WJ Inner C's on XJ/ZJ dana 30

[dtowngoalie]

I have acquired a dana 30 that I would like to run under the front of my ZJ. The only problem is that the passenger side lower ball joint, or perhaps the lower part of the passenger side inner C seems to have suffered a severe failure. The lower ball joint is not a firm fit into the press fit slot. The joint travels up and down, and even side to side some extent when turning. From this point, I see my only solution to be to weld a new passenger side inner C. (Unless someone can figure a way to remedy this.) Since I'm planning on doing a WJ knuckle swap in the near future, why not just weld on the whole inner C so that way I don't have to worry about swapping lower ball joints and removing and reattaching the knuckle. At this same time I could compensate for my castor by rotating the Cs more upright. Question is, is it possible to transplant inner cs from WJ dana 30's to that of a ZJ/XJ dana 30? Hoping someone can shed some light onto the axle tube O.D.s if they have them.

[ratmonkey]

iirc the c's are the same. The ball joint issue is because the taper in the knuckle is different. You still need to use wj ball joints.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by dtowngoalie

I have acquired a dana 30 that I would like to run under the front of my ZJ. The only problem is that the passenger side lower ball joint, or perhaps the lower part of the passenger side inner C seems to have suffered a severe failure. The lower ball joint is not a firm fit into the press fit slot. The joint travels up and down, and even side to side some extent when turning. From this point, I see my only solution to be to weld a new passenger side inner C. (Unless someone can figure a way to remedy this.) Since I'm planning on doing a WJ knuckle swap in the near future, why not just weld on the whole inner C so that way I don't have to worry about swapping lower ball joints and removing and reattaching the knuckle. At this same time I could compensate for my castor by rotating the Cs more upright. Question is, is it possible to transplant inner cs from WJ dana 30's to that of a ZJ/XJ dana 30? Hoping someone can shed some light onto the axle tube O.D.s if they have them.

I know of no Dana 30 housing that is worth replacing the inner C on unless you happened to be stupid enough to truss one.

Dana 30's in both high and low pinion are plentiful and cheap and not worth repairing. That even includes one with gears already set up.

By the time you get through dicking around swapping that inner C and all the associated bullshit that goes with it, you can pick up enough beer cans and recycle them to get enough money to pay for a gear set up.

There's no advantage to the WJ inner C. It's the same inner C that's on the TJ 30, XJ 30 and ZJ 30 with only the lower balljoint having a different taper for the WJ knuckle.

[dtowngoalie]

Thank you rat monkey.

And its 400 dollars labor to have gears swapped + an install kit in this area. Off to find some wj Knuckles and inner c's

[Snowrydr01]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

There's no advantage to the WJ inner C. It's the same inner C that's on the TJ 30, XJ 30 and ZJ 30 with only the lower balljoint having a different taper for the WJ knuckle.

On an unrelated note, i thought i saw on the wj knuckle swap threads that you can use tj/xj balljoints instead of the expensive wj ones?

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Snowrydr01

On an unrelated note, i thought i saw on the wj knuckle swap threads that you can use tj/xj balljoints instead of the expensive wj ones?

The tapers are not the same, make your choice. As far as cost goes, I just looked on Rock Auto's website and they seem about the same price as any other, so I don't know where the "expensive" part comes from.

[Snowrydr01]

i guess it mustve been an old thread

[deri0953]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

The tapers are not the same, make your choice. As far as cost goes, I just looked on Rock Auto's website and they seem about the same price as any other, so I don't know where the "expensive" part comes from.

Just to clarify, it sounds like the correct way to do the WJ knuckle swap on an XJ 30 is to use WJ lower ball joints, but the upper ball joints can be TJ/XJ. If this is correct, it just may be the deciding cost factor for me to not do the WJ swap.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by deri0953

Just to clarify, it sounds like the correct way to do the WJ knuckle swap on an XJ 30 is to use WJ lower ball joints, but the upper ball joints can be TJ/XJ. If this is correct, it just may be the deciding cost factor for me to not do the WJ swap.

You all need to learn how to use the wonderful resource that is Rock Auto.

If you look up the upper balljoints for a WJ, there will be several offerings from many brands. Next to each one is a part number. If you click on the part number, it brings up a Buyer's Guide that gives you all the other applications for that part number.

In this case, the WJ upper front balljoint is listed as fitting Wranglers from 87 (IIRC)-06 and a plethora of Cherokee and Grand Cherokee apps.

Try it, it's a great resource for parts searching.

[Snowrydr01]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

You all need to learn how to use the wonderful resource that is Rock Auto.

If you look up the upper balljoints for a WJ, there will be several offerings from many brands. Next to each one is a part number. If you click on the part number, it brings up a Buyer's Guide that gives you all the other applications for that part number.

In this case, the WJ upper front balljoint is listed as fitting Wranglers from 87 (IIRC)-06 and a plethora of Cherokee and Grand Cherokee apps.

Try it, it's a great resource for parts searching.

Thanks, ive been cross referencing stuff on autozone and quadratec and theres is garbage some times. Now ill finally find out if i can steal the cat off of a 98xj to put in my dying 00tj

[deri0953]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

You all need to learn how to use the wonderful resource that is Rock Auto.

If you look up the upper balljoints for a WJ, there will be several offerings from many brands. Next to each one is a part number. If you click on the part number, it brings up a Buyer's Guide that gives you all the other applications for that part number.

In this case, the WJ upper front balljoint is listed as fitting Wranglers from 87 (IIRC)-06 and a plethora of Cherokee and Grand Cherokee apps.

Try it, it's a great resource for parts searching.

I'm well aware of how useful RockAuto is for parts interchangeability.

To the OP, sorry for the hijack. I'll start my own thread at the appropriate time.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by deri0953

I'm well aware of how useful RockAuto is for parts interchangeability.

To the OP, sorry for the hijack. I'll start my own thread at the appropriate time.

If you are aware, you could have used it to answer the question you asked and saved me the trouble of pointing it out for you.

[deri0953]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

If you are aware, you could have used it to answer the question you asked and saved me the trouble of pointing it out for you.

Not quite.

Just because the part numbers are different, and the applications are different, does not mean that the parts are not interchangeable. In this case, the lower ball joint taper is apparently different, so the parts are not directly interchangeable. However, a lot of WJ knuckle swaps have been done using the TJ/XJ lower ball joints. Is this the correct way to do the swap? Apparently not, but, what negative consequences have happened by using the "incorrect" ball joints? Are the knuckles being destroyed at the lower ball joint taper? Does the taper in the cast knuckle get deformed to match the taper of the TJ/XJ ball joint? Does the difference in ball joint tapers cause the axle shafts to not be centered in the axle tubes?

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by deri0953

Not quite.

Just because the part numbers are different, and the applications are different, does not mean that the parts are not interchangeable. In this case, the lower ball joint taper is apparently different, so the parts are not directly interchangeable. However, a lot of WJ knuckle swaps have been done using the TJ/XJ lower ball joints. Is this the correct way to do the swap? Apparently not, but, what negative consequences have happened by using the "incorrect" ball joints? Are the knuckles being destroyed at the lower ball joint taper? Does the taper in the cast knuckle get deformed to match the taper of the TJ/XJ ball joint? Does the difference in ball joint tapers cause the axle shafts to not be centered in the axle tubes?

It's the difference between 1.5 and 2" per foot taper. It's not enough to offcenter the hole for the unitbearing relative to the axle tube.

That said, if anybody said they were going to try and use 2" per foot tapered TRE's in their steeing that has 1.5" per foot holes, what would you tell them?

The only reason folks get by with it, myself included at one point in time, is the weight of the vehicle is holding it together. Any other application and it would pretty much not be a great idea. I know folks like you are going to say that it's been done incorrectly and no one died, so why bother doing it right?

Which is why I said to make your own choices.

You know the tapers are different.
You know the pricing is similar.
You are usually replacing balljoints for a knuckle swap.

You can do it right, or you can ghetto it. Make your choice.