talton54

Ok so i just bought my 2nd cherokee my 1st is my DD and this one is my play toy and will never see the road, its a 91 with an about 5'' lift. stock d30 and d35 the d35 has been welded by a professional. and has 35'' BFG's AT's. other then that totally stock I'm selling the 35's to get some 33 ltb's and I'm putting a lockright in the front. And now for my question how dependable will this be as far as breaking axels and such cause i dont have the tools to be swapping to d44's or 8.8's. could i just throw stonger shafts in front and back and call it good cause I am just running 33's. Tell me what you'v broke with what set up and if i'll still be safe runnin 35's. If so i'll keep um but the main reason i'm goin with 33's is so I don't break so eazy.

94xjstud

The D35 will break and I am supprised it hasn't yet. Don't put any money into it. Get a D44 out of another xj. It is an easy bolt in application, but will have to change your driveshaft. The dana 30 will break shafts because you have the weaker shafts and u-joints. You should upgrade to the 97+ shafts then you should be fine with the locker if you a good with the pedal. You will blow through shafts on 35's.

jrhockey03

X2 on the D44, if you can't find one at the pick 'n pull you can get a 97+ 8.25 as it has the 29 spline shafts, not quite as strong as the D44 but its much better than the Turdyfive. It will probably be a little easier to find too.

BudgetXJ

x2. The only thing i'd add is that if you can't find an XJ d44, cause they're pretty hard to come by, you could find a 97+ 8.25 rear. Make sure its 29 spline and it will hold up to 35's. Just be easy on the skinny pedal

BudgetXJ

haha. beat me to it

smtippin

Can you just use the driveshaft that came out of hte donor vehicle with the 44?

s

94xjstud

Yeah I think so. But IIFC it is a little longer than the 35 shaft and shorter than the 8.25.
I reused my 8.25 shaft when I did mine because the JY shaft was messed up

talton54

OK the d44 sounds good. what years did they come in and what do i look for when i'm calling around to the local salvages. and how much stronger are the later model d30 shafts? and in the d35 what if i just got crome alloy shafts would they still snap EZ? thanks for the help

94xjstud

D44 87-89.
D30 shafts are much stronger, but can still snap.
The D35 is weak altogether, the crome shafts will help but it's not worth the money.

91 Laredo

I ran 32's with my D35 and was fine and yes I did wheel it. However, I feel it was a ticking time bomb. I swapped in a 8.25 (pre 97) with a LS and upgraded to 33's and never had any issues.

I would agree to ditch the 35 and go with an 8.25. If you cant find a 97+ you should be fine with an older one. You could save up some money and buy some Yukon shafts for the 8.25 and beef it up some more.

TennesseeXJ

I had a welded 35 for a while but i bombed it. Split the carrier and shot it through the dif cover. All i can do is agree with everyone else and say GET RID OF IT. The 8.25 is actually a pretty good upgrade if you cant find a 44. I know a guy that runs his welded on 36" cut TSL's and hes never broken anything.

LazersGoPEWPEW

What does your DD have? If it has the D44 you should just switch with your toy and that way you dont spend any money.

talton54

ya my DD is an 01 sport so it does have the bigger front 30 shafts and idk about the back. but it is my DD and i dont really wont to go swaping parts cause i really dont know what kind of abuse my 91 has been threw.

jd4x426

you could also look into swapping in an 8.8 out of explorer and you would get disk brakes and thy are just as strong if not stronger then the D-44