K fellas,

This may or may not have been discussed before if it has I am sorry I just couldnt find it with the search function.

I am gonna be swapping in a D44 rear out of another xj into my 91.

Now my question is this, I know that the D44 is gonna be strong enough for me in the rear but the front D30 has me worried. My question is if the D30 is a strong front axle if I upgrade the shafts or is there another direct bolt in front axle ( minus gear swap of course ) that is better?

I have a 91 limited with 242 case and non disco front axle ( I believe it is a HP? correct me if im wrong please)

Any help is appreciated, Thanks in advance

Matt

 

depends on what you plan on doing. the 30 with 297 u-joints will hold up to 33s fine. it will hold up to 35s if you respect it.

 

There is no front axle that is a direct bolt into the front of an XJ that is stronger than the OEM D30 unless you count the Wrangler Rubicon front "D44" as stronger. With one of them you do get a D44 center section (differential) but the rest of the axle is exactly the same as your XJ D30. Hardly worth what they are going for pricewise in my opinion. If your 91 XJ has ABS you already have the front axle larger U-joints. If your XJ does not have ABS, getting a set of axle shafts out of a 95+ XJ D30 will net you stronger axles and larger U-joints. You also want the Tierod from a 93-98 V-8 ZJ Grand Cherokee. That will fix you from ever having to worry about bending your tierod at least up to 35 inch tires. The other thing is that if your 91 XJ has the CAD vacuum disconnect it will fail on you. It's not a matter of if but when. When you upgrade to the 95+ axles this will get you a solid (1 piece) longside axle shaft. You can pull the CAD vacuum disconnect motor off the axle housing and sling it in the weeds. You won't need it anymore. You'll of course need a plate to cover the hole, you'll need to cap and stow the vacuum lines and you will also need to add a new inner axle seal on the right side of your diff. The good thing about starting with the CAD type axle is that the axle housing is much stronger than the non CAD axle housing. There is a few great XJ front axle upgrades you can do without ever buying from the after market.

 

Thanks for your help guys

my 91 is a limited so it has the non disconnect D30 so I guess I will keep and and upgrade the Ujoints and such I am mainly gonna be using it for fire trails and forest trails with some snow and mud mixed in for good measure.

Its not a dedicated wheeler so I wont beat it to bad but I am planning on running 32's or 33's with a 4.5" long arm setup eventually.

For know I'm just saving for the 3" rusty's with full spring pack and D44 rearend and gear kit.

would 4.10 gears be good with 32's or 33's and an aw4 auto?