Axles - Advice needed

Doesn't the YJ and the CJ have the front pumpkin of opposite sides?

Yes, the Dana 35 curse strikes another victim. Unless you just enjoy misery, toss the thing into a pond somewhere. You have a number of options, all of them expensive. Depends upon your pocketbook, and your plans for the YJ.

Local folks have been having fairly good luck swapping in Ford 8.8" axles out of first & second generation Explorers. It's still a c-clip axle, but much stronger than the 35 and has disk brakes to boot. Many of them had ABS, so you might be able to mate the two and get the ABS to work. See Mountain Off Road's site for more details on the 8.8. Be advised they are starting to get scarce because so many folks are doing this swap into YJs, TJs & XJs.

Alternatively you can search for a D44 from a Comanche pickup, but this may be like searching for hen's teeth.

Another alternative is to grab a D44 from a TJ, grind off the bracketry and weld on spring perches. Several club members have done this on their YJs and are very pleased with the results. Finding one gets easier every year. For example, virtually all of them sold locally have been ordered with D44s by our dealer, whose service manager thinks Dana should be tried for war crimes because of the 35. Only knock on these, TJ D44s (including those on the Rubi) have thin axle tubes (same as 35) but I don't know of anyone who's bent one yet.

Another idea that I haven;t yet seen done, but is feasible is to swap in a Chrysler 8.25 from an XJ.

Lastly, one can order a Ford 9", D44, D60, etc. from Currie, Drive Train Direct, Dynatrac, etc. Just depends upon the depth of your wallet.

Could you define "no longer works"?

1. Yes it "could" work, but not a bolt in and definitely not within the 5.00 price range.
2. No, not without major rework. See #1 above.
3. Naw, not nuts. On the wrong track maybe given what you've got and the budget you're limited to, but not crazy. Jeeps are all about crazy ideas anyway. Some crazier than others.

Depending on what "no longer works" means, it may be as simple as just fixing what you've got. It may or may not be the cheapest solution, but odds are it will be the most cost and TIME effective way out, especially if you can't afford to have it down for too long.

Never mind ...

You can do the Superior Gear Super35 with a locker for something like 700, and this is roughly equivelent to the D44 axles AND you get a locker.

"No Longer Works" = (short version) Pinion nut came off. jeep would no longer go forward. Spider gears are a mess.With the pinion yoke back on I can turn the yoke, but feels like there are pebbles in there...

I could probably have the thing rebuilt. My guess is somewhere in the neighborhood of $500-$600. I'd hate to put that kind of money into that axle if I can find a better solution - short of buying a real jeep!

So, it seems like I have the following options: (not in any particular order)

1. rebuild existing axle
2. ford rear from bronco
3. look for "donor" jeep. (besides an exact match, should I consider others, like the scout or wagoneer? if so, what years?)

No Bill, Superior can't do shit with that one, but the OP hasn't got that particular problem, and Superior Gear is a viable solution for the problem he does have.

Thank you once again, Captain BesideThe Point.

No longer works, and Completely Exploded are not the same thing.

No, completely exploded is the pic you posted.

nope - mine doesn't look that bad!

A friend of mine with a '93 YJ & 35s did this two years ago to "save money". All was fine until it toasted the pinion bearings. Lasted about 5k miles.

funny you should mention this............ My son had a problem w/his D35 (89 YJ). He is just using it to go back & forth to Chico State, so I thought I would just drive over to West Coast Differential for a master bearing kit & hire a friend of a friend to show me how to do the "contact pattern " thing. (I think I have looked @ 15 or 20 illustrations - but need to do a "hands on" before I can truly understand it). Got home, jacked it up next day & pulled the cover ----2 teeth stuck to the magnetic filler hole plug-------back to West Coast Differential on Monday. Well, got to the point of doing the "contact pattern" thing & I asked "so how do you do this?" - he said "I don't know, I never have done that. I always go by feel.". We put it together, he felt it a couple of times & said "we should add some shims to the pinion" I told him that I had .003", .005" & .010". he said to give him a .005", put it in & it felt good (to him). My neighbor has a tow truck service out of his home now, but used to own a garage & this guy worked for him for several years and he says that he did the rear end on his tow truck about 3 or 4 yrs ago & it is still running. So now I think I can handle removing & replacing the parts of an axle..................but I am still rather ignorant about the "contact pattern" thing. Some day I will find someone to "hand hold" me thru the process & I will have reached another milestone in my life.