What I mean is, could I go to the junkyard, find a big truck (old F150, Ramcharger, and the like) with a solid D44 front axle and remove the carrier and gears to put in mine?

I pulled a D44 from an XJ at the jy and it has 3.54s. That means that if I could find a truck with 4.10s and a 4 cylinder xj front axle with 4.10s then I could swap my gears for about $200 total.

I've looked it up and could not find an answer, but it appears that, except for some hd axles, all truck front d44s are 30 spline with an 8.5" ring gear, just like the XJ.

 

As long as it's a low pinion, standard rotation 44. The 44a out of Grand Cherokee's won't work and neither will the JK versions. Keep in mind you'll need to replace all the bearings, pinion and carrier, so add to that 200 a little bit, even more if you don't know how to set up a ring and pinion. Just an FYI CUCVs with the 44 front have factory 4.56s.

 

Could I not just pull all the guts of the differential (carrier, ring, pinion, spider gears, and all) and put everything into my axle? Why do they need replaced?

 

Possibly. But you will need to recheck backlash and pinion depth going into a different housing, and if you have to change it, it means you have to press off all the bearings. which basically renders them junk most of the time. maybe not the first time, but if it takes a couple tries, they will be

 

I just wouldn't put bearings that have been sitting in a jy for who knows how long in my housing and expect them to be good. They'll prob be rusty and you have to set up preload so you'll need shims and such anyway. Might as well get a full set up kit.

 

I'm new to working on diffs, any threads or stickies you could point me towards? Sounds even more complicated than I initially thought.

 

It's not all that hard but you're dealing with thousandths of an inch and if you are off by a little you get to buy new gears and possibly more. Not something I'd recommend for a novice especially if you drive it on the street.

 

*side note*
What year was the xj you got it out of?

 

No idea, but I guess it had to be between 87-90. It had every option: d44, tranny cooler, all three skidplates (I can't get the gas tank skid off, but I took the others.), interior dress up stuff, full length side steps (ugh), everything.

 

Yes, as long as its LP, it should work just fine(As stated above) I have a factory chevy d44 4.56 R&P in my jeep D44, had no issues.

I would also recommend putting new bearings in while you have it apart. the factory shims should put you very close to spec, and sometimes still dead on... but these must be checked, and can create a very expensive mistake if not done properly and it comes apart.