So I have a cherokee Dana 44 rear ($100 at pick n pull) that I wanna swap in, but when I do it I wanna regear and maybe swap the front alxe at the same time. I had a few questions about the differentals.
Do all 30 Spline Dana 44 (front and rear) use the same ring, pinion, and carriers, for example if I got Rubicon ring and pinion would they fit my XJ rear? Do the same lockers work in front and rear Dana 44s?

 

NO not all D44's are created equal whne it comes to gears. they are hp/lp specific, also I think the tj d44 is a lil different then the older 44's, and the JK 44 is definately different.

 

for the most part yes. Rubicon ring gears take a bigger bolt. So you have to drill the carrier to fit a Rubicon ring gear bolt. To further answer your question, I was shipped a Rubicon ring gear instead of a Wagoneer ring gear. So I drilled the carrier to the bigger bolt size and installed it into my 89 Wagoneer housing, which I was instructed buy the gear manufacturer... Works great, no issues.

If you go to http://randysringandpinion.com/ and look up your current axle, it will tell you what other axles the internals are interchangeable with(or used to).

As long as both diffs are Low pinion they will interchange, if one it HP and the other is LP they will not as far as the gears. Lunch box lockers will fit front or rear. when I ordered my D44 carrier the part number was the same for the front as the rear(both LP). but as far as shafts brakes ect obviously they wont interchange.

hope it helps some...

 

That site is very helpful, a local guy was sell rubicon 4.11 gears and I was wondering what I would have to do to make them work, also nice to know if I get a waggy D44 front that it uses many of the same parts...gears lockers ect

 

They'd have to be different, wouldn't they?

Seriously tho - just know whether the front axle is HP (High Pinion, pinion centreline is above the axle shaft centreline as mounted) or LP (Low Pinion, pinion centreline is below the axle shaft centreline as mounted.)

LP front axles may use the same gears as the rear, while HP gears use a spiral in the opposite direction (since the pinion is on the opposite side of the centreline, the standard spiral direction won't work. (Gear teeth will not mesh with the standard hypoid spiral. Don't bother trying.)

However, the HP D44F is fairly uncommon - primarily because the gears have to "spin the other way" (gears spin in the same direction - just the spiral is reversed.)

And no, you can't just "flip over" the housing - you'll grenade your bearings due to insufficient lubrication (the housing is internally designed to pass oil top-to-bottom and lubricate the pinion bearings along the way. If you flip the housing upside down and run it, you won't get enough lube on your pinion bearings.

And yes, there are some variations in the gears proper, going by axle application. I do believe that the Rubi D44 takes the next size larger of screw (1/2", I believe, instead of 7/16") so a carrier swap may be in order. However, you may be running into a "carrier break" issue and need to swap carriers anyhow, and I believe the housing is the same. ("Carrier breaks" are caused by the need for changing the OD of the pinion gear for different ratios - some axles have no break, most have one, and some GM axles have two. The D44 has one, and I believe it's about 3.73:1 - but you should confirm that.)

 

^ all correct, the carrier break is 3.73 and lower, or 3.92 and higher (numerically)