Alloy USA Dana 30 and Ford 8.8 Chromoly axle shafts install write up

[barry1me]

I finally was able to install my axle shafts last week. I had been waiting a few months on the locker. For those who arent aware of Alloy USA axle shafts, they are an after market Chromoly axle shaft that is of a higher grade Steel then the OE shafts, different heating treating during manufacturing and thicker ear yokes around the ujoint caps. Once locking the dana 30 front axle and adding some bigger tires you put a considerable amount more stress on the axle shafts and yokes. The warranty supplied from Alloy is a 10 year warranty including the yokes breaking. That covers me for a long time. I also opted for the well touted Alloy Ujoints. They came well packaged, no deffects due to packing or manfacturing. To install the Dana 30 axle shafts you dont have to pull the diff cover, but since we were adding a locker to the front we combined steps. On inspecting the OE axle shafts they were in pretty rough shape due to breaking several ujoints and bouncing around on the balljoints. Removal of the OE shafts is as easy as pulling both tires off, removing caliper, three bolts that hold the bearing carrier onto the knuckle and then out come the shafts. It took about 30 minutes to pull the OE shafts out of the axle.

OE shafts Dana 30












Alloys installed

[barry1me]

Since we did the front axle first, and the locker we were only able to take a few pics before the battery died in the camera
The rear Ford 8.8 axle is a breeze. remove rear tires, calipers, rotor, and Drop the diff cover (in our case pull the allen bolt that hold the plate into to push out on the axle shafts), pull the C clips out and carefully pull the OE shafts out. Once they were removed you replace the OE wheel bearings with the ones supplied from Alloy. Another nice option with the Alloy axle shafts is they have two different lug patterns that are easily changed by screwing the supplied lug studs into the two different patterns on the hub face. We stuck with the factory 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern.

Unfortunatly our camera died about two pictures into the install but here is what I did get.

removal of passengers side caliper and rotor


Driverside rear caliper


removal of allen bolt to remove the access panel to remove C clips


Alloy on the Left VS the OE on the right


Notice the two options of bolt patterns


This picture was taken the following day after the Alloys were installed and the diff was closed back up and filled. Make sure to torque the caliper bolts to the proper specification when reinstalling them.

[barry1me]

I havent had a chance yet to try these out, but I feel very confident in there design. Im hoping to try them out this week at Mount morris. The people at Alloy are great people, they have a great deal of knowledge in there product and passoniate about the sport. Eric at Alloy will answer any question you have, and seemed very confident in his axle shafts. Overall this is a easy upgrade to the Dana 30 and Ford 8.8 that is relitively inexpensive for what you get. The warranty alone is worth it.

[VinoTJ]

Nice work!

What spline counts did you go with?

I am looking at a re-gear with ARBs and chromoly shafts - I was looking at upgrading the D30 to 30-spline (I heard they are much stronger) and keeping 30-spline in the D44 (can carry my stock shafts as spares).

[barry1me]

Originally Posted by VinoTJ

Nice work!

What spline counts did you go with?

I am looking at a re-gear with ARBs and chromoly shafts - I was looking at upgrading the D30 to 30-spline (I heard they are much stronger) and keeping 30-spline in the D44 (can carry my stock shafts as spares).

I thought about doing the 30 spline D30, but then I couldnt have used a lockright locker. I have heard the 30 spline shafts are very strong. I wanted to stay with the 27 spline so if I ever break a shaft on the trail I could have used a factory shaft or find a bit easier then a 30 spline shaft.

[barry1me]

here is the part number for the 8.8 axle shafts.

Note this 8.8 was from an explorer and has the 31 spline axle shafts

[bryans98tj]

OK, I have looked all over for Alloy 8.8 shafts.Where did you get yours an what year/model did your 8.8 come out of?

[barry1me]

Originally Posted by bryans98tj

OK, I have looked all over for Alloy 8.8 shafts.Where did you get yours an what year/model did your 8.8 come out of?

call eric at Alloy he can hook you up with one of his vendors. Mine was out from an explorer with disk brakes

[bryans98tj]

Thanks Barry

[barry1me]

update:

Jeep hasnt missed a beat, running 35x15x15 TSL's and not even a hicup from the D30. Im quite impressed

[Grewe02]

Originally Posted by bryans98tj

Thanks Barry

If you haven't found a vendor by now, check Randy's Ring and Pinion. He has everything.

[davo19]

what socket did you use to remove the three bolts holding the axle in?

[Greg_Volkman]

nice write-up. what's the new diameter of the 8.8 shafts?