Was bored and thinking I need to change my front and rear end oil and gasket and I'm just curious what's the best possible front/rear end combo for a 96 4wd? I think I've got the Dana 30 up front and the 8.25 in the rear. I hear the d44 is almost the same as the 8.25 but commonly has more problems. I'm just curious about the history of my paticular xj.

 

Some people say 8.8 in rear with narrowed D44 up front and others would say D60 front with D80 in rear. It's all personal choice and the type of wheeling u do, with tire sizes etc.

 

Screw the d44,60,80,etc... Best front and rear are 2.5ton rock wells. Easy to swap in, almost as easy as baking a pie........ Lol

 

The best combo is the one you haven't worked on yet.

 

Rockwells. Duh.

Since this is in the OEM Tech section, the best combo is HP D30 w/ 29-spline Chrysler 8.25.

 

they switched from 27 spline to 29 spline in 97+ right? I've got a 96 with the d30 up front and the 8.25 in the rear, but they didn't have the 29 spline in the 96's. So do I have the best that's possible for my year? I guess...

 

They switched from 27 spline to 29 spline in the '96 model year so some '96s have the 27 spline and some have the 29 spline, the only to tell which you have is to pull one of the axle shafts and count the splines.

 

What about Dana 60 front ford 9" full float rear? I've heard that's the "best" combo but I don't know much about the "best" axle.

 

the 9 inch is only a semi float axle, same as our xj44's.

and the 9 is much lighter than a 60 and has a 3rd member which makes gear swaps much easier.

the most common right now in the full width swap world is the 60 front, shaved 14 rear.
these are huge axles and require at least 37's to get the ground clearance.

i like the idea of 9 inch for front and rear. you have to tube a 9 for the front and use the outers from either a 44 or 60.
i like the 609 combo with a spidertrax center section.

 

Currie HP 9" front and rear

It all depends on what you're doing with the Jeep. For my use, a HP30 and 8.8 would be ideal. Best factory setup was the HP30 and 29 spline 8.25. If you wanna go crazy, HP60 front and FF14 bolt rear, or Rockwells.