Changing Axles DANA 35's any good?

[62 Dust Collector]

I am looking to swap out my axles with DANA 35's that have front and rear disc brakes off of a 2000 series Grand Cherokee.

Does anybody know anybody that has done this or anybody that has advice?

I am not set on the DANA 35's so info on axle swaps would be great. There is not alot in the tech section on these axles, more into the DANA 60's and such.

Thanks again!

 

[coolcruiserfj40]

35s= the suck even with all cromo parts i hear they break parts. just keep the stock cruzah axles or go 60s if you realy want danas, stock cruiser is stronger then a 44 edit! if you have the stock 62 axles those are ball and claw and arent realy sought after to put it nicely, the 35s will hold up if your driving it around but if you plan to wheel it i would just get a set of 76 or newer cruiser axles with discs

 

[clemson55]

Agreed Dana 35's = crap. All the local jeep guys who wheel anything serious do axle swaps. When talking with one I found out they cant even lock the rear axle b/c they would break so many parts, and thats running 33 or 35" tires. Stick with a cruiser axle and just upgrade to a later axle with discs.

 

[FJBen]

Dana 35s have to be one of the worst axles ever made! Very small, weak as hell. Even the jeepers are embarassed of this axle.

You can convert yours to rear disc pretty simply. "poser" on the board has some brackets, get some calipers and you are good with a much stronger axle for sure. You could always find FJ40/45/55 rears with the later 78 and up being fine spline pinions and stronger.


But if you are set on that...go look at a D35....then look at your cruiser axle...I'm sure ANY jeeper would swap ya free of charge!

 

[foxfab]

Ditto. Dana 35's suck. If you need more strength, get some fine spline diffs, swap in some longfield 30 spline axles into the front axle and get some chromo rear shafts. That'll make them almost as strong as Dana 60's for about the same price with less work.

 

[haystax]

Search for fine spline and mini-truck birf swaps -

FYI - Jeep parts are s***, period. Search here works really well and most old to new axle upgrades are really well covered. Full disc neccessitates a new master cylinder upgrade and associated firewall fitment.

Toyota aftermarket has really stepped up and bulletproof parts for stock axles are reasonably priced in comparison to full-built Dana or 9" Ford axles.

 

[Mace]

Jeasus...

The Jeep axle is perfectly designed for what it is installed in.

That being said, It typically is not as strong as a 40 axle. Coarse splined birfs and ball and claw axles excepted...

What is the thought process behind putting a D30 and a D35C into a 40?
Width?

 

[FJBen]

I dunno, I wheel with a bunch of jeeps and a lot of them have broke 35c's in the parking lot, stock tire size. I've been on a few rescues as well. Mostly they are OK, but not meant for anytype of slightly harder wheeling.

Unless you meant perfect for what it's installed in....like Sorority Chic Gap Shopper...

 

[bustanutley]

a d30 front can be made pretty tough. The shafts are pretty much the same as d44 when you install the correct one, XJ? not sure, any way, if you were to use a d30 you would have to huck those POS CVs that would be in your grand axles, then use a 297 u-joint. My buddy had a lot of luck with his d30 on his grand with a v8 and 37s. With the said setup you move the weak link to the carrier if you have a low pinion, but if you use a High pinion you'll have yourself a very light halfway strong axle. Just have to make sure you weld the caps in.

All this said I do not condone the install jeep axles under a cruiser however. I would seriously be concerned with the housing strength of a d30. I don’t' really know how strong the housing is but jeeps are generally quite a bit lighter than crusier.

Oh and rear d35s are absolute junk, so many better axles could be had for same price. ford 8.8 is a very common fairly narrow strong axle.

but seriously keep it toyota or go d60s

 

[Mace]

I dunno, I wheel with a bunch of jeeps and a lot of them have broke 35c's in the parking lot, stock tire size. I've been on a few rescues as well. Mostly they are OK, but not meant for anytype of slightly harder wheeling.

Unless you meant perfect for what it's installed in....like Sorority Chic Gap Shopper...

Oh come on..

Do you honestly believe that a D35C will break at the local wallmart from pulling into a parking spot with STOCK tires??????


They are not as strong as a LC rear. But they are easy to get parts for. Swapping one into your junk would be a waste of time. Although there are 30 spline upgrades for them you are talking about a lot of money that would be better spent on a real axle that actually has some strength to it.

LC's should not be 5 lug


It does depend on what you want to do with it.. 33's are probably okay. If you want to rock crawl with one you better get used to breaking things..

 

[Poser]

I am looking to swap out my axles with DANA 35's that have front and rear disc brakes off of a 2000 series Grand Cherokee.

Does anybody know anybody that has done this or anybody that has advice?

I am not set on the DANA 35's so info on axle swaps would be great. There is not alot in the tech section on these axles, more into the DANA 60's and such.

Thanks again!

joke?


haha?



" more info on DANA 60's and such "


because a DANA 60 is an upgrade from a Land Cruiser axle....Dana 35's, no matter how they are configured, would not be worth the time or money to install in your truck....

what tcase are you going to run?




to each their own....



Good luck!


-Steve

 

[FJBen]

Oh come on..

Do you honestly believe that a D35C will break at the local wallmart from pulling into a parking spot with STOCK tires??????

Honestly yes, there are a few guys (colorado4x4.org) that have busted them on pavement, stock tires...this is obviosly not the majority...BUT...this axle is weak.

In a slightly different story, I broke my AMC20 on my old jeep on pavement, 20 MPH shifting gears...I know thats a completely different axle, but shiz happens.


My good friend ran an ARB locked 35 (which prolly helped) with 31's and was fine, moved up to 33's...SNAP...

there are many horror stories with these axles...and to think how much the HEEP guys bitch about birfields...

 

[ridgerunner]

Say a Cruiserhead was to do this swap, I think it would be inevitable that 90% of the Cruiser community would laugh at said person.

Nothing Jeep has ever built is good for your Cruiser.

 

[Mace]

Honestly yes, there are a few guys (colorado4x4.org) that have busted them on pavement, stock tires...this is obviosly not the majority...BUT...this axle is weak.

In a slightly different story, I broke my AMC20 on my old jeep on pavement, 20 MPH shifting gears...I know thats a completely different axle, but shiz happens.


My good friend ran an ARB locked 35 (which prolly helped) with 31's and was fine, moved up to 33's...SNAP...

there are many horror stories with these axles...and to think how much the HEEP guys bitch about birfields...

Those breaks happened before the failure. The mall parking lot was just a handy place.

I know a guy that broke a front 60 in a drive through

 

[bustanutley]

one other thing, I'm pretty sure grand axles have drivers side drop, cruiser have passenger

 

[62 Dust Collector]

Thanks for all of the input.

Of course we all know that you wont know that answer to your question until you ask! Thank you all again for your input.

Sorry that I am a LC Dumb***! I just figure that I have to start somewhere and that start is finding all of the info that I can!

Thanks Again Fellas

 

[projektdotnet]

Trust me...we were/are/will always be newbies at one point. Anything you can learn helps later. oh and D35s suck!

 

[BiffS]

Oh come on..

Do you honestly believe that a D35C will break at the local wallmart from pulling into a parking spot with STOCK tires??????.

Well, a buddie's GIRLFRIEND broke a D 35 taking off from a TRAFFIC LIGHT in downtown traffic. How strong is that? it's a 4.0 Heep on 31s. How strong is THAT.

 

[Mace]

Look at that picture,
Someone had already been in that rear end once already, the spider teeth look to have been chipped for a long time. So she pulled from a stoplight and lodged a piece of metal inbetween the spiders with enough power to crack the carrier. That was a failure waiting to happen that was more likely from a bad rebuild or something of the like (where did the interior marks come from???), not a weakness of the 35.

Also look at the rest of that pic. That truck had recently been playing around off road. Which is probably where most of the damage occured. Accelerating from a traffic light was just the final straw..

 

[BiffS]

yeah, it was playing in the dirt up in Harrison B.C. Not in mud or anything serious like that. That brown sheen is from a water hole a the bottom of a switchback.

He'd owned the truck for 2 years at that point and never had the rear end apart. When the carrier snapped, it ate the cover and had she tried to drive it the rest of the way across a bridge to stop. (likely the cause of the teeth being eaten.) Diff was quiet to that point.

F*rd 8.8 is going in there soon, and i;ve almost talked him into flipping a FJ 60 series housing and using that in the front!

Go 6 bolt!