front D30 + 35s + V8 = death?

[JackstandJohnny]

wanna run 35s on the ZJ eventually, but with teh front 30 i'm sketchy.  since the jeeps AWD it has CVs at the axle shafts which are pretty weak, but i'm assuming if i keep the diff open the 30 will hold up.  with my lil' 33s it seems ok, but i'm not sure.
 i will be swapping in either a D44 or exploder 8.8 out back, but i want to know if the front swap can be put off...........

if i keep it open will it survive?  mostly, who has wheeled with 35s on their stock D30s?  i think i might just build up a 44 and get it ready to swap in, then just see how strong the D30 is........... but until i can do this, can that lil' axle hold up?

[BlackYJ]

The D30 should hold up with 35s as long as you have the 297x u-joints.  I have seen guys running 36 TSLs, 4.56s, and an ARB with no problems.   it is stronger than you think.  Plus you could always go with a super 30 kit

[cLAY]

The problem I had was the unit bearings. When I was still  running 31s and  using it as a DD, I was going thru 1-2 unit bearings a year At $250 a piece it quickly became economical to upgrade to a D44 front, I couldn't imagine running 35s on a stock D30 unit bearing for very long.  A hub kit would help with this though. If you are going to run 35s on a D30 for more than a year I would reccomond installing a hub kit.

[cLAY]

BTW, WickedYJ(Tim Garton)) runs a YJ with 35s, a stock D30 and a mild Chev 305. He has broken so many axle shafts(shafts not u-joints) he can swap out a front axleshaft in 15min. Provided the stub isn't siezed in the carrier.  :wink:

[Vinman]

Didn't the factory 5.9 ZJ's use the D30 front axle? I would think they would hold up pretty good.

I've been running 35's on my 2003 Rubicon (same unit bearings and balljoints as a D30) for a year and a half with no problems. The Jeep has over 110,000 kms and the unit bearings have only been replaced once at about 80-85K. It has run 33's since it was a month old. The balljoints have never been replaced and the last time I checked (a couple thousand K's ago) they showed no play whatsoever.

Vince

[Luxton]

BTW, WickedYJ(Tim Garton)) runs a YJ with 35s, a stock D30 and a mild Chev 305. He has broken so many axle shafts(shafts not u-joints) he can swap out a front axleshaft in 15min. Provided the stub isn't siezed in the carrier.  :wink:

that's 15 minutes on the trail   12 for a rear

[JackstandJohnny]

thanks for the cool info. and yea, i would most likely do an upgrade kit for now, and if i started breaking stuff on a regular basis i would just upgrade to the 44. just curious if it'd work or not.  first things first is i need to make some money to even consider anything lol