanks for all your help guys. Any suggestions on using slotted vented rotors all the way around, as apposed to regular flat rotors (FYI: I have the disk brake upgrade in the rear)

P.S. Sorry for the spelling on "Axle" ;-)

 

[kastein]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

You can get a d30 for 100 bucks around here... it'll cost you 90 or so for new balljoints. Pick up a new d30 that is in good shape from a C4C vehicle, skip the balljoint replacement, and you will be ahead of the game.

 

[xjnuttier]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

We just did the same thing you are talking about, and really a lot of the ideas we have used in our rebuild. My buddies Jeep is a '01 with the LP 30, we went to the JY got a HP30 out of a 98, and that has the bigger u joints. We scrapped all the lower control arm brackets, that are crap pressed steel,and used the Clayton offroad 1/4" thick brackets with skids. We also used the alloy USA axle seals, replaced all the seals, inners, and pinion, and replaced the axle joints. We boxed in the passanger side upper control arm mount, and scrapped the brake backing plates. We also did the go fer it, tire rod flip, and the ZJ V8 drag link. I will try to post a pic of the finished axle for you to see.

 

[JohnnyTurbo]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

I started taking out the front CA bushings out of my 91 with 186k on it. I was surprised to find that the bushings are in pretty good shape. I was planning on replacing them with the prothane bushings. As the thread is about front end mods while you have the axle out, what's the consensious on the prothane CA bushings? I am looking primarily for a stout street/trail unit without any serious off roading. (at least until I mess up the new paint...). I plan on putting in the 99 Durango steering box and the v8 tie rod and the WJ knuckles. I won't want to have the front end banging around like my old street racer did with heim joints in the 4 link...

 

[xjnuttier]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

I would stick with the rubber OE bushings, they will give you less of a harsh ride, no squeeks, and they do last forever...

 

[ColoradoRaptor]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Best idea would be to buy a HP D30(to get rid of your LP D30) and rebuild it.Then just swap out the entire axle!

X2

 

[JohnnyTurbo]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

Thanks, I will go with stock bushings. Any ideas on the best place to get a set of bolts or what the specs are for them?

 

[Ice_Man]

Re: Dana 30 Front Axel Overhaul Ideas (Your 2 Cents Please)

So incase I run across one, the Dana 30 HP will be a direct swap with out mods? Also, what are the advantages for the HP over the LP, Im guessing less vibes due to pinion angle (silly question I know)? What is a C4C as quoted in Kastein's reply? What other vehicles can I find a compatible HP axle in the junk yard? Maybe Ill get lucky and find one with 4.10's and an ARB locker ;-) Thanks again!