Ever swapped out your axles?

I just blew up my rear diff and I'm thinking of swapping out the whole axle for a Dana44.... any ideas on which rigs I should look to pull from? Any thinig I should know before I do iit (i.e. any kind of adapters or anything I'd need)?
Could use some help!

never been done to my knowledge

I must be missing something? Any way,the easiest dana 44 swap would be of course one out of an xj. Are you Joking?

Donor XJs will be from 87-90. Aside from a complete teardown and rebuild, at least change out the seals / bearings. You should also redo the hard lines and overhaul the drum brakes.

P

S E A R C H

No offense, but a lot of guys on here have done it so SEARCH. I am included as I went from a 8.25 29 spline to a dana 44 with 4.88s. Just get the differential rebuilt and throw it in there. It really should be a practical bolt in swap as mine was. This is of course talking about a rear differential.

Another option is a new 03/04 Liberty for an 8.25, they come with disc brakes

just check the for sale forum. you can also check ebay... you can also contact some drivetrain shops and builders and see if they have any that they can build to your liking.

I understand that many of ya'll have done this before and have answered the same questions tons of times but isn't the whole purpose of these type of forums to help others find the information they need? I am not saying to lay it all out in front of them but for godsakes a simple suggestion like xxxj-va, RichP,Rawbrown and even offroadman83 is not asking too much.

This might sound like old news to you but for some newbies it is pretty confusing. I remember that I spent so much time searching the wrong items just to find out that they did not work. It would have helped me out some if I was given a general idea of what to look for.

95-98 ford explorer
jeep wagoneer
IH scout

all will require welding and cutting to mount the perches in the correct spot.

if you are interested, I have a scout 44 that already is PLUG AND PLAY for a cherokee. new everything, even a full-on detroit and 5.13 gears.

5 on 5 1/2

Thanks, spudmonkey. I appreciate that - I knew when I posted that I was probably asking a pretty dumb question, but like you said, I'm new to all this and so my options are limited.

Swap Axles! Oh dear Seriously though, I'd go with an 8.8 with discs, make sure its a 31 spline though

I just swapped in a D44 from an 89 Cherokee and added 4" of lift at the same time.

- You can buy a rebuild kit for the dif seals and bearings.
- Outer axle shaft bearings are stupidly expensive and need to be pressed on.
- My D44 didn't have brakes, so I moved the brakes from my 35C. I had to drill two holes in the backing plates and slightly enlarge the hole in the center of the drum.
- The pinion yoke on my D44 was damaged. The pinion yoke from a D30 front axle is the same. Buying a yoke that allows you to use U-bolt style U-joint straps instead of the stock junky straps is a good idea.
- Due to the longer pinion of the D44 my drive shaft is now too long. It's OK for normal driving but if I was to weight it down and then slam the suspension it would drive the slip yoke into the t-case, possibly doing damage.
- The actual yoke on the slip-yoke is also binding due to the lift. I am replacing it with a YJ yoke which has larger ears and slightly longer travel.
-The E-brake cables should hook right up, but in my case due to the lift the passenger side one is cooking on the muffler. Got a YJ cable, which is longer.
-Change your rubber brake line to one from a YJ. It's longer so it allows more flex.
-Unless your rig is nearly new don't re-use your U-bolts.

Forget the 8.8 and D44...

Go find a D60 for $100 at your local Pick and pull, drop $1500 and you'l never have to worry about breakage again....unless....you decide to run tire sizes larger than 44's and beat the snot out of it...but then your unibody would probably go before the axle...

uh...yeah...on second thought...just go find one of those rare D44 out of an 87'...good luck though...I wouldn't get the 8.8 its not that much better than the D44 although some people swear by them..statistically and by the numbers it is a waste of money...

I would search this forum and pirate4x4.com, rockymountainextreme.com and see what you can find...here have some links on me...

http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/axle/
http://www.4x4wire.com/jeep/tech/axle/xj_dana44_02/
http://jeephorizons.com/tech/xj44part3.html
http://www.offroaders.com/info/tech-corner/facts/axles/axlefacts.htm

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-24854.html

Here some people argue the issue 44 vs 8.8