I need help with Dana 35 rear end rebuild options

Squatch said:
@fizzlebottom's Dana 35 troubles are over, as he is now in possession of my old Dana 44 (thanks, @Alex01). ;) Now we just need to find him a matching geared (3.73) Dana 30 for the front. There had been a couple locally on Craigslist that were cheap, but they're no longer listed. Maybe one will show up again soon. I'll be keeping an eye out for one for him. Nice guy!
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A gentleman and a scholar. 10/10, would recommend. I'll definitely keep an eye out for a 3.73 Dana 30, cause having a shop swap gears seems to be the most expensive route imaginable.
 
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fizzlebottom said:
A gentleman and a scholar. 10/10, would recommend. I'll definitely keep an eye out for a 3.73 Dana 30, cause having a shop swap gears seems to be the most expensive route imaginable.
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The XJ Dana 30 is also very desirable as it has a high pinion. Which is notably stronger than the low pinion Dana 30. Plus keeps the driveshaft up higher out of harms way.
 
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fizzlebottom said:
A gentleman and a scholar. 10/10, would recommend. I'll definitely keep an eye out for a 3.73 Dana 30, cause having a shop swap gears seems to be the most expensive route imaginable.
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In the mean time, you could run without your front driveshaft. After you source either gears (expensive in your neck of woods) or a Dana 30 with the matching R&P gear ratio you can hook it back up.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Pretty sure the mounting points are different from a TJ despite it being coil spring. Per the ad it doesn't have CV axle shafts
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Misinformation. A Dana 30 is a front axle that was used in the TJ and XJ (not to be confused with the AD YJ Dana 30) . The XJ and TJ mounts are identical and it will bolt right in to either a TJ or XJ. Plus thr XJ is high pinion! Which is stronger and more desirable.

However, the Dana 35 which is the rear axle used in some XJ’s and some TJ’s. The XJ uses leaf springs and will not bolt into a TJ.

For your future reference.
 
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Fouledplugs said:
In the mean time, you could run without your front driveshaft. After you source either gears (expensive in your neck of woods) or a Dana 30 with the matching R&P gear ratio you can hook it back up.
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That's the plan. Just gonna remove the front drive shaft and get to it when the right used one comes around.
 
Fouledplugs said:
Misinformation. A Dana 30 is a front axle that was used in the TJ and XJ (not to be confused with the AD YJ Dana 30) . The XJ and TJ mounts are identical and it will bolt right in to either a TJ or XJ. Plus thr XJ is high pinion! Which is stronger and more desirable.

However, the Dana 35 which is the rear axle used in some XJ’s and some TJ’s. The XJ uses leaf springs and will not bolt into a TJ.

For your future reference.
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You need to re-read a few posts or read them again for comprehension. The latest discussion by Alex01 I entered into was originally about a Dana 30 out of a Grand Cherokee that Alex01 confused with an XJ. Of course the XJ Dana 30 is a bolt-in for a TJ, that's a Cherokee which is a completely different model Jeep from a Grand Cherokee. And your other info was basic 101 everyone here longer than a week or two already knows. Same old same old.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
You need to re-read a few posts or read them again for comprehension. The discussion I entered into was originally about a Grand Cherokee Dana 30, nothing to do with an XJ. Of course the XJ Dana 30 is a bolt-in for a TJ. And your other info was basic 101 everyone here longer than a week or two already knows. Same old same old.
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The axle in the link certainly looks like an XJ Dana 30 regardless of the title.

And ZJ Dana 30’s are identical as well to a TJ mounting perspective. It will bolt in. Could be wrong. However poor point to argue, it will bolt in if its a ZJ or XJ.

So for your future reference a ZJ Dana 30 will work too. Maybe that one takes longer than two weeks to comprehend.

Jerry Bransford said:
Of course the XJ Dana 30 is a bolt-in for a TJ.
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That makes me feel good, glad I could share and help.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
You need to re-read a few posts or read them again for comprehension. The latest discussion by Alex01 I entered into was originally about a Dana 30 out of a Grand Cherokee that Alex01 confused with an XJ. Of course the XJ Dana 30 is a bolt-in for a TJ, that's a Cherokee which is a completely different model Jeep from a Grand Cherokee. And your other info was basic 101 everyone here longer than a week or two already knows. Same old same old.
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Nice edit!
 
With all this talk of using the XJ front axle, I do have this question: Was the 3.73 a common gear set-up in the XJ? Our '96 with a 4.0 and automatic in it runs 3.55s, if I recall correctly. I kind of assumed that the 3.73 gears were nowhere near as common in the XJ as they are in the TJ, but we all know what they say about assumptions. Anyone know for certain?
 
Squatch said:
With all this talk of using the XJ front axle, I do have this question: Was the 3.73 a common gear set-up in the XJ? Our '96 with a 4.0 and automatic in it runs 3.55s, if I recall correctly. I kind of assumed that the 3.73 gears were nowhere near as common in the XJ as they are in the TJ, but we all know what they say about assumptions. Anyone know for certain?
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Mostly seen 3.55’s and all were autos.

But worth a gear swap since some of the late model XJ’s are high pinion which is stronger and a nice inexpensive upgrade for TJ’s. (I know, money doesnt grow on trees)

In fact, call around. Most shops charge a cheaper rate for gear installs if you bring them the whole axle out of the vehicle. In my neck of the woods, setup is $200 ea axle if just bring in the axle. Which IMO is totally worth it.
 
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Fouledplugs said:
In fact, call around. Most shops charge a cheaper rate for gear installs if you bring them the whole axle out of the vehicle. In my neck of the woods, setup is $200 ea axle if just bring in the axle. Which IMO is totally worth it.
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I would be all over that, if that was the case here! And thanks for the response, btw. (y)
 
Squatch said:
@fizzlebottom's Dana 35 troubles are over, as he is now in possession of my old Dana 44 (thanks, @Alex01). ;) Now we just need to find him a matching geared (3.73) Dana 30 for the front. There had been a couple locally on Craigslist that were cheap, but they're no longer listed. Maybe one will show up again soon. I'll be keeping an eye out for one for him. Nice guy!
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I have the one I took out of my LJ. $100 plus the ride and I want his old carrier so I can build my HP...never mind, his is 307 gears and I need a carrier for 4.56's. crap I will need to use my old diff for parts to build the HP...
 
Fouledplugs said:
Worth a few calls. The worst they can say is, “no” it makes sense to offer a cheaper price for bringing in just the axles versus the whole Jeep.
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I called a few shops in the area to get very roundabout estimates. The first was to rebuild the Dana 35 (before @Squatch delivered the Dana 44). ~$3k if they did everything for just a stock rebuild. I checked another place about regearing the Dana 30 to match the Dana 44. ~$2400 if I brought them the Jeep.

It feels like there's something fishy going on with these prices, but this area is getting absurdly expensive too. Unless I do it myself or find the right Dana 30, I might end up paying an arm and a leg to just have both the Dana 30 & Dana 44 regeared with 4.56 or something more optimal for my 32" tires.
 
fizzlebottom said:
I called a few shops in the area to get very roundabout estimates. The first was to rebuild the Dana 35 (before @Squatch delivered the Dana 44). ~$3k if they did everything for just a stock rebuild. I checked another place about regearing the Dana 30 to match the Dana 44. ~$2400 if I brought them the Jeep.

It feels like there's something fishy going on with these prices, but this area is getting absurdly expensive too. Unless I do it myself or find the right Dana 30, I might end up paying an arm and a leg to just have both the Dana 30 & Dana 44 re geared with 4.56 or something more optimal for my 32" tires.
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FWIW I paid $1,800 in the bay area to have my gears swapped from 4.10 to 4.88. About $600 of that was parts (their cost is probably less) and the rest was labor. So an estimate of 3k is a we don't want to do it price.
 
fizzlebottom said:
I called a few shops in the area to get very roundabout estimates. The first was to rebuild the Dana 35 (before @Squatch delivered the Dana 44). ~$3k if they did everything for just a stock rebuild. I checked another place about regearing the Dana 30 to match the Dana 44. ~$2400 if I brought them the Jeep.

It feels like there's something fishy going on with these prices, but this area is getting absurdly expensive too. Unless I do it myself or find the right Dana 30, I might end up paying an arm and a leg to just have both the Dana 30 & Dana 44 regeared with 4.56 or something more optimal for my 32" tires.
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Just for reference, a very popular axle builder (East Coast Gear Supply) in the Jeep community charges $300-350 in labor for each gear set install

So if I were to bring him a Dana 30 acle housing with my own Dana gears, $300-$350 is what I would pay for install.
 
Just got quoted $2697.43 for full install which includes:
  • G2 4.56 gears front & rear
  • Carriers (due to carrier breaks)
  • Master install kits front & rear (seals, bearings, etc. all around)
  • 10yr warranty on gears
  • 6mo warranty on labor
I know this is on the high side, but the Seattle area is expensive and isn't a hotbed of 4x4 activity. Gonna have to deal with this one probably.
 
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fizzlebottom said:
Just got quoted $2697.43 for full install which includes:
  • G2 4.56 gears front & rear
  • Carriers (due to carrier breaks)
  • Master install kits front & rear (seals, bearings, etc. all around)
  • 10yr warranty on gears
  • 6mo warranty on labor
I know this is on the high side, but the Seattle area is expensive and isn't a hotbed of 4x4 activity. Gonna have to deal with this one probably.
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@fizzlebottom , I'm curious to know what shop this is with. Also, do you happen to remember the names of some of the shops in the area that you called?
 
Squatch said:
@fizzlebottom , I'm curious to know what shop this is with. Also, do you happen to remember the names of some of the shops in the area that you called?
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North Seattle Transmission was the first place I called about rebuilding the Dana 35. They estimated like $2600 for that alone. Clearly a "I don't want to do this" price.
Olympic 4x4 was in the $1500 range (I think) when asked about 3.73s for the Dana 30 to match the Dana 44.
Summit 4x4 in Monroe are the ones that gave me the very accurate out-the-door $ for 4.56s in both front and rear.

Summit's price is high, but they didn't just throw numbers at me and instead took the time to provide an actual quote.
 
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