D30 Bearing / Knuckle options

[Tyn Pow]

So I don't clutter up Evolutions thread I'll start this:

Been looking at the Reid knuckles for a while - they look stout, allow for proper high-steer and gets me 5 on 5.5 with proper wheel bearings and give bigger brakes options.  The knuckles are about $600 alone, plus the stubs, shafts, bearings, brakes, hubs etc.  This could get pricey pretty quick.

Also looking at the Warn conversion kit which give you everything except you re-use the crappy stock knuckles and brakes.  This kit is around $1600.

Anybody tried the Reid knuckles or Warn kit or have any suggestions?  Not necessarily looking for the cheapest, but don't want to spend too much....after all it is a turdy.

Mainly looking to get rid of the little unit bearings, have manual hubs and get 5 on 5.5 pattern to match the 9" going in back.  Hi-steer and better brakes would be nice too.

[raf2379]

just a though, what is the OD of the d30 tubes? are they 2.5"OD would it be possible to sleave the d30 tubes on the outside to make it a 3"OD by using some 3"x0.25" wall tube? then buy some D44 inner C's and use knuckles out from a ford or chevy D44 or a 10 bolt chevy, plenty at PnP. might end up being cheeper than the warn conversion. you will probably have to goto to a 16" rim to clear chevy brakes, and with the ford and chevy parts you can have a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern and bigger brakes.

i'm not sure if sleaving the outside is something possible or not, i havent done it my self, but its just a though that crossed my mind.

inner c http://www.partsmike.com/store/store.php?crn=202&rn=1374&action=show_detail

[w squared]

I don't know about an outer sleeve on a thrity, but I do know that there are companies building multi-piece outer "sleeve" kits for the JK Dana 44's. Their theory is that since the OD of the tube has more to do with the strength of the axcle than the wall thickness, it is more effective than doing an inner sleeve. I don't know if that holds true when it's not a 100% actual tube, but it's a neat theory. 

[Tyn Pow]

Hmm, interesting.  Never thought of sleeving and replacing the inner C's but I like the idea.  It would get rid of the other main weak point - ball joints.

thanks!

[Bnine]

just a though, what is the OD of the d30 tubes? are they 2.5"OD would it be possible to sleave the d30 tubes on the outside to make it a 3"OD by using some 3"x0.25" wall tube? then buy some D44 inner C's and use knuckles out from a ford or chevy D44 or a 10 bolt chevy, plenty at PnP. might end up being cheeper than the warn conversion. you will probably have to goto to a 16" rim to clear chevy brakes, and with the ford and chevy parts you can have a 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern and bigger brakes.

i'm not sure if sleaving the outside is something possible or not, i havent done it my self, but its just a though that crossed my mind.

inner c http://www.partsmike.com/store/store.php?crn=202&rn=1374&action=show_detail

You can do that just by cutting off the inner c's, and welding on CJ inner C's, which are traditional full size 44 inner C's. The axle then accepts old school 44 knuckles.

Fiends front axle is one of these. I helped him build it. Its a nice axle, but was a crap ton of work.

One thing to watch out for is that the short side needs to be stretched out a bit to still accept a stock length d30 shaft.

I wouldnt do it on anything less then a hp 30.

It might be worth it to just run adapters until you could build something up front. You can do a 44/9 up front for reasonable money with a lot of patience and research.

[Tyn Pow]

It is a HP30, and I've been going back and forth between running adapters, D44 swap or the knuckle swap for the past 6 months.

I'm planning re-gearing and  I also see a high-clearance bracket kit from Clayton which I'm going to buy any day now.  I think factoring in these two things makes a Ford  HP44 swap the best choice.  I can swap for Chevy knuckles to get hi-steer down the road.  My current 30 is locked and this was the only thing keeping me attached to it, but I'm sure I can sell it to recoup some costs.  Probably won't bother with adapters and just run my current axles till the new diffs are ready to drop in.  Mostly curious if anyone has done the Reid or Warn conversions, and how they liked em.

Thanks for the input guys.

[cLAY]

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Hybrid_Axle/HybridAxle.htm

Here is a write-up on it from pirate4x4, not sure why he didn't move the knuckles in/out as required to keep it at the stock inner shaft length....

[FiEND]

Mine made sense cause I had money invested in front arb locker already and because it is a good idea as well

But sourcing the parts and welding and shafts and steering, it cost as much as a d44 swAp woulda been.

But now I have high pinion with hubs and huge brakes and highsteer and 30 spline chrome shafts w arb. All things equal I am ok with it and bought a truss intending to keep it till I save for the 609.

It was a lot of work and difficult but I learned lots and had fun doing it.

Billy is correct about the shafts. One reason I had to get custom shafts made.

[cLAY]

Do the CJ knuckles have more or less offset than your original D30? In other words did you need longer or shorter shafts?

[FiEND]

i'll have to think on it or try and find my notes and custom shaft measurements.

i think though that the inner c was less offset so the shafts were a bit too long and the hubs wouldn't go on with stubs attached.

[specialk]

What Al said    or maybe Dom 

I like Rubicons 

[FiEND]

What Al said    or maybe Dom 

I like Rubicons 

in before ninja edit  ... has you been sniffing the rubbing alcohol again? 

[Tyn Pow]

i'll have to think on it or try and find my notes and custom shaft measurements.

i think though that the inner c was less offset so the shafts were a bit too long and the hubs wouldn't go on with stubs attached.

So custom stubs?

I'm getting pretty set on the 44 swap, despite what Noel was trying to tell me

If I was hardcore I'd just go with one tons like the cool kids but it's still a grocery getter at the end of the day

[FiEND]

stubs i am just using stock Ford 19 spline.

[raf2379]

i've bounced arround in my head the idea of beefing up my HP30 a few times, and in the end since it was complete stock and no money invested into it, I decided to goto PnP and pull a 1975 F100 HP44 with the weld on wedges to build up. i`m leaving mine full width, but there is plenty of people who narrowed their 44`s to accept wagoneer shafts WMS-WMS is 61.5in.