Rubicon 44 locker.

[Lucas]

Ive heard there are some weird issues with the rubicon 44 lockers as far as shims and such. Can you fit one of those into a XJ44?

[RCP Phx]

The only thing different is that they use the "thick" gears,so that might limit your choice of gears some.You will also have to regulate the air pressure to about 6-8psi!

[BrettM]

I've heard they use a different pinion gear and are only available to 4.88, just something I heard, you might want to call a gear place like West Coast Diffs or Randy's

[Starboard M]

I don't think that this locker is avalible to the public. That might be old info though. If I remember right, it is almost the same as a ARB air locker.

[casm]

I don't think that this locker is avalible to the public. That might be old info though. If I remember right, it is almost the same as a ARB air locker.

Out of curiosity, has anyone looked into transplanting the D44s out of a Rubicon into an XJ yet?

[87CherokeeChief]

someone told me that they werent "true" dana 44s. something like they use D35 tubes or something. cant quite remember

[ryurabbit]

The rear 44 is a true dana 44. The front is a dana 44 inner with dana 30 outers. The C and knuckle are essentialy dana 30 as are the shafts. Most common failure on a 30 is shafts. Not worth the money or effort for the front.

[Starboard M]

someone told me that they werent "true" dana 44s. something like they use D35 tubes or something. cant quite remember
It was either the 30 or 35. I can't find the article that talked about it, but it was in Petersons of 4WDASU.
As for swaping it in, I think the cost would be a major factor. As I doubt there are very many Rubis that are in the local junk yard, you would have to order it from Jeep. I think that another axle would be a better choice.

[Lucas]

There is a rubicon 44 locker on Ebay for 100 bucks.

[TNScrambler]

When I went by the local Jeep dealer to get a thermostat, just for kicks, I asked the parts guy the price of the front axle houseing only for a rubicon, he fubled around on the computer and said it was $1695! now I'm sure this is list price and could be had for cheaper, but Big Daddy Offroad sells a rubicon front houseings for $699, just the houseing no guts or shafts or outers, but you could build it for less than a grand if you know how to pinch pennies;)

Justin

[jshwank]

So besides having to switch to a "thick" gear setup, everything else should fit as is? I mean besides having to run an air line. I am thinking about building an XJ D44 also and looking at different locker choices. I have a '03 Rubicon also and I love the lockers in there and they've worked perfectly for almost 2 years. Just thinking this might be a lot cheaper than an ARB or Elocker, if I could get a Rubicon locker for a few hundred. Only other thing I would have to worry about would be a pump, air line and a switch.

Thanks...

[JEEPZZ]

I believe the Rubi locker also has a limited slip in addition to the air locker. (rear)

[Rawbrown]

you would need a rubicon housing to convert your XJ over. a rubicon carrier will not fit a standard D44 housing. think of it this way. to fit a standard D44 carrier into a rubicon housing you need a special shim pack.

[rockwerks]

The rubi uses the same setup as the ZUZU 44's, same as a corvette 44. it uses a completely different install package from a normal D44. but there are several comapnies who do sell a ring shim that fits behind the ring gear so you can use standard gears with the carrier.

Basically it uses a high ratio carrier with thick low ratio gears

[jshwank]

So as long as you had the "thick" gears (like Yukon or Precision makes) with the install kits for those gears (shims), it should be able to fit into a XJ D44, correct?

[Rawbrown]

I am refering to the actuall overall height of the carrier from bearing journal to bearing journal. the rubicon housing is actually machined further appart. it takes damn near a half inch of shims to get a regular ARB to fit into the rubicon housing.

[jshwank]

Rawbrown, thanks for the info. So it seems that it would take a good deal of shims to get it to fit into a XJ D44. Someone on POR said that one of their friends has put one into a XJ D44, so I would assume then that it can be done as long as you use the "thicker" gears and correct amount of shims. Do you loose any kind of structural integrity by having to use that many shims?

Thanks...

[chadc]

I was eyeballing that locker on ebay. Made a few phone calls. It won't fit. The rubi carrier is wider then a typical d44 carrier.