dana 44 vs 30, is it worth the extra costs?

[jrod1966]

I just replaced my recently sold 90 yj (6 cyl, 4' lift, Dana 30/35 with 4:10 gear and rear detroit locker) with a 05 tj (5' lift dana 30/44, 3:73 gear no locker) and i want to install 4:10 gears and  lockers front and back. Im running 33 inch tires and probably stay with that so im wondering,.Will the dana 30 hold up to a locker or limited slip or should i save up and spend the extra 2500 + and put in a dana 44 with locker. my yj that i had for 10 years never broke with 33s and did see a fair amount of abuse so im looking for some imput             thanks for the advice guys. Just one more question Would a eaton e locker be too much for the dana 30 , im not familiar with an aussie locker and im not sure if a limited slip would give me the performance i want , especially if one of the front wheels goes in the air. But its also gotta steer good as well because we will use it to cruise in on those hot days as well. Thanks again

[fug]

D30 in the front will do fine with 33's.  There's really not a huge difference between it and 44 in strength in the front.  All kinds of guys run that axle with 33-35 tires in the club. 

[Immortal]

33s and 35s with 3.07s and 4.56 gearing on mine for a few years.... No issues except the steering, but that's another story. I wasn't nice to them, either.

[new2jeepguy]

my 87 has the stock 30 and I  run 37  x 13 5 x 15 iroks , no problem so far

[dubbleJs]

I'm running 35's on a d30 with aussie locker, works good. Eats a Ujoint every once in a while. If you are running 33's don't waste your time and $$ on a d44 front, unless you are really hard on your rig.

[dubbleJs]

my 87 has the stock 30 and I  run 37  x 13 5 x 15 iroks , no problem so far

Are you hard on it at all? Contemplating how big is too big for my 30...

[Dingleberry]

Are you hard on it at all? Contemplating how big is too big for my 30...

Let me try out a set of 37's some time and I'll let you know ;P

[dubbleJs]

Let me try out a set of 37's some time and I'll let you know ;P

Haha sounds good buddy!!