Couple buddy's of mine has the hook up on RCV's they can get them cheaper than 1k, here Yukon molys are like $5-600 for the pair I wouldn't waist money on them cheap knockoffs from ebay they suck seen to many break in friends rigs

 

I am currently running an 8.25(29 spline) and a d30 with usa standard chromo's(made by yukon) both are locked on 35's I've had it out 4 or 5 times and wheeled I pretty hard. No problems here. I am still on stock gears(for now) but when I regear, I plan on adding the aftermarket 8.25 shafts. Just for extra reassurance. But it seems to be plenty strong as is

 

dana 35 in the rear is what I have now sorry I should have stated that. 4.88 WOW I thought I was already going overboard with the 4.56's thats pretty low, will it still drive highway ok? tire coverage I'm not to worried about I can fab up some tube flares to make them cover I can only stick out 1 inch here in Pa

 

4.88/auto trans is the proper ratio for 35's. I'm on 35's/4.56's/auto and get 17mpg highway with full camping gear. I'd prefer 4.88's especially for street use. don't fear the deeper gear

 

Ya 4.88 on 35"s is where its at. I couldn't imagine anything less. I have a 8.8 spartan locked and bounce it off rocks once a month and drive it 300 miles home the carrier is the weak link but there not weak

 

There is no sense in putting that kind of money into a 30. You WILL break a pinion or ring gear eventually. The 44 has the same shafts, but with the strength of the housing there seems to be much less deflection and axles hold up much better. Even if you had problems with shafts, you could do chromo's and good joints and still have less money into it than building a 30 with a full case locker, and rcv's.
I actually gave this a LOT of thought during my build. If you read my build thread you will see how I went back and forth. In the end I broke the 30 pinion well before I had a chance to make my decision, and boy am I glad I did. If I had invested the money in shafts I would not have been happy, because it would have been inevitable that a ring gear or pinion would break again.
I also debated a 44/60 and some other combos, and for me it came down to the fact that Im never happy and I will always be upgrading. I knew bigger tires were in its future so I decided to do it once and go 60/70.
Even if you plan on 35's and eventually go up to a 37 on a D44, you will be fine. Ground clearance will be excellent too. I drag my rear diff on 40's over stuff I used to clear on a 8.25 and 35's.

 

the dana 44's seem to be the popular choice I think I will go that rout and if my research serves me correct that is the one that bolts right up. I see g2 makes complete axles now I have to find out if it would be cheaper to build my own or go with them. Thank you all for helping me sort it out. I would have never gone 4.88 if not for this discussion. I wanted to make sure I chose the right one because I am doing the coil swap in the rear and it welds to the axle.

 

d44 aren't bolt in unless it was a specific axle for the mj/xj/tj(which I recall was only d30 for tj's) or its a custom one built for a xj. all the others usually have a wider width that you have to cut down unless you want to stay wide, usually have to cut all the brackets off and re-weld brackets for the xj application, etc... not super spendy just takes time.

 

Only the rubicon 44 is a bolt in and I wouldn't waste time with that.
There are a bunch of comparison.Jew that make all the brackets and parts to make it an extremely easy swap. As far as width, with a waggy and the right backspace wheels you can keep it the same as stock.

 

I have found a waggy 44 front waiting on the guy to call me back. I wonder....if the dana 44 still needs moded why one wouldn't just go with the dana 60?

 

Weight, ground clearance, money...

 

what LR2 said. this subject gets a bit touchy. you can build a lightweight 60 for bukue bucks.. it's all a relativity of worth

1 ton nut swingers will not let you even discuss building a d44. because they used to have a d44 but they broke 10 ujoints, 3 shafts, and blew out the RP all on their first run
so you're retarded if you try to build a 44

 

76-78 with ball joints and 3.54 is that a good 44

 

Came out of a Cherokee chief

 

is it drivers drop? I forget the years that they changed. Also see if they know if its a wide trac or not