Best crate axles to upgrade from my Dana 30 / 35

gasiorv said:
Driving style and the type of wheeling I do is most likely a factor, but I have found that a Dana 44 (rear) with chromoly shafts is not adequate for 35s. I was constantly breaking shafts, breaking e-lockers, and replacing bearings and seals. So if others are saying that a Dana 35 with shafts is equivalent to a Dana 44 with shafts and are going to do any serious wheeling, I recommend going with the Currie Dana 60. With the currie, it is basically stock width, you don't have to stretch, and with the Currie you lose minimal clearance between diff and ground.

For the front, I am still running my Dana 44. The stock rubi locker went on me and I also had issues with breaking ujoints and ears (on chromoly shafts), but since I upgraded to an elocker and RCVs I haven't had any issues with the front on 35s. So if you upgrade your Dana 30 to 30 spline shafts like Starkey recommended you will probably be OK.

Again, my recommend is based on my driving style and the wheeling I do, my Jeep is a toy to me and is in the rocks much more than on the roads. I don't know what type of wheeling you do, so my recommend may not apply.
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Currie 60 will fit with my stock gas tank? Seems like that large of an axle is going to present issues without other extensive options. Is it the same wms as my front dana 30?
 
TeeJohn said:
a few years ago I went with a complete ECGS 489 with a 33 spline OZ. My old high mile 44 housing was spun and cracked, the brakes were shot, the pinion nut wouldn’t stay tight and I wanted a locker. I’d love to do an LS conversion one day so I went with something more that speed. It was expensive but I have had zero issues it. Easy bolt-in. The axles have both 5 lug patterns so if you decide to go larger and maybe add 1/2 ton lockouts one day, you’re a step closer.
Be sure to communication concerning shock mount placement and lift so you can run the length shocks you prefer and end up with a favorable pinion angle. The larger axle tubes and thicker mounts do lift the rear a little higher.
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i’ve been eyeing the ecgs 489 front and rear for my 06 tj with the ox lockers and am concerned about clearance issues. what did you put your 489 axle in and what locker did you go with?
 
starkey480 said:
The best advice is to just upgrade your current axles to 30 spline (super kits front and rear), save thousands of dollars, and go have fun. I wheeled my rig really hard on super 30/35 setup for a long time on 35s. I broke a 27 spline inner up front but have been fine ever since going to 30 spline inners. The super 35 never failed nor have I ever heard of one failing.

But… if you are dead set on the crate axle plan I’ve got a couple recs. Don’t get ox lockers or you will have to convert your Jeep to a tube chassis to clear those god awfully large diff covers….. Okay, the tube chassis is a complete joke from another thread about ox lockers and I couldn’t resist. The god awfully large diff covers is serious. You’ll have clearance issues to contend with on those covers, especially up front with the trackbar. I’d recommend going with ARB or Eaton E lockers.

My next recommendation is that if you are going to spend all that money on crate axles, you might as well get high pinion axles to get your driveshafts out of the rocks.
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Were the 27 spline Dana 30 shafts that broke the stock carbon steel?
 
slundsk said:
Currie 60 will fit with my stock gas tank? Seems like that large of an axle is going to present issues without other extensive options. Is it the same wms as my front dana 30?
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I was wondering about the Currie HP60 to gas tank skid clearance as well…

Otherwise it looks to be a bolt-in option the same as other crate axle options out there…

As far as width, it is made to mimic the stock widths of what came factory in our TJs…
 
MichaelGH said:
I was wondering about the Currie HP60 to gas tank skid clearance as well…

Otherwise it looks to be a bolt-in option the same as other crate axle options out there…

As far as width, it is made to mimic the stock widths of what came factory in our TJs…
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My Currie 60 is set to barely rub my savvy GTS at full bump. I believe the savvy provides a little more room than stock.
 
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Apparition said:
My Currie 60 is set to barely rub my savvy GTS at full bump. I believe the savvy provides a little more room than stock.
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That’s good to hear. I have Savvy DA arms and the Savvy GTS myself. A Currie HP60 is definitely an option it sounds like…
 
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MichaelGH said:
That’s good to hear. I have Savvy DA arms and the Savvy GTS myself. A Currie HP60 is definitely an option it sounds like…
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Been running mine for several years now. No issues other than I need to install my rear Antirock and remove the stock flipped swaybar.
 
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Anybody know the weight difference between a S35 and a Dana 44? Is there a big dif to ground clearance difference there too?
 
Apparition said:
Been running mine for several years now. No issues other than I need to install my rear Antirock and remove the stock flipped swaybar.
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Do you do a lot of street driving with it? Did you have Currie install a load bolt on the ring gear? Smoking the pinion bearings is all I am really worried about…
 
MichaelGH said:
Do you do a lot of street driving with it? Did you have Currie install a load bolt on the ring gear? Smoking the pinion bearings is all I am really worried about…
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I’ve driven it to Moab and back. Somewhere about 20k miles probably. No issues and no load bolt.

I have a set of Currie Extreme 60’s for my new build. They have load bolts but were considerably more expensive. But they will also see 40’s and ~500 HP.
 
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slundsk said:
Interesting perspective and good info thanks for that.
I do mostly rocky trails and slow speed rock crawling. Not bouncing with any buggies. At least not normally sometimes I get skinny pedal happy 😬. I wasn’t super excited about putting the HP60 in the back on 35s due to clearance issues I’ve read about. I’ll have to look into beefing up my 30 I have in the front. I really wanted to incorporate lockers into both axles.
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As above I'd take the easier way out and upgrade your rear Dana 35 with a Super 35 kit from Revolution Gear & Axle. That kit will give you heat treated 1541H 30 spline axle shafts that are slightly stronger than the axle shafts in the TJ's Dana 44. That plus 4340 chromoly axle shafts for the front axle. Those two upgrades will provide a solid foundation from which to run 35's and f/r lockers without worry on the toughest rock crawling trails 35's can handle. Locker-wise it's hard to beat the Eaton E-Locker or ARB Air Locker. My personal choice would be the E-Locker.
 
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txbemis69 said:
i’ve been eyeing the ecgs 489 front and rear for my 06 tj with the ox lockers and am concerned about clearance issues. what did you put your 489 axle in and what locker did you go with?
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Sorry for the late answer. I chose the OX locker for the cast iron cover and the all-mechanical simplicity. I routed the cable through the tub near the roll bar mount and attached the selector under the seat, to the outer drivers seat bracket. The lever sticks out more than enough to reach beside the seat. I did attach a throttle spring from the cross member to the OX cable to help hold that away from my exhaust pipe.
I bought the entire package with em brake cables and all. No noise, no trouble bolting in aside from the slightly wider than stock control arm brackets needing a washer on each side of the control arm. The additional “lift” from the thicker brackets and axle tube helped level my sagging rear.
 
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TeeJohn said:
Sorry for the late answer. I chose the OX locker for the cast iron cover and the all-mechanical simplicity. I routed the cable through the tub near the roll bar mount and attached the selector under the seat, to the outer drivers seat bracket. The lever sticks out more than enough to reach beside the seat. I did attach a throttle spring from the cross member to the OX cable to help hold that away from my exhaust pipe.
I bought the entire package with em brake cables and all. No noise, no trouble bolting in aside from the slightly wider than stock control arm brackets needing a washer on each side of the control arm. The additional “lift” from the thicker brackets and axle tube helped level my sagging rear.
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the mechanical simplicity is what makes me lean towards a ox. really worried about clearance issues front and rear with the larger diff. covers being on only a 3.5 inch suspension lift.
 
starkey480 said:
I think you’d be really happy with some super kits. Look up Revolution. I believe they make a super 30 kit for up front and a super 35 kit for the rear and you select which locker you want. If you don’t know what a super kit is, it is just upgrading the inner axles from 27 spline to 30 spline. Both ARB air lockers and Eaton E lockers are great.
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I just upgraded my 30/35 with kits from revolution gear. I got new axles for the rear, but had to get 27 spline. They told me 30 spline was not an option with a Detroit tru track.
 
JW man said:
I just upgraded my 30/35 with kits from revolution gear. I got new axles for the rear, but had to get 27 spline. They told me 30 spline was not an option with a Detroit tru track.
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welcome, JW man. TruTrack can be a great limslip depending on wheeling style and driving conditions.

We've got about 15 seconds until somone stops in to tell you otherwise... as if you're going to take it back.

I ran front and rear trutracks for a few years with a manual tranny and a hand throttle, one on the clutch and one on the brake. Though I've moved on from that they were problem free and super quiet on the street and.more than adequate most of the time.

Again, welcome 👍
 
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