Hey guys.

Glad to see my carnage on :

:! Thanks Eric!! lol For the record, a D30 is not a good racing axle.... nor is it a good rock crawling axle. It's a GREAT casual trail rig axle for something 33s and under. But......with the time and cash I have available to work with, it's all I can run for the time being.
So, I swapped the D30 from my old trail rig into the race rig. I built this D30 over the course of 4 years and it holds up to 38s rather well, minus the occasional snapped chromo shaft. (2 snapped shafts, 1 twisted over the course of 2 years.) Rather than finding a D44 and spending the extra coin to beef it up and regear it, I decided to go the cheaper route and swap in what I had available. As I said before, a D30 is not a good racing axle, but with my budget, it's what I have to work with for now.

(Next year, I hope to rework the front axle and swap in a new engine with some go-fast parts.) Universal Automotive in Concord, NC sponsors me for my gear swaps and some other little odds and ends. The D30 from the trail rig was geared 4.56 so I had them regear it to 4.88 to match my rear. While doing that, I also had them bend some 1.75x120 DOM and weld it to the bottom of the axle. Once they finished up the axle, I gusseted the lower truss with some 1/4". In the essence of time, I reused the adjustable track bar off the trail rig, but converted it to 3/4" heim at the track bar mount on the body. (was a poly bushing before) It is 7/8" heim at the axle mount. I plan to have Ironman4x4fab.com make me a new track bar with 7/8" heims at both sides.
So here's the specs and a pic of the replacement D30.
D30 HP from 91 XJ:
- WJ knuckle swap with sport trac rotors
- 1.75x120 DOM adjustable track bar (7/8" heim at axle, 3/4" heim at body)
- 1.75x120 DOM tie rods with 3/4" heims, OTK
- Rubicon Express track bar bracket
- MudPro LCA mounts
- Custom shock mounts made from 1/4" plate. (Ironman4x4Fab.com)
- Upper truss from diff to pass UCA mount
- Inner Cs gusseted with 3/16" plate
- Lower truss 1.75x120 DOM with 1/4" gussets, welded to inner C's and diff
- Pass UCA mounted boxed in with 1/4" plate (not pictured, did this after it install)
- ARB (RD100)
- Nitro 4.88 gears
- Nitro chromoly shafts
- Nitro Excalibur u-joints
- Raybestos Professional ball joints (A little stronger than stock, but not much!)
- US Alloy axle tube seals for the hell of it...
- Axle tubes welded to diff
- Bump pucks are delrin and are removable. (Bolt-in)
- SOLID diff cover
Here's a pic of the axle in action when it was pink and under the trail rig.