dana 30 straight axle | Page 2 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

How many of these aluminum housings are people breaking?



I broke one. What I believe happened was the inner u-joint broke and wound the two yokes together climbing a hill. The passenger side of my differential cracked and a couple large pieces and bearings were laying on the trail covered in gear oil.

This was back in the day, before I carried a digital camera so I have no pics.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





yep i just got one in the backyard and im looking for more flex and i figure i already got this one and im really tight on cash right now but if i wait another year i can probably get a dana 44 or something like that.
 






If you're tight on cash, why do the SAS at all? It will end up costing you more to upgrade the axle so it won't break than it would to buy a lift kit, gears and tires for the d35.

Not sure why people keep forgetting the weight thing when it comes to the d30 also. A jeep on 35s with a d30 is way different than an Explorer on a d30 with 35s... And 35s with 4.10s is going to suck worse than the d30.
 






well i found a cheap dana 44 that i will probably buy instead and then ill just sell the dana 30
 






well i found a cheap dana 44 that i will probably buy instead and then ill just sell the dana 30

Now you are getting somewhere...

Using parts, just because you have them, is almost always a bad deal in the end.

A dana 44 out of the front of most any Ford truck is almost a bolt in swap compared to what you would have to do with the Jeep axle and the 4 links.

I know -- I'm using a modified 4 link setup on my Ranger build.

upload100_3727.jpg


upload100_3674.jpg
 






I broke one. What I believe happened was the inner u-joint broke and wound the two yokes together climbing a hill. The passenger side of my differential cracked and a couple large pieces and bearings were laying on the trail covered in gear oil.

This was back in the day, before I carried a digital camera so I have no pics.

Interesting... (so just one response on this? ...one more than I expected too lol )

That makes exactly two broken D35 housings I've ever heard about or seen in the last 9 years almost (besides damage from cheap lift kits) since I've been perusing the various RBV forums (and like the other, it was a casualty of something else breaking first). I think it's still pretty safe to say the aluminum housing is normally not a weak spot on the D35, they just don't break that often.

well i found a cheap dana 44 that i will probably buy instead and then ill just sell the dana 30
Agreed, much better idea, at least you aren't taking a big step backward with that (although IMO I still don't see it as a huge step forward).

The D35 is a pretty sturdy little axle that can easily be set up to take you pretty much anywhere you'd need to go. IMO, I'd hang onto it (along with the 8.8) and save the pennies for a D60/10.25" swap for when the time comes you actually do need something bigger. ;)
 






Well I didn't get the 44 :( but I got the 30 in and it looks really good now I just have to put the new trans in(broke the a4ld again this will be my 4th trans) so it's just sitting right now but I'm gonna get new gears 37's and 17 inch wheels I'm liking the 30 for the short time I got it on the road and off lol not too bad I switched out the vaccum to a manual system for the front end it flexes like crazy now
 






Back
Top