Current Petersens 4Wheel and Off Road

[Explorin94]

One of the new guys to the magazine has a 97 Ranger that he did a solid axle swap on. He did coil overs and a dana 30 with a hi-steer kit. Didn't really go into much detail but more to follow next month. Did it for the Ultimate Adventure trip they take every year. This year it is in Texas.

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
Yeah, i saw that too. It said in the article that he wanted to run AT LEAST 35"s with that dana 30. I dunno about that. Yeah he is going all out on the coilovers and such, but i'm not sure how long that axle is gonna last. (and granted, we dont have the entire list of drivetrain mods yet.)

 

[PaleBlue90]

im running a hi-pinion dana 30 with a ox locker in the front of my ranger, im also useing 4inch procomp leafs for a jeep yj. my tire size is a 31 inch goodyear MTR on stock jeep rubi wheels. i doubt im gonna have any issues, seeing how my motor is still a stock 2.3 and my gearing is 4.10s front/rear. i am also useing a rustys hi steer kit.

 

[camodown]

Do you know where in Texas it is going to be?

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
PaleBlue, i think your axle will hold up fine. I have just rarely seen a dana 30 with 35"s, let alone AT LEAST 35"s like he claims. It will be interesting to see how it holds up.

He did mention the TTB a little. Just that it can perform well if you build it right.

 

[Capt Jay]

Alot of it comes down to how it's driven and who's driving it. A good driver can do alot with lighter duty equiptment.

 

[Toreadorranger]

Alot of it comes down to how it's driven and who's driving it. A good driver can do alot with lighter duty equiptment.

But it sucks not being able to give it to her when you want to...

 

[Jason]

That does sound a bit extreme for the Dana, but I'll wait and hear what he has for a diff and axles.

 

[JFA_Spyderman]

Yo,
yeah we will see. He also failed to mention which engine he has. However, the guy is taking it on the Ultimate adventure. That by itself indicates extreme wheeling.

On the other hand, it is nice to see another ranger grace the pages of the magazine. "REPRESENT!"

 

[Explorin94]

Yo,
yeah we will see. He also failed to mention which engine he has. However, the guy is taking it on the Ultimate adventure. That by itself indicates extreme wheeling.

On the other hand, it is nice to see another ranger grace the pages of the magazine. "REPRESENT!"

It had a 7.5 as thr rearend so I doubt it was a 4.0.

 

[Thumper113]

But it sucks not being able to give it to her when you want to...

That happens with the D35 I have, ya gotta baby it with large tires. At least with the D30, you can get stronger axles unlike our D35's.

 

[4x4junkie]

That happens with the D35 I have, ya gotta baby it with large tires. At least with the D30, you can get stronger axles unlike our D35's.

Yeah, but the strength of the ring gear is pretty close behind the strength you'd have simply running the 760s and full-circle clips.
I wouldn't bother with alloys on a 30.

He did mention the TTB a little. Just that it can perform well if you build it right.

I think his comment would've been more accurately stated as:
"TTB can provide ample amounts of travel if set up properly, but we decided the familiarity of a solid axle would better suit out needs"

Lots of guys do run 35" tires on D30s, but it's nearly always on the Jeep. A Ranger is generally a lot heavier than the Jeep that was originally over that axle. It's likely to be LESS reliable than the D35 (provided that's what he had, and not one of those "hybrid" diff things).


That article still does provide some exposure for Rangers though, so I'm still glad to see it in the magazine.
I kindof get the impression this guy might be a Ranger buff, so maybe we'll see something done with the TTB on another truck (and hopefully not just something built for the purpose of racing & jumping, but rather something built to flex & crawl as well).

.

 

[PaleBlue90]

yea i think my 30 will hold up fine, im pretty good with the skinny pedal. 35's sound like hes pushing a small 30, even if he has alloy shafts. but like its been stated, it all depends on whos driveing it and how its beaing drove