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thoughts on front axel swap?

J

jmg222

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Member
Location
US
currently putting upgraded brakes in my '88 XJ, while it's at the shop I'm debating swapping out the front axle-- it's a rebuilt d30 w/ detroit locker and 4.11 gears -- I had it "beefed" up back in the day, but for the life of me I can't remember exactly what I did... that said, I'm running 35"s, so I know odds are that it's going to break at some point.

So-- I'm likely going to do an axle swap, with an e-locker... what are some of the better options out there? I'm thinking a d44 for the front, specifically something like this:

Front d44

And in the same basket of "while I'm at it," I'm thinking of replacing the detroit in the rear (I'm running a ford 8.8 in the rear) with an e-locker as well
elocker for ford 8.8

anyway ,thoughts appreciated.

edit.. and by "axel" in the subject I meant... axle.... :)
 
Last edited:
as a post script to this, I was able to find the receipts from over a decade ago-- the front axle was pretty much completely rebuilt, and has a 27 spline tru trac limited slip.. and sadly, for the money I spent I just about could have bout the currie d44 w/ e-locker.
 
I had some Currie D44 axles built a few years ago for an old CJ project. Currie was great to deal with. Axles were super beefy. I put Ox lockers in both front and rear.

I currently have 3 XJ's all set up with E-lockers in the front and Detroit's in the rear. (all 3 have the D30 up front, 2 have D44's out of XJ's, and one has an 8.25.) I absolutely love that locker setup. I am a fan of the E-lockers for sure. ARB's are good, too, but personally, I don't care for them. I don't like the compressor and air line requirement. Especially in an XJ where space is sometimes limited. If you want the selectable option in the rear, then you can't go wrong with an E-locker. I personally like the Detroit's in the rear, a little lower cost, and no wiring to be done. Not that the wiring is very difficult, but my XJ's are mostly trail rigs, and I don't mind the road manners with the Detroit's. Some people do mind the manners in different climates, but that also depends on your Jeep and weather. Is it mostly a trail rig, or mostly a DD?

If I ever wanted a better front axle, I would do the Currie D44. For what you're getting, the cost is not unreasonable. For me, I'd rather buy that axle, than dick around with a 1 ton front axle, or some other axle. For the D30 on my 99, I spent a lot on the E-locker, chromos, gears, a truss, etc. For a little more, you can get the Currie. If you try to do a 1 ton front axle swap, you're got to buy all the parts anyway, plus shortening it, rotating the "C's", and installing the coil mounts, etc. Not insurmountable, and a lot of people do it, but for my time and money, I'd do the Currie with an E-locker. And to save a little time and money, I'd keep the Detroit in the rear.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, and I hope it helps!
 
JonnyCat63 said:
I had some Currie D44 axles built a few years ago for an old CJ project. Currie was great to deal with. Axles were super beefy. I put Ox lockers in both front and rear.

I currently have 3 XJ's all set up with E-lockers in the front and Detroit's in the rear. (all 3 have the D30 up front, 2 have D44's out of XJ's, and one has an 8.25.) I absolutely love that locker setup. I am a fan of the E-lockers for sure. ARB's are good, too, but personally, I don't care for them. I don't like the compressor and air line requirement. Especially in an XJ where space is sometimes limited. If you want the selectable option in the rear, then you can't go wrong with an E-locker. I personally like the Detroit's in the rear, a little lower cost, and no wiring to be done. Not that the wiring is very difficult, but my XJ's are mostly trail rigs, and I don't mind the road manners with the Detroit's. Some people do mind the manners in different climates, but that also depends on your Jeep and weather. Is it mostly a trail rig, or mostly a DD?

If I ever wanted a better front axle, I would do the Currie D44. For what you're getting, the cost is not unreasonable. For me, I'd rather buy that axle, than dick around with a 1 ton front axle, or some other axle. For the D30 on my 99, I spent a lot on the E-locker, chromos, gears, a truss, etc. For a little more, you can get the Currie. If you try to do a 1 ton front axle swap, you're got to buy all the parts anyway, plus shortening it, rotating the "C's", and installing the coil mounts, etc. Not insurmountable, and a lot of people do it, but for my time and money, I'd do the Currie with an E-locker. And to save a little time and money, I'd keep the Detroit in the rear.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, and I hope it helps!
Click to expand...

Thanks, that is helpful.
Any idea how much stronger the curie d44 is over the d30?
 
jmg222 said:
Thanks, that is helpful.
Any idea how much stronger the curie d44 is over the d30?
Click to expand...

Much stronger than a D30. Look at the specs on the Currie website. 3" x .5" tubes, larger ring and pinion, etc. More than enough for 35's.

It says it accepts TJ/LJ/XJ outer knuckles. That would be the only weak point, mostly because of the brakes. I don't think I would want to run stock XJ knuckles and brakes. I don't know if there are other knuckles you can put on to get larger brakes, like a WJ knuckle swap. I'd look into different knuckles with bigger brakes. Maybe D44 knuckles off of something else?

Other than a truss, and that probably is not needed, it's a very strong axle right out of the box.
 
I'm already running vanco big brakes, and I'm in the middle of swapping on wilwood brakes , which I believe use the WJ knuckle ... I think...
 
I think your mind is in the right place with the swap. The JK-Rubicon 44 front gearsets are a massive upgrade, even compared to Ford high pinion 44's.

Some things to consider going with that axle:

-Does it use the factory 5-760X (1310 series) or the JK-Rubicon 5-7166X (1350 series) u joint? In my opinion, it would be a bit silly to spend ~$6k on an axle only to retain the most failure prone component, even with the chromoly shaft upgrade. I do know that people make Dana 30 shafts that use the larger joint, so it very well may use it as well.

-Being its made to accept XJ knuckles, it is limited to factory sized ball joints. However, this does insinuate you could use WJ knuckles/ball joints/brakes/steering. There are metal-on-metal upgrade ball joint options if you go this route, and you could likely retain the Wilwoods you are currently swapping on.

-The inner shafts will be custom to this axle (unless maybe they are the same as TJ/LJ Rubicon shafts?)

-The stub shafts will retain the factory 27 spline count.

Another option you can consider is swapping to a JK Rubicon 44 axle (Currie RockJock, Dynatrac ProRock, G2 Core). The biggest benefit would be a larger u-joint (or RCV's), 32 spline stub shafts (yes, they are 30 inner/32 outer), different ball joint options, and better availability for axle shafts.

Of course, this comes with its own set of problems being that its 5" wider, uses a 5x5 bolt pattern, and would require different knuckles/brakes than you currently have.

I bought a JK Rubicon 44 take-off that I intend to swap in (eventually...). I really desired the extra width, and I'm not tied to my current rear axle so the width and bolt pattern difference wasn't a bother to me. I've weighed my rear axle options between a JK 44 and a Ford 9 inch, and I'm pretty set on going with a 9 inch. In your situation you could likely get away with running adapters on the 8.8 to match the width and bolt pattern.
 
thanks all for the advice .. I'm going to do more research, but the currie llooks like the way to go.
 
XJlimitedx99 said:
I think your mind is in the right place with the swap. The JK-Rubicon 44 front gearsets are a massive upgrade, even compared to Ford high pinion 44's.

Some things to consider going with that axle:

-Does it use the factory 5-760X (1310 series) or the JK-Rubicon 5-7166X (1350 series) u joint? In my opinion, it would be a bit silly to spend ~$6k on an axle only to retain the most failure prone component, even with the chromoly shaft upgrade. I do know that people make Dana 30 shafts that use the larger joint, so it very well may use it as well.

-Being its made to accept XJ knuckles, it is limited to factory sized ball joints. However, this does insinuate you could use WJ knuckles/ball joints/brakes/steering. There are metal-on-metal upgrade ball joint options if you go this route, and you could likely retain the Wilwoods you are currently swapping on.

-The inner shafts will be custom to this axle (unless maybe they are the same as TJ/LJ Rubicon shafts?)

-The stub shafts will retain the factory 27 spline count.

Another option you can consider is swapping to a JK Rubicon 44 axle (Currie RockJock, Dynatrac ProRock, G2 Core). The biggest benefit would be a larger u-joint (or RCV's), 32 spline stub shafts (yes, they are 30 inner/32 outer), different ball joint options, and better availability for axle shafts.

Of course, this comes with its own set of problems being that its 5" wider, uses a 5x5 bolt pattern, and would require different knuckles/brakes than you currently have.

I bought a JK Rubicon 44 take-off that I intend to swap in (eventually...). I really desired the extra width, and I'm not tied to my current rear axle so the width and bolt pattern difference wasn't a bother to me. I've weighed my rear axle options between a JK 44 and a Ford 9 inch, and I'm pretty set on going with a 9 inch. In your situation you could likely get away with running adapters on the 8.8 to match the width and bolt pattern.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If I did it over I would have held out for the JK axles.
 
Before you buy something from Currie, I recommend you give them a test call. Ask something simple, but technical.
If your experience is like mine, you won’t get ahold of anyone but a salesman. Tech support from them has been very very aggravating… they split up their company, and each new division has suffered for it IMHO. It took me a week of calling to find out what bearings one of their JK housings took. Which is unacceptable…
 
xcm said:
Before you buy something from Currie, I recommend you give them a test call. Ask something simple, but technical.
If your experience is like mine, you won’t get ahold of anyone but a salesman. Tech support from them has been very very aggravating… they split up their company, and each new division has suffered for it IMHO. It took me a week of calling to find out what bearings one of their JK housings took. Which is unacceptable…
Click to expand...

+1

I was looking to get an axle from them. Called with a question. The customer service when trying to make a purchase was enough to send me in another direction.
 
good advice, thanks.
 
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