WJ or Dana 44 Outers

Im building a high pinion 30 to go in place of lp in my 2000. Im looking at either doing a wj knuckle conversion as i can ge the pair for ~110 with the hubs or the new reid racing 30/44 knuckle as i have a st of hubs and rotors from a fullsize sub. Which would you do and why? What are the costs in doing the complete wj conversion?

I have WJ knuckles

If I was going to do it again I'd go with the Reider parts. The 44 hubs are easily obtainable items, you can run normal highsteer. Not sure if it would be cheaper or not. I like the bling of the dual piston WJ calipers but am not convinced that they are stronger than the 44 stuff.

Whats the cost involved for the wj swap?

WJ knuckles
WJ calipers
WJ caliper mounting bolts
JKS or similar spacer welded to knuckle
unit bearings (XJ '00-'01 perhaps other years)^
Rotors ('02 ford explorer sport trac)^
WJ ball joints
OTK steering*

All (except the spacers) of which are variable, pricing wise. Im probably going to be close to the 3-400 range not including steering. In hindsight I'd consider the D44 outers. What do they cost?


^Some will use WJ unit bearings and rotors (I'm not clear on the spacing with this setup). I'm still piecing mine together with XJ bearings and ford rotors.
*Some say you have to do the OTK steering at the same time (you might as well if you're lifted enough and are building up the housing with a truss etc.), but you may be able to run oem steering (I still need to try it to see if this "step-wise" approach is feasible).

I have a pair of caliper brackets spindles and rotors from a full size sub. All six lug. I only need stub shafts. The reid racing 30/44 knuckles are 260 ea on their site, im sure they can be found cheaper. Shit, if they are that much id retube the 30 and run true 44 stuff out. Might even be cheaper

Was thinking about this just now actually. How would the wj brakes compare to the 1/2 ton 44 stuff? Also, in my thinking a 44 hub is only going to be 19 spline on the stub vs 30? on the xj hub? A 30 spline would be stronger. Also, with locking hubs, you would have to completely disassemble the knuckle to change out a shaft correct? All i have to do with the unit bearing is undo 5 bolts and the whole thing is out inner and outer. The dual piston calipers are pricey, i can get the sub calipers for cheaper even paying for the core charge. In the steering, the plus with the 44 would be true highsteer, and i could do otk with the wj swap as well. So the pros i see for doing the wj conversion would be stronger stubs and easier/quicker shaft changes on the trail. The cons I see are non locking hubs, no true highsteer, and the price of the calipers. I think i am considering the WJ swap as an overall better setup than 44 stuff. Am i thinking correctly here?

You can get true highsteer for a WJ setup with a RHD drivers side knuckle utilizing both draglink mounts.

Crown lists that knuckle for ~100 bucks. Can always swap the knuckle in later on down the road.

EDIT: well maybe not TRUE highsteer but damn high...

You can picture it with this...

do you actually need new ball joints?

will i be able to run my dana 30 yukon axles with this swap? i would assume so

MoparManiac said:

You can get true highsteer for a WJ setup with a RHD drivers side knuckle utilizing both draglink mounts.

Crown lists that knuckle for ~100 bucks. Can always swap the knuckle in later on down the road.

EDIT: well maybe not TRUE highsteer but damn high...

You can picture it with this...

Click to expand...

OTK is not true high steer. Compare your picture to Cruzin Illusions with a high steer D44:

haha yeah there is a high steer and then a "higher" steer

Starboard M said:

OTK is not true high steer. Compare your picture to Cruzin Illusions with a high steer D44:

Click to expand...

I know what you mean, what I'm saying is that a RHD drivers side knuckle has the draglink AND tie rod steering arms just like the LHD passenger knuckle.

You can run an inverted T setup to run the tierod across the draglink steering arms to get the tie rod higher than the axle.

I only said you can IMAGINE it with that picture (only WJ setup pic I could find on Google.)

So I guess it's not "true high steer" because there aren't "high steer arms" or anything, but it's about 2-3" higher than just OTK on regular D30 knuckles.

MoparManiac said:

I know what you mean, what I'm saying is that a RHD drivers side knuckle has the draglink AND tie rod steering arms just like the LHD passenger knuckle.

You can run an inverted T setup to run the tierod across the draglink steering arms to get the tie rod higher than the axle.

I only said you can IMAGINE it with that picture (only WJ setup pic I could find on Google.)

So I guess it's not "true high steer" because there aren't "high steer arms" or anything, but it's about 2-3" higher than just OTK on regular D30 knuckles.

Click to expand...

Look up ackermann angle, the setup you suggested would have a big effect on it. While its possible, you would get some weird steering characteristics

9T3XJ said:

Look up ackermann angle, the setup you suggested would have a big effect on it. While its possible, you would get some weird steering characteristics

Click to expand...

Looks like I need to do some more research!

Thanks for the tip man.

EDIT: Did a quick summary so I apologize now if I misinterpreted the meaning, but wouldn't it help your ackerman angle? Or would the inside tire be turned too much vs. outside? I'm still not 100% clear on the meaning.

Its been awhile since i've thought about this stuff, but if i'm thinking about it right you would actually be decreasing the ackermann angle with the WJ knuckles.

The biggest problem with changing the angle in either direction is that even with small changes, tire scrub increases a lot which means the tires will build up more heat and wear much quicker.