SAS with a dana 30, How are they holding up guys???

[JTX]

I think i just found a HP44 for fairly cheap, its out of a 78 F150 i beleive. I already have a HP44 out of a 79 so i wont really need much off of this one. Ill let you know what happens, i may sell it really cheap.

 

[Positive Vibes]

what gears are in it? what locker? stock shafts and u joints or are they upgraded? money was i went with a dana 30 at first... i was trying to save money and i settled on a dana 30. that ultimately costed much much more than if i would've gone with a dana 44 in the first place. its no fun to break stuff. and simply not having to worry so much about breaking something increases the fun factor when u play. and although i'd rather have a dana 30 sas than no sas at all i still would wait till u find a dana 44

4.56 gears. ARB locker. He's not sure about any other up grades. He just bought the heep. I got a price out of him for $600 which I was expecting to be less.

And thats the info I want hiridin, personal expieriences. The more I'm learning it appears I'm back at point A with trying to find a hp44.

 

[Positive Vibes]

I think i just found a HP44 for fairly cheap, its out of a 78 F150 i beleive. I already have a HP44 out of a 79 so i wont really need much off of this one. Ill let you know what happens, i may sell it really cheap.

That would be sweet!!!! Let me know.

 

[hiridin]

i'd say no to that dana 30 even more now cuz it only has 4.56's which isn't a good combo with 35's. so even after u bought it u'd need to regear it to 5.13's

 

[Jefe]

5:13's in a D30?? Thats just asking to break it. Even 4.88's are iffy depending on the brand.

 

[hiridin]

5:13's in a D30?? Thats just asking to break it. Even 4.88's are iffy depending on the brand.

guess i wasn't thinkin then a dana 30 should be without a doubt out of the question. cuz u need the gears to move it and 5.13's and 35's go together beautifully and if the dana 30 won't handle those gears then it shouldn't even be an option

 

[DB_1]

I'm in agreement with most everyone here that the HP44 is a good candidate for the SAS...not the best or strongest but middle of the road and fairly cost effective until you start building it up with all the goodies. I have a LP44 from an EB and ive had no problems so far (knock on wood) BUT this is because I am running it open so there's no real stress going on like with a locker. If I did run a locker with the way it is now i'd be busting U-joints and axles all the time. I am at around 7-8 inches of lift and my pinion angle is fairly steep so I would definitely benefit from a HP44 which was going to be my next mod but I've been looking into Ford 9"/D60 hybrids because of their lightweight and strength. The R&P of a 9" is thicker and the teeth are wider than that of a D60. Add a 35 spline carrier/axleshafts to the mix and it's just as strong as any D60. Sorry to get off on a tangent, I'm not trying to sell you on the idea of going this route since it's not the most cost effective way for an SAS. The biggest tire size I plan on going with is 37" (maybe 38" ) so I think this axle would be plenty strong...I hope.

 

[hvac man]

Also one thing that has not been mentioned between the 2 axles is weight and brake size. The d44 deffinately has bigger callipers which = more stopping power defineatly a plus, but the diff it's self weighs about 75-100 lbs. more. This can be a huge draw back when trying to build light. Maybe you would be better off with the heavier diff with bigger brakes if you are not trying to build the lightest rig. I'm just saying the HP30 works good for me because my rig is lighter than a jeep wrangler in stock form. The strength of the 44 vs. 30 is very minimal since they share the same pinion, axle shaft, and u-joint size. When choosing a front diff you just have to ask your self what the vehicle is going to be used for. Mine is a dedicated rock crawler. I never use it for camping, mudding, hunting or anything else where I will be carring any wheight.

 

[hiridin]

The strength of the 44 vs. 30 is very minimal since they share the same pinion, axle shaft, and u-joint size.QUOTE]

so i or anyone else for that matter will be snapping axle shafts and u joints in the 44 jus like i did in my 30? especially since the 44 is locked... so yer saying stronger shafts, ujoints and hubs should be bought or u will definitely break something... jus like a 30 would?

 

[redranger4.0]

for all those who have problems with the dana44 shafts, heres an easy cheap fix. http://www.alpine14ers.com/dana44 axle.htm im going to be doing this eventually since chromo shafts cost more then a first born.

 

[hvac man]

The strength of the 44 vs. 30 is very minimal since they share the same pinion, axle shaft, and u-joint size.QUOTE]

so i or anyone else for that matter will be snapping axle shafts and u joints in the 44 jus like i did in my 30? especially since the 44 is locked... so yer saying stronger shafts, ujoints and hubs should be bought or u will definitely break something... jus like a 30 would?

Yes. D44's are a waste of time unless you already have one. If you are running a 30 and want to upgrade you are wasting your money and time on a D44. Even with the d44 modified with chromoly shafts it is only rated for 35-37" tires max. depending on weight and power of vehicle. If you are serious about not breaking then you need a 35 spline D60 and if you never want to break there is always the 1610 kit for Sunray Engineering which has 46 spline outers and a 1610 u-joint that dwarfs the standard 1480 D60 u-joint. You could even get a 40 spline ARB too. I would say even then there is still a chance of breakage, thats just part of wheelin'.

I'll go out and measure my chromo D44 shafts, chromo D30 shafts and compare them side by side here so we actually have some #'s to go by. I don't really know shaft diamiters off hand so...

 

[redranger4.0]

next time i go home ill try to get some pics of my waggy d44 shafts and some d30 shafts side by side.

 

[hvac man]

Went out and measured some shafts I have on hand and this is what I came up with.

Here is what I measured.

D44 stock: 1 3/8" or so 30 spline

D44 mooser alloy shafts: same

D30 stock: 1 1/4" or so 27 spline

D30 superior alloy shafts: 1 1/4" with 30 splines (super 30 kit)

D30 warn alloy shafts: 1 1/4" with 27 splines

All shafts share same u-joints. I use the spicer 5-760X ones.

Also for comparison

TTB D35 stock: 1 3/8 or so 27 splines 297 u-joint

Rear 8.8 stock: 1 3/8 or so 31 splines

Housing tube thickness

D44: 3 1/4" Dia. 5/16" Wall or so

D30: 2 1/4" Dia. 5/16" Wall or so

This is just stuff I have around here so things might be a little different elsewhere but will still be pretty close.

 

[redranger4.0]

depending on which d44 and what its out of will determine its tube thickness, a hd d44 from say a f250 is going to have thicker tubes then that of a f150 or waggy.

 

[hvac man]

The D44 I measured is out of a 78' 3/4 ton Chevy.

 

[dreamr]

I love how many times I have watched this debate start over the last couple years

My opinion? Well I have a HP D30 hanging in the garage.

What finally decided me was a shop down in Auburn where I was looking at an XJ. When I started talking about wanting to do an SAS to the EX, we got on to this debate. I was thinking 44 he was laughing at me.
In short if one has built dozens of trail jeeps and feels that the 30 is more than adequate for local wheeling with up to a 35's in a locked front end, then possibly one should listen.

Besides same width same bolt pattern are a great pro. All of theses other weeakness comments are not true in the real world. The shafts are just a wee bit smaller and can be up graded. The joionts are the same, and the tubes are an 1" smaller. All in all though strength is similar.

The con though is that the D#) ring gear is much smaller (1.25" if I remember correctly), This is your biggest weak point in a D30 in my opinion. Especially if you plan on running a gear deeper than a 4.56.

For me a D30 is the perfect choice. I plan on keeping my truck as close to it's current lift height as possible and continuing to run a 33 with 4.56 gearsing. I tend to avoid extreme wheeling, yet do a lot of exploring with pucker factor being a common part of the path. Also I don't have to buy new rims, nor paay axle narrowing.

Now the swap probably would be a little more interesting than a F-250 to Ex swap as the Jeep suspension is kinda odd to me. But like mentioned above you could just buy and make fit an XJ long arm kit. Me I think I will either pay someone one day to do it well, or I'll let it hang in the garage for another year and do it next cold season...........Seems to me after this year of play that my IFS is pretty damn strong and could easily take a bit more abuse than I expected. In essence do I really need this axle. yesyesyesyesyesyesyes

 

[Kirby N.]

My Dana 44 has 1/2" Thick axle tubes- same as a Dana 60 (I have heard).

 

[redranger4.0]

I love how many times I have watched this debate start over the last couple years

My opinion? Well I have a HP D30 hanging in the garage.

What finally decided me was a shop down in Auburn where I was looking at an XJ. When I started talking about wanting to do an SAS to the EX, we got on to this debate. I was thinking 44 he was laughing at me.
In short if one has built dozens of trail jeeps and feels that the 30 is more than adequate for local wheeling with up to a 35's in a locked front end, then possibly one should listen.

Besides same width same bolt pattern are a great pro. All of theses other weeakness comments are not true in the real world. The shafts are just a wee bit smaller and can be up graded. The joionts are the same, and the tubes are an 1" smaller. All in all though strength is similar.

The con though is that the D#) ring gear is much smaller (1.25" if I remember correctly), This is your biggest weak point in a D30 in my opinion. Especially if you plan on running a gear deeper than a 4.56.

For me a D30 is the perfect choice. I plan on keeping my truck as close to it's current lift height as possible and continuing to run a 33 with 4.56 gearsing. I tend to avoid extreme wheeling, yet do a lot of exploring with pucker factor being a common part of the path. Also I don't have to buy new rims, nor paay axle narrowing.

Now the swap probably would be a little more interesting than a F-250 to Ex swap as the Jeep suspension is kinda odd to me. But like mentioned above you could just buy and make fit an XJ long arm kit. Me I think I will either pay someone one day to do it well, or I'll let it hang in the garage for another year and do it next cold season...........Seems to me after this year of play that my IFS is pretty damn strong and could easily take a bit more abuse than I expected. In essence do I really need this axle. yesyesyesyesyesyesyes

i agree that in your case if your not looking to go over a 33 that it would be an excellent choice no use a 30

 

[Jefe]

Rubicon D44 axle vs. TJ D30 axle:

But the real difference is in the outers. A TJ outer is lacking even compared to its own inner shaft.

I had originally planned to run a Rubicon D44. Sounded good at the time, larger R&P, carrier and upgraded axles. Once I saw my D44 sitting next to my D30 I knew I had made the right choice. Granted, I know my rig weights 5000+lbs and I wheel HARD.

 

[keithxtreme]

Does anyone know if the Rotor and Bearing Hub from a 94 Explorer D35 will fit on the Jeep D30? I had bought new powerslots with the hub built in a month or so ago and never put them on, and pulled the D30 out of one my jeeps....before I tear into it, I thought I would ask if they would fit....no since in them going to waste...