Seddie

I have a 94 xj that I welded up the spiders. It held up great till last night. From wikipedia a know it has a dana 35 in it.

With that being said I have a 87 cherokee parts vehicle that wikipedia says has a dana 44. That is also welded.

I would like to know what you guys would do in my shoes. What options I have as far as upgrades to the axles.

This is my second xj I built and pround too say I've got less than 1000 into it. I would like to keep it as possible. Its been a great toy runs like a top. I would build it up more but I'm savingmoney for my next project. Shortened 1 ton cummins with a xj body\frame on top. Thoughts on this project would be appriciated.

Gee oh Dee

Swap in the D44. Just make sure they are geared the same, otherwise you will have to keep it in 2wd.

reyeskid

well i have an 87 and it has a dana 35, so you should look at the diff to make sure.. as for swapping them out i would do so but you should check the gearing you could check by getting the rear off the ground.. and turn the tires manually for every one revolution the tire does count how many times your rear driveshaft turns and thats your gear ratio..

sportrider

or just swap out both axles from your donor and be done.

mentalbreakdown00

the 8.25 and dana 44 look very similar

Gee oh Dee

No they dont. Not at all. D44 is nowhere near flat on the bottom. Not to mention the 8.25 never was offered in 87.

I have an 87 with a D44.

N20jeep

If anything the 8.25 looks similar to a d35.

And can in no way be confused with a d44

N20jeep

Xj bodys set on frames never look good, and I'm thinking the 1 ton frame will be a little to wide.

Just beef up the xj frame rails and swap the axles and drivetrain over

Seddie

Thank you for the info guys. How do you tell the difference between the 35 and the 44?
wikipedia said if it was non abs then its a 44???

As far as beefing up the unibody ive always heard its not worth doing. If so how do you go about it. I have seen and rode in a similar trail rig and it looked like a body lift. Personally I dont mind the look some people do. I guess i rather have the tire clearence and the frames are not exactly the same width but im planning a full exo cage that would be designed to mount and tie both in.

Im a design engineer by trade and if you guys are interested I can provide 3d models and or drawings of bumpers cages and the like. 3d digitized model in the works.

Cherokee1690

.

Gee oh Dee

There was a guy here building a frame for his XJ. It was sexy.

Dunno where the thread is tho.

N20jeep

Lol well setting an xj body on top of another frame is a little different

Gee oh Dee

Agreed. I looked for the thread. I'm usually successful.

Not today. :/ must be the booze.

jomps

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/xj-framed-124701/

Gee oh Dee

Yep!!