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03 Rubicon TJ locker in a XJ factory D44?

B

Ben824

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Woodstock, GA
Will a factory a lcoker out of the rear axle in a 03 Rubicon TJ work in a 87 XJ factory dana 44? I know the Rubicons are supposed to have Dana 44s front and rear but they are slightly different or something anyway I just want to know if it will fit becuase a guy on craigslist in my area has a rubicon locker for sale that he said had busted side gears or something and said to make him an offer so I figured I would and fix it and throw it in my project. Also anybody have any info on this locker? I see lots of Rubicons running them with great performance and I thought I heard once that they are still a limited slip when not full engaged. Some quick feedback would be greatly appreciated so I can make an offer quick if its worth it before this deal goes away.
 
the xj dana 44 are 30 spline shafts, i thought the rubi lockers were 32 spline, and they are wider so you cant just swap in the shafts either
 
he's talking 07 Rubi, not 03. 03 Rubi rear center sections are standard 44 stuff, and the parts are 30 spline, interchangeable. You will need a very low pressure air regualtor for the stock air locker though, as well as "thick" gears.
 
This is from one of the threads at the bottom of this page.
Rawbrown said:
you would need a rubicon housing to convert your XJ over. a rubicon carrier will not fit a standard D44 housing. think of it this way. to fit a standard D44 carrier into a rubicon housing you need a special shim pack.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
RCP Phx said:
This is from one of the threads at the bottom of this page.
Click to expand...


True, you do need a special shim pack, because the Rubi carrier shims inside the bushings (or is it outside)... whatever, opposite of typical D44 carriers. Randy's R& P stocks the shimpack. I looked at doing this and was persuaded by others that unless it was a screaming deal, and ARB might be more reliable and cheaper in the longrun, particluarly since the rubi carrier is chinese made, and there at the time (03) wasn't much data on its reliability -- I ended up going really cheap and throwing an aussie in there - still clickin!:rof:
 
well this one he says is broke something about spider gears being toast but i mean if he will sell it to me for $50 and I can fix it for like $200 or less that doesn't seem like that bad of a deal. I want a locker that I can select when it goes its locked and unlocked. And I don't want one that clicks when I drive because I drive my XJ everyday and I need it to be very street friendly and highway friendly for when I drive the 3 1/2 hrs between college and home. So I won't be thrashing on the locker off-road too often unfortunately but when I do I just need it to be there for me when I need it. Anybody know how much it would be to fix one of these and how readily parts are available to rebuild it?
 
i feel like a turd, 03? huh? i never paid enough attention to rubi tj's...
 
The guy only wants $30 for it. I think I'm gonna buy it I mean if it doesn't work I'm out $30 I don't think I'm gonna cry over that haha.
 
So the fact that it WONT FIT doesnt bother you??Parts are really hard to get,my buddy blew his up the first year,he just ended up buying a complete new one at a nice price!
 
dude, it WILL fit, it simply requires the shim pack for a rubi carrier. The TJ rubi housing is no different from any other TJ/XJ rear 44 centersection, its just the carrier requires a different shim kit from a "standard" carrier. How many Rubi guys are running ARB/OX/Electrac etc, or even detroits in thier Rubi housing... many. That said, for $30, plus a $90 install kit (guessing), plus whatever it costs to fix, plus install labor ... I wouldn't do it, and you'd be well on your way to a different selectable, but I guess its your money to try and make it work.
 
according to previous posts in this thread as long as I get the special shims and the "thick" gears it should work so I don't see how it wouldn't fit if the proper parts are used to make it work. Besides if it really won't fit or is just too much trouble to make fit then I can just fix it for cheap and then sell it for a little bit of profit for someone in the case as ur buddy there that blew his. Or if I can't fix it then oh well like I said $30 is nothing to cry over.
 
Re-read slowly!What Rawbrown's post stated is that you can put a regular carrier into a Rubi housing using extra shims,meaning the Rubi carrier is wider than a std 44.
 
I am hoping it wont be too much to fix but that will take some more research and I know a guy who will put it in for $125 and he has done many axles so he knows what he is doing so I am saving there. The only unknown money factor that would cost a ton of money is the parts to fix it so if its too much to fix then like I said oh well $30 bucks no big deal I'll just keep it in the garage and have just one more part sitting in the garage along with all the other parts I got haha.
 
Well, no offense to Rawbrown, because seemingly he knows his shiat, but so does Randy's R&P and if you call and talk to their tech guys, they'll walk you through the parts required... at least they did with me in 03-04 when I was considering going this route. As I said, I decided it wasn't worth the effort for a case of questionable durability.
 
Heres more...
Rawbrown said:
I am refering to the actuall overall height of the carrier from bearing journal to bearing journal. the rubicon housing is actually machined further appart. it takes damn near a half inch of shims to get a regular ARB to fit into the rubicon housing.
Click to expand...
 
so in a nutshell, Randy's R& P says you can, Rawbrown says you can't -- both reputable gearheads. Neither RCP Phx nor I have actually done it, so if for $30 you wanna be the first, keep us informed.Hasta
 
Thats the plan but I am gonna let them keep argueing becuase its just funny and entertaining haha like you said for $30 bucks I'll give it a try and if it won't work then who cares I'll just leave it laying in the garage for decoration because whats a Jeep owners garage without a bunch of parts laying around right? haha
 
Keep in mind Rawbrown does installs vs RRP just selling stuff.I found a ton a install kits listed on RRP for doing what Rb said,cant find anything for putting a Rubi locker in a std 44!
 
The tj 44 uses the same center section as the xj 44. The reason you need special gears or shims is because the carrier is for 3.55 and numerically smaller gears and the rubicon uses 4.10 gears. The ring gear is cut thicker to move it over against the small pinion. The pinion being small because it has less teeth than a pinion used in numerically smaller gears.
 
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