Fair enough point.

Setting up rear ends is a bit out of my ball park, that's for sure. The mechanic I use builds mostly turbo Gm race cars. He's not a jeep guy but he builds axles enough that id trust him with my rig.

Unfortunately the CL seller has been unresponsive for a day or so now. But while I was doing my daily CL scroll, ran across this ad for a front axle. I don't even understand what's happening here. A 455? Never heard of a 455 or 4.55 in a Dana axle. And who changes to a 3.07 "for low end usage?"

I think I know what he's trying to say hahaha. Half the fun of craigslist is reading the wild stuff that people type. Anyway, thanks for the input on the diff choice. Hopefully this seller gets back to me and I can check out this setup.

 

http://louisville.craigslist.org/pts/5251976924.html

There's that ad

 

Hmmmm 3.07 came in manuals, and maybe it stock and highway driven. I am guessing the axle has 3.55 gears which is common on Automatic Jeep Axles. (And most 4cylinders came with 4.10 gears)

 

Add me to the list who suggest you don't waste money gearing that LP 30.

If you can't find a HP front axle locally, try searching on car-part.com. That's the junk yard parts exchange a lot of shops use to find parts for insurance repairs. You can sort the results by distance to find one near you. The prices will be all over the map, including some that are outright crazy high, but you can find some decent deals on there if you look.

You can also search a lot more of the Craigslist auto parts board all at once using searchtempest.com. It gets a little buggy sometimes as Craigslist attempts to thwart you from searching that way, but it usually works. It's a lot easier than going board by board by board.

 

Alright, you guys have got me convinced on not modding that LP axle. Do all the TJ guys swap out to HP's? Cause they're LP right?

I like the idea of modding entire systems at a time when it comes to cars. Instead of piecing stuff onto an axle, just build the whole thing and slide it all in at once. It's expensive but you'll end up paying more in the long run.

 

Bingo. It's good piece of mind.

When you get this new axle you should remember the condition of it is basically unknown. I'd recommend doing bushings and ball joints while you have it out, as well as axle seals when you do the gears. Not a bad time to do brakes and wheel bearings while you're at it.

 

Sort of off topic, but are Dana 44's, front or rear, wider than stock? If I'm gonna build these axles up, I might as well build something nasty. Really want to get into this big tires low cog club. Although I do like the idea that a HP30 just bolts right up..

 

there's so many variations of the Dana 44. Some wider, some same, etc.

 

The Chrysler 8.25 is as strong as a 44 so you would be wasting time and money. The only disadvantage of the 8.25 is c clip which goes away after a disc brake conversion.