Opinionated question?

So i was just wondering, not for my use or anything but if you could swap any axles under your XJ you could, except rockwells, dana 60' or 70's, or portal axles what would they be. I see a common trend between 9"/d44 or 8.8"/d44, but is that everyones ideal setup or do some crazy folk out there rather use toyota axles? Just curious?

Actually a toyota set would be fine, you would spend as much on Longfields as you would spend on the 44/9 setup, actually a lot less. The weight of an xj is way less than a Tacoma.....

The removable 3rd's make them easy to deal with and the axle itself is as strong as a D44 stock to stock. Both get way stronger with the aftermarket axles and parts are very available for them all. The 9" parts are the least expensive though, mostly due to nascar using them for 50 years.....

94XJ2door5speed said:

So i was just wondering, not for my use or anything but if you could swap any axles under your XJ you could, except rockwells, dana 60' or 70's, or portal axles what would they be. I see a common trend between 9"/d44 or 8.8"/d44, but is that everyones ideal setup or do some crazy folk out there rather use toyota axles? Just curious?

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It would depend on what you want to use the rig for. I'm partial to Dana 44s, but that's because they're the first axles I've built (under Corvettes, in fact.) I've seen the advantages to, say, the Ford 9" - but I still prefer Danas. I've built Ford 9's for bracket racers and the like tho - they like being able to swap carrier and/or gear ratios easily, and that can be a plus.

I'm not a "technical crawler," so I'd be happy with a 44/44 setup. Going 60/44 for me would be overcroakage - if I could get the parts easily, I wouldn't mind - but I just don't need it. Aftermarket for the 44 and 60 is plentiful (the D60 was used in high performance Chrysler, and both axles found their way under Big 3 trucks - but the Dana rears are a bit less common under Fords.)

Aftermarket support for the Toyota axles seems to be picking up, making them a viable option as well (aren't they "third member" removable carrier axles as well?)

Mainly, you'll see a common trend in the use of assemblies for which aftermarket parts are common - Ford 9", Dana 44, Dana 60, Ford 8.8" (useful with the addition of C-clip eliminators. As I recall, the 8.8 is a C-clip axle) and the GM 14-bolt BMF jobbie, as well as the Ford/Sterling 10.25" axle (which have aftermarket support from the 1-ton crowd.) Also, since I seem to recall that SRW/DRW hubs can be converted back and forth with a simple end swap, you can use 1-ton DRW axles under your rig - if you don't mind going wide, and can find SRW hubs (or want to build a DRW XJ...)

Ok a little change, if the axles had to come from a junkyard not buying them brand new? And they were get any two you wanted for free. Again not looking for advice just curious to see who prefers what.

94XJ2door5speed said:

Ok a little change, if the axles had to come from a junkyard not buying them brand new? And they were get any two you wanted for free. Again not looking for advice just curious to see who prefers what.

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Again, I'd prefer 44/44, because that's what I got used to and I don't push things that hard. But, that's just me.

Just about all the axles I mentioned can be had from salvage, with a little bit of looking. Trying to find Rockwells would take a bit - but Birfields, Danas (60 and under,) and the corporate axles are somewhat easier. That's why I'm writing Swappology - I want to help you know what you're getting into if you're looking for parts as well...

94XJ2door5speed said:

Ok a little change, if the axles had to come from a junkyard not buying them brand new? And they were get any two you wanted for free. Again not looking for advice just curious to see who prefers what.

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FJ80 HP front and a Big tube, big bearing 9" rear......Huge Birfields in the FJ80 axle mostly eliminate the Birfield problem altogether.

Gravel Maker said:

The weight of an xj is way less than a Tacoma.....

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Isn't it like 100 lbs less?
Billy

JeepFreak21 said:

Isn't it like 100 lbs less?

Billy

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A Tacoma is somewhere over 52-5300lbs.....

EDIT: You got me thinking, I used to have a 98 and wheeled it pretty hard and I had it on the scales on a dump run and saw 52XXlbs but it wasn't near stock with heavy 40" tires and beadlocked wheels with an extra TC, lots of frame plating and boxing........I just looked it up on GOOGLE and it said stock 4100, I think that must be bare and pretty stripped but you get the idea.....

since you took out 1 tons i'd second Toyota or FJ80's.

94XJ2door5speed said:

Ok a little change, if the axles had to come from a junkyard not buying them brand new? And they were get any two you wanted for free. Again not looking for advice just curious to see who prefers what.

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And the axle tube diameter has to evenly divide into the ring gear diameter leaving a quotient smaller than the R&P carrier break.
Billy

Gravel Maker said:

A Tacoma is somewhere over 52-5300lbs.....

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You sure you're not thinking of the Tundra? Wikipdia has the Tacoma listed just over the XJ.
Billy

cool see i would want to run toyota's only cause its different from everyone else and ive read they take a beating and still keep coming, especially with chromo axles and lockers.

Front would be a '76-77 F100 or F150 1/2 tube welded wedge HP D44.

Rear would be a 9" F-150 big bearing axle.

Even better is they are both sitting in my garage waiting to go under my MJ.

JeepFreak21 said:

You sure you're not thinking of the Tundra? Wikipdia has the Tacoma listed just over the XJ.
Billy

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You got me thinking and I checked also, I had edited that post, I will cut and paste it on this one.....

Here is the edit
EDIT: You got me thinking, I used to have a 98 and wheeled it pretty hard and I had it on the scales on a dump run and saw 52XXlbs but it wasn't near stock with heavy 40" tires and beadlocked wheels with an extra TC, lots of frame plating and boxing........I just looked it up on GOOGLE and it said stock 4100, I think that must be bare and pretty stripped but you get the idea.....

94XJ2door5speed said:

cool see i would want to run toyota's only cause its different from everyone else and ive read they take a beating and still keep coming, especially with chromo axles and lockers.

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Don't forget the 300M Birfs...

The rear axle they are using in the new '08 fullsize pick-up would be a good choice if you could find one. They are supposed to be way strong.

TNT said:

Don't forget the 300M Birfs...

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Bobby Long makes them for the FJ80 too now! With the 80 birf being about 60% larger than the FJ40/60/Truck birf the 300M material makes that axle pretty hard to beat, unless you grafted them to an FJ40 housing for the larger ring gear......

TNT said:

The rear axle they are using in the new '08 fullsize pick-up would be a good choice if you could find one. They are supposed to be way strong.

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I read that 1 version of that truck has 445 HP.......it would have to be a little stronger than most!