Dana 44

[Metal Twister]

OK Steve, I bet you have this one memorized. I'm thinking about picking up a cheap XJ... Im going nuts without a rig of any kind. Question is, Did any post 91 XJ's come from the factory with d44's? And if so which ones? 

[StvDiego]

The D44 was used from 87-89 (and the rare '90) that had the factory tow package. I see two or three times a year in the wrecking yard, lately been seeing them more often as more XJ's show up in the yards. They'll bolt into a newer XJ with some light mods.

past that, '90-'91 was the D35, '91 to '96 the 27 spline 8.25 and then after that the 8.25 29 spline

There's other good choices out there besides the XJ D44 depending on the gearing plans and so on. The 9" and 8.8 are good choices, easy to find and not a difficult swap. Also consider a Honda Passport or Isuzu Rodeo (or the early Amigo 12 bolt), both also easy to find and are D44's. Of course there's always the D60...

btw, half-price weekend at Pick-Your-Part, 11-27 to 30, figure a complete hub/disc to hub/disc axle out the door for >$100

[DavidWymore]

I have a fair bit of fullsize 1/2 ton axles around. Some locked.

[DavidWymore]

http://yuma.craigslist.org/pts/906504764.html

[StvDiego]

$400???

Dang, I coulda got that one from the last jy trip for $90. I need to grab more stuff next trip

[Metal Twister]

Thanks Steve,

As you well know the Pig is in a garage in Jamul being taken care of for good by jdjamul. Hopefully he will be back with some updates soon on his new project. I just did the trade for a 74 Cherokee... Im not really sure why, But i did? So hope to get it trail worthy here very soon.

if it dosnt work out, the worst case will be that I have a pink for the rock car? LOL   

[DavidWymore]

FYI

I have a J20 D44 front with 4.10s and a detroit - needs an axleshaft and a Dodge D60 rear 4.10 detroit- it needs an axleshaft and the diff put back together.

[StvDiego]

get the axles from David, drop in a diesel...  ~rockon

that would be cool

[DavidWymore]

Cummins 4BT

[ReconZJ]

...There's other good choices out there besides the XJ D44 depending on the gearing plans and so on... Also consider a Honda Passport or Isuzu Rodeo (or the early Amigo 12 bolt), both also easy to find and are D44's...

I realize this thread is old, but for future searches I thought I'd add a clarification here.  The Rodeo, like the '96-98 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) V8s (as well as the center section of IRS Corvettes), used  a "hybrid" D44, known as a D44a (EDIT: not sure about the Passport and Amigo).  The center section was cast aluminum rather than iron (hence the "a" designation), and used c-clipped axle shafts.  Also, it's important to note that standard D44 ring & pinions and axle shafts will not install in a D44A axle, and the carrier retaining pin is a smaller diameter than a standard D44 - it shears easily and is difficult to remove (not something you want to find out about and repair on the trail).  You need to make sure your vendor knows that you're shopping for D44A parts if you're upgrading one of these.  After market parts are difficult to come by; slightly hardened shafts are available, as are aftermarket gears in 4:10 (good for 31" tires) and 4:56 (33" tires) ratios. The standard gearing for a D44a V8 Grand Cherokee was 3:73, and they came "open" or with a LSD. The only aftermarket locker that was ever offered for the Grand Cherokee D44A was the "lunchbox" Aussie Locker, now unavailable from them due to low demand (special "group buys" have been set up over the last year or two, but they're not a regular production item).  If you can find one of these you'll also need to make sure you have a carrier for an open differential; the carrier that comes with the LSD does not work with the Aussie Locker.

The ZJ D44a was known to have problems with premature wear of the pinion bearing, due to flexing of the softer aluminum housing under stress.  I was fortunate in that from my original purchase of my '97 ZJ in December of '96, I did not need to have it replaced under warranty.  I've done a considerable amount of moderate to hardcore trails with it, and have had no problems (other than mine is open).  However, I'm upgrading to D60s now and found that at just over 90,000 miles, my pinion bearing was about to completely fail. Guess I got lucky!

Bottom line:  do not even think about a D44a axle as a swap for what you've got now; IMO and that of many others, it's not worth the hassle

gary.

[Metal Twister]

Im under the impression the Jag was also a d44? Any different than the D44A, or the samething?

[ReconZJ]

Im under the impression the Jag was also a d44? Any different than the D44A, or the samething?

That I don't know, MT. I only know about the Izusu because years ago when our GC group was searching for lockers, we found that one as being very similar to a GC D44a, and there were threads that mentioned the Corvette IRS center section.  I do not recall for sure if the parts are interchangeable between them, but AIR I don't think they are.  The reason DC (and others) went with the aluminum housing was to reduce the overall vehicle weight in order to meet emissions standards.  At least for GC owners, over 95% never take them off-road, so a weaker rear end wasn't a major consideration (although it is stronger than the D35).  Looks like if International buys the Jeep brand, we'll have a real Jeep again (speculation is the GC will have Rubicon axles as an option).

[Metal Twister]

Wow, Thanks for posting up the info.

[StvDiego]

Interesting about the Jag and Corvette, hadn't heard that before, I'll have to learn more about that, makes sense. There was a range of Volvos that had a Dana 35 rear tho

Didn't realize the Rodeo/Isuzu was an A axle. The GC 44a is about worthless off-road, the alumimun case would last maybe a morning on the trail.

Good info, thanks for posting it up, now you have me curious

[ReconZJ]

Glad I could add to the discussion!  Haven't been much of a presence here since I joined, but will try to whenever I have something of value to add.  Hope to meet up with you all on the trail soon, too.

 

EDIT before posting:
Steve, I've done a lot of off-roading with mine, and aside from the fact that it's an open diff, I haven't had any other problems.  It's a lot stronger that it's given credit for, if you have one that isn't noisy.  In fact, I've strapped a few Wranglers on the trail over the years!   

[StvDiego]

Glad I could add to the discussion!  Haven't been much of a presence here since I joined, but will try to whenever I have something of value to add.  

No need to wait, I post all the time when I absolutely nothing of value to add 

True about the axle off-road, like so many other things on the trail it's more about the driver than the rig. A good driver in a stock rig can quite often get farther than a bad driver with a built rig.

[ReconZJ]

No need to wait, I post all the time when I absolutely nothing of value to add 

True about the axle off-road, like so many other things on the trail it's more about the driver than the rig. A good driver in a stock rig can quite often get farther than a bad driver with a built rig.

Ha, ha, I usually only do that when I've had a few too many...

You're so right about learning to drive a rig vs bad/inexperienced drivers in built rigs.  Too many buy something and immediately go crazy lifting it without finding out about the vehicle itself first.  I bought mine to wheel it, taking it out bone stock in the Tahoe area a couple of months after I got it; got used to the way it handled stock from then on and had fun.  It wasn't until 4 years later that I installed the 3 1/2" lift with 31" tires, and continued to have fun with it.  The D44a served me well all those years and outings, but it definitely was the weak link that limited any further modifications like larger tires.

I'll be starting a new thread soon with the current rebuild....  

[CaribouLouWJ]

Actually, the D44a isn't terrible, and I've seen them hold up to abuse welded on 35's, if trussed. Once you truss them, they're OK axles, WAY better then a 35c.

I'm still running the 44a with the verilok in the back of my WJ on 35's, and its had 35's on it for over 70k miles without any issues. I have a set of spare shafts.

[ReconZJ]

CaribouLowWj, I certainly agree with your comments. It's funny, I realized after I posted up that I didn't include the D44a as it came in the WJ.  I believe it's correct to say that this "next generation" WJ D44a was improved over the original that came in the '96-'98 ZJs like mine. I've wheeled with quite a few variloc'd WJs, and they are very capable machines, and in some respects, more so than mine was.  But they're not indestructible, as a friend of mine found out at Grand Slam Southwest (an annual all-Grand Cherokee event) we had last year at Sedona, AZ.  He's on 35s, and has a light foot on the "go pedal", so there's really no other reason this should have happened except that overall, it's a weak axle assy.

And since  , check it out:

Broken left axle shaft. This actually happened at the end of the trail in the staging area.  It was only a moderate trail (can't recall which one), but everyone else including me came through unscathed.


and outer bearing destroyed:



Certainly, trussing either version of these would improve its strength, but in the end it's still "polishing a t*rd".  There's only so much you can do to it, and aftermarket parts are minimal as compared to a "real" D44.  However, the original post was in regard to swapping in a D44, and my point was to clarify that the D44a in the ZJ (and WJ) were not true D44s at all, but were hybrids.