Need help installing gears(Nor Cal).

Hey guys, just wanted to see if anyone in the Sacramento area could help me instal gears on my Dana 30 or point me in the right direction. I wanted to instal 4.88 gears but I don't have the knowledge or tools to do so. The axle isn't installed on the jeep so I could just move the axle around instead of the whole jeep.


Here is my Dana 27 and what I found when I opened it yesterday.

 

I have setup new gears in one D30. It's the only time I have done a full setup although I have replaced carriers many times without the gear change. Just my .02, but if you don't already have the tools and you don't have a basic understanding of the process, take the axle to a driveline shop and have them do it. The tools alone will cost you as much and probably a lot more than a shop is going to charge you for the install. You need a quality torque wrench in ft. lbs., another torque wrench that reads in in. lbs., a good quality dial indicator and magnetic mount for it, a heavy duty bearing puller and a shop press to install the carrier bearings. Great carnage shot by the way. Did you break the center pin? That's what it looks like.

 

Parts Mike in Newcastle,CA. up the road on Hiway 80 about 20 minutes.........530-885-0673

 

Perfect! Thanks guys. Do you guys have an idea of how much I should be looking at spending?

 

No idea. But I do know, if you were to by all the tools above, and I left out the case spreader, it would probably cost you in the neighborhood of $500. I bet you can get yours setup for half of that.

 

Call Nick at S&W 4WD 916 927 3919
He quoted me $250 on a R&P setup.

Don

 

Thats with instal? I called 4wheel parts on Friday and they quoted me $950.

 

The $250 quote was for customer supplied gears, bearings, and the axle removed from vehicle. This was just the setup labor.
If you are buying the gears and bearings, that is additional.

Don

 

needed some help, I talked to a local shop and they said I needed to do a spline count on the Dana 30 and make sure the spline is the same with the Dana 27 in order for the swap to be successful. Is this correct or do I just need to make sure I get the same gear ratio as the Dana 44 in the rear?

 

Seems your confusing the D-27 and the D-30.........are you trying to move parts between the two? If so , I would Imagine he is talking about the axles and / or the spider gears..............
The Dana 27 had 10 spline axles, the Dana 30 had 27 spline axles. Yes you need the same gear ratio's for and aft!

 

Excepting the pinion bearings and the carrier bearings you cannot interchange any differential case parts from a D27 with a D30.
Furthermore the D30 will need a different differential case if it currently has 3.54 or higher gear ratio.
That's because the series IV gears (4.88) will not fit the series III case (3.54)

 

I'm not going to use any parts from the Dana 27. I'm going to do a complete upgrade form the 27 to a Dana 30 narrow track that came off of a 68 cj5 if I can remember right.

At the moment it has 4.56.

 

You'll still need a series IV differential case for any D30 axle with ratio lower than 3.54.

 

Map I will have to get a carrier if I go from 4.56 to 4.88? I'm really confused now since the guy I bought this axle from said all I needed was the gears. Now I learn that the spline has to match and I need a new carrier. Is that correct?

 

You do not need a new carrier for the Dana 30 if you are going from 4.56 to 4.88, they use the same carrier.

 

Just match the gear ratio of the D44 you have in the rear.
Which shop was displaying their ignorance? So I can stay away from them in future?

Don

 

You apparently have two threads going on this topic ???
I thought that your D27 had 4.88 gears.
Then later on it seemed that the D27 had 4.56 gears ???
I never had any idea what was previously in the D30.
But most Jeep narrow trac D30's will have 3.54 and some may have 3.73 or 4.27.
If the D30 had 4.56 then your good to swap that over to 4.88.

 

Sorry, yeah I should have stuck with one, just panicked. The jeep curently has a Dana 27 2with 4.88. I bought a Dana 30 with a gear ratio of 4.56 and wanted to replace my Dana 27(currently on the cj) with the Dana 30 I bought. I want to do a complete axle swap but wanted to change the gear ratio on the Dana 30 to 4.88 before I instal so that I can wheel again.