Can I put a locker in my stock Dana 44 without breaking it?

Cameron97

Cameron97

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Hello I have a 1997 TJ with a Dana 30 upfront and a 44 in the rear my question is can I put a rear locker in my stock Dana 44 without worrying about breaking it. my buddy keeps telling me not to do it because the older 44 cannot handle it unlike the newer Dana 44 on the rubicon's is he right?
 
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Cameron97 said:
Hello I have a 1997 TJ with a Dana 30 upfront and a 44 in the rear my question is can I put a rear locker in my stock Dana 44 without worrying about breaking it. my buddy keeps telling me not to do it because the older 44 is cannot handle it unlike the newer Dana 44 on the rubicon's is he right?
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He could not be more wrong.
 
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Cameron97 said:
Hello I have a 1997 TJ with a Dana 30 upfront and a 44 in the rear my question is can I put a rear locker in my stock Dana 44 without worrying about breaking it. my buddy keeps telling me not to do it because the older 44 cannot handle it unlike the newer Dana 44 on the rubicon's is he right?
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While there are some differences, that is beside the point.

What size tire are you running? What type of terrain do you wheel on?
 
Cameron97 said:
Hello I have a 1997 TJ with a Dana 30 upfront and a 44 in the rear my question is can I put a rear locker in my stock Dana 44 without worrying about breaking it. my buddy keeps telling me not to do it because the older 44 cannot handle it unlike the newer Dana 44 on the rubicon's is he right?
Click to expand...

If your at all worried add upgraded axle shafts to your list of wants. I have been running stock rubicon axles with 35s and haven't had an issue. I'll probably upgrade my shafts (rear) within the year as an insurance policy but as long as you're not hard on the throttle and bouncing around you should be fine locked.

Which locker are you looking at?
 
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Personally, I would add the locker now and upgrade the shafts later on when you have the time and cash.

If you ever go into 35s, or you start getting into more technical rock crawling, or more spirited driving in low range, that would be when you want to upgrade shafts.

If you put a locker into the front Dana 30 too, upgrade those shafts before the rear shafts. Those are much weaker due to the smaller diameter and the U-joint
 
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Steel City 06 said:
Personally, I would add the locker now and upgrade the shafts later on when you have the time and cash.

If you ever go into 35s, or you start getting into more technical rock crawling, or more spirited driving in low range, that would be when you want to upgrade shafts.

If you put a locker into the front Dana 30 too, upgrade those shafts before the rear shafts. Those are much weaker due to the smaller diameter and the U-joint
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Thanks my plan right now is just just to put the locker in the rear and leave the front of a open diff and maybe I'll eventually put a 44 in the front
 
Alex01 said:
If your at all worried add upgraded axle shafts to your list of wants. I have been running stock rubicon axles with 35s and haven't had an issue. I'll probably upgrade my shafts (rear) within the year as an insurance policy but as long as you're not hard on the throttle and bouncing around you should be fine locked.

Which locker are you looking at?
Click to expand...
You know I'm looking at like an air locker right now but I haven't quite put my finger on it have any suggestions? It would need to be a selectable locker
 
Cameron97 said:
Thanks my plan right now is just just to put the locker in the rear and leave the front of a open diff and maybe I'll eventually put a 44 in the front
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There is little reason (in my opinion) to upgrade the front to a TJ Dana 44. Other than the carrier and the inner axle shafts, all of the components are the same. The axle tubes, inner Cs, ball joints, brakes, outer axle shafts, and u joints are all the same on the TJ Dana 30 and TJ Dana 44.
Personally I would only upgrade it to a JK Dana 44 or ProRock Dana 44 (or other aftermarket Dana 44) if I wanted to run 37s
 
Cameron97 said:
Thanks my plan right now is just just to put the locker in the rear and leave the front of a open diff and maybe I'll eventually put a 44 in the front
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Dana 30 with shafts and locker is more than up to the task of 35's so your 33's would be happy. Once you add a 44 you may need to shorten the driveshaft and also you'll lose some clearance with the Track bar. If I was to do it again I would have built my Dana 30 or went with a HP Dana30
Cameron97 said:
You know I'm looking at like an air locker right now but I haven't quite put my finger on it have any suggestions? It would need to be a selectable locker
Click to expand...
People tend to like ARB and Eaton. I run factory lockers so I'm not much help.
 
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Alex01 said:
Dana 30 with shafts and locker is more than up to the task of 35's so your 33's would be happy. Once you add a 44 you may need to shorten the driveshaft and also you'll lose some clearance with the Track bar. If I was to do it again I would have built my Dana 30 or went with a HP Dana30

People tend to like ARB and Eaton. I run factory lockers so I'm not much help.
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Thanks for the suggestions I'll look into those I'm super new to Jeeping so this is going to be a fun project for me
 
If you’re thinking about regearing, you might consider having it done at the same time as the locker install. Since they’re already opening up and re-shimming one differential the cost of labor is significantly reduced by having it done at the same time.

If you eventually plan to regear and run two lockers, having it all done at the same time will result in significant labor savings (as much as 1k) over doing it in two or three separate visits
 
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Cameron97 said:
Thanks for the suggestions I'll look into those I'm super new to Jeeping so this is going to be a fun project for me
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You're going to love it but your wallet will hate it. :ROFLMAO: Asking lots of questions is a good way to make sure you put your money into the right products. Don't forget to start a thread under the build area so you can track your progress and have a place to look back at later.

Steel City 06 said:
If you’re thinking about regearing, you might consider having it done at the same time as the locker install. Since they’re already opening up and re-shimming one differential the cost of labor is significantly reduced by having it done at the same time.

If you eventually plan to regear and run two lockers, having it all done at the same time will result in significant labor savings (as much as 1k) over doing it in two or three separate visits
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x2
More money up front but saving 1k down the line.
 
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I have 01 TJ with rear Dana 44 and front Dana 30 on 33’s. Installed Eaton E locker in the rear a couple of years ago and have been wheeling it reasonably hard. It’s been the best upgrade on my Jeep above all others. For me the selectable rear locker is the way to go. Whether you go ARB or Elocker is personal preference, I certainly wouldn’t mind having the onboard air compressor but what I went with performs well.

Re-gearing at the same time is an excellent suggestion as well as strengthening you front 27 spline axle shafts.
 
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