35s On A C8.25?

Bought a D44. Long story short the thing was a total dud. $600 down the drain.

I have my old 29 spline 8.25 and 3.55s. Thinking about regearing it to 4.56s (to match the front). Thinking about tossing an ARB air locker in the thing just to get the best bang for my buck with the cost of the re-gear.

Is a 29 spline 8.25 with an arb locker capable of holding up to 35s? It's mostly a dd with the occaisional wheeling on the weekends. Nothing too too serious though.

Yep. You should be fine. I've seen people thrash on that setup many times.

Should be fine, get some chromos in there while you are at it. Nice thing about the 8.25 is that the axle shafts are equal length both sides so you can typically get away with carrying one spare.

I am running 35's on my 8.25 and I have no issues with it. Not really at the top of my things to worry about list.

What was wrong with the 44?

bluejeepkid said:

What was wrong with the 44?

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Bad bad noises. Diff fluid blowing out from every hole possible.

If you want to heat it go to my post in OEM Tech titled "Wheel bearing problems". My last post you can see a video with the noise in it.

I thought it was just the pinion guard but after securing it in place so it can't move the noise remains. I have diff fluid dripping from underneath both sides of the axle tubes.

I don't even know where to start on fixing it. It's my dd (if you don't count my bike I've been riding around) so I can't really deal with this much longer.

Don't trash it, they're easy to rebuild. Put the 8.25 back in and then go through the 44. Anyone in your area have the tools to do gear installs?

Kingkong0192 said:

Bad bad noises. Diff fluid blowing out from every hole possible.

If you want to heat it go to my post in OEM Tech titled "Wheel bearing problems". My last post you can see a video with the noise in it.

I thought it was just the pinion guard but after securing it in place so it can't move the noise remains. I have diff fluid dripping from underneath both sides of the axle tubes.

I don't even know where to start on fixing it. It's my dd (if you don't count my bike I've been riding around) so I can't really deal with this much longer.

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So you just bought the D44?....Was it from an XJ or a transplant from another vehicle? If $600 was the purchase price it was too much,... but that is about the price I saw in Waterbury some years ago when I visited family there. XJ D44's are available here in Florida at a U-Pull-It for $100 everyday and $50 on 50% off days.

When I bought mine, I took it to a rebuilder and had them change everything in it before I put it under the XJ. I did not like the quality of work so I took it another shop 200 miles later and had them replace the gears and all the bearings and seals. That was about 15,000 miles ago and it is still going great,...no noise and no oil leaks.

I am sorry that you are having such a bad time with yours. It may be time to call in the experts and not rely on friends opinion. The important thing to remember is, you do not know the history behind it,...was it abused or not?

I know this do not the answer to your question but in my opinion you already have the D44. Buying another axle may not exactly help out the pocket book :dunno: . However, based on experience by many here on this forum both the D44 and the CHRY 8.25 units should work fine for you.

ill buy parts from that d44 help you make some money back pm me if your interested

I spend good bit of time and money swapping in a 8.8 rear, I run 35" MTRs. My old 29 spline 8.25 now lives under my buddies MJ with a doubler setup and 35" boggers. He runs his rig hard and its been fine. I like my 8.8 but apart from disk brakes it was a waste of time. The 8.25 is pretty tough for what it is.

sent you a pm

markw said:

Don't trash it, they're easy to rebuild. Put the 8.25 back in and then go through the 44. Anyone in your area have the tools to do gear installs?

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The problem is my front axle is now 4.56 gears. My stock 8.25 is 3.55 gears.

I was thinking of swapping in my old rear and just leaving the rear shaft out. Run it in part time until I figure this out but i don't really want to half ass it.

The axle tubes are super scored up. On both sides where the wheel bearing rides it's just beat to piss. Huge gouges and cuts and everything else you don't want.

Guy I bought it from said he parked it on a slight hill to prevent it from leaking. ?????

techno1154 said:

So you just bought the D44?....Was it from an XJ or a transplant from another vehicle? If $600 was the purchase price it was too much,... but that is about the price I saw in Waterbury some years ago when I visited family there. XJ D44's are available here in Florida at a U-Pull-It for $100 everyday and $50 on 50% off days.

When I bought mine, I took it to a rebuilder and had them change everything in it before I put it under the XJ. I did not like the quality of work so I took it another shop 200 miles later and had them replace the gears and all the bearings and seals. That was about 15,000 miles ago and it is still going great,...no noise and no oil leaks.

I am sorry that you are having such a bad time with yours. It may be time to call in the experts and not rely on friends opinion. The important thing to remember is, you do not know the history behind it,...was it abused or not?

I know this do not the answer to your question but in my opinion you already have the D44. Buying another axle may not exactly help out the pocket book :dunno: . However, based on experience by many here on this forum both the D44 and the CHRY 8.25 units should work fine for you.

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It's an xj 44. $1,200 for a front d30, aussie locker, WJ brakes, steering setup, trackbar, WJ brakes, and a rear d44, 4.56, aussie locker.

You should buy all the d44s there and bring them north. People here think they're worth their weight in gold for some reason.

I know. That's why I'm not sure if I should put the money into a pro fixing my d44, or regearing my 8.25 that I know is good, or buying another 8.25 geared with 4.56s.

It's me trying to figure out where I should invest my money. I'm only so concerned because besides my motorcycle this is my dd.

8.25's will handle 35's fine and I've even seen one handle a 37 Irock for that matter , however when it breaks you're screwed if you're anywhere but a flat area because that broken shaft will slide out of that tube which causes a problem.

clean4drxj said:

8.25's will handle 35's fine and I've even seen one handle a 37 Irock for that matter , however when it breaks you're screwed if you're anywhere but a flat area because that broken shaft will slide out of that tube which causes a problem.

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yup disc brakes can help but it is what it is....ive punished mine for years on 33's and 35's, only casualty to date is I wore out one ring and pinion set.......

Kingkong0192 said:

The axle tubes are super scored up. On both sides where the wheel bearing rides it's just beat to piss. Huge gouges and cuts and everything else you don't want.

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Sorry to hear that. The axle shaft bearings on the D44 under my XJ are also loose i.e. easy to insert and remove with just your hand. I cannot say that at times I do not become a little concerned about them. So far though they have held up well.

I was told that most D44's bearings fit that way and a number of them have problem in that area,...most notably the aluminum ones under the Grand Cherokee. I have also been told that there are ways to prevent the bearings from spinning in the tubes like yours do. Some have used Loctite, others heated and squeezed the tubes where the bearings sit and others do machining work and used shims of some sort.

Good luck with yours. I hope you will be able to salvage it and get some use out of it.

I have beat my 29 spline 8.25 to hell and back on 35's/Yukons/Aussie/trussed/ZJ Discs.

No issues.

Here are pictures of the D44 I installed under my 95 Cherokee. (In process of editing)

Not sure what photobucket did, but these are clickable to see full view.

As you can see this is pretty messed up from probably worn bearings that got hot. This is repairable. The other side wasn't as bad.


Tack welding this ring on is wrong. They only get pressed on.



vvv

Administrator please delete my last post and this one. I'll make a write up and post it.

Here are pictures of the D44 I installed under my 95 Cherokee. The repairs needed to replace the wheel bearings.

Not sure what photobucket did, but these are clickable to see full view.

As you can see this is pretty messed up from probably worn bearings that got hot. This is repairable. The other side wasn't as bad.



As bad as this looks it is still useable. It has been smoothed down and sanded so as to not have ANY high spots. Your axle, with the bearing/race on, should slide in and out of here with some resistance. (Think slide hammer) I used a very thin layer of 1B Permatex non-hardening sealant on the inside of the axle tube bearing/seal surface (remember the axle has to slide in and out). Everything was snug. Almost 2 years and it has not leaked yet.


Why the 1B Permatex. It's pliable, fell within the temprature range, and since there is almost zero pressure inside the axle housing this won't blow out. It will also seal the pock marks so as not to corrode, the reason why I put in the whole area.


Tack welding this lock ring on is wrong. They only get pressed on. I cut the bearings and lock rings off the axle with a 3 1/2" cut off wheel and use a cold chisle to crack them. Don't cut into the axle!



After everything is off, cleaned and polished (I use 1200 grit wet sand paper) you might see ridges like this in the axle from where the oil seal was riding after it dried up a bit. This did'nt feel like much but why take the chance?


You will need a Speedi Sleeve like this one. This is the P/N I used for this axle. The SKF brand is the cheapest one to buy that I found at the time.


Install per instructions, I used a long piece of pvp pipe,


clip,


and your ridges are gone.

Thanks a Million.

My axle tubes are about ten times worse than yours. HUGE gouges. I wish i took pictures. I bought a tube of Loctite 660 (Suppose to be liquid metal.)

I'm going to pull the axle shafts out as soon as i get the time, loctite 660 them, let dry overnight, and sand down and attempt to make everything smooth again. I think it should work and then the oil seal will do its job.

Going to replace the pinion seal as well.

My only concern is that the bearing raceway for the wheel bearing gets stuck inside the axle tube and i can't pull it out. I can only get them out by using a dremel and cutting them out, and then getting a new bearing and pressing it onto my shaft.

I don't really want to spend another $160 or so on bearings just to fix it, although i may have to. (The raceway is sitting on a gouge so i think oil is going under it.)

Contemplating buying a 8.25 with 4.56s and an aussie and just swapping it in. Glad to hear i can run that on 35s without a problem.

You guys are the best.