Dana 30 steering and spindle questions???

I just picked up a 4.27 geared 72-75ish narrow track Dana 30 for the front of my old Willys.

Does anyone know the measurements for the factory 6-bolt spindle mounting pattern? I am going to make some disc brake mounts and this would save me some time.

Does anyone know the taper of the stock D30 tie-rod ends? I need to pick up a reamer to flip the the linkage and make some bushings.

Thank you for your help.

 

I can't help with the spindle pattern, but the D30 tie-rod (and drag link) tapers are the same as all late model CJ stuff. I believe it's a 7 degree taper. The Snap-On reamer part #R121 matches this taper.
I have one of these reamers and have used it with questionable success. It's good in a pinch, but it takes much patience to obtain a good cut.

 

Thank you for the info. I will cross the part number and see what I come up with....

 

I crossed the part number and came up with some sources for those looking for a reamer.

The reamer is a 1.5" per foot reamer.

It is common used on other TREs also, including the common GM '1-ton' TRE's.

Here are some sources.

Snap on, r121
BcBroncos, 93-30032, $80
stock car products, r8201, $108
afco, 80770, $130
PartsMike, tr220, $64

It looks like this would be very handy to have around for multiple projects and upgrades.
You could use the reamer and a lathe to make flip inserts, make the holes deeper for larger ends, flip for the larger ends, or redo pitman arms for different ends.

I'm going to try and pull a spindle off this axle and measure it soon....I will post the info. Hopefully this will evolve into a pattern for suzuki sidekick disc brake brackets for drum brake D25/27/30 axles.

 

Just a comment - the knuckles from a later CJ D30 with disk brakes just bolt on. That's the usual path people take to upgrade these axles. The later axles with 3.54, 3:31 or 2.73 gears are not very desirable, and can often be found for short money. I think you get the less desirable 5-bolt hubs (?) with the later axles, but there are some years that have the 6-bolt.

I'm sure this has been discussed before here. Have you searched old posts?

 

Yup, searched, and I have run other disc brake systems. My current front end has a GM/jeep hybrid disc brake kit.

The Suzuki Sidekick stuff is WAY simple in comparison. The parts are available at any autozone and are very affordable. The calipers, mounts, and pads are only about $65 per side and the rotors are only $20 or so. The brackets for this style of conversion can be made out of simple plate steel fairly simply and cheaply, the suzuki caliper mount bolts on with just two bolts and provides a nice floating caliper. The other thing I really like is that the rotors slip on OVER the bearing hub and stock studs, no more having to press the studs in, and no more loss in track width.

Anther big bonus, I hope, is going to be the ability to pull the caliper and rotor off easily. This should allow me to use studs/nuts to hold the spindle on. With the rotor removed, slide off the bearing hub, you should be able to remove the six nuts holding the spindle on. This will allow you to remove the entire spindle, bearing hub, bearings, hubs, and axle assembly as one unit...kinda like a big unit bearing if you have problems or pop a j-joint.

The downside is that you have Suzuki parts on your jeep, and the rotor is an 11.4" and non-vented. You also need a metric brake line fitting on one side and SAE on the other if you don't want to reflare the line on the jeep side.

I will hopefully be running an identical brake/hub setup on all four corners of the jeep with a rear floater conversion. This means less spare parts for me to carry on the trail. One set of brakes, bearings, pads, rotors, hubs, etc...all fit each corner. That is the plan however....

 

I've got a d30 front my cj5 74, just happen to have it disassembled and
took some measurements for you. The 6 stud bolt pattern is 2" to center
on each hole. On each 3rd hole you have 3 1/2". The outside dia. of the
spindle bearing housing is 2 5/16 "...Hope this helps ya......

 

Thank you for the info...thats a good starting point. It took me a minute to figure out what you had measured.

2" between studs equals a 6 on 4.00 pattern if the pattern is symmetrical. I thought I remembered that the spindle only bolted on one way...but I might be mis-remembering.

The 3rd hole measurement would be 3.464 according to my math.

I will get something up drawn up soon in cad for everyone to reference if they want to make there own brake brackets, spindle spacers, or whatever.

Can we upload anything like a dwg/dxf? Or maybe attach a pdf?

 

The bolt holes are symmetrical. The spindles can be rotated in any direction.

 

Cool, thanks.

I will try and pull the drum brakes off the D30 tonight and get a real spindle to play with.
I imagine back when the spindle was originally designed they would have used a simple pattern. It was the same since 1941

I will make some solid models off all the parts if anyone wants them.