My thoughts on d300's

[malodin]

with last few d300's vs the world posts it got me to thinking why would jeep put the d300's and not into the 1/2-1 ton trucks

1. AMC's bought everything from everyone else.
2. by the time d300s came out amc/jeep was already fasing the fsj out(yes it lasted until 1990, and the d300 didnt)
3. the d300 didnt last because they switched to drivers side drop and wanted a "more car like ride"
4. by the time the d300 came out amc/jeep had switched the full size rig to a drivers side drop and the 300 is passenger side(that is imho the main reason they didnt put the 300 in the fsj

NOT BECAUSE IT IS A LIGHT DUTY RIG BUT BECAUSE THEY HAD ALREADY "RE-DESIGNED" THE FSJ FOR DRIVERS DROP AXLE.(not yelling imphasizing)

on this same note lots of people say it only came in a light duty non 3/4 1 ton rig but it did come in the 1980 scouts and they are HEAVY big beasts
and i know of at least one person wheeling the piss out of it.

[jeeping1974]

i wish that the FSJs came with dana 300s in them. it would make the swap easier.

[Desert Beast]

[jeeping1974]

mmmmmmmmm chocolate chip cookies mmmmmmmm

[-Bluegill-]

Scouts weren't the only Binders that had D300's......my old Travelall did too, and that tank was the same size as a Suburban.

[blt2krl]

This thread could have some good info come out of it. So I will sticky to the top. Dana 300's rule. I'm putting one in my next rig.

[FSJeeper]

Originally Posted by blt2krl

This thread could have some good info come out of it. So I will sticky to the top. Dana 300's rule. I'm putting one in my next rig.

Me too! With such a big aftermarket for upgrade parts for the Dana 300, one might think it has flaws that need to be upgraded, but it is really because they are so popular and cool.

And hey, everyone lets throw some 4 to 1 gears in the D300 to make it more reliable. Wheeeeeee!

[malodin]

Originally Posted by blt2krl

This thread could have some good info come out of it. So I will sticky to the top. Dana 300's rule. I'm putting one in my next rig.

your absolutely correct this could have some good info come out of it.

[jeeping1974]

for bolting one up to a TH400 you will need a TH400/208 adaptor housing and the output shaft out of the same TH400. get the 32 spline input gear and the clocking ring from JB Conversions. their input shafts fit perfectly onto my TH400. plus the clocking ring will help you to lay the dana 300 almost perfectly flat between the fram rails.

you can run a 2.5" exhaust on the passenger side but the inner side of the exhuast pipe should be flatened a little to give a little more space between the dana 300 and the pipe.

i have mine installed in a 74 j10 with dana 44s front and rear. the driveshafts will bolt right up. the rear shaft will work fine if your running a 4" lift. the front will work fine if you are stock height. a little difference in height, the drive shafts will probably still work but you could run into something breaking if the suspension is fully compressed (rear) or fully extended (front) take the time to do some measuring.

i'll be installing a set of j20 axles in my j10 in the next week or two so i'll post up about the driveshafts then. i have yet to run mine so i have no feed back on that, yet.

[AdamG]

I have been kicking myself in the butt over selling my drivetrain from my xj that was going into my CJ that got scrapped. I-6 4.0 HO, to AX-15, to Novak adapter, to Dana 300 clocked flat. Even just the tranny and TC would have been nice in Caspar.
Oh well live and learn, sometimes you have to sell the parts to buy the rig to put the parts in...
Adam G

[jeeping1974]

i'll be posting up a small thing about the dana 300 with a set of 79 j20 axles after it with driveshafts later on this week.

[JERSEY JOE]

The D300 absolutely needs the 32 spline output shaft update in a heavy truck. Heck most of the serious CJ guys run them.

[SCscoutguy]

Originally Posted by -Bluegill-

Scouts weren't the only Binders that had D300's......my old Travelall did too, and that tank was the same size as a Suburban.

No they didnt. The last year for Travelalls and pickups was 1975 and the Dana 300 wasnt even invented yet. Travelalls and pickups came with NP-205's in the 70's.

[malodin]

Originally Posted by SCscoutguy

No they didnt. The last year for Travelalls and pickups was 1975 and the Dana 300 wasnt even invented yet. Travelalls and pickups came with NP-205's in the 70's.

is it possible that maybe someone swapped in a 80's scout drive train into the travel all?

[-Bluegill-]

They may have, the 345 didn't quite look as old as the truck

[SCscoutguy]

Originally Posted by malodin

is it possible that maybe someone swapped in a 80's scout drive train into the travel all?

Highly unlikely. None of the driveshafts would of worked. There would be no provision for the tcase shifter in the transmission tunnel. It would be a ton of work to put a Dana 300 or any married tcase into a Travelall. Are you sure you were not looking at a Scout II Traveler which was a 118" wb version of a Scout II?

[jeeping1974]

well i got a set of j20 axles from a 79 installed into my j10. i tried all the driveshafts and none of them work. the j10's rear shaft is too long and the j20's is too short. the j10's front is too short and i wasn't able to remove the j20's front shaft yet. looks like i'll be making a trip to the drive shaft shop to get a couple of new shafts made up.

[malodin]

probably the best way to go.

[wickedwagon767]

The 300 is such a sweet little hercules.

32-spline front and rear output upgrades are out there from JB Conversions

JB also has the 4:1 kit with the thicker,stronger gears

Stak makes its stout aftermarket case

If the 4:1 is to low all-the-time for some, you can swap the lomax gears into the Stak case, then slide a Klune (2.72) Underdrive in front of it and have two diverse low range options to choose from

It'll only set you back a few grand

[lasinvegas]

Originally Posted by malodin

with last few d300's vs the world posts it got me to thinking why would jeep put the d300's and not into the 1/2-1 ton trucks

1. AMC's bought everything from everyone else.
2. by the time d300s came out amc/jeep was already fasing the fsj out(yes it lasted until 1990, and the d300 didnt)
3. the d300 didnt last because they switched to drivers side drop and wanted a "more car like ride"
4. by the time the d300 came out amc/jeep had switched the full size rig to a drivers side drop and the 300 is passenger side(that is imho the main reason they didnt put the 300 in the fsj

NOT BECAUSE IT IS A LIGHT DUTY RIG BUT BECAUSE THEY HAD ALREADY "RE-DESIGNED" THE FSJ FOR DRIVERS DROP AXLE.(not yelling imphasizing)

on this same note lots of people say it only came in a light duty non 3/4 1 ton rig but it did come in the 1980 scouts and they are HEAVY big beasts
and i know of at least one person wheeling the piss out of it.

I think that jeep was starting to view the fsj as more of a family luxury rig back then. The reason they were phasing out the 2 door fsj in favor of four door rigs. If you look at the rigs at that time they were mainly push button or levers to get in 4x4 except for a few leftovers.
My thoughts