Today our budget build Wrangler gets an Aussie lunchbox auto locker installed in the front Dana 30! Installation guide: www.4x4xplor.com/aussielocker...
Just got the same for my 99 TJ (4 cyl). Waiting for locker installation to happen. No snow here in Hawaii so I don’t think I’ll have a problem with 4wd and front locked. Replaced my rear 35 when it went out a few years back. and got LSD so it should be a decent performer. Can’t wait to see yours in action. Thx
Have to hand it to Toyota for loading what seems to be the majority of FJs out there with diff lockers from the factory. Between the rear locker and A-Trac I have yet to face anything my FJ has been unable to get out of.
@@dironaa True dat. You can't beat a Jeep though, I had an 03 Wrangler with 33's no locker, I used to run most (AZ then) trails in 2wd, it was such a good crawler
Cheap Jeeper it’s made in America. None of us Australians are getting a discount because of the name. :/ Honestly better off saving your money and going with an Eaton or arb
I’m really hoping for an 8.8 swap in that T.J. if you got one with 4:10 gears LSD or not you should be off to a great start. Only small RU-vidr I religiously watch. Keep it up!
Thanks for following along! Considered the 8.8 but ended up coming across a TJ Dana 44 instead. Rear TJ D44s can be had for around $400-$500 where I live (all the Jeeps rot out due to road salt and all that's left are the drivetrain components) and an 8.8 swap would likely be pushing $1k after all the brackets and conversion parts are added up. Not sure how soon it'll be going in though since it needs to be regeared first.
The best upgrade I've done on my TJ is a junkyard explorer 8.8 with an Artec trust kit. Mine got a little pricey with 4.56 gears and a Detroit locker but you could keep the price down if you found one with the right gears .
I was about to say get rid of that Dana 35 but you said it good man 👏👏 love Jeep’s but they should of put the 8.25 in all of em in the xj and Tj etc since we only have 2 options 😂
Dana 35 strength seems to be luck of the draw. I've broken two of them running 31" tires with an open differential. A buddy of mine ran 35" tires on his for years and never had a problem.
Do you have any light body rust you plan to repair? I have some TJ hood rust that looks pretty bad, but is probably an easy sand and paint repair. Never done that kind of work and would love to see it
I likely willl eventually on another Jeep I own, but don't have a large enough compressor to run a paint gun right now so I'm not sure how soon it's going to happen
Been watching your videos for the work I am giving my 2000 TJ Sarah. Is there any information why the Dana 30 is stronger than the 35? I want to also install lunchbox in the back and I just want to have that easy of mine for some light off-road getting to camp sites. Nothing stressful….thoughts?
I had a friend who ran 35” tires on a dana 35 and it survived fine. I had the carrier inside a dana 35 split in half while driving 10 mph down a paved road on 31” tires. The amount of abuse they can take before breaking seems to be hit or miss, but I’d reason that they seem weaker than a dana 30 because a rear axle will inevitably receive more stress and abuse than a front axle. If you were to install a dana 30 in the rear of your jeep I don’t know that it would hold up any better than the 35. That being said, internal component failure is less catastrophic on the 30 than the 35. If you break an axle shaft or a carrier in the 30 you can remove the broken components and keep driving. If that happens on the 35 the wheel will fall off (wheel is bolted to the axle shaft, shaft is held on with a c-clip inside the carrier). If you were to install a lunchbox locker for the use you described I wouldn’t expect any issues, but from my anecdotal example the d35 can be a little unpredictable.
Ended up going with a more expensive Artec truss because Barnes was out of stock when I ordered a couple months ago. Already have it welded up to the axle and will say I'm very happy with the quality and fit.
I've honestly never owned a nice set of tires to compare these to, and the Jeep itself is pretty loud, but these seem relatively quiet and handle decently.
How does it behave after 18 months? It is strange that it clicks so loud while you spin the wheel. I want to put the Aussie of Spartan into my front D30. But now I am little worried. It sounds so loud. Is there any changes in sound since the day of the installation?
As a whole it's a weak axle. The carriers split in half, the axle shafts break, and I've seen spider gears have problems as well. But you mostly see these problems when runnig larger than stock tires.
Ouch! I recently picked up a low mileage tj, and put 31x10.5” tires and a spartan locker in the rear Dana 35. Would I be better off to go back to open diffs or just run it until it goes. I don’t do crazy off roading with it just easy trails and some steep hills mixed in with some hwy driving.
No, it’s not an instructional video you should show us so actually you’re putting that ring bearing up against opinion and you want so much backlash and it’s adjusted by putting bushing bearing washers in place for so much when you turn the ring back and forth until it hits the pinion gear
So you really outdid yourself, IMO. If you replaced the bearings with the same as the originals, EOM style. Then you should have been able to replace your shims, as they were and install without all the setup bearings and assembly reassembly that comes with changing gears. If you changed gears or used a different brand bearing, then ignore all my thoughts.
