"I HAVE A SET OF DANA 44S OUT OF A 1970'S JEEP WIDE TRACK CHEROKEE NEW SEALS AND OIL READY TO GO."

I found a set of 44s for a pretty good price. I've never swapped axles before and was curious to know before I buy these if its a hard job or if its pretty minor. My jeep is my dd and I can't really have it down for too long trying to make the axles fit.

 

can you weld? if yes, go for it. you could do it in a weekend. if you cant and dont have a buddy who can, swapping in new axles isnt for you. also, these are probably 2.73 or some ridic gearing like that.

 

Just swapping the axles is easy if they are ready to bolt in. You could do that in a weekend.

Customizing axles is a huge job. Regearing, cutting down and rewelding axle tubes, grinding off old perches and shock mounts and welding new ones on, etc. There is a write-up somewhere on here where someone took a full width D44 and tore it down/rebuilt it for his xj. It looked like an enormous amount of time and money but it turned out pretty awesome.

 

if they are from the 70's. keep looking.

front is passenger side drop, rear could be offset. and if they are early 70's they could be low spline count/ closed hub/ drum brakes etc.