83 waggy axle questions

So I bought a 83 Waggy cheap from a tow company. It was left too long in a parking lot and impounded. It has brand new 35's on alloy wheels, new front springs that look like 5 or 6" of lift and 5" blocks in the rear. Engine looks like it has been out recently and re-painted and new gaskets but, I don't know if it was rebuilt or what. I got it to run and it sounds real good, but who knows. I haven't decided what to do with the vehicle.

So hoping you guy's can help identify some stuff and give some opinions.

Pretty sure this is a AMC 20 rear diff.


Pretty sure this is a D44 with vacuum disconnect. It has selectable warn hubs on it.


Opinions on if these are a good choice axle for going into a Cherokee (The Xota) with 35's and doing alot of moderate to hard wheeling?

Is the disco D44 less desirable/weaker than a non-disco?

Are the lockers more expensive for either axle than a non-disco D44?

I've heard the AMC 20 can be considered as strong as a D44. Opinions?

I guess one big question I need to answer is what gears are in these axles. If it has already been re-geared to 4.56 or lower, that saves alot of money. I'll pull a cover off and check it out later.

the CAD is not desirable. Could disable it but you still have a two piece axleshaft on that side. Standard D44 gearset and parts.

Stock waggy gears are usually in the 3.31 or so area. I would not mess with a 20 rear. Even though the waggys have one pice axleshafts they still tend to spin the tubes and flex.

Actually the 20 rear is probably better to have then the front vaco 44. The 20 is not the weak one in the CJs. I think I'd fix it up and run it as is, not really worth swapping those axles into your XJ.

Well I pulled the rear diff. cover and counted the teeth. Ring gear 43, pinion 13.

Equals 3.31 gear ratio (3.3076923 to be exact)

If it had 4.56's already I may have went ahead and used these axles for the Xota. But since it has the stock gears and since the D44 is a disco version. I will keep them in this rig and re-sell it. I think I should be able to make enough profit to get better donor axles.

I was under the impression that if a front D44 has selectable hubs than it wasn't a vacuum disconnect model?

any truth to this?

ClassicXJ said:

I was under the impression that if a front D44 has selectable hubs than it wasn't a vacuum disconnect model?

any truth to this?

Click to expand...

The Warn hubs can install on either a disco or a non-disco axle.

I just picked up 2 waggy d44's one non disconnect and one disconnect it appears that you could put a short side axle from a non disconnect into the disconnect axle and bypass it. Has anyone tried this? I took rough measurements and the axle appear to be the same total length but I have not disassembled them yet and tried it.