GBuch

Hey guys, google is not answering my question, maybe its too long..

I'm looking at swapping my Dana 44 open, with a Dana 44 with an Aussie locker in it. I have been dreaming of doing a locker and gears at the same time in the future but if i can get a locker now it would be great.

My questions is; can you change the gears in an 87 xj Dana 44 and keep the same locker, or do you have to replace the locker too?

Happy wheeling

G

odgreen

30 seconds of googling I found this.... Lol
Just gotta use the correct term " Dana 44 gear split"

Depends on what gears you have now. In D44 axles, there are basically two different sized carriers. One will use "regular" gears ratio 3.73 and down; the other one uses "regular" gears ratio 3.92 and up. So, for example, if you have 3.50 gears now, you cannot install a "regular" 4.10 ring gear on your carrier; it won't fit. You can put a "thick" 4.10 ring gear on a lower ratio carrier.

As for whether you can/should do it yourself, do you have access to a good dial indicating in-lb torque wrench, a standard ft-lb torque wrench and a dial indicator, at a minimum? You will also need to have or have access to a hydraulic press to press the carrier bearings on.

There are some good Dana axle gear install instructions here that should give you a good idea of whether to attempt this yourself or not.

dogger15

Aussie locker just takes out the spider gears since its a lunch box locker. With lunch box lockers you can keep them in no matter what gears you have. If you do a full locker like Detroit for example there are carrier breaks that you have to keep an eye on. Usually the carrier changes when at 3.73

As long as your spline numbers are the same in both Dana 44s the lunch box with swap over no issues.

GBuch

thanks for the responses boys, i guess i really should have asked "how do i google this question" haha.

I wouldn't do it myself, lack of access to those types of tools and fear of screwing it up. sometimes its worth paying someone so you can get it back on the trails, sometimes.

I know someone is just dying for follow up questions so..

The 44 i'm asking about has 3.55 gears in it now. If i wanted to go to 4.56 or 4.10 in the future, could i keep the locker and use a "thick" ring gear? is there anything else to consider i might not know about?

odgreen

I think the only "thick" gear is 4.10.
But just google 4.88 thick.

dogger15

If you do a lunch box locker yes same locker can be used from 3.55 to 4.10 or 4.56 or any gears you go with.

GBuch

Googled, sucess! thanks for the google instructions i had no idea what to look up so that saved me a lot of time.


Awesome. thanks for the help. it would have taken me an hour of reading to figure this out on my own.

i'll go back to my lurking now.

Cheers!