Dana 30, Good or Bad?

48 thousand miles. This jeep has seen all kinds of action over its life. So should it be surprising that the front axle needed some major work? i mean, it's only a Dana 30! How long should this axle last? In retrospect, i would say we did a great job.

So, i had scheduled my biz trip to NC and also planned on hitting the Uwharrie trails with my good buddy Tim and his new Zuki Samarai. But, when turning, i noticed a wheel wobble. Let's check this out before driving 1400 miles and hitting some of the hardest trails on the east coast.

It was easy to see with the driver side jacked up that the UV joint was "not good". It was easy to see with the passenger side jacked up that the bearing was "toast".

i'm not going into details on this post about how to do this. There are posts all over telling you how to work on a Dana 30. What i want to focus on are the few points that made this take longer than it should, being my first time.

Point One: Bearings go out quickly! If you ride anything other than stock tires, and even then, check your damn bearings. The passenger side on mine was checked 2K miles prior to this work and was barely detectable. At the time of repair the damn brake rotor would move a 1/2 inch!

Point Two: Dana 30, 35 and 44 axles have no outer axle bearing. if you move the wheel and the bearing pack is bad, the axle will appear to move and you'll think "look it's all crusty that must be shot!". The axle is held by the bearing in the differential and then outside by the bearing pack at the wheel. That's it.

Point Three: All the videos will show how easy it is to press out UV joints and knock spindles out of the bearing packs. Bullshit. Especially if you installed your gear with Michigan Locktight (aka rust). In the end we had to pretty much blast the old bearing pack off of the passenger axle. "Cut off" is not a phrase usually associated with removing bearings. i would strongly suggest that if you are going to do the axle bearings or "outter" hub assembly, get tougher axle shafts as 1, they are so easy to replace at this point and 2, the UV joints should be done and 3, the stock UV joints blow. i replaced my UV joints with serviceable or grease-able joints so i can at least squeeze the water out of them. If you were really smart you'd get new shafts, fix the old ones and keep them around for you or some other wheeler who breaks theirs on the trail. i've seen at least 5 broken Dana shafts or UV joints.

Point Four: Use Lucas Oil in the differentials. The differential was in perfect shape. We noticed a slight increased tolerance in the thrust pin but no heat and no shavings.

So, i put it all back together and drove it. HOLLY COW! Man does it drive like a new jeep. i could write another 4 pages about the difference but i won't. The axle made it 48K miles but i guess i would have done it more around 35-40.

Really? Axle maintenance at 35K you say? Ok, so i had about $450 into this. Assuming the differential continues to last, you can do this again at say 70K. Then maybe once more at 100-110K. You can roll with the Dana 30 and get better gas mileage the whole time, or you can pay thousands of dollars for a Dana 44 (same outside problems) or even MORE for 1 ton or some other axle. It doesn't really make sense to me cause i have never broken anything even having my axle 3ft off the ground and running 33" tires.

Also, i know how to service this axle readily and could handle most repairs on the trail. That is worth so very much. This rig also drives from NC to MI and back. i think on this rig i'll continue to roll the 30 up front.

So did the repair work?

Check me out going up Kodak Rock! Or maybe the Daniel Slabs. Or maybe the Dickey Bell Hill Climb.

Pretty weak driving in my opinion. i was tentative with the new repairs and stalled it like a noob too many times, but you can see the front tires both digging in. You tend to get one wheel peel when you have bad bearings or frozen UV joints.

Maintenance, key to survival

i just changed the oil at 2K. It was black, but not bad. At the same time i changed the diff oils. The jeep registers 45K miles. This is the second diff change. i did most of 1 bottle of Lucas and 2 bottles of the called for gear oil.

i first changed the rear diff oil. The drain plug had quite a few shavings on it :( The oil was also quite milky although i didn't really recognize it until i changed the front. The rear diff has a breather hose off the top that snakes up near the body. i am imagining getting some water down that breather. Which also makes me realize that breather should be inspected to be clear. Going forward i'll change the rear twice as often as the front.

After the rear, i changed the front and it looked great, a few shavings but nothing out of the ordinary.

i need to rotate the tires and then i'll be ready to schedule my Unlimited Offroad appointment to get the drag links updated and an alignment. i plan on replacing/upgrading the steering stabilizer at the same time.

We tried out our new dash cam! i created a custom duct tape mount for it that works awesome! No i didn't tape it to the dash. i spent time creating a paper lined holder. The Galaxy Note works just plain bad ass. It's not just a camera while driving, it also runs Waze which is very cool. Check out a sample video on YouTube. You can even hear the drive shaft rub the exhaust as the wheels come 3ft off the ground and the front axle drops down.

Rocks and Valleys and Black Diamonds

i use the internet to my advantage. Sometimes i'm just plain dumb. This last weekend my 11 yr old boy and i decided to take the Black Dragonfly to the Mt. Morris Mounds.

Upon arriving we were told that the Mounds are closed until like June to wheelers. They apparently need to keep us out whilst the quads and dirt bikes have their fun. Maybe it's too crowded? Ya right! i've never been there when it's too crowded. It's an open park with very few tight places. i don't get it. Anyhow the guy said "It's all on the website." Why didn't i check the damn website! Dumb me.

Anyhow, we were not going to be turned away from having fun together as father and son. So i did what any self respecting father would do, drive farther to a different park. We drove an extra hour and half to Rocks and Valleys. We made the right choice. Rocks and Valleys is, from what we could tell, designed and operated for jeepers.

We got the long drawn out overview of the park from a well meaning park "ranger". He told us that with our rig we should stick to the green circles and blue squares and to "stay away from any black diamonds". After installing our $15 orange flag we hit the trails.

We first met and older guy in his stock TJ and he took us to the Valley where we followed him up a small hill. Afterward he was excited and asked "how about that huh!". i looked at my son, he looked at me, i responded "Ya, that was fun!" It was lame. We didn't realize that he took us up his version of a hill climb. We chatted for a few minutes and he also informed us that we shouldn't take "that rig" on any black diamonds.

So we simply went down some trails that scared him off and met up with a group of about 10 modified jeeps. We met a great group of wheelers and proceeded to follow them around, CB channel 22. We had a great time on a few black diamond trails that didn't stress our rig out at all. It was comfortable and fun. Our Full Traction Duratrac setup performed flawlessly.

We eventually came to a hill that had trails like "The Big Ugly". We did find that our rig couldn't go up the down trail and had fun trying some obstacles that put our rig to the test. While here we watched the bigger rigs try some big climbs and were treated to some great action.

Mainly we had a blast watching a guy known as "Tippy" put his jeep on it's side. Enough to get the oil draining out the top. This wasn't his first time as you don't get a name like that for no good reason. It was neat to see 2 winches right the jeep. Very cool.

While there i got a call from Jarod over at Unlimited Offroad. Seriously, at the park! He informed me that during my installation he didn't like the engagement of the adjustable sleeve that attaches to the track bars. He finally got some free new sleeves that correct the issue. Perfect! On the way home i noticed that somewhere between my front end leaving the ground 3 feet and coming down kinda hard i knocked the alignment out slightly. Not too bad but that's ok as it will need an alignment when the new parts go on anyhow.

If you're looking for a great park with great jeepers, check out Rocks and Valleys.

An uplifting experience

Life comes at you fast. It does for me anyhow. So fast recently that i have found no time to talk about my passion, the jeep attitude!

Being that it's been a while, let's start from the beginning of my 40K service slash lift slash investment.

If you remember, i dedicated this 2008 JK Sahara to the life of a jeep. That is not to say project. i love the stock product and think it's near perfect. So why a lift? Why tires? If i took the stock Sahara through Uwharrie we would almost constantly make sweat music using the skid plates for sounding boards and rocks for acoustic excitation. The ball joints were shot. Pretty much every hole in MI proved to be a perfect place to park my jeep for the day. Me resolved to much muddy digging and praying. In truth, i got tired of that very edgy die hard "I'll dig it out!" attitude. In the beginning i though "What the hell did i do to my jeep!". In the end i think "What an amazing machine". Without a doubt this rig deserves the right to wear the jeep badge.

So, i decided to stay with american made suspension products that would 1. last and 2. improve the jeeps performance and 3. not destroy it's road performance.

With Unlimited Offroad and a lot of work on my behalf, i got the jeep's Full-Traction Premium Plus SRS system dialed in and... well... it has done what i expected and more. More on this in a following post.

i have to say i went cheap. Meaning i tried to wait to get wheels. Hey, i didn't know what i wanted for sure. To make this possible they put the rear drag links on the inside. They rubbed like all hell forcing me to at the very least to get wheel spacers. i thought about wheel spacers and my stock leaky POS tires. i haven't regreted one moment of owning my GoodYear Duratrac tires. More on these in a following post.

So, a practical 4" lift and 33" tires. What a machine. If you're looking for one of the best jeeps ever made, i recommend a 2008-2009 JK for many reasons.

Oil and Hello!

Well, i haven't posted in a while... i've been calming down. But now that i'm cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce, watch out for a flurry of posts about jeeps! i just changed the oil, it was black as the paint (Ding! change oil light came on the day i changed it). So it has fresh oil now, it's going to need it, we're going to Uwharrie tomorrow! Just before my 700 mile trip to Raleigh NC, i also grabbed a new serpentine belt. The OEM belt had some noise after 35K miles and that really muddy weekend we had 2 weeks ago. There's lots more maintenance coming in the next few posts, covering lifting the jeep, adding tires and a great CB install. Cheers! P.S. I'll edit this post with the miles later today.

Growing Pains!

Well, i need to post some pics of my stock 2008 JK. Every time i climb underneath to change oil or clean, i notice the customized components, exhaust, skid plates, control arms, etc. If i take 3 grown men with me wheeling, we tend to level out the trail and that's just no fun!

So, i jumped. Let's start with all the internet research i did. Let's not, there's too much and you can do it yourself! Listen, in the end i found a guy who specifically loves JKs. The guy who loves YJs recommended a $500 Full-Traction coil and sprint kit. Great!

I call back and talk to Jerrod, the owner me thinks and he talked me into the premium 3" lift kit. It's not listed on the web site for one, so you won't find it there. It's the basic kit with a few more extras. It adds quick disconnects for one. Most importantly it adds adjustable track bars. Who cares? Well, if you like your axels off center you care. It also adds upper control arms to get the caster correct. If you care how it rides ON the road, you want the alignment right. So, i'm in.

i drive in, drop off a jeep and 22 hundred duckets, then 8 hours later pick up a jeep that is 3" taller.

Man will it look cool! i'm so excited for my friends to see me with my cool looking j33p!...

No i'm not. i don't care. What was sold to me is a suspension where the cold rolled MI steel springs won't relax like my stockers have. i've been sold no more climbing under with an 18 and 19mm set of wrenches to disco the swizay. i'm sold components that allow for much for articulation without stressing out the sub par components of the rock solid stock ride.

If it does 3" with a great rode ride then it's worth it. Yep, could have gotten it 3" taller by buying a kit myself and hoping i don't lose my hands while compressing those coils. No thanks, i'll keep my hands thank you, they're worth more than 2200 cabbages.

Ya right, prove it you say and being a fine judge of bourbon and an all around great person... you're absolutely right.

This is supposed to be done on the 19th. i need to be in Morrisville soon for work. I'm gonna put the 3 more inches through 700 miles. Then i'm going to work. Then i'm going to buy a day pass at Uwharrie National Forrest. i'll have the iPhone 4 with the larger gee bees with me. i will have pics and movie ready with a trail review. i know those trails VERY well and have been over them all in this jeep many times. Let's see what 3" will do! That's what she said anyhow.

Ah hem, yes, the stock tires are staying on. This same group, Unlimited Offroad Centers, gets Rubicon pull off rims/tires so i think i'll be in for some of those before the snow flies. Which could be next week ;-)

Take care fellow wheelers, posers and wanna bees!

MI Maintenance

So i'm in MI and summer is fast approaching. Hehe, ya in NC it's been there a while. In MI however, jeep maintenance has some disadvantages, mainly it's COLD!

When i got here for instance, i re-took the running boards off. Sure, no problem, get under the jeep, losen a few bolts and bamb, job done. Right? No, in a cold garage in MI you first put down some moving pads to shield you from the cold. While you're under there, the snow is melting and dripping on your face, in your eyes and in your mouth. Yuk!

i have also been so busy that i have neglected my blogging, boooo! So to recap, we rented a lake home in MI. We moved out of our home in Apex, NC, which incidentally i handled without my wife. What a chore! The stuff we took to the summer home fit in a 6x12 dual axle covered Uhaul. i was so busy that i didn't write the mileage down when changing the oil prior to making the trip to MI. Yep, i pulled that bad boy with my jeep (fresh oil). It took it like a champ, getting 17mpg. I have the towing package with the 373 rear and it did a phenomenal job. I couldn't ask anything more from it.

I just changed the oil again at 27,706 miles. That was at about 3000 miles give or take, so the change before driving up here must have been around 24K something. The last post showed that i changed it at 22,250 so there was no long change in there.

So lets talk about tires! In Raleigh my stock tires were awesome. I mean, on the road they're responsive, tire wear is great, there's no road noise. Off road they were great! What's that you say? How can stock tires be great? Well, we primarily went to Uhwarrie where the terrain is rocky and sandy with very little mud. There you don't need great tread. When I trashed a tire i would go and get a new (used) one mounted for $58. In MI? Oh man do they rot! They suck bad in the snow for daily driving. They suck in the rain! They're expensive! MI wheeling involves copious amounts of mud and these are simply a road tire, a complete failure in the mud.

So i'm looking for tires. Guess what? 18" rims suck! The prices for the same tire in 16" are not only cheaper but you have a much wider range of choices. So the hunt for rims and tires begins. i think that now that i'm dealing with mud i'll also need at least a rear locker. First let's get some rims and tires, then lets deal with a locker.

This brings me to the real jeep knowledge: Build a rig for it's purpose. i see all these tricked out jeeps and ask myself, "do they really drive all over the country and experience vastly different terrain?" i highly doubt it. They just look cool right? i guess if investing 25+ grand makes you look cool and you have it laying around then go for it. But i have that attitude, don't be a poser. Build your jeep for the conditions you ride in. Don't know what the conditions are? Get out there and wheel. Find out what sucks and fix it. Don't buy a winch cause they're on sale or look cool. Get a winch when you've been stuck with no one to help! Be practical damnit and keep the jeep spirit alive. Get inventive!