I was running the stock Dana 30 with 4.56:1 gears and an E-Z Locker. I had no trouble out of this setup and it served me well for a long time. Not allot to say about this one except that if you have the same setup don't drive it in front wheel drive unless it is a dire emergency. I have and I dread the thought of ever doing it again.

I Was finally allowed (by the wife) to upgrade my axles. I purchased a set of Dana 44's from Brett Culpepper. I am really happy with them. In the front is a Detroit locker with 5.38:1 ring and pinion. The hubs are warn premiums, did I say hubs? How anyone can live with auto hubs is behond me. As with anything, this axle had some quirks when I got it. The tie rod was one of them, that had to have been bent in three different directions. Bill Duty and I got together and built a new one out of 1" sched 40 pipe. We cut the ends off of the old one, slid them inside of the pipe and welded them up. After we removed the old one we we took measurements on the front and rear of the rotor and adjusted the knuckles until we were 1/8" out in the front. We then measured the knuckles and cut the pipe to fit. By some miracle we managed to get the caster dead on. What luck. I still have an issue with the camber being out at the top of the knuckle. An alignment shop told me that they were perfect but I am a bit sceptical since I have changed nothing and the tires are worn more on the outside of the tire and less on the inside. I guess the old saying applies in this case, I'm better off screwing it up myself than paying someone else to screw it up. I will post an update after I tacle this project. You can click on any of the thumbnails below to view the full size image.