My '01 XJ's Dana 30 front axle (currently LP but I'm building up a HP housing and gears) has factory axle shafts. I've changed out the U-joints to Spicer 760s with full contact C-clips (I've ground the yokes to take full contact C-clips). At this point, is there much reason to upgrade the axle shafts to chrome molly? I'm not interested in going to 30 spline as I want to be able to carry/find spares easy.

 

What tire size do you have, and do you have lockers or other traction aids?

Reasonably up to 33s is fairly safe on stock shafts for MOST people.

 

32s and currently open both ends (front 30/rear 35), but ultimately I'm looking at getting a locker for both ends (probably selectable for front).

I'm not building a mega crawler, just a good daily driver/weekend toy that can take me to fun places.

 

There's two schools of thought, given that size of tire and lockers.

You can run what you have and they will probably be fine for a long time, quite possibly forever.

Or you can upgrade them now and never worry about it again, nor have to carry spares or the tools to change them.

 

It's all about the $$$s. I'd love to upgrade them (might in the long run) but for now I need to focus on things that really matter. If they aren't likely to break any time soon, then I can move on to getting rid of the dana 35 (looking for a 44).

 

Ah, yes, that time bomb of a rear axle is definitely a bigger priority.

 

How well will the hp Dana 30 handle 35s locked with the stock shafts and circle clip upgrade? That's what I plan on doing but I will also carry spare shafts.

 

Don't lock a d35 and don't run 35s with a d35.

 

not what he asked haha

 

but it's what he needs to know!!!!

 

ok...now what about the dana 30 he was asking about?

 

I already know that, I don't have a Dana 35, I have a Chrysler 8.25 rear, Dana 30 front.

 

My '01 should have come from the factory with a Chrysler 8.25 rear, but for some reason it has a Dana 35. I'm guessing somewhere in it's life, the 8.25 got trashed and the state of CA (it was a CA fleet vehicle) swapped in something they had on hand/scrounged up easy. Needless to say I'm annoyed.

 

They used the Dana 35 all the way up to the 01 model year. If it has ABS then it also has the Dana 35, they didn't put the 8.25 in ABS Jeeps.

 

My '01 is a non-ABS Jeep.