Yes, well in my case they were. I have a '93 XJ that used to have an 8.25 in it. I completed a D44 axle swap with some help from some professionals, and discovered that the yokes are the same. We held up a u-joint and placed it in the yoke, and it fit perfectly. I don't have documentation that they are identical, but to the best of my ability I would say that they are. I replaced the 8.25 with a D44 out of an '87 XJ # of axle splines: 30 semi. While I had the D44 on the garage floor I decided to gear down. It was much less expensive to have this done by a local professional shop while it was not mounted in the vehicle. Another friend of mine suggested doing a complete break job, which was a very good idea. Then, after installing the rear diff, I drove the truck to the shop to have the front geared down too. Just a tip in case you are thinking about gearing down at some point.