1979 Cherokee Question
 

My buddy just got a 1979 Jeep Cherokee, and I was wondering what rears came in the 1979 Cherokees, was it the D44, the D60? Or something else? All I no is that it is a 1979 Jeep Cherokee, I think it had the V8, but Im not sure.

i dont know much about those cherokees, but here's what it says on wikipedia:

"Dana 44 model axles were used both in the front and the rear at least through 1979."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Cherokee_%28SJ%29

so i would guess that it has D44s

Thanks

alot of them came with AMC 20s.

What does the cover look like?

the model 20 was the worst axle ive ever owned, I only have had two diff. issues over the 25+ cars ive owned over the past 18 years. One was a 69 amx and the other was a 84 cj-7. I think that the 79 cherokee was too big for amc to stuff the 20 in there.

My buddy's 79 has an AMC 20 but I think they called it something else since it's 6 lug and full width. If you put in one piece shafts the 20 is as strong if not stronger than the 44.

axles
 

how can u tell the difference between the D44s and the amc model 20?

Half-way down, there's a picture will all the covers on it. Pretty big difference between the 20 and the 44

http://www.differentials.com/technic...identification

Model 20 cover is perfectly round. I'll bet you got a 44.

FSJs...
 

I would greatly be surprised if the 79 had an AMC 20 in it. Chances are pretty good its a Dana 44. If its an auto with Quadra trac then the 44 will be slightly offset. Look at any picture of a Dana 44 differential cover and you will be able to ID it. As for the AMC 20... its cover is round. And as mentioned, the FSJ AMC 20 is a different animal than the car/CJ model. Some folks call it the Model 20HD. Not truly correct but it gets the point across. It has bigger and thicker tubes than the "non-HD" version and does not suffer from the horrible 2pc axle design. Honestly, the ring/center section is actually very stout! It was even sourced for use in the military Humvee for a while. But the 20 got its bad rep from the CJ/car style one and has never been able to shake it.

pick your poison
 

covers

Great chart man! I'm so stealing that! Would make for an awesome wall poster too! :)

are the 44s very strong? id like to put a lift and some 35s on my cherokee. will those 44s hold up to sum light to moderate wheeling?

yup
 

Yes... you'll be fine even up to 37s if your adult about how you treat the silly pedal. You WILL want to look at a gearing chart like this:

http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html

plug in your number so you can maxamise what your after. I usually lean towards MPGs since gas is so expensive and these old FSJ beasts are thirsty anyway. You'll still want to regear the axles to make it right.
If you haven't, go to the IFSJA site here:

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/

And learn what you want. They are great, unpretentious folks over there. Good luck!