Old D44 Axle: Worth the rebuild?

Hey, I have a 94 cherokee with 2" of lift. Unfortunately, it has the 35c rear in it. I am planning on going bigger with the lift real soon, and getting some 33's. I want to run lower gears of course, but don't want to put any $ into my 35, as it is weak and leaky. I have a 54 ford 1/2 ton pickup that I am restoring, and already replaced the rear with a 9". I just discovered (after removing gobs of old grease and oil) that the stock axle I have sitting here is a D44, and only 1" wider than my 35. My question is simply -- is this axle much different (other than leaf and shock mounts) than the newer 44's? I would love to be able to just modify this axle a little and put some new seals and gears in it and stick it under my jeep. I just want to make sure that it will be worth my time. If anyone knows anything about older Dana stuff, I would really appreciate any info anyone can give me. Thanks!

i think some of the old D44s are 19 spline? did you count?

I have not had the axle apart yet. What problems would it pose if it were 19 spline? Pardon my ignorance, i really don't know much about axles, just that the D44 is pretty much the axle of choice for cherokees.

19 spline would be weak, but you could get a full carrier locker (detroit, ARB, spool) and alloy shafts to take care of that with 30 spline, or even get 33 spline.

put the 44back under the ford, and steal the 9"

show trucks dont need strong axles.

Being that old, it very likely has 19 spline axles. I don't know if they make any lockers for the 19 spline rear ends, you'll have to check. If you got a normal 30 spline locker and some new alloy axles you'd be good to go, or get a Super 44 kit with 33 spline axles. I'd make sure first that the gears and bearings are the same as the later model 44's.

The only problem with the internal switch to 30 splines is the axle length itself.
He stated that the housing from drum to drum is wider or am I mistaken and its just the mounting points that are wider.
The cost of custom length axles may be more that the project cost could bare.
Wayne

Wayne Sihler said:

The only problem with the internal switch to 30 splines is the axle length itself.
He stated that the housing from drum to drum is wider or am I mistaken and its just the mounting points that are wider.
The cost of custom length axles may be more that the project cost could bare.
Wayne

Click to expand...

Not really.......unless you're buying a super 44 kit, the axles will be custom made to your length anyway. As far as I know, even with the super 44 kit you can get custom length axles. Not an issue......

The entire axle drum to drum is 1" wider than a stock XJ's. Sounds like I need to pull it apart and check the splines and seals to see what I got. Thanks for all the help! Not sure if full carrier and alloy axles are in my budget any time soon, but we'll see what I can do. Thanks