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zj axles?

If you are reffering to the Dana 44 out of a Grand, they are not strong at all. The dana 44 out of a Grand is Aluminum. It would not be an upgrade from the 35 at all.
 
The front is a Dana 30 just like we have, some with CV universals at the nuckles, and [not shure on this] have low pinion diff's. So no improvement there eather.
 
the D30 out of a ZJ is better than the one in my XJ.... well at least my 90XJ vs. my 95ZJ, the diffrence is not the axle joints (CV/Ujoint) they both have ujoints, but the diffrence would be the vaccuum disconnect in the XJ. ZJ has a 1 piece passenger shaft in the 30. as for the 35 the only difference would be c clip vs. non-cclip, and i dont recall the years on that.

i plan on pulling the axle shaft from my ZJ and putting it in the XJ to bypass the disco.
 
ZJ v8's after 93 used Alum. hsg. Dana 44 or "super 44". These use a gearset that is common w/ Vipers and Vettes. Has a slightly larger ring gear than a standard 44, slightly larger pinion shaft also. Hence the "super 44". As far as disadvantages, it uses a crush sleeve rather than shims to set preload on the pinion. Alum. hsg. MIGHT not hold up as well to banging rocks, but could be skidplated to fix that. Gear ratio and diff. options are limited. Gears are available in 4.1 and 4.56 aftermarket I believe, but are more $$ than a standard 44. But, if you aren't looking for more gear than that and can live w/ oem Traclok, nothing wrong with them if they're properly setup. Barely heavier than a dana 35. Fronts are low pinion, but otherwise similar to XJ with most (all?) v8's having c/v shafts instead of u-joint shafts. Oh yeah, for those who want to get rid of their "junk" c/v shafts, I'll take em. They hold up as well or better than u-joint shafts on my TJ w/ Lockright and 32" swampers.
 
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sbxoxj said:
how strong are V8 zj axles?
ZJ D30 is low pinion. I wouldn't use it.
 
i used to wheel a ZJ

All ZJ's have a LP D30 front, none are HP and none are vac disconnect
the front lp30 would be a downgrade to the hp30

Most ZJ's with an AWD t-case have CV shafts. The rest are u joints. Most V8's were AWD, therefore most V8's have Cv shafts

in addition to the D44 problems mentioned above. these things need to be overhauled alot b/c the aluminum and steel expand at differnt rates with heat and the bearing wear out faster than if it was an iron D44

3.73's seem pretty common of ZJ axles intsead of 3.55

the I6 ZJ's come with a D35 with disc brakes
 
couple things to point out. is not a "super 44"... that title is saved for the Superior, super 44 that upgrades a D44 rear from 30 spline to 33 spline 1541h shafts with either a detroit or ARB. THe aluminum housing D44's are called D44-HD. Yes same gearset as the vipers and vettes with a crush sleeve. it also has C-Clip axleshafts. the only available traction device is the Trac-lok and the aftermarket MFG's won't even give you a reach around on the price of the gearsets.
You are the one exception to the common belief that CV shafts are weaker than Cardan joints.
explorer said:
ZJ v8's after 93 used Alum. hsg. Dana 44 or "super 44". These use a gearset that is common w/ Vipers and Vettes. Has a slightly larger ring gear than a standard 44, slightly larger pinion shaft also. Hence the "super 44". As far as disadvantages, it uses a crush sleeve rather than shims to set preload on the pinion. Alum. hsg. MIGHT not hold up as well to banging rocks, but could be skidplated to fix that. Gear ratio and diff. options are limited. Gears are available in 4.1 and 4.56 aftermarket I believe, but are more $$ than a standard 44. But, if you aren't looking for more gear than that and can live w/ oem Traclok, nothing wrong with them if they're properly setup. Barely heavier than a dana 35. Fronts are low pinion, but otherwise similar to XJ with most (all?) v8's having c/v shafts instead of u-joint shafts. Oh yeah, for those who want to get rid of their "junk" c/v shafts, I'll take em. They hold up as well or better than u-joint shafts on my TJ w/ Lockright and 32" swampers.
 
The "super 44" came from some factory literature when I was working at the dealer. Maybe not the "official name" but something I saw prior to them being called a 226 RBA. I realize the Superior kit has the same name even though they are different. Here is a page that references "Dana 44 Super". Yeah the Grand is shown as a 226 RBA but the Viper is referenced as 44 "Super" Sorry it wasn't exact, I'm going on memorys that ended 2 yrs. ago.

http://www.vibratesoftware.com/html_help/html/Chrysler/chrysler_drive_axles.htm#Jeep_Grand_Cherokee

As far as the c/v's go my experience has been positive. I know 32's aren't huge, but the c/v's have held up w/ the locker w/ only one failure in two years of hard use. Prior to that I would be replacing u-joints and/or shafts when they spit the caps out numerous times. They might not have the ultimate strength of a u-joint in straight ahead, but the mere fact that they don't shake the hell out of the frt. end when spinning w/ the wheels turned eliminates a lot of shock load from all the other components. When does a u-joint usually break? Where I wheel, you can't always crawl everything. Momentum and wheelspeed are sometimes the only way you get up a wet clay hill, and being able to use full lock steering at the same time helps maneuverability a lot. Can you spin the tires 20 mph or more at full lock under moderate to heavy load w/ out extreme vibration/ breakage??? I can. Just for some more comparison, one of the Jeeps I've maintained has broken two 297 u-joints, three Dana 35 gearsets and one Dana 35 axle before replacing the rear for a 44. Not exactly easy on parts. The last time he broke the frt. joint, I replaced it w/ a c/v shaft. It's been in there now for a little over 2 yrs.. This one runs 36" Swampers or 35" MTR's and is locked frt. and rr.. Think of how many say you can't run more than a 31 or 32" tire on stock 30's or 35's, and then look at how many are running 35-36 or bigger w/ lockers and have little/ no problems. It all depends on the application and the driver. I used to make a living fixing broken Jeeps, so I love to see damage. But why not use readily available stock parts when they are suitable?
 
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ZJs with towing package form factory have 3.73, others have 3.55s

the alum44s will crush if you as much as jack off the pig :eek: ive seen it happen they dont hold up

93 and later is the 2nd-5th year of ZJs, not all of them came with a44s even the v8s, i know pletny of 5.2s and some 5.9s with 35s

i dont really know jack about XJs, but i know a shitton about ZJs
not boasting or anything, but what i know i know, and am happy to pass on :thumbsup:
 
deathwobblezj said:
ZJs with towing package form factory have 3.73, others have 3.55s

the alum44s will crush if you as much as jack off the pig :eek: ive seen it happen they dont hold up

93 and later is the 2nd-5th year of ZJs, not all of them came with a44s even the v8s, i know pletny of 5.2s and some 5.9s with 35s

i dont really know jack about XJs, but i know a shitton about ZJs
not boasting or anything, but what i know i know, and am happy to pass on :thumbsup:

I think you've been jacking off too many pigs!! Come on, are you serious?? One of the Grands in my club runs 35" Boggers on the alum. 44 w/ no problems other than lack of aftermarket support. I don't know the cutoff date for the switch to the 44, but sometime after the first year (93) and never have I seen a 5.9 w/ a Dana 35. Midnight Auto??
 
LouisianaZJ said:
i used to wheel a ZJ

in addition to the D44 problems mentioned above. these things need to be overhauled alot b/c the aluminum and steel expand at differnt rates with heat and the bearing wear out faster than if it was an iron D44

Alum. has a higher expansion rate than steel, therefore the preload on the carrier actually decreases as the diff warms. This can be measured. They need to be overhauled a lot because the housings shrunk after production and the @ .008" preload on the carrier brgs. turned into .015-.030+. After that there are a lot of people (including dlr. techs) who slap new brgs. in and pound it all back together w/ out resetting the preload and backlash. I've seen many fresh overhauls last @ 5k. I've also redone these same units and can verify w/ the owners no problems since w/ tens of thousands more miles.
 
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