So im at the point now where i either need to start building my 30/8.25 29 spline or hold off and do a 1-ton axle swap(probably a 60/14bolt). My axles now are completly stock and i cant decide if i want to hold of on building them, and save the money to do 1 tons in a few months, or if i should build them and run them for a while, and then do 1-tons later down the road. If i kept the 30/8.25, i would run 35's and if i did an axle swap, i would do 37's.

If i were to build my stock axles i would drop in lockers front and rear, gears, diff covers, probably truss them, 1-ton steering, maybe cromo shafts, rear disc break conversion.

What do you guys think?

 

my buddy has a 35 rear 30 front with chromoly axles, 35's and he's not easy on it. he snapped a rear axle on the rubicon, buts its been pretty solid since.

 

If you're going to build 1 tons anyway why wouldn't you just hold off and do that instead of wasting money on temporarily building your stock axles?

I'd spend a few months building the 1 tons, get them to the point as rollers and swap them in when you're ready. If you're doing the kind of wheeling that 1 tons and 37s are needed then you're going to be putting more stress than stock axles can handle on 35s anyway.

 

Motorcharge, you have good logic. Especially since i like the skinny pedal and hitting things hard. Do you have a guess of what the cost difference would be? I just dont know how much it is to build a 60/14bolt

 

Depends on what they go for in your area and what you can make yourself, if you wanna use used parts or not, ect.

Around here you're looking at anywhere from $500 per axle just for the housings to $1500 a set for stock pulled axles.

To run 37s you're looking at replacing all the mounts, regearing, probably replacing the shafts, new wheels and tires, ball joints, brakes, ect.

Just for the axles, wheels, and tires you're probably looking at $2-3000 if you buy all new parts and do all the work yourself, not including wheels/tires. I'd also go ahead and do lockers in them before I ever bolted them up permanently. I'd also totally rebuild from the ground up since they're out and apart anyway.

 

there are so many things to consider. I did a lot of research on this also. I don't have any experience on it yet but I have read a lot. here's what I got

35" tires forever? - keep your stock axles. WJ knuckle/brake swap crossover steering and some strong guts. you'll happily wheel 35" tires all over the place. it'll cost a good amount to get it strong/proper enough to last but it'll still be less than tons

38"+ tires some day? - 60/14 no questions asked. I even made a thread about it and got some decent answers https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/fu...ussion-153697/

came to the conclusion that it would be about $4000 for axles (the way I wanted), internals, labor, fab materials, steering, and complete rebuild of brakes etc
plus they're HEAVY. 14 bolt is about 500lbs. then theres the cost of tires. decent 37's are around $400 per tire (or buy used), then new 8 lug wheels, frame stiffening, then you'll want hydro assist and then you'll wanna trailer it and the list never ends. not to mention the difficulty of the swap and tools needed

anyway those were just my findings. if you've got the space, time, money, tools, and know-how then by all means 1 tons look awesome

 

And see, theres the issue. I would LOVE 1-tons. Thats my dream for my xj. However, im only 20 and dont have the most money in the world. Thats why im torn between the two. My 33's and open diffs have always gotten me where i wanted to go(especially in fl where there isnt much that requires massive tires. The only times that 37"+ tires are helpful in fl are at the comps on the extreme rock courses). So i figure that 35's and locked would do great. Will i stick with 35's for forever? Probably not. But but by that time, i may just end up building a tube buggy or something. Im just not sure if a 2" taller tire is worth going 1-tons. Cuz i would probably never go bigger than a 37"-38" on the xj anyways.

 

that was my same dilemma. a lot of the sierra chapter guys run 37's so its a good tire size for my area. but I dont want big heavy wide 1 tons either and I can't afford 40's or a trailer. so I'm going to build a 44/9 like my local naxja guys did. they won't be cheap but they'll hold resale value fairly well

 

So a 30/8.25 with chromo shafts, locked on 35's will be able to handle a good bit of abuse?

 

i agree, if you're only gonna stick with 35's, then your stock axles built up with chromos/rcv's then you'll be fine.

if you're gonna go up in tire size, don't waste your money on stock axles right now.

14 bolt is huge. i'd do this http://www.tmrcustoms.com/store/inde...oducts_id=1286

 

Lol I fawked parts up running 35s on a locked dana 30. Shafts, u joints, carrier, ring and pinion...I'm not too easy on my stuff either though. I got an 8.8 in the rear and haven't had a single problem out of it.

Honestly I wish I had either stayed on 33s since I rarely broke anything with that tire size or skipped all the turd polishing and went straight to a more stout set up.

 

I am in the same boat as you currently, I had to push back regearing my XJ so I am thinking about going to the salvage yard to pick up a D60/14B combo to build for the XJ

 

So slowly build them over a few months or a year. The only really big expense at one time if you do it like that is the wheels and tires. Most the individual parts for building 1 tons are pretty cheap when bought one at a time.

 

I'm running D/30, C/8.25 combo with 30 spline 4340 chrome-molly shafts in the front and 1541H 29 splines in the rear with 35s. I've beat the **** out of these axles and have had no problems, if I were to go to any taller tires I would just buy a one ton chevy and make a truggy out of it, cheaper and way easier.

 

By "beat the **** out of them" do you mean you actually beat the **** out of them, or just try to pretend that you do? Im not trying to be sarcastic or a dick. And i dont mean anything by that so please dont take it that way. Just alot of people say that they beat the hell out of there rigs, but when you go out on the trails with them, they wont do anything that they dont have 100% traction and all 4 wheels firm on the ground. Now if you actually do put in some good work on those axles, then im really gona consider just upgrading my stock axles. Ive been back and forth on this soooooo many times on this.