re-gear?

I need to know the cheapist way to get to get to 4.88's Running 35's on stock gears is tearing up my drive train. I have a spare d44 that I'm going to start with. that way all I have to do is slap the new one in and do the front. please help before I grenade something.

Your helpless, :roll:

The only cheap way is to get used gears, which can be a gamble. I would check on POR, otherwise start shopping. You know I have the D30 you can use to do the swap also. I highly recommend getting the bigger U-joints to boot.

$150 gears, $50 carrier D44

$150 Gears, $50 Carrier, $250 for u-joints and shafts.

I told you not to get the 35's :looser:

Are 35's too big to run a spool in the d44?

It isn't the 44 I'd be worried about with 35s Think forged alloy front shafts, especially if you have a locker up front and are mean to your Jeep.

I have approx 20k DD miles plus a few hundred trail miles on a stock-shafted 44, full spool with 4.56:1 & 33" Looking forward to getting it in the XJ in a week or 3.

BUY NEW GEARS.....esp. at 4.88. The D30's pinion is Cute, but seems to work fairly well. The new gears will set up better and run quieter than a used set. You also then know how much the front has been stressed and can do your D30 inspection accordingly.

Assuming you're already running a stock 297 jointed axle in the D30, the alloy shafts are a great idea. At the very least, have a replacement set of long side and short side axles available and assembled with unit bearings (15 min. trail fix--wheel, caliper and 3 12mm-12 point bolts and you're in business) and at least a set of upper and lower ball joints (a little longer than the aforementioned trail fix, but still nice to have a set of ball joints---can be fixed with a BFH, but ball joint press is a nice trail tool---let me know if you find a cheap one--I'm looking).

More D30: I'm fairly equipped with 297 stock shafts right now and snap ringed the set I'm running with 760 joints. I'll run them this season and see how long they last, but I expect to replace them for next year. Kind of the price of running a stock shaft in the D30........The alloys are sweet if you want to spend the money.

My D44 seems to be handling the stress very well, but I'm looking for a spare set of shafts (I have a 'long side one'--there's only 1/4"-1/8" of difference in length) just in case. I think you could get by for getting out with just a shorter side D44 spare. The splines wouldn't be ideally engaged, but they'll work to get you back to your tow rig....