How should I build a HP D30

mckinney · February 8th, 2010, 09:12 PM

I am wondering what you all would do? So far this is what I have on the garage floor is below. I have too much into the rear axle already to want to start over so please do not say go full widths dana 44. 60. 10.5 or 14 bolt
I have a HP dana 30 from a 98 XJ non vacume
I have 30 spline alloy inners and outers
I have 30 spline unit bearings
Now what I was planning on doing was getting
the bottom control arms strengthend or replaced with better metal
gussets were needed for extra strength.
New gears installed to match the rear 4.56
Geeting an E-locker installed
getting new rotars that will work with the new unit bearings.

I will being doing this over time and do not plan on doing it all right away so I
have time to save for it and figure it out.
Should I truss it?
Should I replace the knuckles for strength and if so what kind?
Sence I have to get new rotars do I need to get new calipers or will the old ones work?
I plan on moving up to 35" tires but it would be nice to go to 37's However I am not sure if that will hold up how I drive.I

What else am I missing that I should be thinking of.
Thank you for you help

ColoradoXJ · February 8th, 2010, 09:15 PM

If you're going to stick at 35's, then build it... put a truss on

i've bent a couple D30 housings already...

If you're going over 35's... then i'm not going to tell you what to do cause you told us not to

mckinney · February 8th, 2010, 09:19 PM

Thanks for that, I don't want to start over. My wife would kill me as she thinks I have too many toys already.

ColoradoXJ · February 8th, 2010, 09:23 PM

Well, stop telling her that you're buying toys...

...maybe find a narrowed 44?

mckinney · February 8th, 2010, 09:24 PM

I looked for a while and came across the D30 for a trade. So here I am

ColoradoXJ · February 8th, 2010, 09:28 PM

truss. alloys. WJ knuckles if you want the steering/brakes upgrade.

mckinney · February 8th, 2010, 09:44 PM

If I do WJ knuckles I wonder what year. Then the required rotars for the unit bearings should still work right.
Thanks for the help.

BradC · February 8th, 2010, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColoradoXJ

Well, stop telling her that you're buying toys...

...maybe find a narrowed 44?

You're best option... Sorry I know I'm no help but I had to chime in!

Watch the used section in Pirate, I've seen a few d30 goodies going up lately

mckinney · February 8th, 2010, 09:46 PM

I'll take a look there for some goodies then as well.

Starboard M · February 8th, 2010, 11:17 PM

Truss, HD diff cover tied into truss, Inner C gussets both bottom and top, quality ball joints, and U bolt yoke.

Ive seen mixed things with the WJ steering/brakes. Seems like a good idea, but Ive also heard of people having huge issues with it, and for me, the stock 30 brake stuff worked fine for me on 35s.

Wally · February 9th, 2010, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starboard M

Truss, HD diff cover tied into truss, Inner C gussets both bottom and top, quality ball joints, and U bolt yoke.

Pretty much what he said, the truss and HD Cover like a Crane will help not only from keeping the housing from bending but keeping the gears in place and not flexing under load causing loss of contact from the pinion and ring gear. I personally LOVED the hub kit on my wife's dana 30, if there was ever a problem, just unlock the hub, but i think by the time you buy all that stuff for it you will be pretty close to what it costs to build a HP Dana 44, and if 37's are where you'd like to be, start with the 44, not the 30.

TRAILRUNNER · February 9th, 2010, 07:08 AM

just saw on den.craigslist,guy got a built d30 for sell,already have the tereflex high steer on it.

Knuckelhead · February 9th, 2010, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mckinney

If I do WJ knuckles I wonder what year. Then the required rotars for the unit bearings should still work right.
Thanks for the help.

I used WJ rotors and redrilled the bolt pattern to 5x4.5, opened up the center of the hat to fit Warn hubs and made 1/4" spacers for the calipers due to the 1/4" spacer you weld to the knuckle, behind the hub bearing. The WJ brakes work very well...

mtn WJ · February 9th, 2010, 07:50 AM

If you are going with the WJ knuckles be sure to use WJ ball joints too. They are very similar to the XJ, TJ, YJ ball joints but just a bit wider and slight change in taper. The ball joints and knuckles will last longer.

Powerwagon · February 9th, 2010, 07:59 AM

Truss, no deeper than 4.56 gears, alloy shafts you will be good to 35's

if your goal is bigger tires than that sell the 30 and find a 44

mckinney · February 9th, 2010, 08:00 AM

There is alot of great information there guys.

Thank you very much. I am not sure from the sounds of things if I want to do the WJ knuckles. If there is a chance for it not working it will happen to me.
Have you guys ever heard of Saul?

I have his luck with parts fitting or not working right, even when new.

Frank Z · February 9th, 2010, 08:03 AM

I'd strongly recommend the WJ knuckles and brakes.

dapozer · February 9th, 2010, 08:05 AM

Watch out for that hp30, Before my hp44 build I got a hp30 with plans of building it as strong as you could, had parts and all bought for it and when it was getting ready for the truss it was shown to be already bent. Not the first one i heard about being bent either, scrapped that idea and had TnT build me a hp44 for the LJ. than threw parts at that. fell much better with running the 37's

trailblazer · February 9th, 2010, 10:57 AM

t antonio is running a front dana 30 on his soa yj with cromo axels and 4.56 gears with an arb. runs with 37inch tires for 2 years now. aside from an older style arb going boom he has had little problems with it. he knows he is at the very limits of that axel with 37 in tires but still wheels hard.

mckinney · February 9th, 2010, 12:34 PM

This is really good. Getting lots of good stuff here.
Is there a difference on what year WJ I should get the knuckes and brakes from. And will this still work with the unit bearing I wonder.
Has onyone done this yet? WJ knuckles and brakes along with 30 splinie outers.

Starboard M · February 9th, 2010, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wally

Pretty much what he said, the truss and HD Cover like a Crane will help not only from keeping the housing from bending but keeping the gears in place and not flexing under load causing loss of contact from the pinion and ring gear. I personally LOVED the hub kit on my wife's dana 30, if there was ever a problem, just unlock the hub, but i think by the time you buy all that stuff for it you will be pretty close to what it costs to build a HP Dana 44, and if 37's are where you'd like to be, start with the 44, not the 30.

Having gone from a D30 with unit bearings to now a 44 with selectable hubs I both agree with you and disagree.

It was nice when I broke my steering box on the trail to be able to unlock the hubs and reduce the stress on the steering box.

At the same time, its a PITA to have to lock and unlock those hubs! I know you usually only do it twice, but when you forget to do it and then have to unstrap and try and find the hubs under snow...

For a DD I would think it would be a pain when you need 4wd on the street for the two seconds to get out of a parking spot in the snow and ice. At the same time, unlocking the hubs takes most of the stress off of the axle/steering/tcase during normal street driving.

I might be a bit biased since I have driven only XJs with unit bearings though, so this bitching might be found by those of you with factory hubs to be quite comical!

jwtrapper · February 9th, 2010, 12:56 PM

Best year to get parts from would be the 04's, you want the akebono brake calipers rather than the teves calipers.

This is my dana 30 and its held up fine with 35's:
WJ Knuckles
Summit racing drilled slotted rotors w/ green stuff pads
chevy tie rod end 1.5" od tie rod and drag link
Ballistic Fab lower control arm mounts
TnT Truss w/ high steer track bar mount
I did have a ruff stuff diff. cover but it was too thick and would make contact with my tie rod when turning. I wish it would have worked because they are beefy.

bluexj · February 9th, 2010, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starboard M

Having gone from a D30 with unit bearings to now a 44 with selectable hubs I both agree with you and disagree.

It was nice when I broke my steering box on the trail to be able to unlock the hubs and reduce the stress on the steering box.

At the same time, its a PITA to have to lock and unlock those hubs! I know you usually only do it twice, but when you forget to do it and then have to unstrap and try and find the hubs under snow...

For a DD I would think it would be a pain when you need 4wd on the street for the two seconds to get out of a parking spot in the snow and ice. At the same time, unlocking the hubs takes most of the stress off of the axle/steering/tcase during normal street driving.

I might be a bit biased since I have driven only XJs with unit bearings though, so this bitching might be found by those of you with factory hubs to be quite comical!

You can leave the hubs locked all the time if you want

Then it is just like your unit bearings. But when they are unlocked you do not have the wear and tear on the front axle when not in use

Starboard M · February 9th, 2010, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluexj

You can leave the hubs locked all the time if you want

Then it is just like your unit bearings. But when they are unlocked you do not have the wear and tear on the front axle when not in use

True, but then whats the point of having selectable hubs?

I guess when it snows lock them in, during the summer unlock them?

Like I said before, its hard having so many choices now than what I had before.

Now I have to remember to lock the hubs and turn the air compressor and ARB on.

bluexj · February 9th, 2010, 01:49 PM

The advantage is huge if you drive your rig to and from the trail. Like when you grenade the ring & pinion on said dana 30 and still need to drive it home. I had a manual hub conversion and unlocked the hubs and drove the 3 hr drive home. I now tow and have 1 tons still would not trade selectable hubs to flanges.

mckinney · February 9th, 2010, 06:37 PM

Good stuff there, I guess all there is left is to save a little more and figure out what I can find for what I am willing to spend. Hate to put too much into it as it is only a dana 30 and may go bigger mayb stoo.
I have told myself before there is no need to continue, what I have is good and well here I am.
I really appreciate all this information guys.

Wally · February 9th, 2010, 07:55 PM

Just remember, the good stuff adds up quick, i don't see a point to high dollar joints in a dana 30 so spicers would be fine, but a hub kit is $900 or so, alloy shafts around $500, a good truss, $350ish, beefy diff cover around $125, gears/locker $700ish then add another few hundred for install if you can't do it yourself. My advice is to make a spreadsheet laying out ALL of the items you think you'll need, bounce it off a couple of your buddies and see if it's in your budget, then decide if you want to put money in a 30, or a 44. If you have the $$ i say build the 44, if not, alloy shafts and good spicer ujoints go a LONG way in a dana 30 front

Knuckelhead · February 9th, 2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Z

I'd strongly recommend the WJ knuckles and brakes.

I like it...

mckinney · February 15th, 2010, 04:06 PM

New question for the WJ knucle idea.

With having the 30 grande kit. It also comes with new unit bearings because the outters are 30 spline also.
The kit says that I have to have a new rotor from a 2000-06 Wrangler. Seams pretty straight forward.

Now if I make a change and go with the WJ knuckes and calipers from a 2004model. Jeep cannot tell me along with 2 other 4 wheel drive shops that if the unit bearings I have from the grande kit will work with the rotors from a 2000 -06 and the 04 knuckle and caliper.

Sorry for the questions but somebody know this, I just have to find them or give up on the knuckle idea.

Frank Z · February 15th, 2010, 04:19 PM

Simplest way to know for certain is to go down to your favorite parts house and have the counter guy/gal pull the rotor and the hub and then stack 'em up.

Bada Boom, Bada Bing.

mckinney · February 15th, 2010, 04:35 PM

They do not have the knuckles, so should that matter?

Good info on the idea, may have to try that with the unit bearing and the rotor.
Thank You

Frank Z · February 15th, 2010, 04:36 PM

Not really, but you could take a few measurements to be sure.

Colorado 5.9 · February 15th, 2010, 06:41 PM

At one time I thought about upgrading my HP30 when I knew I was going long arms & 35's. Figured out how much extra it would be to go the whole Grande kit. Wow! Ended up just getting the newer Arb & let TnT truss it when the long arms went on.

As far as brakes, I went the easier route & got the Vanco upgrade. It had late model knuckles though so I had to get hubs too. I was planning on new hubs anyway.

In the long run I saved about $800 but of corse it's a bit weeker without the chromoly axles & 30 splines. I figured that $800 could buy a lot of spare reg. axles & ujoints though. So far after 2.5 years I haven't broken anything. I'm a light wheeler anyway except when it comes to the high speed open stuff like the High Speed Mesa on Poison Spider.

mckinney · February 15th, 2010, 08:00 PM

I am a little rough on my stuff. I would wheel it harder if I had a trust fund. So saving money is important but at the same time I would like to do it right. Is that possible doing it right and saving money?
I am going to think about it for a bit, as I need to get some extra $$ for it anyway and then go from there.

mtn WJ · February 16th, 2010, 07:44 AM

I am building an HP 30 for my WJ. I have an XJ center that was re-tubed for WJ width and using XJ Cs. I am using the ARB out my existing housing with Cromo Shafts from IRO. I plan to finish it March. Depending on your timing you are welcome to test fit parts. My knuckles are drilled for 1 ton drag link and 1 ton tie rod that is flipped.

I would guess the WJ knuckles will work with the 30/30 parts. Like said before use the WJ ball joints.

silvertj · February 16th, 2010, 07:48 AM

I have been running 37's on my lp30 for 3 years now and havent had any issues other than breaking a shaft outta stupidity. I dont personaly get into the throttle too much this is why I think my 30 is doing so well.

mckinney · February 16th, 2010, 12:24 PM

Thank you for that input again.
mtn WJ
I may take you up on that if I get this going before you are done.

mtn WJ · February 16th, 2010, 12:44 PM

Not a problem. I have the HP housing sitting in my shed along with a bare WJ housing.

tantonio · February 18th, 2010, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer

t antonio is running a front dana 30 on his soa yj with cromo axels and 4.56 gears with an arb. runs with 37inch tires for 2 years now. aside from an older style arb going boom he has had little problems with it. he knows he is at the very limits of that axel with 37 in tires but still wheels hard.

Trailblazer is spot on with this as I wheel with him so he knows how I push it...and I also know how to treat it. All said, next steps will be a well-built 44 or better yet a D60 for the front...as it is, it's a strong as a 44.....

mckinney · February 18th, 2010, 09:49 PM

So do you use caution when fully locked and when hard against an undercut rock.
Or would there be other good things to know.