How to "pimp" a rear D44?

I´m in the process of getting a D44 for my XJ on 35" because I killed my good´ol´ D35 (imagine THAT!)

I´d like to do it "right" the first time (no, I wont get a D60!) and the 44 seems to be a good axle. But how to get it even better? I´ve already decided to buy the superior Super 44 kit w/ a detroit locker and 33 splines. I also see an axle truss and a crane diff cover down the road. Ratio will be 4.56 and the axle comes w/ disc brakes.

What else would you do to the D44? I´m not planning on getting bigger tires (35x12.5 BFG MT now), perhaps a little bit more aggrsive tires.

Does a full floater work w/ the 33 splines shafts? Does it make any sense?

33 splines, Detroit, discs, truss, good cover, gears.... that's about all you can reasonably do. Personally I would go deeper than 4.56, 4.88s if you have a D30 front, 5.13s if you have a 44 front. Oh, and if you haven't yet, get a u-bolt style yoke rather than the strap style.

BrettM said:

33 splines, Detroit, discs, truss, good cover, gears.... that's about all you can reasonably do. Personally I would go deeper than 4.56, 4.88s if you have a D30 front, 5.13s if you have a 44 front. Oh, and if you haven't yet, get a u-bolt style yoke rather than the strap style.

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Thats really about it right there. The gearing is a hard choice... BrettMs advice towards that is solid.

Full Float ends would be either huge & heavy (swapped in 8-lug ton junk) or light and expensive as all get-out (race car junk)... or you could swap on Warn FF 30sp hub kit for $$$ and be less beefy than the 33 spline semi float alloys.

If one wanted to spend the effort or the money, they could shave it some. (If a 60 can be cut to approx 44 clearance, a 44 should be able to clear like a 35 ) Wont work with an afternarket 'off shelf' cover though

Is the axle already geared 4.56:1 and come with the discs? and are you bound to the 5 on 4.5" XJ/YJ/TJ lug pattern on 15" wheels?

Warn used to make a floater kit for the D44,It was for the 44 under the CJ,s,might be too narrow for the XJ.
Wayne

You can also get the warn setup with 35 splines. I wouldn't bother.

I'm running 35 spline shafts and an ARB. 5.38's for me on the gears. I was worried about the pinion and was convinced to keep the 1310 u-joint and it would let go before the pinion. Haven't lost either so far.

Lincoln said:

You can also get the warn setup with 35 splines. I wouldn't bother.

I'm running 35 spline shafts and an ARB. 5.38's for me on the gears. I was worried about the pinion and was convinced to keep the 1310 u-joint and it would let go before the pinion. Haven't lost either so far.

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have you ever seen a 1310 joint broken simply from torque input? I haven't... I wonder where it falls as a practical fuse...

woody said:

or you could swap on Warn FF 30sp hub kit for $$$ and be less beefy than the 33 spline semi float alloys.

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:nono:

woody said:

Is the axle already geared 4.56:1 and come with the discs? and are you bound to the 5 on 4.5" XJ/YJ/TJ lug pattern on 15" wheels?

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It now has 3.73 gears, so I´ve to regear. The front axle (D30) is already at 4.56 and I don´t want to go any deeper due to stability. But I cant afford a D44 front and a set of new wheels now - so I´ve to live w/ the 4.56 and the 5on4.5 lug pattern.

Lincoln said:

You can also get the warn setup with 35 splines. I wouldn't bother.

I'm running 35 spline shafts and an ARB. 5.38's for me on the gears. I was worried about the pinion and was convinced to keep the 1310 u-joint and it would let go before the pinion. Haven't lost either so far.

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I havent found anything about a 35spline setup for the D44 - where did you find that? That´s a regular part from Warn??? Does it work with a Detroit Locker? Are that alloy shafts?

Thanks!

BlueGerbil said:

I havent found anything about a 35spline setup for the D44 - where did you find that? That´s a regular part from Warn??? Does it work with a Detroit Locker? Are that alloy shafts?

Thanks!

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Mine has semi float shafts with 5x4.5 pattern. ARB and maybe OX only.

Call Tri County Gear.
http://www.tricountygear.com/

BrettM said:

have you ever seen a 1310 joint broken simply from torque input? I haven't... I wonder where it falls as a practical fuse...

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Nope and that's why I don't worry about it. I don't know the numbers but I've been constantly reminded that the 1310 is weaker than the pinion. Richard tore up the gears themselves but I still think it was a bad setup.

BlueGerbil said:

The front axle (D30) is already at 4.56 and I don´t want to go any deeper due to stability.

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What does this mean?

CRASH said:

What does this mean?

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I think he's refering to the 4.88's having less engagement between the ring and pinion, and the possibility that they may be weaker.
At least that's what I think.

FWIW I'm in mid build of a Scout Dana 44 with ARB, 4.56s, WARN FF kit (30 spline). Works out to ~59-9/16" WMS-2-WMS with Suzuki Sidekick (frühes Vitara in Deutschland) non-vented front rotors fitted over the WARN hub assembly.

If I could figure out a decent rear disk setup it would be done by now. You wouldn't believe the numbers of e-brake capable calipers I've dragged home for trial fitting.

Anyway, if I was going to do it again I'd do a Ford Early Bronco 9" with the WARN FF kit, etc. Better ring and pinion engagement and generally larger scale of parts. May do that when I get to building the Scrambler. The availability of early Bronco parts in Germany may suck but then there is always a bling housing to order from Currie or elsewhere.

HTH

I know this is not a D44 but the only thing I can think of is a nice close shave and maybe a truss simular to this 8.8...

http://www.code4x4.com/projects/axle_88/axle_88.html

It gained nearly an 1.5 inches over 90% of the pumkin... and even an inch directly under the ring gear.

JAS said:

I know this is not a D44 but the only thing I can think of is a nice close shave ... It gained nearly an 1.5 inches over 90% of the pumkin... and even an inch directly under the ring gear.

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Yep, for the record the same can be done with a 9".

Root Moose said:

If I could figure out a decent rear disk setup it would be done by now. You wouldn't believe the numbers of e-brake capable calipers I've dragged home for trial fitting.

HTH

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Mr. Moose, I'm in the same boat. I finally threw in the towel and shipped my Warn FF spindle and hubs to Clemson 4 Wheel Center at the suggestion of Warn, who BTW, are dropping the rear FF kit. They have already discontinued the disk brake brackets that worked with the GM Caddy disks. Clemson 4 Wheel Center is going to machine my Warn stuff to work with the Rubicon rear disks. Not cheap, but I'm hopeful that I'll finally be able to put my Dana 44 under my rig. The problem I had with my FF kit was the offset I ended up with, at 2.20" I couldn't find any brakes that would work, drum or disk. I'll keep up posted. Good Luck

Woody

Wa Woody said:

Mr. Moose, I'm in the same boat. I finally threw in the towel and shipped my Warn FF spindle and hubs to Clemson 4 Wheel Center at the suggestion of Warn, who BTW, are dropping the rear FF kit. They have already discontinued the disk brake brackets that worked with the GM Caddy disks. Clemson 4 Wheel Center is going to machine my Warn stuff to work with the Rubicon rear disks. Not cheap, but I'm hopeful that I'll finally be able to put my Dana 44 under my rig. The problem I had with my FF kit was the offset I ended up with, at 2.20" I couldn't find any brakes that would work, drum or disk. I'll keep up posted. Good Luck

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Interesting.

What axle is this?

I'm not sure what the logic for WARN would be to discontinue the kit. The kit itself is perfectly fine. The parts appear to be robust enough and it is a simple install. In my case I'm trying to do something other than the crappy full size Cadillac e-brake setup so it is just a matter of finding the right mix of parts. Or I could run the Scout drums and have perfectly adequate brakes.

Don't mention the PBB thread with the 300ZX/Maxima calipers. They are weenie little pads/calipers and will not go on my Jeep.

I'm not following what you mean by 2.20" offset? You mean where the rotor rides relative to the axle flange is too far outboard or inboard by 2.2"?

Hooking up pretty much any self contained caliper and bracket would work if you are willing to spend an extra ~$60 per side for Wilwood spot calipers for the ebrake. It is the e-brake assembly that is the issue.

From what I've tried all the calipers with e-brake built in seem to interfere with the spring packs. This was trying to clock the caliper at 12 o'clock (which I guess is really kinda wrong - see PBB rat hole above). The caliper should be at 3 or 9 o'clock depending on bleeder screw location. That is what I'm going to try next with late 90s Buick non-vented calipers with built in e-brake. I was looking at one of these cars on the weekend and it looks like it should work and it also looks like the pad/caliper bracket is fully "boxed" which should minimize the possiblity of rotor warp.

I was looking at trying to adapt the ZJ assemblies but I think I'll try the Buick stuff first as I don't want to get into adapting that style of caliper bracket and e-brake if I can avoid it. The TJ stuff is similar IIRC. Haven't had one in hand but from what I've seen of them in pictures it is not clear if there is a enough "meat" in the bracket to adapt it to a weld on mount.

I'm being really fiddly/fussy about the rear brakes. Fully loaded with gear, spousal unit and two small kids, 3000 lb tent trailer in tow, panic stopping from 85 mi/h I want the best brakes that are practical.

I spent the time/money putting WJ brakes on the front axle. It is kinda dumb to go cheap/weenie on the rear axle at this point. I want to maximize that ~25% that the rear brakes do as well.

Ugh, I'm on a tangent. Too much time typing this stuff to delete it at this point.

CRASH said:

What does this mean?

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just stating his lack of knowlege.

Root Moose,

So many questions! - I'll do my best to answer with what I know and have discovered trying to get brakes on my Dana 44 while running a Warn full floater kit.

Axle - Dana 44 from a 1987 XJ. Using the Warn rear full floater kit for a late-model TJ with the Dana 44. I had to redrill a couple holes on the axle flange. Warn discontinued the FF kit for the XJ Dana 44 (4 bolts on the flange) a while back.

Dana is discontinuing the rear FF kit. This was confirmed by two different Warn techs when I was trying to get some answers on my installation questions. I was told that Warn was bought out and are 'restructuring' some of their product line. I totally agree with the Crappy Caddy brakes, that's why I went with the Rubicon disks.

2.20" offset. The distance from the outside lip of the Warn spindle (bolted to the axel flange), to the wheel mounting surface on the Warn Hub (where the rotor or drum would mount to flush). I was told that the common offset for brakes is 2 3/8" or 2 1/2".

The E-brake is the main issue for the Caddy calipers, keeping them in adjustment is a real problem. I'm not familiar with the Wilwood bracket.

I agree that it is best, or at least usually done that way, to clock the calipers at either 3 or 9 o'clock position.

I haven't had the Jeep Rubicon brakes in my hands either, I hope I'm happy with the results. Clemson 4 Wheel was refered by Warn and they seemed to know what I was talking about. When done it should be a bolt on setup, not a weld on affair.

I can totally relate to being picky with your breaks - I haul my family also, my wife and two daughters, with our boat in tow quite often. I usually reframe from driving 80 MPH towing stuff or with the family in the rig. Hopefully, you meant 80 Klicks per hour since you're from Canada.

Are the WJ brakes a good improvement for the front? And do you have the Warn hub kit on the front? Good Luck

Woody

Wa Woody said:

2.20" offset. The distance from the outside lip of the Warn spindle (bolted to the axel flange), to the wheel mounting surface on the Warn Hub (where the rotor or drum would mount to flush). I was told that the common offset for brakes is 2 3/8" or 2 1/2".

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Gotcha. I'm attempting to do something unique in this regard so am not bothered by this. Flat plate of 3/8" steel ready to go to make brackets once I find a config I can live with. The rotors are also mounted over the hub assembly instead of under. Much more maintenance friendly not having to press out studs with every rotor change. Also gives me a touch closer to XJ stock rear width.

The E-brake is the main issue for the Caddy calipers, keeping them in adjustment is a real problem. I'm not familiar with the Wilwood bracket.

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Having not had the Caddy stuff in hand, what I have read is that there are three "balls" under/in/around the mechanism for the e-brake. If you add a ball then the brake stays in adjustment. Sorry, no more info than that cob web pulled the depths of my memory starved brain.

The wilwood spot calipers are just tiny little disk calipers meant for acting as a parking brake. I may resort to this if I can't find a combo brake/e-brake I can make work... or just run drums and do more research in time to build another axle for my Scrambler.

I haven't had the Jeep Rubicon brakes in my hands either, I hope I'm happy with the results. Clemson 4 Wheel was refered by Warn and they seemed to know what I was talking about. When done it should be a bolt on setup, not a weld on affair.

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I really hope it works. Please take lots of pictures and post!

Hopefully, you meant 80 Klicks per hour since you're from Canada.

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What fun is that? Seriously though, the four lane highways can be a good place to make up lost time. Around here you'll get run over if you are doing much less than 75 mi/h. My tent trailer is one of those little soft top style ones that is not much more than a box with a tent on top. ~7' x ~6.5' on 32" tires (ultimately - got spindles yesterday). Very lightweight when unloaded - not a 5k lb airstreamer.

Are the WJ brakes a good improvement for the front? And do you have the Warn hub kit on the front? Good Luck

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Supposedly they are a huge improvement. It is still sitting on the bench but the calipers are "Gi-normous" compared to the stock stuff so they have to work better. Just need to mount the knuckles on the housing and weld on the OAB bracket and it will be ready for "lift day". Added bonus is moving away from the Y-link style steering. I am also adding the WARN 5 x 5.5" kit. (talk about turd polishing - but I have real brakes!).

So, back to the bling....

T!