ring & pinion questions

[Hunter]

(im previously zj 5.2 limited,, lost my password and no access to email,, i had over 1500 posts on that account,, no newb or anything, just need guidance)

i have a 95 ZJ Limited.... long story short, it had a 4.0-42re-249 | 3.55 dana 30/35 disc brakes, i swapped it out for a 5.2-46rh-249 | 3.73 dana 30/35 disc brakes. broke the control arm mounts off the front after the swap on a test hit. got a new dana 30 from a junkyard (i did not research this and just assumed if it had a cv drive shaft to not use it, as mine had u joint style driveshaft.) im not sure what year it came out of,, i want to say it was a 98 cause it looked clean and had low miles? idk. i rly dont... its been in there and all has been fine since 2009. now, a few weeks ago, another test hit (more N02 this time) i spun a few teeth off the pinion and chipped a bunch of teeth off (big chunks) the ring gear... now today,, i went to the junkyard and got the entire carrier, spiders, ring gear, carrier bearings, end caps, pinion, yoke nut from a 94 ZJ dana 30/35 3.73s with a 318,, basically same as mine except drum brakes. i get it home, and the pinion gear is an inch shorter in mine than the one i just got.

questions
can i use the longer pinion in my housing? (that came with a shorter style one)

how the heck can i tell which one is shorter or longer without removing the entire thing at the junkyard?

some websites are claiming the ZJ uses a reverse cut, low pinion dana 30 front axle... ive had this since 1995 and read a while back (06 ish) that they were standard, nothing-special, low pinion std cut dana 30s. have i been wrong for 11 years?

i know theyre low pinion, but are they ALL std cut or reverse cut?

please help,, i literally spent all day at the junkyard in the mud getting this thing out and i need a vehicle for work..

[tow hook]

the std cut is for a low pinion, a rev cut is for a high pinion, as for the difference in length ? they would all be the same. I 've never delt with a problem like that. I would dought you could use a longer pinion due to the housing is not ment to support the bearings correctly.

[ridgerunner97]

Didn't TJ's have long and short pinion versions of the Dana 30?

[The_War_Wagon]

Would a 44 not be a cheaper swap? Lord knows there's only a TON of them about - even in junkyards!

[DMG]

(im previously zj 5.2 limited,, lost my password and no access to email,, i had over 1500 posts on that account,, no newb or anything, just need guidance)

i have a 95 ZJ Limited.... long story short, it had a 4.0-42re-249 | 3.55 dana 30/35 disc brakes, i swapped it out for a 5.2-46rh-249 | 3.73 dana 30/35 disc brakes. broke the control arm mounts off the front after the swap on a test hit. got a new dana 30 from a junkyard (i did not research this and just assumed if it had a cv drive shaft to not use it, as mine had u joint style driveshaft.) im not sure what year it came out of,, i want to say it was a 98 cause it looked clean and had low miles? idk. i rly dont... its been in there and all has been fine since 2009. now, a few weeks ago, another test hit (more N02 this time) i spun a few teeth off the pinion and chipped a bunch of teeth off (big chunks) the ring gear... now today,, i went to the junkyard and got the entire carrier, spiders, ring gear, carrier bearings, end caps, pinion, yoke nut from a 94 ZJ dana 30/35 3.73s with a 318,, basically same as mine except drum brakes. i get it home, and the pinion gear is an inch shorter in mine than the one i just got.

questions
can i use the longer pinion in my housing? (that came with a shorter style one)

how the heck can i tell which one is shorter or longer without removing the entire thing at the junkyard?

some websites are claiming the ZJ uses a reverse cut, low pinion dana 30 front axle... ive had this since 1995 and read a while back (06 ish) that they were standard, nothing-special, low pinion std cut dana 30s. have i been wrong for 11 years?

i know theyre low pinion, but are they ALL std cut or reverse cut?

please help,, i literally spent all day at the junkyard in the mud getting this thing out and i need a vehicle for work..

I believe the high pinion is reverse cut. There isn't a low pinion reverse cut. All the ZJs I have seen were low pinion and all data shows 94 & 95 both low pinion but someone could have swapped a XJ front axle in.
To my knowledge, 94 and 95 would be the same gear set. But Chrysler and Dana did some weird stuff over the years.

[ridgerunner97]

Annnnnnd I wasn't far off. I knew something was goin on here. Google search. Lots of info

http://www.greatlakes4x4.com/showthread.php?t=185694