Dana44 for XJ

XJ and TJ have the same track width. The D44 shafts from each are interchangeable, but the backing plates are different because the XJ housing has thicker OD tubes.

I don't see any problem building your own housing with centered diff to use two RH shafts. Any effect on lateral driveline angle is negligible.

Note that the D44 pinion is 1" longer than the D35. If you are lifted, this is great, otherwise you may need a shortened drive shaft.

Other D44 donors to consider are Toyota Tacoma and Isuzu Rodeo.

Steve

"Bertie Kemp" wrote:

Hello,

I have a 2000 model XJ with a D35c rear axle (ratio 3.73). I plan to replace the axle with a D44 but there are limited options available here in South Africa (no real XJ D44s, no Scouts or Explorers, etc.). Older Jeeps are scarce but recent models of ZJs, KJs and TJs are more plentiful and should not be difficult to find parts for. Therefor I would like to base the D44 on TJ parts but have a few questions:

1 - Is there a difference in width between the rear axle of an XJ and a TJ? (If I use TJ shafts in whatever D44 pumpkin and customised tubes I build, will that fit underneath my XJ? I have no room to go narrower.) 2 - Can I build the axle using two right-hand shafts? (I see that the left-hand shaft of a TJ D44 (29-1/4) is slightly shorter than the right-hand shaft (29-11/16). (Why?) Or are these shafts treated to be stronger in their designed rotational direction? This could gain me 1/2 inch total width and I would only need to carry one spare shaft.)

Comments will be appreciated.

Bertie.

Thanks, I shall ask about the YJs here. My computer's time is fine. I do not run Windows so this must be a Mozilla thing. Your message is shown as 8.45pm which, if you have replied soon after I had posted, was our local time.

Bertie.

============================ L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

Thanks, D44 for the Grand Cherokees are plentiful here but I know about their pitfalls - aluminium housing, C-clips and no upgrade path. The KJs have a Chrysler 8.25 I think, also with C-clips. Other axles like Ford, Isuzu, Toyota, etc. usually have six wheel bolts.

Bertie

=================== Cherokee-Ltd wrote:

Thanks, you confirm my suspicions (hopes). So a right-hand shaft is not weaker when fitted to the left-hand side and asked to torque in its opposite direction? My Jeep is lifted (about 3" in the back).

Bertie.

============ Steve wrote:

I've never heard of shafts being cut, rolled, or tempered for directional strength. Many rear ends have equal length on both sides. Those have one part number for both the right and left axle shafts.

Steve

"Bertie Kemp" wrote:

Oh, I didn't mean cutting existing axles. I was trying to tell the OP that shafts are not manufactured (cut/rolled splines, forged, induction/thru hardened, whatever) for maximum torsional strength in one rotational direction at the expense of the other. That is, if he puts two RH shafts in his custom D44 housing, the one on the left will be just as strong as the right when pulling in the forward direction. Correct, yes?

Nice dragster. Did you do your own re-splining?

Steve

L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

At 3" lift you might risk punching the stock slip yoke home on the tcase tail shaft when you switch to a D44. With my swapped-in D44, 4.5" lift, longer rear spring shackles, and stock rear shaft, the slip yoke stops just short of hitting home in the tcase when the distance to the pinion is at the minimum. Be sure to test/calculate the excess slip space through your full range of rear suspension travel.

Steve

"Bertie Kemp" wrote:

replace it with a ford 8.8 which also has disk brakes. cheap and stronger than a 44. almost a bolt in fix. old john

(Hope my posting is in sync now.)

Thanks for the warning. Part of my D44 upgrade plan is to move the slip yoke from the tranfer case output to the drive shaft. By shortening the TC shaft, this will hopefulle compensate for the longer D44 pinion.

Bertie.

============ Steve wrote:

(I hope this posting is in sync now.)

Thanks for alerting me to my out of sync postings. Because I never sent messages to myself, and no-one else complained, I was not aware of it. Also, my home language is not english, so when you spoke of Windows I thought you meant Windows tm and not operating systems in general, same as some people refer to all off-road 4WD vehicles as Jeeps. In my operating system the time zone is determined by a variable called TZ which contains fields to describe the actual zone, the relation to UTC, and information about the day light saving period. TZ can be modified manually or set by the OS. As far as I can determine, setting it by the OS gives a valid variable, unless standards have changed recently (example BST = British Summer Time (in which I am not) or BST = Bravo Standard Time (in which I am apparently now) although previously I was in SAT = South African Time). Also, without day light saving, the rest of the fields are zeros. However, this all seems to confuse the hell out of Mozilla, which is still a work in progress, and after many trail e-mails to myself I now have a day light saving (1 second) period of 1 day in January and yes, I had to move to BST. This brought my postings to myself in sync and I hope it works when crossing time zones as well. I still think the problem lies with Mozilla.

Bertie.

============================ L.W.(ßill) Hughes III wrote:

(I hope this posting is in sync now.)

Thanks, but only a limited range of Fords has become available here recently. Previous Fords were basically the same as Mazda (made in the same factory and looking the same except for the badge). Still, if they do have a Ford 8.8 that will use a six wheel bolt axle shaft which means that I will also need to upgrade in front. Do the 8.8 not use c-clips? Disk brakes are tempting and I have an article on how to swap ZJ disc brakes onto an XJ D44.

Bertie

============================= snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote:

The Ford 8.8 on the 1991-94 Mazda Navajo is 5 on 4.5 lug like your Jeep. C-clips are only a liability if you break an axle, something you're not likely to do with a 4.0L and 31-33" tires on a 31-spline 8.8.

Maybe you should consider options with a wider diameter bolt pattern on the rear so you can upgrade the front to manual locking hubs at the same time.

Steve

"Bertie Kemp" wrote: