JL Dana 30 & Dana 35 - how strong are they?

[blkhawk_jl]

Posted yesterday trying to identify my axles, looks like I've got the M186 front and M200 rear. My local 4x4 shop suggested not to do a regear on the dana 35 and definitely not on the dana 30, instead just save up for new axles all together, purely because they aren't strong enough. I'm not sure if he's basing that decision on the old JK axles.

Looking to go 4.56 or 4.88 with 35's. Anyone have any experience regearing on the 30 & 35?

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[TrailTorque]

I can’t answer your question on the gearing of 30 or 35 but I can shed a bit of light to your concern (based on the title).

They are stronger than the JK. Improvements were made to all variations 30/35/44.

That being said though, with any of the variations, the larger the tires, the toughness of your off road adventures will determine your outcome. U-Joints and Axle Shafts are the weak link in any variation. Some people opt to get beefier U-Joints transferring the stress to your axle shafts. I’d much rather sacrifice my U-Joints..

I think the biggest question will be what is your intentions off road?

In the end awareness will be key for you.

Maybe @TTEChris @rustyshakelford @Sean K. can help better answer.

 

[blkhawk_jl]

I can’t answer your question on the gearing of 30 or 35 but I can shed a bit of light to your concern (based on the title).

They are stronger than the JK. Improvements were made to all variations 30/35/44.

That being said though, with any of the variations, the larger the tires, the toughness of your off road adventures will determine your outcome. U-Joints and Axle Shafts are the weak link in any variation. Some people opt to get beefier U-Joints transferring the stress to your axle shafts. I’d much rather sacrifice my U-Joints..

I think the biggest question will be what is your intentions off road?

In the end awareness will be key for you.

Good to know they're stronger. I do some offroading but it's extremely mild, moderate dirt trails, fire roads and some winter wheeling but that's about it. My JL is my daily so i'm just looking to get some mileage and power back, I'm on 285/75/17 K02s now, i'd only be moving up slightly in tire size to 35''. I'm thinking moving to 4.56 and keeping the offroading moderate should be fine, I doubt FCA would put in shit axles when they know almost their entire customer base will more than likely move to at least a 35

 

[TrailTorque]

You’ll be fine running 35s but if you were talking about running 37’s then I would probably warn you. So the question becomes gearing and maybe somebody can chime in and help you out with your questions.

I don’t think the shop was being rude I think that they were just trying to rationalize the situation due to the cost of re-gearing versus the cost of new axles.

 

[Non Partisan]

Posted yesterday trying to identify my axles, looks like I've got the M186 front and M200 rear. My local 4x4 shop suggested not to do a regear on the dana 35 and definitely not on the dana 30, instead just save up for new axles all together, purely because they aren't strong enough. I'm not sure if he's basing that decision on the old JK axles.

Looking to go 4.56 or 4.88 with 35's. Anyone have any experience regearing on the 30 & 35?

Yes I have, extensively. For a little better than ten years I ran 30/35 axles in a YJ Wrangler. The stock rear axle never gave a problem (Dana 35 w/c-clip). The front (Dana 30) was a whole nuther story. Broke inner and outer axles time and time again using an Aussie locker. Broke knuckles time and time again. All of that was mostly on 32" and 33" tires. Finally I threw in the wallet and went with e-lockers, along with chromoly shafts, larger knuckles and 30 spline count, inner and outers. At the same time the rear got a c-clip eliminated rear with chromoly shafts, semi-floater if memory is correct. At the same time as the axle upgrades 4.56 gears and 35" mud terrains were added. Never a problem and wheeled for five years like that, what a pleasure.

For all the work on that YJ it became a reliable, trail worthy rig. There were no Rubicon editions back then. If I had to do it today, I would get Rubicon takeoff 4.10 axles. Simple swap and wiring job. Have fun in your endeavors. The 3.6 Pentastar can handle 35s with 4.10 gears, those old straight sixes didn't quite cut it, hence the 4.56 gears.

 

[oceanblue2019]

Good to know they're stronger. I do some offroading but it's extremely mild, moderate dirt trails, fire roads and some winter wheeling but that's about it. My JL is my daily so i'm just looking to get some mileage and power back, I'm on 285/75/17 K02s now, i'd only be moving up slightly in tire size to 35''. I'm thinking moving to 4.56 and keeping the offroading moderate should be fine, I doubt FCA would put in shit axles when they know almost their entire customer base will more than likely move to at least a 35

Keep your eyes open for used Rubi axles. I am starting to see them pop up more often for not crazy money. This would get you a better gear ratio as well as more strength. Last set was $2k for the pair.

As a re-gear is not cheap it might make more sense to go this way versus sinking money into the D30/35.

 

[UKCATS]

There is nothing wrong with re-gearing the Dana 30/35. Not sure why that shop would tell you that. As long as you are doing mild wheeling and go no bigger than lighter weight 35’s, it shouldn’t be a problem. I probably wouldn’t lock a D 35 because of the C clip design, but I’m not sure if the new M200 has the same design.

 

[UKCATS]

My guess is they were trying to tell him not to spend the money on those axles....probably with the thinking that he was going to actually wheel it on 35s.

Yeah, 30/35 is not good axles for more moderate wheeling. Ask me how I know, lol.

 

[blkhawk_jl]

$2K is a screaming deal. If the OP can get a set for that....that is the only logical choice to make.

Looks like i'm going to have to go this route. Makes no sense shelling out the cash for a regear if it'll be useless with my axles. I have all my stock parts, maybe i'll trade in and just go for a Rubi lol

 

[cosine]

the axles in the jl are the next gen axles from dana. they are bigger then the old dana axle found in the jk. in your case in mild wheeling with 33 -35" tire should be fine. just dont treat them are dana 60s.

i'm sure someone can shed some lights on the specs. that the new axles are pretty close to the old dana 44s.

i can see why the shop made that statement because he is thinking that the jl axles as a jk axles without looking at them. i stopped by a 4x4 shop that works mostly on jeeps and he said "all i know they are bigger. however i'm not sure how strong they are. he also said in looking at the specs, they seem to be strong and a big improvement from the old dana."

on a side note, my brother was thinking that the d30 and d35 were a carry overs, until he looked at them and was surprise how big the next gen danas are.

 

[TrailTorque]

$2K is a screaming deal. If the OP can get a set for that....that is the only logical choice to make.

Ive been seeing them for 3.5k the last two sets I noticed up for grabs. I think 2k was a little under priced but I’m not complaining lol

 

[oceanblue2019]

Ive been seeing them for 3.5k the last two sets I noticed up for grabs. I think 2k was a little under priced but I’m not complaining lol

Same, they've been in the $3500 to $4500 range for awhile.

I was surprised when I saw one set go for $2000 and another set at $2500 as it shows the prices are coming down.

 

[TrailTorque]

Same, they've been in the $3500 to $4500 range for awhile.

I was surprised when I saw one set go for $2000 and another set at $2500 as it shows the prices are coming down.

Daddy likey

 

[Therby]

I have manual trans, dana 30 front but 44 rear in my sport. Re geared to 4.56

drives awesome, wheeled it pretty hard this past summer and didn’t have any issues.

im on 315/70r17 duratracs, a small and light “35”

I won’t go bigger than 35s on the front 30, im waiting for a rear elocker to come out, I think that would be very beneficial and strong with 35s and in the future get a ultimate 44 upfront with 37s

all that being said, if rubicon axles became available around me for the right price, I would jump on that probably, but the problem with that is I’d go to 37s and then need to regear the rubicon axles right away etc.

In the end, no right or wrong way.
Do what you can afford, but most of all just wheel the jeep and have fun and see what you need.

I tackled all the trails I wanted to around me and only a few obstacles I couldn’t get up due to wheel spin and being open diffs therefore i want a locker

 

[SecondTJ]

Not much information on what was improved on the D30/D35. Were the axle tubes thickened like the new D44?

The JL axles are slightly wider and also use a smaller R&P than JK with their special “AdvanTek” gears with no loss of strength.

Front D44: 8.5” (JK) to 8.26” (JL)
Rear D44: 8.9” (JK) to 8.66” (JL)

However, if you’ll be giving up that “smaller is better” if you re-gear with an aftermarket company who doesn’t use the same OE process.

Dana-Spicer does offer “AdvanTek” gear ratios of 4.56, 4.88, 5.13, 5.18 for D44 and 4.10, 4.56, 4.88, 5.13 for the D30/D35

https://media.spicerparts.com/cfs/f...JBaf/PERF-JLADVANTEK-42018.pdf?store=original

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