so i had been of the knowledge, the vacuum disconnect dana 30 was only used from 84-91 in cherokees and until 95 in wranglers, then they changed it because it was a bad system. a friend of mine insists that all dana 30s are vacuum disconnect no matter what year.

so whats the deal? are all dana 30s vacuum disconnect or not?

 

No, as far as I know YOU are correct.. My girlfriends 96 is not vaccum disconnect, my 89 is...

 

thats what i thought, but my friend insists they merely changed it to different vacuum system. idk, wonder if anyone else will chime in on the subject. thanks though

 

AFAIK they totally got rid of the vaccum system. They use a full axle shaft on the passengers side, instead of the split shaft used in the vaccuum disconnect system..

 

thats what i thought too thanks

 

not all early cherokees are vacuum disconect either,my 89 is not,most I have seen are not.

 

I thnk most the 89 cherokees that had the NP242 (like yours) had non-disconnect axles...
Im not totally sure on that though..

Heres some info I found:
Front

• Dana 30 high pinion - reverse cut - 27 spline, 1.16" diameter shafts, 7.13" ring gear - used '84-'99 (some axles through '91 are vacuum disconnect, '92+ are non-disconnect, '89-'95 with ABS have 5-297x u-joints, all '95+ have 5-297x u-joints, all others have 5-260x u-joints)

 

Ya the disconnect axle were in Jeeps with the 231 T-case..