Got my dana 44 axle

It's a front narrow track wagoneer axle. What i want to know is, what do i have to do exactly to make this fit?
I KNOW THERE ARE POSTS ON THIS!!!! But I've found too much conflicting info and i want to know how to do it right.
I have a 98' xj with a 5.5 inch rubicon express lift on 33's. I plan on going with the bracket kit from rubicon express and this crossover steering kit, http://www.bjsoffroad.com/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=883&cid=13 .

Now, do i have to have the knuckles turned? If so, how much?
What about the the drive shaft, will the stock one work or do i have to get a shorter one?
And also, i'm in phoenix arizona, does anybody know of a good axle shop that has any experience with the xj's?
If i had the knuckles cut and turned, the axle tubes welded, and the bracket kit welded on, how much am I expecting to spend?

AtomicPunk said:

It's a front narrow track wagoneer axle. What i want to know is, what do i have to do exactly to make this fit?
I KNOW THERE ARE POSTS ON THIS!!!! But I've found too much conflicting info and i want to know how to do it right.
I have a 98' xj with a 5.5 inch rubicon express lift on 33's. I plan on going with the bracket kit from rubicon express and this crossover steering kit, http://www.bjsoffroad.com/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=883&cid=13 .

Now, do i have to have the knuckles turned? If so, how much?
What about the the drive shaft, will the stock one work or do i have to get a shorter one?
And also, i'm in phoenix arizona, does anybody know of a good axle shop that has any experience with the xj's?
If i had the knuckles cut and turned, the axle tubes welded, and the bracket kit welded on, how much am I expecting to spend?

Click to expand...

I have that axle on my XJ. I did not do the crossover kit, though. I am running a stock wagoneer tie rod.
I did a quick search for the rubicon bracket kit, but did not see which one you are talking about. I went with the tntcustoms (now treks) truss. It is kinda pricey, but is purpose built and makes me feel much better about the upper CA bracket strength. You need upper CA brackets, lower CA brackets (the driver side LCA bracket will not go on until you cut some cast from the pumpkin off that is in the way), a track bar mount, coil buckets, and shock mounts.
No, you do not NEED to rotate the C's, but doing so will make pointing the yoke up for CV shaft usage much easier. You should decide whether you are going to do that or not before doing anything, as it will change the position of everything you are welding on.
Length-wise, the driveshaft should still work, but the problem I ran into is that the low pinion put the driveshaft at a sharper angle than the CV could handle. I got a CV with more room and got it shaved out for more clearance, but it was still maxing out. I ended up going with a non-CV shaft. This was the best option for me, because my yoke was almost parallel to the ground anyway. I did not rotate my C's and did not want to push my luck on caster angle when burning everything onto the axle...so, in the end, the yoke is in a position more suited for a non CV shaft anyway. If you rotate yours and point the yoke at the t-case, you may have better luck on the driveshaft angle than I did.
I am not in the AZ area, so I can't help you on that last one.
Hope this helps - hit me up if you want to know anything more about my waggy D44 install.