D44 axle question

BLUTO · Oct 16, 2003

Well, I think I'm going to quit "pissing in the wind" and put a D44 axle in my 2000XJ to replace my D35 (before I go out and buy new gears and LS diffs

).
Most of the threads that I've read, talk about using a '86 thru '88 XJ Wagoneer axle (and probably the easiest swap). I've also stumbled upon a few Bronco transplants. Some had radius arms

.
My question is: What should I be looking for when going to buy a D44 to replace my rear D35C? Low pinion/High pinion? Only 5 on 4.5" stud pattern? Which vehicles (other than Waggy) are swappable?
I know that I probably have to relocate spring perches - no problem! I don't want to have to cut or splice anything to bring it to proper, usable lenght.
Thanx,
BLUTO

BUCKYXJ · Oct 16, 2003

'86 THRU '89 XJ rear axle will be a direct bolt in. The FSJ(full size jeep)waggy D44 will be wider than stock (not that I care but some people do). I am not sure on the Waggy years either. All rear D44's are standard pinion if I remember correctly. Look for 5 on 4.5 unless you wanna convert to it or run different bolt patterns on your wheels which would mean 2 spares. After saying all that I would go with an XJ D44 or a ford 9" rear out of a bronco.
HTH

XJWheelie · Oct 16, 2003

IH Scout

What about a Dana 44 from a Scout?

Robert

zjmike · Oct 16, 2003

Re: IH Scout

XJWheelie said:
What about a Dana 44 from a Scout?

Robert

Scouts are narrower and have 5x5.5" bolt pattern.... they are narrower by about 1.5" or so..

You could also do the 8.8 from an explorer, 31 spline shafts, and disc brakes already

FarmerMatt · Oct 16, 2003

Your 2000 XJ should have an 8 1/4 rear, not a 35 unless DC had a real old rear end lying around. I wouldn't imagine they would have switched back to them. The 8 1/4 is a good rear end for most.

Matt

Jeepin Jason · Oct 16, 2003

FarmerMatt said:
Your 2000 XJ should have an 8 1/4 rear, not a 35 unless DC had a real old rear end lying around. I wouldn't imagine they would have switched back to them. The 8 1/4 is a good rear end for most.

Matt

Matt, Matt, Matt... DCX used the D35 in the XJ all the way to the end. Our old '01 XJ had the D35 rear axle, and it was built in May of '01.

A good friend of mine also had the D35 in his '01 XJ as well.

I wonder why they never put the 8.25" in the TJ? Or the Grands for that matter...

Oh yeah, to address the original question, a D44 out of an '87-'89 XJ would be a direct bolt-in, that's what I'm running in my '95 now. The Bronco D44 swap with radius arms is a front axle, not the rear.

All in all though, a late model Ford 8.8" out of an Exploder would probably be the best swap. It's 31-spline vs 30-spline (D44), it's already got disc brakes, and most can be had with 4.10 gears and a limited slip already in them. M.O.R.E. makes an 8.8" swap kit with all the brackets and stuff that you'd need.

Patriot · Oct 16, 2003

'93 - Current Rodeo's carry a rear disc 44. They may have carried them even before '93, I can't remember for sure. Post-'95 have the wider axles, 60" wms-wms I think. A friend and I pulled a '95 and it's wms-wms was 58". I was going to use it, then I decided to swap in some wider axles, so we pull a 9" off a bronco, 65" wms-wms.

Jeepin Jason · Oct 16, 2003

Rodeo axles are 6-lug.

FarmerMatt · Oct 16, 2003

Sorry about that guys. I could have swore all the later ones were 8 1/4's. Thanks for clearing that up Jason.

Matt

PS
I hope beezy isn't looking or I might get whacked with the SPOBI paddle.

Jeepin Jason · Oct 16, 2003

Matt, most of the '97+ XJ's DID come with the 8.25", but not all of them, and there was no rhyme nor reason as to which vehicle got which axle. Our old '01 Limited was loaded, every option by the engine block heater and ABS, and it had a D35. A friend of ours has a 2wd '01 XJ, bought it the same day we got ours, and hers has the 8.25"... Go figure.:anon:

Eagle · Oct 16, 2003

Jeepin Jason said:
Matt, most of the '97+ XJ's DID come with the 8.25", but not all of them, and there was no rhyme nor reason as to which vehicle got which axle. Our old '01 Limited was loaded, every option by the engine block heater and ABS, and it had a D35. A friend of ours has a 2wd '01 XJ, bought it the same day we got ours, and hers has the 8.25"... Go figure.:anon:

There is a rhyme and reason -- they used the Dana 35 in the XJs with ABS, and the 8-1/4 in the XJs without ABS.

Jeepin Jason · Oct 16, 2003

Eagle said:
There is a rhyme and reason -- they used the Dana 35 in the XJs with ABS, and the 8-1/4 in the XJs without ABS.

That's not always the case though... My '01 didn't have ABS, but it did have the D35.

My friend with the 4wd '01 didn't have ABS either, and he also had the D35.

jjvande · Oct 16, 2003

This may be a dumb question...why would spline count matter.?..shouldn't we use axle diameter instead?...cant splines be different sizes ? thus, more splines could fit on the same diameter shaft.

-The Ford 8.8 is also a C-clip differential..so thats one drawback.

-J

Jeepin Jason · Oct 16, 2003

generally speaking more splines = bigger DIA shaft. The 8.8" does have slightly larger DIA shafts than a standard D44.

Also, I could be wrong, but I think splines are a pretty standard size. I think there's like 2 sizes, a "fine" and a "course". ? I'm sure someone on here has the actual details regarding this though.

Patriot · Oct 16, 2003

Jeepin Jason said:
Rodeo axles are 6-lug.

As are the Waggys.

BLUTO · Oct 17, 2003

There is a lot of good info in this thread

, Are XJ Waggy D44's really 6 bolt?

I don't want to bother with 2 spares

. If that's the case, I'll probably go with the Explorer 8.8 axle.
My build sheet states that my 2000XJ has antilock brakes AND D35 C axle. They made a sh_t-load of Explorers, you'd think they'd be cheaper than a rare XJ D44 ? And they have disc brakes too!

Nice trade-off when I lose the anti-lock brakes.
What does the measurement "wms-wms" stand for? And how many inches of wms do I want to look for in an axle?
I have 3" lift, 31x10.5x15" tires on Canyon rims, AW4, 242 TC.
Thanks for the input, I need to start "bone-yarding" an axle so I know which driveshaft to order with my SYE

BLUTO

Jeepin Jason · Oct 17, 2003

No, XJ "Wagoneer" axles are the same 5x4.5" bolt pattern. But most folks are referring to the old full size Wagoneers when they say Waggy or Wagoneer. Those axles use the 6x5.5" bolt pattern.

Oh, and the XJ D44 was used in other XJ's beside the Wagoneer package, and I'm not certain that all XJ Wagoneers got D44's

Eagle · Oct 17, 2003

XJ Wagoneers got the same axles as any other XJ -- Dana 35 or Dana 44, 5 x 4.5" bolt circle.

The confusion is that the name Wagoneer (and Grand Wagoneer) also refers to the older, full-size models. Those are the ones with 6-bolt hubs.

BLUTO · Oct 17, 2003

Thankyou,
What does "wms" stand for? I'm thinking it's an end-to-end measurement, but I don't know what you're measuring off of

And how long should this axle be?
BLUTO

Patriot · Oct 17, 2003

wms-wms = wheel mounting to wheel mounting

D44 axle question

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