Weird Issues With Dana 30 In The Front....

[daking]

 

 

Side note: talked to an old boy that used to work at the Jeep dealer (when it was still Jeep) back in the day (probably the same one the truck was bought at. Weren't a whole lot in So Cal I guess) Anyway he said he remembered the dealers offering a limited slip option on the front of these trucks.

He is remembering incorrectly. Jeep never offered a limited slip in the front Dana 30. Not in the XJ, not in the MJ, not in the ZJ. Maybe his dealership was installing them as a dealer option, but it was not a factory option. I think a front limited slip would create some real handling problems in snow or ice.

grand cherokee WJs with quadratrac came with front and rear limited slip

 

Not that I don't believe this, its more of the fact I'm too lazy to search it :)

 

But I'm wondering if what you are referring to is "Active" traction control?  Open diff's, computer pulses the brakes to transfer power to select tires based on wheel speed. (Wheel speed sensors at each corner) 

[DirtyComanche]

Looked it up, apparently they called it the Vari-lok diff.  It's with the Quadra-drive system, not Quadra-trac I or II, not Selec-trac, only the Quadra-drive.

 

Worth pulling one from the junkyard?  Meh.

[Eagle]

 

grand cherokee WJs with quadratrac came with front and rear limited slip

 

 

No, they didn't. You are thinking of the Quadradrive option, not Quadratrak. And the traction device in the front wasn't exactly a locker or a limited slip, at least as we know it.

 

The Traclok limited slip used in the factory XJ and MJ rear axles is a clutch-type limited slip that is always engaged UNLESS the torque differential between the left and right drive wheels exceeds a threshold, at which point the clutches start slipping to allow the wheels to rotate at different speeds. This would result in very dangerous handling on snow or ice if used in the front axle.

 

The Quadradrive traction device works exactly the opposite. It is a clutch-type device, but the default is that the clutches are NOT engaged, so steering is not affected. If one wheel starts spinning much faster than the other wheel on the same axle, then a gerotor pump in the differential uses hydraulic pressure to activate the clutches and engage the traction device. I had a '99 WJ with Quadradrive. When it worked, it worked very well and it was totally transparent to the driver. No strange handling characteristics at all. The only problem was that (like several other features of the WJ) it only worked when it felt like it. I didn't keep that Jeep very long -- I went back to an XJ for reliability.

 

Technically I guess the Quadradrive axles could be described as limited slip, but the mode of operation was unlike any other traction device on the market. Don't confuse it with a Traclok type, which could be dangerous in a front axle.

[mikekaz1]

 

 

 

Side note: talked to an old boy that used to work at the Jeep dealer (when it was still Jeep) back in the day (probably the same one the truck was bought at. Weren't a whole lot in So Cal I guess) Anyway he said he remembered the dealers offering a limited slip option on the front of these trucks.

He is remembering incorrectly. Jeep never offered a limited slip in the front Dana 30. Not in the XJ, not in the MJ, not in the ZJ. Maybe his dealership was installing them as a dealer option, but it was not a factory option. I think a front limited slip would create some real handling problems in snow or ice.

grand cherokee WJs with quadratrac came with front and rear limited slip

 

Really?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side note: talked to an old boy that used to work at the Jeep dealer (when it was still Jeep) back in the day (probably the same one the truck was bought at. Weren't a whole lot in So Cal I guess) Anyway he said he remembered the dealers offering a limited slip option on the front of these trucks.

He is remembering incorrectly. Jeep never offered a limited slip in the front Dana 30. Not in the XJ, not in the MJ, not in the ZJ. Maybe his dealership was installing them as a dealer option, but it was not a factory option. I think a front limited slip would create some real handling problems in snow or ice.

grand cherokee WJs with quadratrac came with front and rear limited slip

 

Not that I don't believe this, its more of the fact I'm too lazy to search it :)

 

But I'm wondering if what you are referring to is "Active" traction control?  Open diff's, computer pulses the brakes to transfer power to select tires based on wheel speed. (Wheel speed sensors at each corner) 

 

 

 

Looked it up, apparently they called it the Vari-lok diff.  It's with the Quadra-drive system, not Quadra-trac I or II, not Selec-trac, only the Quadra-drive.

 

Worth pulling one from the junkyard?  Meh.

my bad... quadra drive. not trac. same difference though

[HOrnbrod]

(1) There is no rear Dana 30 axle -- at least, not in a Jeep, and not in any other vehicle I ever heard of.

 

Yes there was. I just sold a NOS set of 3.73 gears for the D30 rear axle. They are found in the below vehicles, among others:

 

79-87 AMC Eagle

85-89  Ford Aerostar

66-71 Ford Bronco

67-74 International Scout

71-83 Jeep CJ5

66-75 Jeep CJ6

76-86 Jeep CJ7

81-86 Jeep Scrambler

67-73 Jeep Commando

71-73 Jeep Wagoneer

70-81 Volvo 142

70-81 Volvo 144

70-81 Volvo 164

73-93 Volvo 240

73-93 Volvo 242

75-93 Volvo 245

75-93 Volvo 260

75-93 Volvo 265

[cruiser54]

 

In a few rare instances jeep did in fact offer a rear Dana 30 axle. The '67 Jeepster Commando C101 is one of those instances. Other makes also used it. But examples of these do not even make a blip on the radar of most search engines.

The rear D30 found in some Volvos seems to be the most common place to find one.

 

Beat me to it!!! LOL. 

[88whitemanche]

I got my lsd off an 91 Volvo 740 from the rear Dana 30...

 

Couple videos showing the Volvo Dana 30 rear...