#15 Gearing became my next priority. I was still with stock gears and open diffs. I daily drove this 40 to 50 miles a day, which worked, but I needed better. I looked into 4.56 gears and OX lockers for a while, I didn't want to spool or lunchbox because I wanted the option of selectability since it was daily driven. My HPD30 up front had plans to use WJ knuckles for a high steer setup, along with bigger steering etc. The rear C8.25 is fine, but has those pesky c-clip axles are of concern.

A friend of mine then sent me a link to a craislist ad selling these...

 

If you cant tell from the diff cover, it is a set of Dana 44's. Waggy 44's to be specific. SO I began to consider swapping axles because and only because they were being sold already built and ready to bolt right up to an XJ. Front was geared to 4.88 with a mini spool, 30 spline shafts (with spares) warn locking hubs, TNT truss, Clayton OTA Trackbar and JCR OTK 1 ton steering. The rear also had a mini spool, with u bolt eliminators. Plus he threw in a HD ruffstuff diffcover.
WOW what a deal you might be thinking! Well no, he wasn't giving them away, far from it actually. He was asking 2500 dollars for both which almost made me crap my pants on the spot, I paid that much for my Cherokee when I bought it!

 

But I thought about it and realized: Its going to cost me 2000 dollars to re-gear regardless, and the d30 and 8.25 aren't anything special. Don't get me wrong, that axle combo on the cherokee is bulletproof, I know folks running 37s on a dana30 but why risk it? And the 8.25 has so little aftermarket support.
Long story short I went to check them out, ended up getting them for 1900. With everything ready to go. And that was it I owned my first set of Dana44's.

Next came part compiling and specifics. I needed to know what was involved, and what components would be needed. Six lug wheels, clayton track bar mount, new tie rod ends and TLC. Yeah I could convert to five lug but screw it 6 lug cherokee sounds cool.
Mini spool was also not going to cut it so I knew I would be throwing a spartan locker in the rear.

 

#16 Now before I swap my axles, I needed to make sure everything was sound and working the way it should be. I had been having typical cherokee overheating problems for a while, and all it took was the the filler neck on my radiator to explode to realize it was time for an upgrade. So I parked it and began to tear in.
Coolant was filthy so that was likely culprit #2 right there.

 

My solution was a Champion all aluminum 2 core radiator and B&M supercooler transmission cooler.

 

Sittin pretty once again. And this time cooler!

 

Oh yeah, then this happened

Had to limp off the trail because I forgot my spare *don't flame me* mind you these tires were essentially brand new and this one was ruined. I ended up buying a set of 5 more duratracs for 500 bucks, kept the one tire I needed and resold the other four for 500. That basically translates to free tire!

 

#17 Then I did a thing to my steering, trackbar and RuffStuff diff cover...

 

RESULTS!!
Bed liner red powder coated diff cover, cleaned and rebuilt clayton johnny joint, all new tie rod ends hardware and jam nuts and a sweet purple to finish it off.

 

Before all of you go "But hey, Burg3rlicious, I thought this was and every day working mans build." It is. It completely comes down to how into the hobby you are and how much you're willing to invest (time, and money wise).

I'm a line cook, to give all of you an idea of the demographic I fall under. And I think it's time to break down this build into the brass tacks:

Purchased the Jeep stock for 2600 dollars.
The last posting I had had about 3090 invested in parts. I'd like to update that number since I hadn't included some parts. Steering gear-150, radiator and tranny cooler- 300, D44s -1900, new tie rod ends-150, 6 lug wheels- 260, spartan locker- 240, various powder coatings- 200, misc, lets say-300. Lets leave it at that for now. SO:
2600+
3090+
150+
300+
1900+
150+
260+
240+
200+
300=
$9190.00 Total invested.

WOAH BIG NUMBER! THATS SO MUCH MONEY. kinda...
Remember fellas, this is three years in the making. I didn't simply drop ten grand at once. If you break it down to the average income of an American, $26,695, then multiply that by three years you get $80,000. 30% of your income is rent, 12% on food, and lets throw another 25% towards insurance, misc, savings, bills etc. So 67% or 53,600 of your income is going towards basic living needs and your NEED to pay expenses. Remember this is all based over the course of three years. SO 80,000-53,600= 26,400. Thats almost 30 grand or 10 grand a year in your pocket after expenses.

In layman terms 11.25% of what I make goes into my Jeep. Maybe thats a lot for you, maybe not but thats what works for me.

I know is a lot of numbers and a little convoluted but it goes to show the average guy can afford it. Okay guys. Back to Jeep stuff.

 

Time to tear down, take the old axles out. Pretty easy to sell those guys.

 

Threw some paint on the new axles and threw on the sweet RuffStuff cover just to make sure it fit! Then for the front I used a file, dremel and a lot of patience to clean up the very beaten up diff cover, but in the end, came out shiny looking new!

 

Mockup of the new front 44 and clayton trackbar. Then left to get the new wheels and tires mounted so I can work on steering next.

 

How do I even align.

 

With your flat was it a cut sidewall or something you could plug? I always carry a good plug kit and some air...I plug tire quicker than changing a tire most of the time.