Who's running a waggy 44 front.

Here's the deal. I am currently running a dana 30 in front, locked with 36" TSL's. Not a good combo. I would consider putting in aftermarket shafts, but that seems like a bad idea, as the weak link would probably become the pinion. I'm running 4.88's, so the pinion looks tiny! A friend gave me an lp 44 out of a waggy. I would love to put a ford RS44 in, but I don't have one, and am building my jeep on a budget. I realize that if I were to put in the waggy 44 with stock shafts, there would be virtually no upgrade. I would be putting in chromo shafts, probably superiors. I am looking for real world experience from people using a waggy front, with or without upgraded shafts. What size tires are you running, what type of wheeling do you do, and how is it holding up? Any input is appreciated. I realize that many frown on "upgrading" to this axle. All I want, though is actual experience. Thanks!

Check out over in the ADV. FAB. Forum. The fella building the HP44 is on 35's, wonders why he put time into the waggy 44s
that TSL is more like a 35", As long as you don't move up to taller or heavier tires, a hp30 or lp44 will hold locked on chromos. As long as you don't wheel like a crazy 16yr old.

Everyone's opinion is different.. some like it some hate it... Best bet is do what makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside..

Im running a Waggy 44.. 5.13's and an Aussie... When it had STOCK shafts I ran 36" Bias Iroks (approx. 37" tall).. I beat it pretty hard w/ those tires.. They were light but the wheel/tire combo weighed approx. 110lbs. Never broke anything until I was headed back in front wheel drive and tried to climb a sand hill in high and spinning the tires maybe 40mph..... Spun a cap... that's all...

I now run 37" comp compound Maxxis Treps. w/ 17" DIY beadlocks.. (approx. 135lbs. each). I also run Alloy USA shafts w/ 760s. The alloys and joints have a 10 year warranty. I dont beat it too much but still no breakage.

Now if you're wheel hopping it... jumping it... coming down under load you'll break anything.. If you drive like you've got some sense I think the Waggy 44 is perfectly fine.. If I start breaking mine... well everything's warrantied so I'll just replace it and go on.. I dont have any desire to upgrade to a 60 at this stage only running 37's.. AND if I decide to step up to 40 + I'll sell the XJ and build a buggy...

Ran a waggy front 44 on my MJ with 38x14.50's. and 5:13's. I broke one u-joint and inner axle ears off, because of bad u-joint. I replaced axle and u-joints, and never had any more trouble, even with the lock-rited 38 wheeled Waggy 44. I also had an auto, which I think is less stresss on the d-trane than the stick. I wheeled it pretty hard, but I'm not a "bouncer", or all or nothing type wheeler. Out west with the type of traction they have, I wouldn't run the waggy low pinion 44. As you stated, really too close to what you already have in there strength wise.

My next set-up, on my new Cherokee, will be an HP Ford 44 with a full-float rear Dana60...

By the time you buy all that Chromo stuff for the Waggy, might as well go full width.

Running a waggy 44 with: 35s, 4.56s, Lock-Right, Alloy USA chromos, Yukon Superjoints

I wheel pretty hard, destroyed 2 shafts in the 30 then at Big Dogs the ring, pinion, carrier, cross shaft, spiders; everything got destroyed. So I built up the 44 with stock shafts which only lasted 2 runs; I sheared the short-side at the neck-down AND destroyed the ears at a low speed crawl (don't ask me how that happened) so I made the jump to chromos and superjoints and it has handled everything I can throw at it beautifully: rock crawling at Harlan, KY; wheelin on Potts (snow) and Brush Mountains, VA; and just this weekend snow wheelin at Rausch Creek offroad park, PA. I mention the snow, because on the rocks theres a lot of shock-loading and everythings been fine.

Thank-you all for sharing your experiences! There is some great info here already. Thought I would show you why I'm looking into this. When I locked my front and re-geared the jeep, I said I wouldn't put any more money into the front. I would wheel it that way until I broke something, then I would put a 44 in. A couple weekends ago, I was trying to climb a hill through a 2.5' drift (my 36's were almost buried). I almost made it, but stopped about 5' short of the top. I was trying to back up, and was turning my wheels back and forth looking for traction. They started to grab and I should have straightened the front out, or at least let off the throttle but I didn't. One of the front tires hooked up solid, under heavy throttle, and "SNAP". Fortunately, it didn't take anything else out with it. This was with a 760 joint and the caps tack welded. I think I could have made the axle last quite a bit longer if I had been more cautious with it. I was turning way too sharp for how much throttle I was giving it. I don't really wheel in any rocks, more trail riding, mud, and in the winter, deep snow.

I am building the HP44 and upgrading from the Waggy 44, I mainly kick myself because for $150 more I could have installed a HP44, and here in Denver, they come up available on the boards fairly often. It's the same expensive brackets you have to buy or build.

In two seasons running the Waggy 44 on 35" BFG MT's, I have broke a stock u-joint and took out the shaft (hard obstacle in Pritchett Canyon) and I have broke a Warn hub (hard obstacle Carnage Canyon BV).

It really held up very well, it's done about 20 very hard trails and 20 medium and easy trails, but I pretty much always try the hard line on every obstacle.

I think if I went with alloy shafts and a quality U-joint and ran 35's, the weak link would probably be the hubs, then the ring and pinion. But I feel it would hold up really well to 35's.

But I want my next tires to be 37's, and I don't feel as confident it would hold up to those, I worry I would end up breaking a ring and pinion. And even though I do my own gears, that's a fairly expensive failure. And since I run a Detroit, I always worry a shaft failure, could take out the Detroit.

Thanks 87xjco, I have read your thread a couple times now. I can't even begin to tell you how helpful that thread is. I wasn't sure what all was involved with rotating the knuckles, but now feel fully confident I could do it.

Anyway, I know what you mean with worrying about the detroit if you take out a shaft. I am running a full detroit in front and that was the first thing I thought of when I heard the snap. I am happy with my tire size, and will probably be staying at 36" for a while. When I do go bigger, it will probably be big enough to justify a front 60.

I am hoping that if I run upgraded shafts and ujoints, that I will blow a hub before the ring and pinion. Does does anyone think that running a full locker vs. a lockright, or comparable, would help protect the ring and pinion?

Given the experiences here, I'm considering going with the waggy 44, sticking with this tire size, and doing what I can to protect the ring and pinion. If I can build it so that the hub is the weak point, that would be perfect.

been running a j-10 44 (same as waggy only 3" wider) for about a year now.

detroit locker, alloys, warn premium hubs.

been running reds and hard lines on blacks since i went with it and i never heard a squeak out of it.

about 8 months on 37x13" boggers and 4 months on 37x 12.5" creepy crawlers, both on steel wheels.

while i do consider that i wheel it hard with the occasional heavy throttle assault, i become a pansy whenever a tire gets caught in an undercut or i develop a bounce in a struggle for traction.