Dana 35 potential upgrade time

[delawarejake]

Hey all,

Since I don’t have any wheeling friends I decided it’s time to turn to the community for advice. The carrier in my Dana 35 (98 4.0L) with 3.73 gears blew up the other day and took everything with it calling for a full rebuild. This will be my first rebuild/regear of an axle, but I’m ready to take the time to make sure it’s done right. I bought new stock parts that are set to arrive in the mail today, but I’m having a little buyers remorse that I didn’t take this opportunity to upgrade. I know the Dana 35 is known to be weak especially in the spider gears and carrier (replaced spider gears a few months ago) but I ordered stock parts, specifically the carrier, spider gears, and ring and pinion at 3.73 that way I don’t have to regear the front because I’m anticipating it being a labor intensive job just for the rear. All the super Dana 35 kits I’ve found are just axle shafts, so I’m not sure what the carrier upgrade would/should be, but I don’t feel the need to put a locker in it which leaves an lsd option. Currently running 31s and it’s a daily driver, though I do enjoy taking it up the many forest service roads around here and could see myself doing some slightly more difficult trails. I think 33s would be the biggest tires I’d ever go, so if I chose to gear down I would go to 4.56. Any help/thoughts/advice greatly appreciated!

 

[machoheadgames]

Super 35 shafts are larger and higher spline counts, and the only carriers that exist to accept those shafts are the 30 spline lockers. No LSD or open options for 30 spline Super shafts. So Eaton, ARB, and Ox.

Ultimately your choice comes down to whether you want strength and a locker that you may not need, or keep it stock with smaller tires and keep better eyes on the carrier. With 33’s and wheeling, a Super 35 kit is probably your best bet. If you have a manual and 33’s are in the future, I’d go with 4.88 gears.

 

[delawarejake]

This is exactly the info I needed. Not ready for a locker yet so sounds like sticking with stock

 

[RangerTJ]

If you want a much stronger carrier that can use stock axles, look into the Detroit TrueTrac torsen differential.

Dana 35 TrueTrac

I have this in the rear of mine and it's great for most things except for rock crawling.

I have the Spartan torsen in the front and this combo works great on the type trails I run, as well as being invisible in daily driving.

 

[delawarejake]

I like the sound of this. Just to be clear, with the axle shafts also being a weak point, does that usually only come into play when a locker is involved? Or are the axle shafts still in danger of failing when using this carrier?

 

[RangerTJ]

The TrueTrac is much more forgiving than a locker, but I can't really speak to the strength of stock axles with it as I have aftermarket axles in mine.

I would think that if you didn't put 33" or bigger tires on it you'd be fine.

Dana 35 Discussion

 

[machoheadgames]

In principal, the TrueTrac has the potential to abuse the stock shafts more than the open differential. An open differential will always split torque 50:50, no matter what. The torsen LSD like a TrueTrac can bias torque by around 2.5-3.5x, so you can potentially drive one wheel with higher torque than you could deliver via an open differential. It's not really high risk though. The added control of the rear end offroad could potentially help you control things better to the point where you don't need to give too much gas and stress everything out. Just depends on what you're doing.

The lockers are risky on stock shafts because you can put 100% of torque through one wheel, which snaps the shafts.

You can also get the Revolution 1541H shafts that are 27 spline for a small improvement in strength. I think those yield around a 10-25% increase in strength.

The TrueTrac solves the weak spider gear problem that the stock carrier suffers, although there are better than stock forged spider gears offered by Spicer for the Dana 35 that also probably solve that problem. So really which way to go depends on the strength you need paired with the functionality you want.

 

[DevilDogDoc]

Super 35 shafts are larger and higher spline counts, and the only carriers that exist to accept those shafts are the 30 spline lockers. No LSD or open options for 30 spline Super shafts. So Eaton, ARB, and Ox.

Ultimately your choice comes down to whether you want strength and a locker that you may not need, or keep it stock with smaller tires and keep better eyes on the carrier. With 33’s and wheeling, a Super 35 kit is probably your best bet. If you have a manual and 33’s are in the future, I’d go with 4.88 gears.

Yukon zip locker is also an option. I’ve been running those front and rear for years with the Super 35 with no complaints. Air is the way to go for me, locked when I want own when I don’t.

 

[BlueC]

This is exactly the info I needed. Not ready for a locker yet so sounds like sticking with stock

If you have a tight budget and just want to get it back on the road, just do the stock rebuild with what you already have. Just know that moving up in tire size and/or pushing it will be a no-go. However, if you have any near term plans to regear and/or run taller tires, now is the time to go Super35. If you decide to go Super35 I highly recommend E-lockers.

Here's a Super35 parts/cost (minus gear change) I put together https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/super-35-cost.69877/

 

[speeding_infraction]

An open differential will always split torque 50:50

Uh, what? I thought an open diff would bias torque to the side with less resistance

 

[machoheadgames]

Uh, what? I thought an open diff would bias torque to the side with less resistance

No. It appears that way, but it is always splitting torque 50:50. What happens when you spin the wheel with the least resistance is that it takes very little torque to spin that wheel. The same torque is going to the other side, but it’s not enough to move the vehicle, so you just sit there and spin the one wheel. Equivalent torque is always going to both.