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Dana 44 swap with ABS

P

passenger

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Sweden
I have a XJ 98 with a bad D35 rear axel. (bad bearings and oil leakage)
Have found a D44 from a Comanche MJ -88 that would make a great winter project, but I have some questions... ofcours.

Searched all swedish forum to find if its possible to swap to a D44 and keep the ABS-system working properly, but found nothing.

Can I use breaks from a GC (alu housing) D44? I dont want to keep the drumbreaks.


/ Swedish jeeper
 
YES, and you can do it with D35 disk brakes, you don't have to find an alum.44

should be done with mine this week, I just painted the housing last night.

I used the writeup here: http://members.cox.net/nraok/ for my information.
along with some information here: http://www.stu-offroad.com/suspension/d44brake/bc-1.htm
and of course here:http://pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Disc_brakes/index.html

you can sort of do it (the disk swap) a couple of different ways as far as spacers go for the outer seals. the second link has the Mopar Part # 52128430AC and 52158431AB listed as hard lines, brackets and soft lines so you don't have to hack up the brake lines in the first writeup.

i hope this helps you out, I know I had to dig all over to find this. my axle was from a '89 comanche, so I know exactly what you are going to go through. have fun cutting off the spring perches.

was going to do a writeup once it was all ready to button up

PM me if you want to know anything else.
 
welcome! its great to see someone fixing up american vehicles in europe! i wish you luck
it seems tomcat is your knight in shining armor on the subject.
are you trying to retain ABS for some kind of tech inspection? or for actual use on icy roads? abs is not common, nor desireable here in southern california, but i imagine sweden is another case...
 
I had a set of custom axles done for a dana 44 so that I could keep my abs. xcm is right about the abs not being desirable off-road but I just pull the fuse for trail use and that works for me.
 
Sweet! I've been thinking about the disc brakes conversion for my 44, since my drivers side drum backing plate thing is trash. saved me the hassle of hunting for the info
 
I just finished up a D35 to D44 swap on my '99 and I am retaining the ABS system using the D44 drum brakes. I'll be doing a write up shortly although I guess it won't be of much use if you're trying to ditch the drum brakes altogether. I found that just stepping up from the D35 drums to the larger D44 drums gave me some additional stopping power. Sure, it's still not discs, but I really didn't want to spend a bunch of extra money to "upgrade" what has been a sufficent braking system for my needs, even with 33 inch tires.

This thread has been pretty supportive thus far, but why do people always have to hate on ABS? I understand it's shortcomings off road and that the early systems were a little on the crappy side, but it seems like almost every response to every thread about ABS is along the lines of "Real men don't need ABS!!!" <pound chest>. I think it's a great feature and there's a reason why insurance companies give a discount for having it. Do I use it much here in Central California? No, but it is nice when I hit that occasional patch of black ice coming through a corner on the way home from a day of snowboarding. I think disabling the ABS system when doing an axle swap is just an easy way out under the guise of being a "skilled driver." Sorry for the rant, just tired of all the anti-ABS postings and the real lack of information out there about how to keep it intact when doing an axle swap. Let's keep the ABS info flowing and good luck with your project!

:soapbox:
 
fyrfytr1717 said:
I just finished up a D35 to D44 swap on my '99 and I am retaining the ABS system using the D44 drum brakes. I'll be doing a write up shortly although I guess it won't be of much use if you're trying to ditch the drum brakes altogether. I found that just stepping up from the D35 drums to the larger D44 drums gave me some additional stopping power. Sure, it's still not discs, but I really didn't want to spend a bunch of extra money to "upgrade" what has been a sufficent braking system for my needs, even with 33 inch tires.

This thread has been pretty supportive thus far, but why do people always have to hate on ABS? I understand it's shortcomings off road and that the early systems were a little on the crappy side, but it seems like almost every response to every thread about ABS is along the lines of "Real men don't need ABS!!!" <pound chest>. I think it's a great feature and there's a reason why insurance companies give a discount for having it. Do I use it much here in Central California? No, but it is nice when I hit that occasional patch of black ice coming through a corner on the way home from a day of snowboarding. I think disabling the ABS system when doing an axle swap is just an easy way out under the guise of being a "skilled driver." Sorry for the rant, just tired of all the anti-ABS postings and the real lack of information out there about how to keep it intact when doing an axle swap. Let's keep the ABS info flowing and good luck with your project!

:soapbox:
Click to expand...
I'm with you. even after wheeling all day, and driving home a little tired, I have come through a nice thunderstorm and had the ABS save my butt. I did the research, am building the axle, and always try to get the word out through threads like this to let people know that you CAN retain it if you want to. my wife drives the jeep in the winter, and won't drive it if the ABS isn't working correctly, so that is my other reason to be sure i keep ABS. not everyone is a racecar driver that has mastered the art of threshold braking.
 
Djjordache said:
why not use the 8.8? stronger factory disk brakes and can keep the ABS.
Click to expand...

For me it was my lack of welding equipment / skills. I found an XJ Dana 44 so in my case there was no cutting or welding of shock mounts and spring perches. It was a straightforward bolt on aside from the minor modifications I made to adapt the ABS system. People can debate the merits of the 8.8 versus the 44 all they want but when it comes down to it, an XJ D44 (if you can find one) was factory designed to run under an XJ and is the easiest axle upgrade you can perform.
 
Djjordache said:
why not use the 8.8? stronger factory disk brakes and can keep the ABS.
Click to expand...
8.8 has a single tone ring in the middle, vs one on each wheel, and there was some talk about cutting every other tooth off of the tone ring to split it to each sensor wire under the back seat, which didn't make any sense to me. And I still get to use factory, junkyard ready cheap ZJ ABS sensors instead of a custom wiring harness. ZJ sensors plug right in under the seat
 
Sorry for not answering my own thread. Maybe I have missed some preferences, because I did not get any emails from the forum.
Right now I have my stripped MJ88 D44 and GC95 D44 (Alu) disc breaks with all included (Even e-brake cables).
I have a cad-drawing with the changes that have to be done on the caliper brackets + the new spacers.
Hopfully I can use D35 tone rings on the axles if I lathe groves for them on the axles.

I will read the writeups above before I start with something stupid :) thx!!

Its mosly because of the swedish "car inspection" Iam going through this ABS-stuff. But it is also a very good feature during winter.
 
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