Is it worth buying a high pinion Dana 30?

RipSteakface

RipSteakface

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I'm looking to upgrade my front and rear axles this year, and I am researching my options and would like to get allayall's opinions and advice on the front end. I am currently running a factory Dana 30/35 combo at 3.73 with ECGS chromoly axles in the 30. Will be upgrading to 35" tires on 15x8's with the upgrade, already purchased.

I'll most likely be getting whatever I get from East Coast Gear Supply. They sell a brand new Dana30 high pinion for $960 and I have heard people say that you can build a Dana30 to be just as strong as a 44. I built one out to the nines on their site with an E-locker, tube sleeves, gussets, and artec truss, and it comes in at $3700 which is a very doable price.

My question to you guys is... is it worth it? Or should I forget it and look into something heavier like a 44 or their 489? I want to do their 489 in the rear, and was considering it for the front as well but it is much more expensive than the 30, and also they don't option it with an E-Locker on the front for some reason. The thing that attracts me about a built 30 is keeping the front end small and light. I will likely never use this thing to wheel very hard, but my philosophy is generally 'overbuild for your purpose', but if a built 30 is just as good as a 44, I don't see much of a reason to go up to a 44 since I'm not going to be abusing this much, and I'd like to keep it pleasant on the street for long road trips out to camping spots, and to visit family and wheel in New England.

Anyway, enough rambling... thoughts? TIA
 
I'd say not worth anything close to $3700. I had a HP30 when I bought my Jeep. It was just ok with 35's. I do hard enough trails that I lost track of all the things I broke (gears, locker, shafts, etc). So if you're doing light wheeling, it could be fine. If you're doing hard rock crawling, I'd save up a little more and go with a Currie 44 or something similar.

I ended up replacing mine with a Currie 44. Ended up being closer to $5000 with locker and everything.
 
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Spending 3700 just get high pinion, with no strength upgrade (talking shafts here)? That's a ton of money just to say you did.

Personally, it sounds like what you have will suit you fine in the front. I would focus on the rear end for now.
 
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I built mine with the help of a local shop. $200 for the housing, new ball joints, Black Magic Brake 15” kit, ARB, and 4.88 gears, and stronger lower control arm brackets. I’m pretty sure that came out to be around $3000. You could save a little money not going through ECGS but they’re super convenient.
 
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pcoplin said:
Spending 3700 just get high pinion, with no strength upgrade (talking shafts here)? That's a ton of money just to say you did.

Personally, it sounds like what you have will suit you fine in the front. I would focus on the rear end for now.
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Fully built, so shafts, ball joints, gears, truss, sleeves, locker, everything.

I built mine with the help of a local shop. $200 for the housing, new ball joints, Black Magic Brake 15” kit, ARB, and 4.88 gears, and stronger lower control arm brackets. I’m pretty sure that came out to be around $3000. You could save a little money not going through ECGS but they’re super convenient.
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ECGS is local to me, so yeah, super convenient.

Personally, it sounds like what you have will suit you fine in the front. I would focus on the rear end for now.
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Problem is I have to do gears, so if I geared the existing front it would cost me a ton of money anyway, I feel like at that point might as well invest that money in a forever axle.
 
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Here's the build sheet
 
Trust me when I say it won't be a "forever" axle if you do hard enough trails. Don't get me wrong, I have a HP30 and built it up. I don't have a truss and I only run 35's but it has held up very well. I broke a ring gear this past season and I am not a guy who used the skinny pedal to get over rocks.

I guess "forever" could work for you but understand that sometimes things just happen which will require replacing stuff. I just installed a fresh HP30 as I felt my other one was just too beat up from the rocks. I had to replace the ring gear anyway so I figured I'd start fresh. I do all of my own work though so that saves a lot of money and I get to do it the way I want.

My cost for everything to build it up:

Housing $60
ARB $850
Spicer ball joints $100
Revolution 1350 chromo shafts $850
Gears and install kit $275
Diff cover $100
Brackets $160
Clevite bushings $15
Unit bearings $120
Media blast and paint $50

Total $2630 with no labor. So to do it right, yes it cost money and ECGS probably isn't that bad when you account for labor and overhead. But it's still a Dana 30 in the end. But it works for me for now. If I ever decide to upgrade to bigger axles I'll sell it at a loss for sure.
 
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I scored a clean, straight high pinion Dana 30 for 80 bucks a few months ago. Patiently watch your pick and pulls, craigslist, facebook marketplace, etc. and you'll be able to obtain one for cheap. The extra driveshaft clearance and pinion angle reduction are what really make the hp Dana 30 desirable.
 
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the attraction to a Dana 30 is you can buy housings for $150 all day, then fully outfit and upgrade it and come in under $2k. There is absolutely no reason to pay $3700 for a Dana 30.

The HP30's gain in strength above an LP30 hasn't proven large enough to be quantified. The only gain is moving the driveshaft 3" farther from the rocks. There is some talk about it letting you get some more caster but the caster-to-pinion separation is reduced by 3 degrees from the LP and I haven't done the trig to figure out whether that completely erases the benefit.

The only way I would ever consider buying a crate axle would be to get something with the right dimensions and upgraded ball joints to pave the way for 37s. And I am so far from that in every other area that it's not even something worth entertaining.
 
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Just don't try to pull someone out of the mud or sand in reverse. The HP30 ring/pinion is weaker going that direction. 3* of caster gain can be huge if you plan to tummy tuck and need some caster or keeping the pinion angle happy. You'll be regearing, so the drive shafts will be spinning faster, fyi.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
3* of caster gain can be huge if you plan to tummy tuck and need some caster or keeping the pinion angle happy.
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do you actually get 3 degrees though? My understanding is that the pinion and caster are 3 degrees closer together on the HP, so for the same caster, you actually have 3 degrees lower pinion angle. If you gain 3 degrees of pinion angle by raising the driveshaft, then it ends up being a wash. I have a HP but what I haven't done is actually measure the driveshaft angle on a Jeep before and after a HP swap, all other things equal.
 
hosejockey61 said:
Understand the only thing I replaced was the housing and ball joints. Everything else was swapped from the previous axle.
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(y)

My comment wasn't directed at anyone but I've seen your channel and know you are more than capable of doing your own work. That kind of falls in line with my "not spend significant money" opinion.
 
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Doesnt seem to far off when you factor in everything. I bought two HP30s for $200. Once I sold off the other and bits and pieces of the one I planned on using my housing was only $20.

Additional costs:
Sandblast/Paint - $80
Artec brackets - $150
Control Arm brackets - $150
RG&A 5.13s - $300
Ball joints - $100

Mine was relatively cheap all things considered, but I also swapped over the ARB, RG&A shafts, unit bearings and was gifted axle joints. But as @freedom_in_4low said, if I was to buy a crate axle it would be one that can withstand the abuse 37s throw.
 
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The thing that sucks about it all though is if you break your Dana 30 and want to upgrade, it's a whole new can of worms. I don't consider a Dana 44 an upgrade except for deeper gears. My next step would be tons and bigger tires but that is an entirely different animal.
 
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