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Axle Suggestions

spinaldex

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Oregon City, OR
Hey guys, I'm new here so I'm not use to the "culture" here, but I hope its a bit nicer than the Pirate boards ...

Well anyway, I've picked up an 89 XJ and I want to dump the Front and Rear end for something that can put up with more abuse. I swung by the local junkyard today and they will sell me any rear end I want for $120 and any Front end for $250.

With that said, I saw a few Wagoneers and Cherokees with the D44 still in tact end to end, so thats definitely an option. However, there was a Dodge Dana 70 still sitting drum to drum, and a few Ford F250s & 350s where i was thinking "hey, i wonder if I could pickup a D60 combo ...".


So basically, my heart was pounding thinking of the option to get a good set of really strong axles to start building up in the garage. Dana 44 for a rear end is a great soluiton, but I thought .. if I can get a stronger rear end for the same price or less, why not?

Anyway, rear ends are all about the same to swap in from what I see except for the Dana 44 from the cherokees since its a direct swap. I think my biggest question is what front ends should I look for that are not *too* hard to find considering their normal availability since I have a flatrate on whatever they might have, and then .. what is not too difficult to get under the rig considering where the coil buckets are, upper and lower arm mounts, etc. Specifically, if I could find a Dana 60 front and rear .. which years and what models would you suggest? I'd love to just walk in to the counter and say "Do you have a 197X-8X Ford FXXX in the back right now?" and get what I need, and possibly find some writeup that shows what someone had to grind/torch off, where to order a set of spring perches, buckets, etc and get to work on it.

Thanks in advance for any input you guys have =)
 
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1979 Ford F350 Front Dana 60. It's driver side diff, king pins, and high pinion. Get the matching rear.
They will be 8 lug, and full width at 68 inches WMS.
You will have to cut off all the stock brackets of both axles, weld on an XJ/TJ front axle bracket kit, and 2 1/2 inch wide leaf spring perches on the rear. Then there's steering, brakes, trackbar, and shocks... etc etc..
It's quite a bit of work.
 
And what is the suggested alternative? TJ Rubicon D44? I here quite a people are having issues with breaking them based on a few threads I read over on Pirates4x4 and very difficult to find. My concern is that a D44 is probably not going to hold up to the abuse I'll put it through.
 
I went digging through the forums a bit more and found that the TJ Rubicon D44 is basically not even stronger than the D30. So thats off the list.

So right now I see:

- Beef up the D30 Front with 4340s, Hub kit, Truss, etc

- D60 HP


The issue I have is that the cost of beefing up the D30 is the same price (if not more) than what it would take to get the D60 prepped with lockers, gears, Hi-Steer, etc ...

Am I wrong?
 
How about telling how big you plan to go or what size tire you plan to run.Are we just supposed to guess as to what you are thinking.Axle choice is relevant to these questions.

If you only plan on doing 35's then the Tj axles might be good for you.If you don't plan on going bigger then 37's true 44's or a 44/60 combo might be the answer.If you plan on going 38+ then yes the a 60/14 bolt combo might be what you are looking for.

As for this site being nicer then Pirate.Pirate is what it is.You can go there and ask this type of question without being flamed as long as you follow the rules put forth.Going and asking this type of question in the hardcore section will give you nothing but grief.If you were to ask this same question in the non-hardcore section then you would get your answers and then some.

As for a built 30 costing as much as a good 60,keep dreaming.Look at spending in ups of $3000 to get a Dana 60 under the front of your Xj,same thing goes for a built 44.
 
What size tires do you want to run?? If you gonna stick with 35's or less you can polish a turdy and run a polished 44 and be fine. Anything larger than that and you will want more beef
 
It has 35"s on it right now, but I haven't even taken it offroad as I'm concerned about the rearend exploding. So, I'm trying to plan this out "right" so that I don't waste any money on anything I have. I don't know how big I'll want to make it over time ... I may want to go to 37"s after I take a trip to Rubicon some year, or I may stick with 35"s. My guess is I'll stick with 35s for years as it seems to be a really good size for a Cherokee based on the Ground Clearance I get.





As far as D30 costs vs D60 .. it's $1000 for the Hub conversion, $500 for Chromoly shafts. $200 for a good truss to strengthen the housing. Since I have no lockers and the gears are stock, I'll leave that out of the equation for both axles.



I can get a D60 for $300. New brakes, bearings, etc let's say another $300. Hi-Steer arms $220. Machine Shop for new Tierod, Draglink & new coil buckets + make my own brackets for control arms $400. CV Driveshaft, $400.


At least these are the rough costs I've looked at thus far. The costs seem about the same ... I must be missing something? I guess it would be a big hike to go to the D60 if you already have money invested int he D30 such as gears and a locker ...
 
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First off no need for a dana 30 hub conversion.That does not make the axle any stronger.No need for a truss on a dana 30 unless you plan on jumping the thing .So you are left with some alloy shafts.

You better start thinking about regearing you are only hurting yourself by not doing so with 35's .First you have a massive lose of power ,second you are putting undo strain on the trans whether it be a stick's clutch or an autos clutch bands.

If you can find a yard willing to give you a front 60 for 300 then by all means grab it.Chances are they will not let that axle go out the door for that price.Most places will sell a 60 for 800+.

Now that we know what you are running as far as tires go we can start to give you some real answers.

For 35's the Dana 30 you have will work just fine as long as you keep certain things in mind while wheeling.I had no problem beating on mine with 35's and stock axle shafts.It wasn't till I moved out west and start wheeling only rocks that it gave me trouble.Even then it was only because I knew I was going bigger so I let the right foot loose.Even then I only broke 1 rear axle shaft and one front shaft.The front shaft went when the axle joint let loose on a hard climb.Going up to a 44 axle wouldn't have helped this because its the same size joint found on the 30.

The rear axle is a 35 and yes that's a total piece of shit.Look at replacing that with a 44 or 8.8 (out of a explorer) and you'll be fine.
 
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