Dana 44 vs 8.25

[1990JEEPXJ]

That information is completely wrong! 1990JEEPXJ is ether lying, completely mistaken, or just uneducated about the information that he was just posting about.

I have replace countless numbers of Dana 44 axles, Dana 30 axles, and other non-c-clip axles on the trail, and in the driveway with-out pulling the diff cover. No dropping gear oil, no re-sealing the cover with ATV, and trying to reuse the gear oil!

A c-clip axle you MUST pull the diff cover to get the center pin out, to push in the axle and remove the c-clip, to remove the axle, Broken or not. On a non-c-clip axle you do not have to remove the diff cover to get the axle out.

Educate yourself and don't listen to the ignorant!

i know you can get it out with a long magnet. so no you dont absolutely HAVE to. it just isnt something i thought would be a common thing to carry on the trail, which is where i was talking about removing the axle. i dont know anyone that carries a magnet just for pulling the busted stub out of a housing. i ASSumed that no one carried a magnet like that. but i guess you have proven me wrong, which makes sense that people who commonly break shafts would have one.

 

[87manche]

its easy to find one with disk brakes, and disks will keep your tire on if you break a shaft.
.

No, they don't.

That said, the 8.8 is a great axle for those on a budget, I abused a stock one on 34's for a long time, doing stupid things to it and it was never an issue.
I had less than $300 in my first 8.8 swap, and that included the $150 I sepnt on the axle itself.

 

[moneypit_k5]

No, they don't.

huh? the axle wont walk out with the caliper holding the disk. its not ideal, but it beats rigging something up with a log when you break a shaft.

 

[87manche]

huh? the axle wont walk out with the caliper holding the disk. its not ideal, but it beats rigging something up with a log when you break a shaft.

until the rotor breaks at the "hat" that holds it onto the axle flange. Trust me, you should not rely on the rotor/disc to hold the tire on, it will just cost more money to fix the things that get broken.
Yes, you could drive it 50 feet to a nicer spot on the trail to swap the shaft, but anything more than that and you're pushing it.

 

[Letterman]

i know you can get it out with a long magnet. so no you dont absolutely HAVE to. it just isnt something i thought would be a common thing to carry on the trail, which is where i was talking about removing the axle. i dont know anyone that carries a magnet just for pulling the busted stub out of a housing. i ASSumed that no one carried a magnet like that. but i guess you have proven me wrong, which makes sense that people who commonly break shafts would have one.

Thanks for clearing that up, so you are not lying just uneducated. If you are just assuming, maybe you should not be answering questions and spreading bad information? Maybe let the people that have many years of experence answer and not just guess on how to do it.

Most people I know have a magnet in the trial tool bag, it is a must have for lots of jobs. The other tool that we have with us on the trail is a long thin punch, long enough to get to the other side of the diff from the passenger side of a front axle. If the magnet will not get the broken shaft out you can pull the other side axle out and beat it out, then the very last resort is to pull the diff cover. This trick will not work with all lockers.

In this photo you can see the magnet stuck to the side of the rockers in front of the guy about to be beat up with a hammer:

Or above Walker's head in this shot:

Also you never want to drive on a broken axle, you can do so much damage even moving only a few feet.

 

[Gaius]

No.

Okay. No need to get all BOLDY at me.

I have had different experiences than you. I've seen several pretty much welded into the diff.

Can you post the pic of the saggy-pants hammer guy one more time?

 

[Boost_Retard]

Does anyone know the weight of a D35, D44, C8.25?
im going to upgrade my rear axle when my lift shows up, currently on a 35 trac lok, have both the 44 and the 8.25 available
the deciding factor for me would be the weight more than anything else..
im sure the 35 is the lightest, but its not worth the risk even with my 31's(or so i have been told)

If anyone knows, help me out, if not, i will try and get the weights on the drum to drum axles for you.

 

[Letterman]

To get the broken stub out, most of the time, yes, you do.

I have had different experiences than you. I've seen several pretty much welded into the diff.

So is is most of the time or is it just several?

If several for you is most of the time you may not be that experienced, or maybe you have a c-clip axle and have to prove to the world you are ok with it?

Most of the time you can get the axle out with out too much work with a magnet.

Some of the time you have to pound it out from the other side.

I have seen several that you had to pull the carrier to get the axle end out, and one we had to use a 30 ton press to get the busted part out, and another time the carrier would not come out at all. Now that could happen with the 8.25, just too bad you can't drive on it if you had to . . .

 

[REVROK]

I have got to say go 44 or 8.8... the C-Clip issue becomes almost irrelevant on the 8.8 as long as you are still at 35's because they really seldom break even a stock shaft. If you go with a Super 88 kit which has alloys and c-clip eliminators you are good for 37's. The 44 can be built similarly with http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=948996 including a Dana 50 or a Rubi 44 r&p and 35 spline shafts, definitely stronger than the 8.8 at that point. The conversion of the 44 is definitely not for the faint of heart, however.

 

[87manche]

My new to me 8.8 has the super 8.8 kit in it with a moser spool. It's very nice. I will thrash it without care in Harlan.

 

[jeeperjohn]

The biggest thing I'm worried about now is the c-clip possibly breaking. Is there anyway to eliminate the cclip??

I have never heard of a c-clip breaking.

 

[87manche]

I have never heard of a c-clip breaking.

it's only an issue if you break a shaft. I wheeled a completely bone stock 8.8 on 34" super swampers and it was the last of my concerns. I tore suspension mounts off the frame, but never broke an 8.8 shaft.

 

[jeeperjohn]

Aren't locker options for the 29 spline 8.25 just Detroit or ARB? Aussie is out of stock and I was under the impression it's been like that for a while and will be for a while more (also, it's $50 more than the Aussie for the 44). If a lunch box locker is all you need, it seems to me you'd be money ahead with a 44.

I believe Yukon makes both a zip locker and a Spartan locker for the 29 spline. Someone correct me if that's wrong.

 

[jeeperjohn]

That information is completely wrong! 1990JEEPXJ is ether lying, completely mistaken, or just uneducated about the information that he was just posting about.

I have replace countless numbers of Dana 44 axles, Dana 30 axles, and other non-c-clip axles on the trail, and in the driveway with-out pulling the diff cover. No dropping gear oil, no re-sealing the cover with ATV, and trying to reuse the gear oil!

A c-clip axle you MUST pull the diff cover to get the center pin out, to push in the axle and remove the c-clip, to remove the axle, Broken or not. On a non-c-clip axle you do not have to remove the diff cover to get the axle out.

Educate yourself and don't listen to the ignorant!

While this is generally true, if there is a broken piece of the axle shaft stuck in the locker/spider gear, it is almost impossible to remove it without removing the diff cover.

 

[jeeperjohn]

it's only an issue if you break a shaft. I wheeled a completely bone stock 8.8 on 34" super swampers and it was the last of my concerns. I tore suspension mounts off the frame, but never broke an 8.8 shaft.

Yeah, I think an 8.25 is damn strong with alloy shafts. I would not worry one bit with 35's in an alloy equipped 8.25 with the gears set up and broken in properly.

 

[Gaius]

While this is generally true, if there is a broken piece of the axle shaft stuck in the locker/spider gear, it is almost impossible to remove it without removing the diff cover.

According to Letterman, if you get a broken shaft piece stuck in your carrier, you are inexperienced.

 

[kastein]

I'd take a 29 spline 8.25 any day of the week for decent strength and great availability... they are everywhere in the yards. Haven't seen a d44 yet though, maybe I'm just not lucky.

If I want d44 strength, ford 8.8 it is. Ring gear is stronger (8.8" vs 8.5"), pinion shaft is stronger (1.625" vs 1.375"), shafts are the same strength (31 spline 1.31" vs 30 spline 1.31"), axle tubes are stronger (3.25" vs 2.75"), they come with disk brakes, and are everywhere with decent gear ratios easily obtained. The only downsides are it's not bolt-in (big deal), the stock cover sucks (big deal, should get an aftermarket cover anyways), the tubes spin in the housing (have a friend weld them up), and the ground clearance is a whopping 3/4" worse than a dana 35, about on par with an 8.25.

 

[slappomatt]

I just did the 8.8 swap on my XJ. got 4.10 version with LSD and disc's for about 240 out the door at a local wreching yard. 108K miles from an 01 exploder. put it in with the 1310 adapter flange and the ruff stuff conversion kit (which is mega overkill beef...) and I am pretty happy with it. The 8.8's are about 1.5" narrower than the 8.25 that it replaced so I got some 1" wheel spacers from Ebay and I am running it on those. seems to work well.

 

[jeeperjohn]

I'd take a 29 spline 8.25 any day of the week for decent strength and great availability... they are everywhere in the yards. Haven't seen a d44 yet though, maybe I'm just not lucky.

If I want d44 strength, ford 8.8 it is. Ring gear is stronger (8.8" vs 8.5"), pinion shaft is stronger (1.625" vs 1.375"), shafts are the same strength (31 spline 1.31" vs 30 spline 1.31"), axle tubes are stronger (3.25" vs 2.75"), they come with disk brakes, and are everywhere with decent gear ratios easily obtained. The only downsides are it's not bolt-in (big deal), the stock cover sucks (big deal, should get an aftermarket cover anyways), the tubes spin in the housing (have a friend weld them up), and the ground clearance is a whopping 3/4" worse than a dana 35, about on par with an 8.25.

I'd like to get an 8.8 and shorten one tube so it uses the same length shafts.

 

[kastein]

Your jeep must be really narrow