Hey everyone, im fairly new to this haha

I have a 93 jeep xj. It has a C8.25 rear axle that I want to swap out for a dana 44. I 4x4 quite regularly and tow trailers n boats n stuff like that. I was wondering if the dana 44 will be a straight swap over? Or will I have to weld new brackets on? And what type of gearing set up should i look for if i want to tow and 4x4?

thanks!

 

I have a Dana 44 that has been in an XJ, it appears to be a rare factory XJ unit, everything is correct

If you cannot obtain one of them, you can use one out of other Jeeps with some mods, other vehicles too

It was my understanding a C8.25 is regarded as being a strong unit, almost as strong as a D44

Gearing depends largely what size tyres you think you run..of course, you would have to re-gear front & rear

 

Why would you want to swap? The 8.25 is a good axle, mine handles 35s and a locker with no problems.

 

Yeah I am pretty sure they came in the XJ’s with the tow package. My plan with my xj is to be able to take it off road pretty much anywhere off road but also be a good road vehicle/tow vehicle. Im going to put a 5.5” lift in it, throw some 35’s on her, either swap a jetta tdi or a cummins 4bt engine into it. Im just not sure if the 8.25 will hold up with weight like the 44 will since they kriginally did put the dana 44 with the tow package xj

 

the xj44 is a great axle and definitely an upgrade from your 27 spline c8.25. the newer (97+) 8.25 had 29 spline, and were significantly stronger than the previous 27 spline 8.25. but, they are still a c-clip axle. so, unless you do a disc brake swap, you still run the risk of a broken axle walking out of the housing. at least the disc brake backing plate will somewhat hold the broken axle shaft in the axle.

the xj44 is a semi-float design, and not a c-clip, so a broken axle will stay in place. and it's significantly stronger than the 8.25 by a margin. and is a direct fit replacement for any xj. you would be best to grab the matching drive shaft. however, it would need to be from a jeep with the same transmission setup. ie, auto to auto or stick to stick, as the tail stock were different lengths, to make sure it fits properly in your application. xj44 has a longer pinion snout, so your driveshaft may be too long. there are a few variations of trans/axles to find a good fit.

the xj44 were commonly found in the 1987 xj with towing package. some say they were in xj's up to 90, but i had an 89 and 90 both with towing package, and neither had the d44, but two other xj's i had did, and they were both 1987.
gearing in all my xj44s have been 3.54, which is close enough to match jeeps front d30 with 3.55, but i would definitely check the gear ratio before installing into your jeep to make sure it matches your front gearing.

 

They only used the Dana 44 in the late 80s and early 90s until they started putting the 8.25 in. Later tow package models came with the 8.25, if you upgrade yours with 29 spline shafts and carrier it will handle 35s no problem.

 

There is one major reason I would choose a D44 over the 8.25. As mentioned the D44 is semi float. It has a full tapered roller bearing and is built to handle more weight, such as tongue weight for instance. The 8.25 has a roller bearing that rides on the axle shaft itself and has no inner race. The axle shaft is not as hard as a bearing race and can become pitted under heavy use. Then instead of changing the bearing out, you change the axle and bearing together if you start getting some growling at the bearing. The 8.25 is engineered more for a car than a working vehicle in spite of spline count

 

The 8.25 and Dana 44 are both semi float axles, the Dana 44 is rated at 3500 lbs and the Chrysler 8.25 is rated at 3600 lbs, more weight than you should ever have on an XJ rear suspension, the Dana 44 might have a slightly better bearing design, but axle bearing failure isn't common on the 8.25 unless you run it out of gear oil, the Chrysler 9.25 uses the same style of bearings and is rated for more weight than the 8.25.

 

my Dana 44 has a date stamp of 7/99 on top of the shock mounts or spring perches.

I cannot find any other markings on the axle tube (like it says I should be able to on the Internet)

It was under an XJ for over 10 years

I bought it dirt cheap of a guy that was getting out of XJs

He was a mechanic, and has it completely stripped down for rebuild, has an ARB air locker, and a full rebuild kit, I got it for $150

The story is an XJ fanatic imported the housing from USA to Australia.

It has a disc brake conversion.

I can see no evidence of non-factory welding to alter perches or shock mounts

 

There you go! It's an export!

 

Use it consistently at its rated GVW and you will notice the difference. That is why a friend of mine, RIP Mac, invented the axle saver bearing.