Need Rear End Advice

here's the deal, my buddy wants to go find a D44 for his 99 XJ. He has an 8.25 on it but insists on an upgrade. Would it be cheaper for him to get a D35 and put the Super 35 kit on? and Just to make sure...they don't have upgrade kits for the 8.25 do they? He was talking about going to a chrysler dealer...dumb. they wanted like 700 for ring gears and a carrier on my 35

The only real reason to go with a 44 would be to eliminate the c-clip or you needed gears deeper than 4.56. Dont even bother with a 35, super or not they still suck ass.

The 29 spline 8.25 is plenty strong. I run 35's with no problems. I'm not completely insane but I've never felt he need to baby it for fear of breaking something.

If he still wants an upgrade go find an 8.8 from a Ford Explorer. They have disk brakes and 31 spline axles. I think the year is around 1995-1999. Someone else will know more.

In 35 years of driving and beating the hell outta stuff Ive never cratered a rear diff until I bought a TJ with a D35. 1 clutch dump and it blew the carrier/spiders and bearings apart. I was simply amazed at how pathetically weak it was.Theres no such thing as a super 35 other than a super pile of S**t 35. Keep the D/C diff or go D44 or 8.8. Belive it you might be surprised what the stealer gets for a new D44 less axles and backing plates, the one for TJ was only $1100.