Old griz

I was at a local auto parts store yesterday and heard two guys talking about an XJ one is building.
The dude he was talking to said "Why don't you just use D44 axles from an old Wagoneer?"
🤯 Sounds like a good idea to me. Has anyone done this to their XJ?
Any ideas good,bad, or indifferent?

Gearwhine

If you want full size width, it can be a cheap option. However... stock XJ axles can be great. I don't find most D44s to be much of an upgrade on most XJs

For the front, the D30 high pinion gear set is pretty on par with a low pinion D44 gear set strength, and they use the same u-joints (with u-joints still being the general weak point for Dana 30 axle shafts). The only upgrade in my mind are the ball joints and axle tube size, but then you're also losing the high pinion. This all assume you have a HP D30.

The rear 8.25 29 spline is damn near the same strength of a D44 rear. Weaker, but only marginally.

It's your call, but I personally wouldn't put in the effort for a D44 front over a D30 high pinion. The only reason to get rid of it is to go full width and to avoid people saying you have a polished turd...a turd that truly is fantastic for it's size and weight.

derf

Narrow track Wagoneer axles are pretty close to the width of XJ axles. So swapping them in has been done by a bunch of people. You can get truss kits that put all of the mounting brackets for control arms and track bar right where you want them.

The Wagoneer Dana 44 has stronger axle tubes, inner C's, ball joints, and knuckles. In addition, the 30 spline axle shafts are beefier. It is low pinion which is a weaker setup than a high pinion 44. But I would say it's still stronger (marginally) than any Dana 30.

The 6 lug bolt pattern on the front means you'll want to match on the rear. The two options are the AMC20 and Dana 44. The AMC 20 from the waggy is stronger in a lot of ways than the CJ AMC 20 due to thicker tubes and one piece shafts from the factory. But neither axle is any stronger than an XJ Dana 44 or 29 spline 8.25. The only reason to do the rear swap is for the matching 6 on 5.5" bolt pattern, and to upgrade if you have a Dana 35. And it's really quite simple. Just weld on spring perches and shock mounts and go. Maybe modify the driveshaft if you're coming from a rear 35. The parking brake cable from the XJ fits in the waggy drum with no modification.


If you are looking for a better upgrade and don't mind wider axles (by like 3-6" or so), the Ford high pinion Dana 44 from a late 70's F150 is an option. It's all of the same strength upgrades as a waggy front 44 but you get high pinion so it's even better. But the tires will stick out quite a ways. The 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern will probably mean you want to grab the matching rear 9" out of the F150 which can be seriously built to be way stronger than a Dana 44/AMC 20/Chrysler 8.25. It's easy to find a truss for the front 44 that does the same as the waggy truss. And the rear is just spring perches and shock mounts, along with parking brakes which may or may not be easy depending on what direction you go with those.