front axle

[my86mj]

so today i parked with my wheels cranked and when i walked out i noticed a good amount of dark on my lower control arm. the seals are bad i know. i'm just gonna swap out the front end. i have a dana 30 right now with 4.10 gears and commandtrac. is there some magic front end i can swap in thats a bit stronger. i hear grand cherokee v8s use stronger front end parts.

[Eagle]

The Grand Cherokee ZJ also uses a Dana 30 in front, but that's a low pinion so it's actually weaker than yours. What you're looking for is just late model axle shafts, which have larger u-joints.

[my86mj]

well i really don't want to do axle seals what i might end up doing is finding a decent d30 and swap my gears into it and just use the skeleton. also i just did wheel joints and brakes which means I'm very tired of pulling it all apart

[Eagle]

well i really don't want to do axle seals what i might end up doing is finding a decent d30 and swap my gears into it and just use the skeleton. also i just did wheel joints and brakes which means I'm very tired of pulling it all apart

 

So you're willing to tear into an axle of unknown condition are do all the work of installing your gears (which you will have to take out of this axle) into a new one -- but you don't want to just replace the axle seals in the one you have?

 

Doesn't make any sense to me, but it's your truck, your time, and your money.

[mvusse]

I agree with Eagle. I can replace axle seals in ~20 minutes per side, but setting up gears usually takes me most of a day.

[my86mj]

well from what my dad (mechanic) said axles seals are a huge pain in the @$$. if hes just screwing with me then i will for sure just do seals

[Pete M]

they might indeed be a pain in the butt, but gears are not as simple as just bolting them in. they must be "set up". it's one of the few things on a rig that are not for a novice to tackle blind.