Evil Drew M

1997 XJ - lockright up front in the D30, open 8.25 in the rear. Stock axles, 5" of lift and 4.10s.

I am a pretty cautious wheeler and what we have around here consists of mud, more mud, sand, more mud and an occasional stump or 15'ish high climb (I live at the beach ).

With my fenders rolled and trimmed (from when I was running 32s on 3.5-4" of lift) 33s will look small.

So should I just run the 33s and not look at it or go to the 35s?

CherokeeCountry

First, you'll get used to how it looks combined with trimming and tire size. Secondly, yeah. You kind of are asking for trouble running 35's on the D30 and the 8.25 Chrysler. I've seen more broken axle shafts on the trail at the knuckle with guys running that big of tire and giving it a bit too much skinny just once. Or just the position the jeep is in. (In a dry rut, trying to roll up a 8 inch "step") That puts so much stress on the joints and axles and just seems to make shafts snap with that big of a tire. But, there will be guys who post after this saying they run this combo and it's fine. Thousand possibilities, I guess try it if you want!

digger21

There's thousands that run this setup with no problem, including me. However it's not ideal. I always worry about axle damage when wheeling. It's not a permanent thing for me as I'm going to swap in better axles, however if you're a good driver I'm sure you'll be ok.

OnlyInMyXJ22

Ran 35's on my D30 and never broke one thing and I wheeled it hard. I had a 8.8 in the rear with 35's, but I beat my 8.25 with 33's with no issue.

I would run it. If you're at all worried, I'd at least upgrade the 8.25 to a 8.8, but the 8.25 will handle the 35's fine.

brave new world

I have heard of this and have pondered this many occasion. IMO it always depends on the driver and basic treatment of the vehicle. As previously stated, there are many who use this combination with great success. However for every story of success there are stories of failures.

I don't think the 8.25 is a problem, mine was super strong from a stock 96 Xj and it was all good. I think the failure aspect would be specific to the D30.

The D30 can be used this way but as soon as you throw a lockrite in there or something it adds more stress to the axle, period. These additional stresses cause the potential for breaks.

This can be down-played as well by improvement/upgrade of the axle shafts but then it gets into the issue of what you want to spend on a D30?

Sooooo....if your going to go 35's I would suggest operation of the Xj slowly, minimize large off the line speeds, and be the cautious slow and steady guy on the trails. Oh yes, and keep some spare axle shafts on board like me!

Good luck....just my .01$, hope it helps.

1996XJSport

Without a doubt, the Chrysler 8.25 will take 35s no problem.

It's the Dana 30 up front that I'd be worried about. Consider either putting stronger axle shafts in, or swap it out for something a little beefier. A D44 front would work just fine haha

96_xj

depends on how you wheel.

you have some ppl who wheel "hard" and never break anything

and then you have ppl like me who actually wheel hard and break stuff.

i run 33x10.5's and have bent the out C's, blown up the spider and side gears, ripped the axle out from under the jeep, bent 2 track bars, blown up u-joints and so forth.

35's really are the max for the d30 and to be wheeled. it just depends on how you wheel

Evil Drew M

How are 35s with 4.10s and the AW4?

cdawall

same as 3.73s would be with 33s or 3.55s with 3.55s both of which are really common setups on xj's

as for the D30 with 35s good luck i break stuff with 33s and have the strong 297x ujoints in mine as well. that being said i wheel with a guy running 4.56s a D30/44 and a set of sticky 34s i have yet to see him break parts. he is locked f/r

combustionxj

Go with some narrow 33's looks B.A and less stress just dont bull when your getting stuck. Plus you will keep your lock to lock turn

Rock Toy

You should be fine wheeling what you've got. With the front locked just don't turn all the way to the locks and hammer it, you'll bust a u-joint, which usually will take out a shaft.
The C/8.25 you have, should have 29 spline shafts which is plenty for 35s if you use some sense when wheeling.
Carry spares and know how to change them, if you break upgrade.

Sincebeen

Good stuff, I have similar worries.

Evil Drew M

I ended up going with 33s. In the end I felt like my rig on 33s would be a pretty stout package that I would end up loosing some strength and power out of for ~1" of more tire height.

Littlethunder92

I run dana 30/35 on 35s and wheel hard and daily drive it. It all depends on how you wheel . If your in a binding kind of situation etc you have to know when to stop. Especially if your stuck and the truck starts hopping,thats killer on axles.

My buddys xj is stick and hes on 35's and it EATS the front dana 30 front pinion bearing.

xjmonkey

I run 34-10.5 swampers and havent broken anything yet........ its an open d30 but my spiders and such are taking a beating. I dont know how they lived through this last rocky weekend. I have busted a u-joint on 33s but i was new to wheelin and had the wheel cranked hard. Also broken welds in a locked 30 but not the u-joints, although that says more about the who welded it.