5.38's in a Dana 30?

hey all,
My CJ2a has the stock Dana 25 and i was going to go the route of upgradine to a dana 30 for strength and better parts availabilty, but i wanted to keep the 5.38 gears. However someone said that a dana 30 with that gearing is just waiting to blow and i should either upgrade to a 44 or change gears. My problem with the 44, is the price to get a waggy front and then narrow it on both sides to match the rear (and no i dont want that wide of axels so i cant just leave it.) By the way, I am running a 4.3 vortec, th350, dana 18 combo. so here are my questions:

1: Will the Dana 30 "blow up" with 5.38 gears?
2: If so..what is a good ratio so my R&P is not the weak link? maybe 4.88's?
3: Has anyone narrowed a waggy D44 and how much was it?

thanks all
~pete

 

Well i was told....that because of the low gearing the weak point would be the R&P and the D25, having a slightly larger R&P, would last longer. :?

 

the bottom line is the driver and his tendencies while off roading.
You could lay the components in question side by side, and sure, you will see differences in size, diameter, thickness,etc. Based on this inspection, you would then form an opinion of them, which is stronger than the other.
To label a particular combination as weak or not very strong is based only on those who have had problems in the past.
I've never heard anyone say a D30 with 5:38s is junk, but I run it in my Jeep anyway.....
ymmv

 

The gears are avalible and I think the reason is (and I asked the same Q) is tooth count, 8:43, 8 is not a lot of teeth to spread out the load BUT, if you buy quality aftermarket gears, I wouldn't worry....I'm not and going with 5.38's myself! Now it's the axles and Ujoints and.....

Dale

 

Normally the differential gears (pinion and side gears) will break before the ring and pinion as will the axle u-joints. Going easy on the skinny pedal, sane tire size and horsepower and the 30 lives pretty well. Nickmil

 

I have a D30 in my '67 and I'm running 35" tires and I haven't had any problems other than grenading a couple of u-joints. I upgraded to Alloy USA chromoly axles with the D44 size u-joints and have whipped it pretty hard with no breakage. I bought Yukon gears for it from Randy's R&P.

 

I thought it would be Ok, but its good to hear from people that are running it and not having major problems. thanks a bunch guys..

 

Well here is the thing, I have the 4.3 vortec which is a decent motor, i plan to run the 34x10.5 LTB's, and i have a heavy foot. So would it be better to upgrade the 30 with some decent shafts or just narrow a waggy 44? either way i will have to re-gear so that really doesnt factor in...

 

4.3 with a 5.38? Isnt' that kind of low?

 

not if you like getting passed by school buses. i'm with sammy, if you do any highway driving, 4.88 or 4.56 would be better. 5.38 and 34s, the 4.3 will be turning 3500 at 65 with a th350. if its a wheeler only then just disregard my ramblings.

 

I run 5:38's, :v6: ,t18,and overdrive. It's by no means to slow, I think its the best combo. I can crawl over things with ease and run at 65+ on the highway, faster then I want to in my flatty.
I have my dana 30 setup with 5:38's and a detroit truetrac swapped into my cj6, It looks alot more beefy then my 5:38 dana 25. I think after going to this much work I might regrete not spending 200 more and putting in a E-locker though. Thats what is going in the rear.

 

Yea, sorry I forgot to mention the O/D for my D18. Plus you just cant have a true willys without 5.38's. In my opinion, 5.38's and the D18 with O/d is part of what makes it all so cool and old school. so i am just trying to find out the best way to go about it.

thanks for all your input!

 

X10 5.38's rule. Who wants to drive 65 in a Jeep anyway? If you have a flatty or ECJ, it's your DD and you have to do freeway time in it, all I can say is, "I'm sorry".

 

5.38's and an OD bring it back down to 4.10's IIRC, so thats good for that 4.3