XJ rear D44 axle shafts (questions).

I've got a rear D44 in my 98 XJ. Bought it off some guy, no idea where it came from.

Axle seals are leaking pretty bad and I figure that's a good excuse to upgrade to some chromoly shafts anyway, but I've got no idea which shafts fit.

The bearing retainer plate is NOT the one with the offset holes. It is this one:


Looking through vendor sites, it seems that almost everyone is confused about which shaft and retainer plate go with which year/model Jeeps.

ECGS has these chromoly shafts, fully assembled and they give you the option of disc or drum retainer plates (disc needs the additional spacer), but no idea if these are the right shafts.
http://eastcoastgearsupply.com/i-2880826-dana-44-tj-rear-30-spline-shaft-kit.html
The lengths are correct, but no idea on anything else.

I've seen all over, that all the Jeep (non-rubicon) D44's use the same shafts and retainer plates, but I've also seen the offset plates being sold as non-rubi Jeep D44's (usually for newer TJ's), so I'm at a loss.

Anyone know?

What is the B.O.M. number on the axle?

No idea. The housing has been thoroughly thrashed, painted, thrashed again, and painted some more.
I did manage to order the correct R&P for it though.
http://www.usastandardgear.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProdID=3312
This of course, probably doesn't help as it apparently fits pretty near every standard rotation D44.

The only identifying features I can come up with are the R&P and the retainer plate above, and that I'm pretty sure the shaft lengths are 29.25 and 29.75.
I had to re-drill the disc backing plate I pulled from an LJ 8.25, because like all 8.25's, the retainer plate had offset holes.

As far as I know, all XJ and MJ D44 are from the years 1986 and 1987. They were all non disc breaks and used the bearing retainer plate you showed in the picture. When converted to disk breaks, a different retainer plate is required. I remember getting two from the Jeep dealer that fit the TJ (Wrangler Rubicon) and modifying the mounting holes. These have I think about a 1/4" piece in the center that set the preload on the bearing race/oil seal.

My '89 has a Dana 44 rear, so it isn't limited to '86/'87.

techno1154 said:

As far as I know, all XJ and MJ D44 are from the years 1986 and 1987. They were all non disc breaks and used the bearing retainer plate you showed in the picture. When converted to disk breaks, a different retainer plate is required. I remember getting two from the Jeep dealer that fit the TJ (Wrangler Rubicon) and modifying the mounting holes. These have I think about a 1/4" piece in the center that set the preload on the bearing race/oil seal.

Click to expand...

Right, and I've done that for mine already. The question is what the retainer plate bolt pattern looks like for the TJ's. If you search D44 TJ retainer plate, you'll find LOADS of links to the plate I pictured above. If that's accurate, maybe the guys at ECGS know what they're doing and have a retainer plate with the correct bolt pattern for the XJ, that also has the spacer for the disc breaks.

I'll give'm a call Monday.

The TJ D44 retainer plates had a different bolt pattern then the XJ/MJ plates. When I got my G2 alloy shafts, the correct plates for the XJ/MJ were supposed to be included. But they turned out to be TJ plates. So I just used the Teraflex spacers with the factory plates.

And the D44 could be had in an MJ all the way up to 1992.

The XJ/MJ 44 was used from 87-89 and part of 90... In 86 the XJs only had 35s, MJs used either the 35 or AMC20 in the Metric Tonne version...

IdahoEagle said:

The XJ/MJ 44 was used from 87-89 and part of 90... In 86 the XJs only had 35s, MJs used either the 35 or AMC20 in the Metric Tonne version...

Click to expand...

I have harvested at least one D-44, and seen two others in MJs, with the typical spring under perches. I don't remember seeing an AMC-20 under an MJ... Full size Jeeps, but not MJs.

To the OP, I have flipped a lot of junkyard XJ, D-44s with symmetrical hole spacing on a flat retainer plate. I am preparing to drill some caliper brackets to that same pattern.

The AMC20 was used only in 86, only had 4.10s, and some even had factory Detroit lockers but those were super rare when new, probably nonexistent by now...

And they were only in the MJ in 86 only. They had a housing as stout as the fullsize and had the obvious 5 on 4 1/2" bolt pattern...

'86 only, gotcha! :thumbup: