New guy with another (possibly dumb) gearing / axle question

[TheRock]

It's all relative. Do you mean ideal or sufficient? What sort of adventuring do you plan on doing?

ideal could be currie rockjock 44 front and 60 rear.
sufficient could be super dana 35 in the rear and chromoly axle shafts in the front in the dana 30. This is normally recommended as sufficient on this forum for 35" tires. Do you want lockers? automatic/selectable?

Well, I guess I’m just curious what is ideal, as if hypothetically money is no object. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying money is no object to me, I’m definitely not loaded! Being as this is my first Jeep and I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m just curious what ideal would be. I guess the follow up would be though what is sufficient… that’s definitely a fair question. I honestly can’t answer what type of adventuring I’ll be doing. I assume it depends on the crowd I end up hanging with and how much I like working on the rig after each venture out. What I’m thinking is that I’d like to be able to do some trail riding and some decent crawling. Not boulders, but just decent crawling. My thought process now is to possibly overbuild a little up front instead of doing “just enough” and then spend more money to do it again right later down the road. Hopefully I’m making sense.

 

[Illiquid]

The difference in cost is going to be pretty large. Build the axles you have now with quality parts and you should be fine unless you want to do jumps and live in rocks.

Then you probably want to drop the big dollars on built RockJock axles. But you’re gonna be in the $5k per axle range.

 

[RHanna]

Well, I guess I’m just curious what is ideal, as if hypothetically money is no object. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying money is no object to me, I’m definitely not loaded! Being as this is my first Jeep and I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m just curious what ideal would be. I guess the follow up would be though what is sufficient… that’s definitely a fair question. I honestly can’t answer what type of adventuring I’ll be doing. I assume it depends on the crowd I end up hanging with and how much I like working on the rig after each venture out. What I’m thinking is that I’d like to be able to do some trail riding and some decent crawling. Not boulders, but just decent crawling. My thought process now is to possibly overbuild a little up front instead of doing “just enough” and then spend more money to do it again right later down the road. Hopefully I’m making sense.

https://www.currieenterprises.com/tj-lj-bolt-in-axle-packages
This is the money is no object option for 35s. Add about 1000 if you put selectable lockers in the front and rear.

Like I said before the sufficient build would be use your current axles and just beef them up. Super 35 in the rear, I don't know what that entails but you should be able to search the term and find a lot of posts. Chromoly shafts up front or RCV shafts. Some replace both axles with rubicon tj dana 44 axles. The front dana 44 and dana 30 share some of the same parts, that's one reason I haven't swapped my front axle for a 44.

The best plan would be to drive the jeep as it sits right now and research more and more. Read some build threads to get an idea of what has worked for others.


Go above 35" tires and you'll really know the meaning of money is no object.

 

[L J]

What axles, front and rear, and what gearing ratios would be the most ideal for a TJ, 4.0 automatic I6 on 35s for the best balance between highway driving and adventuring?

The ratio won't change: 5.13s. It's not "ideal" but it's the best you can do with a Dana 30 front.
The axles: a front Dana 30 and rear Dana 44 will be fine for your purposes. Take a look at your rear diff cover.

Dana 35 - I'd recommend a Super 35 kit

Dana 44 - fine as is

 

[JMT]

Up front, please forgive me if this has been specifically addressed... I have read what feels like endless threads on gearing and axle options, but none seem to answer the specific questions I have. What axles, front and rear, and what gearing ratios would be the most ideal for a TJ, 4.0 automatic I6 on 35s for the best balance between highway driving and adventuring? (favoring adventuring... highway driving really more just as a means of getting to the playground!)

Dana 30 with 4340 Chromoly shafts
S35 or Dana 44
5.13 gears

 

[L J]

You didn’t read enough because you didn’t even realize that you need to supply your particular transmission.

in all fairness it's in his profile (surprisingly)

 

[JMT]

in all fairness it's in his profile (surprisingly)

That is a surprise. I still look sometimes, but I usually don’t get anything useful out of them.

 

[TheRock]

First off thanks to those who have supplied their free advice/opinions, I really am just a noob trying to learn myself. I apologize for the delay getting the requested photo of my rear axle posted. I took photos the other night, but they were all so dark they were basically worthless. I got one today that I think is ok. I think I have the Dana 44, somebody please correct me if I am wrong. There is a decal on the passenger side that says it is the rocky mountain edition, which I was taking with a grain of salt but now I'm thinking it may actually be. A VIN search says it is just a Wrangler X, but I understand that the RME is just a trim that may not be reflected in the VIN.

I was actually thinking the bolt in Currie axles linked above by @rhanna aren't a bad way to go. When you figure in the cost for chromoly axles shafts, new gears, big brake upgrades, rear disc brake conversions, lockers... the price point isn't too far off from upgrading what I have. Feel free to sanity check/flame spray...

 

[TheRock]

Will you guys sanity check me? I think I have the Dana 44 rear axle, but I am still thinking I'd like to get Currie 60 rear and Currie 44 front that @rhanna linked above. I know it seems like an expensive cost up front, but I think I'd like to have the lockers and rear disc brakes. So when you consider the cost of changing out axle shafts to chromoly axles, re-gearing, disc brake conversion, lockers... it seems that the currie axles aren't too far off from upgrading what I have, and they are definitely beefier and an upgrade in themselves. I'm am grateful for you guys' feedback.

 

[thedustyboot]

Will you guys sanity check me? I think I have the Dana 44 rear axle, but I am still thinking I'd like to get Currie 60 rear and Currie 44 front that @rhanna linked above. I know it seems like an expensive cost up front, but I think I'd like to have the lockers and rear disc brakes. So when you consider the cost of changing out axle shafts to chromoly axles, re-gearing, disc brake conversion, lockers... it seems that the currie axles aren't too far off from upgrading what I have, and they are definitely beefier and an upgrade in themselves. I'm am grateful for you guys' feedback.

yep that's the Dana 44

 

[Willhugh]

Will you guys sanity check me? I think I have the Dana 44 rear axle, but I am still thinking I'd like to get Currie 60 rear and Currie 44 front that @rhanna linked above. I know it seems like an expensive cost up front, but I think I'd like to have the lockers and rear disc brakes. So when you consider the cost of changing out axle shafts to chromoly axles, re-gearing, disc brake conversion, lockers... it seems that the currie axles aren't too far off from upgrading what I have, and they are definitely beefier and an upgrade in themselves. I'm am grateful for you guys' feedback.

I would figure roughly $4,500 in parts to get your current axles up to snuff (lockers, gears, front shafts, big brake kit). Then decide whether you want to build them yourself, or fork out another $2k to have the work done.

I haven't priced out Currie axles recently, but I'd guess you're looking at $12k + for what you're talking about.

Once all of that is done, assume you're going to need another $5k in parts to run 35's successfully (lift, shocks, steering, sye, drive shaft), plus the cost of tires.

The build you're talking about is going to cost somewhere between ten and twenty thousand dollars depending on which road you go down. I'd suggest doing a lot more reading on here to determine a direction, and figure out what your budget is before going any further.

 

[TheRock]

I would figure roughly $4,500 in parts to get your current axles up to snuff (lockers, gears, front shafts, big brake kit). Then decide whether you want to build them yourself, or fork out another $2k to have the work done.

I haven't priced out Currie axles recently, but I'd guess you're looking at $12k + for what you're talking about.

Once all of that is done, assume you're going to need another $5k in parts to run 35's successfully (lift, shocks, steering, sye, drive shaft), plus the cost of tires.

The build you're talking about is going to cost somewhere between ten and twenty thousand dollars depending on which road you go down. I'd suggest doing a lot more reading on here to determine a direction, and figure out what your budget is before going any further.

Thank @Willhugh, I really do appreciate the insight. My math for the route with new currie axles I calculated to be near $20k as well taking into account the additional costs you mentioned. However, when I did my research for building my current axles, I came up with a much higher estimate than $4500. Gears, lockers, and big brake conversion for the rear was over $4500 alone.

Gears - $500 to $600
ARB Air Lockers - $2000
Big brake conversion - $1500
Chromoly axles - $2000


And then my concern is that I keep reading that the Dana 30 (my front axle) isn't up to the task, even after upgrading with chromoly axle shafts. Of course I have also read that its fine, but that seems to be like the age old oil discussion. I'd like the confidence in knowing that the Jeep can stand up to whatever I'm going to throw at her without leaving me stranded on the trails.

 

[Willhugh]

There's something to be said for over building, but a properly done dana 30 will hold up to pretty much anything you're going to throw at it on 35's. I could be mistaken, but I don't believe there's much difference in the 30 and front 44 housing strength wise, so if you put in good shafts you should be all set.

Eaton e-lockers are $1,000 per axle
Gears and setup kit $600 total
Front shafts $600
Front big brake kit $1,200

Prices are obviously ballpark. Look at Revolution Gear for axle parts, and BMB for brakes.

 

[TheRock]

There's something to be said for over building, but a properly done dana 30 will hold up to pretty much anything you're going to throw at it on 35's. I could be mistaken, but I don't believe there's much difference in the 30 and front 44 housing strength wise, so if you put in good shafts you should be all set.

Eaton e-lockers are $1,000 per axle
Gears and setup kit $600 total
Front shafts $600
Front big brake kit $1,200

Prices are obviously ballpark. Look at Revolution Gear for axle parts, and BMB for brakes.

Even though the rear is a 44, should I not upgrade to chromoly axles shafts there?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Even though the rear is a 44, should I not upgrade to chromoly axles shafts there?

The Dana 44's stock shafts hold up to 35's for most wheeling situations. If you're doing trails tough enough to actually require 35's and you're geared low enough so the axle shafts are seeing the full potential power of the drivetrain it'd be a good idea to upgrade to 4140 (preferable) or 4340 shafts. Revolution Gear switched their Dana 44 shafts from 4340 to 4140 for its better traits in that type of usage.

And yes your transmission is a 42RLE, I was looking at your Profile. When you regear for your 35's make sure to go with 5.13 gears. 4.88 is not low enough for 35's with the 42RLE transmission. 5.38 is an even better choice but your Dana 30 stops at 5.13.