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First official question dana purchasing

749 views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  c5wagner 
#1 ·
I have a 94 YJ I just purchased last week. It needs alot of TLC. The rear dana 35 is not installed correctly. I can see light between the mount, wedge and axle housing. Was going to unbolt and set up the pinion. But...I read that the dana 35 is good for a boat anchor. If I'm going to unbolt everything I might as well replace it to something better. So onto the main question.....

I found a dana 44 and a dana 30 from a 76 CJ5 for sale. Very cheap. Im waiting for the measurements from brake back plate to back plate, because the perch's are removed on the rear 44. I am proficient with welding and fabricating and not worried about perch's. I hope it is pretty close to the right width.

Now the front Dana 30, looks to be 1pc solid axles, hubs, but with drum brakes. How hard / cash is it to convert to disk? Is it worth it to toss out my stock 30 with the vac actuated axle for this solid with hubs and drum brakes? Only reason im really considering this is the matched pair, and I need to save up for new ring and pinion regardless if I go with just the rear install. I have searched alot on the forums, found the approximate width. might be short, but unknown until I get the measurements on the rear.

My YJ was bought with the lift from PO. its 26" ground to sheet metal at door frame. figure 4" lift and 2" from the tires. 33 12.5x15. 5 Speed 4.0L. The gearing in it has never been changed. I rarely have to put it in 5th gear. 4th gear I cruise at 70. this is not normal lol

I don't plan on doing any rock crawling, but lots of trails and mud. Rocking scares the :censored: out of me. The Yj will see some city roads and winter daily driving. I plan on doing::
a SYE, Double Cardan front and rear DS. the front was already extended but not installed. the dbl cardan has a smaller bolt pattern then the output shaft yoke. Need to figure that out. Doing measurements, it appears to be 1310 series. I think I will need to buy a rebuild cardan kit and get a yoke to match. sorry got a bit off topic. But will be a question soon.

This is the picture of the purchase i'm considering. $200 bucks for both. And of my first Jeep.
 

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#3 ·
Check pumpkin location...some of the old CJs the front DS is on the passenger side not drivers side like our YJs.
 
#4 ·
Plus, the early CJ's were Narrow Track. That's what you were looking at with the CJ5 axles.

If your D30 housing is in good shape, and if you have the funds, load it with chrome-moly axles and CAD delete. For the use you described, especially if you're going to take care of the gearing at the same time, a Detroit TrueTrac would probably serve you well up front.

As far as the D35, swap in a Ford 8.8 from a 1995-2001 Explorer. That will get you disc brakes on the back too. If you decide to go with 4.10 gears you should be able to find an 8.8 with 4.10's and the factory limited slip. That would help reduce the costs too.
 
#6 ·
Thank you Sccritter and Chris. I am now searching local yards for a 95-01 explorer for the 8.8. Also figuring in for some Chrome-moly 1 piece axles / Cad elimination. your suggestion made up my mind. Thank you.

Question, the front DL was already extended but not installed. Measuring it, it matches the 1310 series double car. but the bolt holes are a smaller configuration then the yoke in the np231. Can I just buy the last half of the double cardigan that will match up to the yoke as long as its the same series? would it need re-balanced? would rather spent 100 on new parts then several hundred on a whole new shaft. Is a Flange cardan with matched companion output yoke the best strength for this set up?

I apologize for all my questions. In this week I have spent every day working on this and am loving every min. knuckles busted and all. Jeep is the next best thing to sliced bread in my book.
 
#7 ·
That front axle isn't even a dana 30, it's a dana 25. You're better off with the one you have now in your jeep. If you want a solid axle swap and want to do work, get an XJ dana 30 and cut all the brackets off and weld new spring perches to it. Gets rid of the cad/cad housing with a decent axle.
 
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