Klondike

I have a chance to purchase some Dana 44's front and rear for an 01 wrangler. Would these axles be something I should consider putting under my XJ? Any advice would be great.
Thanks.

Atmos

depends on how big of tires and what gear ratio you want
if you want 33's or 35's and 4.56's I'd say find a nice HP dana 30 from a 90-99 xj. dana 44 is overkill for anything less than 35's IMO
typically people worry more about getting rid of the useless rear dana 35

Klondike

Eventually I plan on running 35's or 37's. Im not too worried about overkill. I'd rather have something way too strong than something too weak.

Atmos

how much can you get it for? you wont be able to use it until you regear so front and rear axle match
and you'll have to swap the rear axle before you can regear and get big tires to go with those gears
so basically, if you get it now that thing is gonna sit until you're ready to upgrade everything else

were you going to do 44, 8.8, or 60 rear?

Klondike

The rear is a 44 as well. Im planning on building these axles before I slap them under my XJ. I know i must run the same gears front and rear. I was thinking 4.10's. I can get both axles for $100. It seems like it would be a good deal. I just want to make sure if i throw money at them, they will be worth it.

Atmos

I'm not sure that model had matching 44's I dont know much about wronglers
but yeah if you can get both for 100 that's better than any price on another axle setup
what are the stock gears in those? spline count?

Klondike

I'm not sure what gears or spline count the axles have. Someone is selling them on Craigslist. I might be able to get some more info from the guy but I have to wait for him to email me back.

Atmos

I'm having trouble finding any information on 97-06 front and rear 44's on google
have you layed out a budget?

Klondike

Not really. It's going to be a while before I can build them. It all comes back to money. Haha. When money comes in, I'll put money into the axles. I want to lock them and possibly put a truss on them.

Atmos

03 was when the tj had front and rear 44's with stock 4.10 gears
that guy doesnt know what hes talking about or hes lying to you

Atmos

so you havent added up a total cost yet?
a basic axle build with one drop in locker is like $1000 before tax and shipping
ring and pinion and locker install is like $800

Klondike

I know. It's not an instant build. I just saw a good deal on axles and I thought I might jump on it.

Atmos

fa sho. well post up what that guy says about 44's being in an 01 when he emails back tomorrow

Klondike

I was searching on the inter-web as well and only found 03's with 44's front and rear. Odds are that guy doesn't know what he is talking about. Hopefully it's two 44's. If its just the rear I might pick that up.

How would I be able to tell the Dana 30 and the Dana 44 apart?

xj_maniac_newb

Be prepared to cut the coil buckets and control are mounts off the rear D44 and weld on leaf perches, as TJ's are coiled in the rear. If you can get them for cheap then i'd jump on it, however if you are going to have to pay someone to do the fabbing on the rear (like a shop)... then i'd pass, as that would get pretty pricy. However you may be able to get your local muffler shop to weld them on if you shoot the **** with them long enough, just make sure they know what they're doing.


EDIT: And heres how you can tell them apart.