Rubicon Axle "upgrade"

Hi all, I recently lifted my 01 XJ 3" and put some 31's under it. I'd like to regear and eliminate the open diffs now, but the thing is this rig is 99% on road. From my searching, it seems the general consenus is that the Rubicon 44's aren't much of an upgrade strength-wise. However, the air lockers and 4.10 ratio already installed make them enticing to me. It seems I could get two axles to swap in cheaper than upgrading mine...

My second question, is about swapping in the rear. The front will be relatively easy, but the back... I must confess, I know nothing about changing out the mounts to leaf spring in order to bolt under the XJ. Is this relatively easy? I have a little MIG welder, and I could do the measuring and tack it on, then get a welder who knows what he's doing to finish it, but is there any other major factors I need to consider?

Do I need a certain compressor, or will most of the onboard air setups work? Is this differential much bigger than the D30/8.25 rear?

Again, please keep in mind my goals for this are to keep cost of gearing/lockers down, not to gain strength....

thanks in advance

i think for the price of a rubicon front 44, you could get a super 30 kit with chromo shafts and an ARB and be just as strong as the 44.

mack said:

i think for the price of a rubicon front 44, you could get a super 30 kit with chromo shafts and an ARB and be just as strong as the 44.

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and still have to re-gear

and no - it wouldnt be as strong - the D30 standard cut gears that he has right now arent as strong as the d44 Rubi gears.

and the 30 spline shafts at the carrier of the d44 are probably stronger than 27 spline shafts of the d30 (with both being of the same material and alloy bla bla bla)


i say go for the front if you have the $$$ and only are looking for gears and lockers

the rear, well, if all you are doing is cutting off old mounts and putting on new perches isnt all that hard...

If you have a 4.0 and auto trans, the stock 3.55 gearing is fine for 31inch tires.

I'd also question whether you really need a locker at all. Wheel with open diffs for a while, until you get stuck often enough to know that you need a locker. You'll learn to drive a little better and save some $.

If you have a money tree, the web wheelers here will be good at helping you find stuff to buy. If you don't, then save your money and swap gearing/axles when you move up to 33's or 35's.