Liar Liar pants on fire... ...I made a mistake guys, the pinion you are looking at, the smaller one, is out of a late (86?) CJ Dana 30, the same as a YJ I believe.

I am looking into adapting the tubes (one side anyway) to a steel 30, but the real problem maybe is that the KJ may need the extra length to avoid driveshaft contact with something, as the exhaust, pan etc etc.

I have reinforced my front diff with a machined collar for the pinion, welded in place and a couple of plates, one of which is opposite of the side mounting bracket. 1/4 inch alum plate was welded on the diff.

I still have that Dana 44 I want to play with. I need to bring to a rear end shop to see if I can get flanges for it.



Al

_________________
One Ruby, One Grand Cherokee, One YJ, One disassembled CJ, one Chevy Mason dump, one hotrod IH Pick-up, couple of antique tractors.
Former owner of a 5.5 inch lifted KJ

when I say tubes I am refering to the pcs. of alum that runs from the pumpkin to the passenger side
not much of one on the driver side but the end resualt would be the same

[ignore on] Anybody look at the pinion from a TJ? I seem to recall that when they first came out, the old gear sets wouldn't work because of a new bearing preload system. IIRC the newer TJ D30 required a longer pinion shaft. There may also be the issue of reverse rotation vs standard rotation. [ignore off] Just saw that the TJ had a SHORTER pinion than the older D30's and that's why there was initially an availability problem. Guess that won't help the Liberty!

Also, looking at that picture of the blown diff, sure looks like the failure point would be at the first pinion bearing. Looks like that when the front wheels stop suddenly, the pinion would climb down and away from the ring gear thus loading up the first pinion bearing up and out of the housing. By supporting the housing with a collar (like many have done) sure should help the problem.

Lee

_________________
2003 Liberty Sport, 235/70R16 Firestone Destination A/T, AR Series 95 wheels