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debateable, d44 vs 8.25

shimmy

shimmy

NAXJA Forum User
Location
seattle, WA
heres the situation, i have a 29 spline 8.25 with 4.56 on my XJ and i bought a completely stock 87 44 that needs rebuilding. after coming up with costs to build the 44 (alloy shafts, detroit, r/p, and disks), i'm thinking about just keeping my 8.25 and adding alloys, no slip, and disks. i've read over and over again that there isn't that much of a difference in strength between the 44 and 8.25... so now i'm debating, build what i have since i already have gears installed in the 8.25 or totally rebuild my new 44. i never plan on going any deeper than 4.56's and 35's and since $$ is a issue. any advice? how many people running alloys in 8.25 have had shaft failure? also are the shafts in a stock 44 strong enough to handle 35's and a detroit, cause that would save me money...

brandon
i keep going back and forth on this decision and its driving me nuts. i'll probably end up going with the 44 if it can handle 35's and a locker on stock shafts... and if only i can find some crown vic brakes.
 
shimmy said:
heres the situation, i have a 29 spline 8.25 with 4.56 on my XJ and i bought a completely stock 87 44 that needs rebuilding. after coming up with costs to build the 44 (alloy shafts, detroit, r/p, and disks), i'm thinking about just keeping my 8.25 and adding alloys, no slip, and disks. i've read over and over again that there isn't that much of a difference in strength between the 44 and 8.25... so now i'm debating, build what i have since i already have gears installed in the 8.25 or totally rebuild my new 44. i never plan on going any deeper than 4.56's and 35's and since $$ is a issue. any advice? how many people running alloys in 8.25 have had shaft failure? also are the shafts in a stock 44 strong enough to handle 35's and a detroit, cause that would save me money...

brandon
i keep going back and forth on this decision and its driving me nuts. i'll probably end up going with the 44 if it can handle 35's and a locker on stock shafts... and if only i can find some crown vic brakes.
Click to expand...

Upgrading from an 8.25 to a 44 is like paying for a breast augmentation that upgraded her from an "A" cup to a "B" cup. Nice, but you'll always kick yourself for not going bigger.

If you're going to upgrade, UPGRADE.

35 splines, minimum.

CRASH
 
CRASH said:
Upgrading from an 8.25 to a 44 is like paying for a breast augmentation that upgraded her from an "A" cup to a "B" cup. Nice, but you'll always kick yourself for not going bigger.

If you're going to upgrade, UPGRADE.

35 splines, minimum.

CRASH
Click to expand...

niiice analogy lmao
 
CRASH said:
Upgrading from an 8.25 to a 44 is like paying for a breast augmentation that upgraded her from an "A" cup to a "B" cup. Nice, but you'll always kick yourself for not going bigger.

If you're going to upgrade, UPGRADE.

35 splines, minimum.

CRASH
Click to expand...

Exactly why I recently decided to install the No-Slip in my 29-spline 8.25 (which I picked up cheap last year with 4.56s installed already), leave stock shafts, and drum brakes. I'm out a No-Slip, which I got a hell of a deal on. Debated a D44, but was quickly talked out of it. When anything gets swapped out it will be a D60. Hands down.
 
I had bought a D44 from a scout II because it was cheap.. until I started pricing out everything I wanted to do.. Then I started reading about the 8 1/4.. for my 34's and relatively light foot, the 29spl was looking to be all I would need for strength.. then a local guy was selling one for $60... As Crash said, I looked into the strength and decided that if I was going to do fab work and what not, I wanted more strength, like a 9" or D60... so I decided to go with the 8 1/4 for now.. the XJ D44 were just to much coin.
 
The C-clip issue was why I went to the 44.Now I have a 200,000 mile XJ with a 10,000 mile drive train under it.
Wayne :laugh3:
 
CRASH said:
Upgrading from an 8.25 to a 44 is like paying for a breast augmentation that upgraded her from an "A" cup to a "B" cup. Nice, but you'll always kick yourself for not going bigger.

If you're going to upgrade, UPGRADE.

35 splines, minimum.

CRASH
Click to expand...

Good analogy, now that's something I can relate to. :laugh3: Yeah, go with a 35 spline 9" if you want to upgrade, but you should be fine with your 29 spline 8.25 especially with 33's and 4.56 gears.

Troy
 
If I were to swap out the rear from a CUCV (D60?), what would a equivalent front axle? I see the CUCV has the diff on the wrong side?
 
*cough* 95+ Ford 8.8 *cough*

Jeep on!
--Pete
 
shimmy said:
29 spline carrier, pretty strong? seems like the 8.25 housing is beefier than the 44...

brandon
Click to expand...

i need some specs on a 44 and 8.25... which one has a fatter diameter shaft? is the only con with cclips being that when the shaft breaks my axle will fall out, or are clips a weak point? i've also heard that 44 shafts are skinnier and tend to bend more than 8.25 shafts?

help here

also, does anyone know if the big bearing ford housing ends have the same bolt pattern as the XJ 44 housing ends?
 
Last edited:
I agree with crash. I don't see the point of upgrading to a d44 rear. It is still marginal with 35"+ tires especially if your locked, geared, and have engine mods. Go to a true half ton at least. I don't think 35 spline is a nessesity, I am building my rear 9" with a 31 spline detroit, 3.25" bearings, Strange Radial Nodular third, 5.13's, and alloy shaft are next on the list. I don't expect to break for a while. Axles are not hard to shorten and the reliability is worth the extra work.
 
More goodies are available for the D44- trick axles, special carriers and so on. I'm not sure about the pinion height for either axle. I know guys with Chrysler 8.25s have more trouble with driveline vibes that those with D35s. As far as bigger & better upgrades, I think D60s are too heavy for Cherokees. There are lighter versions out there but they are high dollar items. A better axle would be a Currie High Pinion 9 or maybe even better is that hybrid Toyota axle. Yes, I spoke herasy- reccomending a Toyota part for a Jeep- but from what I can see it's a good strong lightweight axle & not as expensive as a D60
 
I've thrashed an 8.25 with stock axles, no slip and 35's. It withstood the punishment very well. My locked 44 in the same application grenaded sooner, but I chalk that one up to the locker. MistWolf, your offered combinations are high-dollar glam that's unnecessary in the Cherokee. A D60 is fine if you want to run larger tires, and not too heavy, definitely less to build up than a toy, and will take a lot more punishment.
 
holeshot said:
Now what if we posed the same question except it was a 27 spline 8.25. Would it then be worth the upgrade to the 44?
Click to expand...

I'll chime in here before the speculators offer their 'advice' on 27 vs 29 spline axles. Of course a 29 is going to be better than a 27...but based on experience the 27 is plenty strong. Chrysler has been putting the 27 spline 8.25" behind their V8s for YEARS...and I've had more than my share of them. Not a single issue with them. I've had them behind everything from bone stock slant 6 powerplants to warmed over 318s and 360s. Trust me, as a kid racing around town with them, I was hard on them...especially the ones I had with factory limited slip units. :) I stand by these axles for the type of wheeling I do. I can't speak for everyone else, but in my case they work just fine with 33s. C-clips have never mattered to me, haven't broken one...nor do I know anyone who has. Go figure. Sure they can break, I just haven't heard of it from any source I would deem 'reliable.'

As far as 'upgrade' to 44 from one of these? See the above posts. I don't think so.
 
shimmy said:
i need some specs on a 44 and 8.25... which one has a fatter diameter shaft? is the only con with cclips being that when the shaft breaks my axle will fall out, or are clips a weak point? i've also heard that 44 shafts are skinnier and tend to bend more than 8.25 shafts?

help here

also, does anyone know if the big bearing ford housing ends have the same bolt pattern as the XJ 44 housing ends?
Click to expand...

Yes the only downfall to a c-clip axle is it's ability to fall out of the housing when a shaft breaks. A c-clip plays no part in an axles durability, and only comes into play when an axle snaps.

HTH
 
The 29 spline 8.25 can and will hold up to 35's if you don't torture it on a regular basis, a dana 44 isn't much of an upgrade, but if you do find 1, I would sell the 8.25 if you don't have lots of $ into and then resell it to recoup some $. That's what I did when I found a xj 44 with 4.56 gears and a detroit, and sold my open 4.56 geared 29 spline 8.25, my uninstalled no slip and spare shafts to get the 44.

A ford 9" is a nice upgrade over the 8.25, but will need some work to get it in your jeep and narrow it down if you want to keep the factory width. Get a full width 78'+ 9" full width with the triagulated housing, it is stronger than the early bronco "Banjo" style 9", but the early bronco is 58" or so and close to the track width of a stock XJ, so that is a plus and can be build with all the goodies like any other 9" so that might not be bad if you can pick it up cheap. Just remember it has 28 spline axles, so you will need to upgrade them, the full width 9" mostly had 31 spline shafts which are plenty strong up to 35's or so.

Troy
 
The 8.25 is a great axle and can usually be had for cheap. I went to the 44 due to lack of locker and gear selections. I wanted 4.88's and the deepest the 8.25 goes is 4.56.
 
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