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Dana 35 Upgrades/Swapping

I just put 33's on my YJ, and I am a little concerned about the strength of my Dana 35. I will be off-roading in southeast Ohio about once a month, so I will need something strong enough to handle aggressive mudding in the hills. This topic has been covered before, but I still lack some of the information I need to make the best decision.

The three major upgrades/swaps I have found are:

1) Replace the Dana 35 with a Dana 44. The best Dana 44's for this seem to be from XJ's and MJ's (?87-?89). It has the same bolt pattern and width as the YJ. The spring perches seem to be the only thing that would require modification. Is this the best replacement for the Dana 35 then?

2) Upgrade the Dana 35 with the Superior Super 35 Kit. This kit comes with stronger axles and a Detroit Locker. The axles are supposed to be 35% stronger. Is the Detroit Locker a necessity for off-road? Does the locker increase tire wear on pavement? I am very interested with anyone's experiences with this kit.

3) Replace the Dana 35 with a Ford 8.8 or other such axle. I am very concerned about axle width and bolt pattern, and how people overcome these differences. The options get limited very fast when you try and match the YJ's width and bolt pattern.

Here is a link I found to some useful information on the axle swap subject..

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Any info or experiences with upgrading or swapping your Dana 35 are welcome. Thanks for the info,

-Brent Bogrees '89 Jeep Wrangler YJ 2.5L TBI ? 33x10.5 BFG MT's '94 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0L ? 31x10.5 BFG AT's

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Brent Bogrees
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No need to upgrade if you are in Ohio. There are no hills overthere and you are only wheeling once a month. The D35 is more than enough.

Curt in PA

Reply to
curt

I disagree. If you have 33s on a d35 and you are going "aggressive mudding", I suggest you consider option 1 (d44). You can change out lots of parts on a d35 and still not cure the various weak points. Leaf spring d44s were available on most of the later model FSJs like the Grand Wagoneer, also. (mine has front and rear d44s and, no, you can't have them.)

I'm not familiar enough with the 8.8 to advise regarding it's merits.

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TJim

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L.W.(ßill)

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L.W.(ßill)

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Jeep Guy

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Jeep Guy

Use an 8.8 out of a mid-90's Explorer. Bolt pattern is the same, the axle might be on the order of 3/4" narrower, not enough to get in a twist over, IMHO.

  • * * Matt Macchiarolo
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Matt Macchiarolo

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L.W.(ßill)

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Jeep Guy

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L.W.(ßill)

I won't bother replying to one of the posts but the c-clip is NOT the weak spot on the Ford 8.8... since it is behind the splined portion that passes through the gear case. The c-clip drawback is NOT weakness of the c-clip itself, the c-clip design is only a bad design for wheelers since the axle will slide out if the axle shaft breaks. The design drawback with the c-clip is NOT weakness, it is simply the axle will not be retained if it breaks. There is nothing to retain a c-clipped axle if the axle shaft breaks... but the c-clip itself does not break, it is the axle shaft that breaks which causes the problem. In no way does the c-clip contribute to axle shaft weakness because its groove for the c-clip is behind (again) where the splined axle shaft passes through the carrier... so there is no stress on the c-clip portion of the axle shaft.

Replacing the 8.8's c-clip with the c-clip eliminator kit is ONLY recommended for racing applications... the overall c-clip eliminator design is STRONGLY not recommended for offroading, it is only designed for and recommended for racing applications.

Jerry

Reply to
Jerry Bransford

I am going to take the advice here and do the Ford 8.8 swap. A couple of reasons for this..

1) The Ford 8.8 is much easier to find than the matching Dana 44. 2) I found one locally with 4.10 gears for around $400, is that about right? 3) Rear disc brakes. 4) MORE makes all the adapters to do the swap. 5) The Ford 8.8 is about 120% stronger than the Dana 35, and just a little stronger than the Dana 44.

I estimated that after buying the axle and adapters, the total cost will be around $700, not too bad.

These are some Ford 8.8 swap links I found..

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And here is the one for MORE in case anyone is interested.
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I'll post an update after the swap, thanks for the advice everyone.

-Brent Bogrees '89 Jeep Wrangler YJ 2.5L TBI ? 33x10.5 BFG MT's '94 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0L ? 31x10.5 BFG AT's

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Reply to
Brent Bogrees

Good site. The only thing is I know how to drive. I will be running 33's with my 35 in two weeks when I put my RE 5.5 on and a little more tire. I suspect no problems due to my skill level.

Respectfully, Curt

Reply to
curt

...so... what's your point, Jerry? ;-) ...is it that the c-clip is the weak point on c-clip axles? :-)

Reply to
TJim

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)

I had the axle and wheel fall off on the freeway on my older 88YJ. I brought it in to a mechanic to get the inner seal fixed. He (the mechanic) suggested changing the bearings at the same time on both sides. O.K. I said Go for it.

After he was done (Friday) I peeled it(120KM) down the freeway to go fishing at the hunt camp, when I felt a slight shuffle from the rear. Heck what was that? Looking in my rear view mirror I saw my wheel with axle attached bouncing on the freeway. Fricken lucky no one was behind me.

The mechanic said the part supplier sent him the wrong bearing, which to this day I still doubt as other mechanic friends said he probably forgot to put the clip in.

Man I was pissed as I was look> Basically he didn't give a sh*t if the axle fell out while off road.

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FrankW

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L.W.(ßill)

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