fastman454

so i have this 2001 xj sport and i was wanting to start a discussion about locking your front d30 over your rear axle.
of course manual hubs would be a necessity so you can steer on dry pavement, but would it be less stressful on your rig to lock your front axle over your rear? my rear is a d35 and im skeptical about locking it and am not really in the market to just do a complete axle swap at the time.
manual hubs are a personal thing im wanting on my xj in the future anyways so i can erase that as a unnecessary expense

caged

in your case, i would lock the front if you are not going bigger than 33 inch tires. don't lock the d35.
and don't worry about locking hubs for your d30. wait for those when you go d44 front/9 inch rear.

Xjay98

When you say "dry pavement" you mean regular day to day driving? If you get and Aussie locker in the front you dont even know its there until 4x4 is engaged.

rweaver138

yeah no need for the hubs on the dana 30, if you get a lunchbox locker like an aussie you won't even know its in there when your in 2wd.

and i wont get into locking the d35

xjrev10

Locking a 35 should only be done with a super 35 kit. You break stuff with a locked 30 if you wheel on the hard side.

tommyxj2000

dont lock your d35....learned that the hard way

mr baer

I would say lock the back not the front. Ive only seen one broken back locked diff and that was in a CJ5.
Everyone that I know thats got a locked front has smashed axles all over the place.
No one upgrades diffs in the club I belong to ether

98Plum Crazy

with my aussie in front, i can even tell its there unless in 4wd

caged

dry pavement as in no wheel slip. even in the winter, i shift out of 4wd when i reach a clear spot.

jcwclm

Depending on what kind of wheeling you do, locking the front first can be the better choice.

j-rod

I locked my D30 on Thursday and snapped an axle shaft joint on Sunday....
lol

Lyon

I agree. Good point, except Aussie is out of stock on the D30 lockers. I'm shopping for one myself. Thought about the Spartan locker but not enough reviews to make the purchase yet.

Lyon

Well, atleast you know the locker is working right. It is recommended to upgrade shafts or even just the U-joints when installing one of these lockers.



And to the OP, I agree with not bothering with manual hubs on the D30. For me, I hate them in general. I'm too lazy to get out and keep locking and unlocking them. You have the shifter right next to you in the Jeep for the Transfer case. I don't see why you'd want to keep getting out to change them everytime the terrain changes.

j-rod

yep...getting TJ shafts right now...as they have bigger ujoints.

96_xj

I personally would lock the front over the rear. specially when you are stuck in this situation and need to get out off the trail:




and he D35 is nor worth locking. the C8.25 yes, D35 no