To regear my 30 and 8.25 total was going to be $980! So yea if you can get a axle already built for $300 do it.

x2!!!

Ahh peer pressure, PM sent. Thanks for the input everyone!

does the $300 rear have 27 or 29 splines shafts?
would be a deal braker for me if it's 27 IMHO.

your '99 has 29.

im running 4.56 with 33's on a 4.5" lift with 4.0 and Aw4 trans and it does great i got all my stuff from Serious Offroad and ur rite its really hard on ur trans if u run it in over drive. i ran mine in 3rd gear until i regeared

Guess I need to check that out as well thanks.

So now I'm looking into the front, do I need a bigger housing for the 4.56 gears? If I can find something on craigslist that's not 4.56 what do I need to look for? Or should I keep my original d30 and uprgrade housing?

Nevermind the housing question, I'm just confusing myself

You will need a new carrier if that's what you're asking. The d30 has a 3.73 carrier break.

I would buy that $300 rear. Yeah 29 spline shafts are a bit stronger but i wheeled the piss out of my old 8.25 that has 27 spline shafts and never broke a thing in it. I know many others that do aswell, it's certainly not a deal breaker. You can install a lunchbox locker later on yourself, pretty simple install.

I had 33s, 4.5". and 4.56's and it seemed like the perfect combination. I'm now on 35s and want 4.88s lol.