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Bit of a dilema...

J

jmeti000

NAXJA Forum User
Location
san antonio,tx
I have an 87' that came stock with the D44, and was regeared to 4.10's. Unfortunatly, its in need of a serious rebuild...bearings, seals, axles...and possibly a new ring and pinion...I dont have the knowledge to replace/setup everyting properly so its going to be hella expensive. My other option is to go hunting for a 8.8 with stock 4.10's and swap it in, which will also give me disc brakes, and I could make the needed mods for that with no problem. Soooo, should I stick with the D44 and bite the bullet? Or start scroungin around for the 8.8?

Thanks,
Jmeti000
 
I had leaky seals a while ago and when I took it in it was discovered that the axle shafts are pitted, and I know my bearings are shot cuz I can hear and feel them when I rotate the shafts. When I called to make an appointment to get it looked at the guy said depending on how bad the bearings are it might have caused damage to the gears too. Im no expert in this area so just thinkin worst case scenario. He said just to do all the bearings it would be about $500, new axles will run about $260 (180x2), so I know with what he quoted so far im at almost $800.
 
for what it is worth. I bought my 8.8 with 4.10s and LSD already set up for an XJ for $350 from someone on craigslist. Granted I yanked out the 4.10s and ran 4.56 and a open carrier for a lunchbox locker. But deals like that are out there. Knowing what I know now I would have just yanked one from the junkyard for $100 and did the brackets myself.
 
jmeti000 said:
I was just looking at some specs for the 8.8 and it says that all rangers 99 and up that came with stock 4.56 gears also had 31 spline axles....anyone ever run across this for a swap?
Heres the link
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Axles.html
Click to expand...

Well it says all FX4 rangers had them from 98 and up either4.10 or 4.56. But at the beginning of the article it says the FX4 didn't come along until 2002. That part I know is true as it was the same with the F150s and superduties. Plus good luck finding one in a yard that is 2002 or newer. Just pull one from an explorer.
 
pop the cover off and take a look at the gears or take some pictures and post them up on here, and we'll see how bad everything is..
 
for one how can an axle shaft be pitted?....... that makes no sense and ive never heard such a thing. also dont bother with the ranger axles, it will be about impossible to find an fx4 ranger. just go with a exploder 8.8 95-01 and its relatively easy to find them with 4.10s. also i think u got it backwards, the 8.8 iss heavier by a little and has worse ground clearance due to a really big center section

EDIT: as others said open the 44 and see how bad it is
 
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