D44 carrier/gear change questions

Picking up F&R 44's for my XJ next weekend, their ready to bolt under my XJ, but the front has the stock 3.73's and the rear has 5.38's lincoln locked....

Once their under Im gonna be running 35's-37's, currently have 35's on the XJ, obviously the 5.38's are a bit much for a DD w/ AW4...so Im thinking 4.88s but Im curious on your opinions

Obviously I'm changing one thing or another up...question is do I

A. Spend tons of money regearing both axles to 4.88, plus locking them....and pry running over brakes and all other parts...
or
B. throw 5.38's in the front and call It a day? :explosion

my concern is the welded gears on a DD and 5.38's on 35x12.50's...Chim in...

If I do things A way I'll take my time and build them right with 4.88's pry lock the front and keep the rear open for a while, thats my current set-up on stock axles and I like It cause you cant feel a thing in 2WD, Option A will have much downtime though, pry close to 6 months gathering all the money I'll spend on gears and labor charges...What do you think fella's?

Oh yea If I do new gears in both I need:
the gears, Install kits, and do I need new carriers for both axles to go to 4.88's?

XJ99 said:

Oh yea If I do new gears in both I need:
the gears, Install kits, and do I need new carriers for both axles to go to 4.88's?

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just a new front carrier. split is 3.73 down and 3.92 up.

so that means the 5.38 carrier is still good even though I dont want the rear to be welded right? Essentially I'll take the gears and spider out and put the new 4.88's in the carrier....

also what will I need to do with my front and rear DS's? My front is stock going to my D30, and my rear one is brand new made for 8" on my XJ bolted to 8.25 axle (I believe 1-1/4" yoke)

Will I need to change anything or will these bolt up to Waggy 44's pinion yoke?

no answers? So after more research I found that most prefer 5.38's with 35-36" tires, so say I Just gear the front and call It a day...how horrible will daily driving be with the rear spider gears welded?

What kinda gas mileage would I be looking at?

Keep the 5.38's but replace the welder rear with a locker, and regear the front to 5.38 to match. With my front HP D44 I am using the stock drive shaft.

Greg

MontanaXJ said:

Keep the 5.38's but replace the welder rear with a locker, and regear the front to 5.38 to match. With my front HP D44 I am using the stock drive shaft.

Greg

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Thanks so that what I dont understand I guess, I thought once the 5.38's were welded they were no loner any good, so your saying the gears are still good as long as I change the carrier out with a locker? Besides some type of selectable locker any recommendations for a daily driver thats a bit less costly?

so any other Input? Hows 5.38's with 35's gas wise?

XJ99 said:

Thanks so that what I dont understand I guess, I thought once the 5.38's were welded they were no loner any good, so your saying the gears are still good as long as I change the carrier out with a locker? Besides some type of selectable locker any recommendations for a daily driver thats a bit less costly?

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When you weld a diff you weld the spider gears inside the carrier, not the ring and pinion. To get rid of the welded diff you will most likely need to replace the whole carrier. The 5.38 ring and pinion will be fine. Chepaest option for a locker would be to try to find an open carrier and install it with a lunch box locker(lockright,Aussie).

what is this front end out of?

they are both out of a J-10 truck, driver drop, centered rear, non disconnect, warn lockout hubs, 6x5.5 pattern, with the bigger disc's and drums, high clearance steering, 30 spline outers, I believe 19 Inners?...only thing is Low pinion but Im gonna truss the shyt out of them...they should hold up to 37's with east coast wheeling and dailydriving....

i wouldnt drive a DD thats lincoln locked. i drove mine around for like 2 months lincoln locked and it was was shitty. my tires were gone after that