Gotlift01

Alright, I have a 91' Jeep XJ ( Cherokee ) running now 11" ( was 9" ) of lift and 35" Swamper TSL's and possibly moving up to 37"s here soon and trying to decide what axle combo I should throw on that would work the best to get rid of the stock D35 and D30..

Right now I'm thinkin about a D44 up front and a Ford 9" in the rear. It's a pretty common combo on Jeeps and seems to work well "AND" I just so happen to have them available to me if I want them. Both need new gears and all that good stuff...but the axles themselves I can get both for $150.00 from my buddy.

Now he also has a couple D70's that he said I can have too if I want, but they are eight lug and all that fun stuff........so not to sure about that.

I'm pretty sure the D44 and the Ford 9" would work great, but just wanted to ask around and see what others thought...........so any suggestions or advice is welcome!!

Thanks,

~Nick

derek840378

depending on power and what you'll be doing, the d44 and 9" should be ok w/ 35's. its a general rule of thumb that 35's are the biggest you wanna go w/ a 1/2 ton axle. those d70's sure would be sweet(!), but overkill. on second thought, whats wrong w/ overkill? but i would stay w/ the d44/9" combo. the xj is light enough and unless u drop in a v8, the axles should hold up fine. have fun and tread lightly!

Gotlift01

I thought about doing a V8 conversion, but I think I'm gonna stick with the 4.0L and do the stroker kit to a 4.7L. That outta be plenty of power for me!! Thanks for your help!


~Nick

Derek_J

ya the 44 and the 9 should be no problem holding up to those tires as long as you know you can drive like me, haha
even if you do run into problems breaking axle shafts just throw some chromos at them and you will have a stout rig

also for that price you are getting a smoking deal if they have new gears and are runable

Gotlift01

Well I'll still need to throw in some new gears, the 9" has a 2.73 ( or somewhere in the range) gear ratio in it right now Yeah sounds weird but it does!!! Not sure wha the 44 has in it, but I'm gonna throw in some pretty low gears to crawl with.



~Nick

Derek_J

5.13's should fit it nicely

Gotlift01

You read my mind!!!



~Nick

gunracer1

spend your money once, a 60 front and a 70 or 14 bolt rear. then later if you want more power it is not a worry. i went with rockwells under my land cruiser, i have never had to replace a axle since[4 years or so ago]. but they are not very street freindly. i have a 60/14 bolt for the new rig. but the new land cruiser will be lighter than the fj62 i run now. and i will just run a 4.3 vortec with a atlas more than likely.

Gotlift01

Yeah that's what I'm having trouble with is trying to decide which will be better so I only have to do this once.........power I'm not to worried about, with gears and the torque from that little 4.0L, that thing does extremely well for what I do!!


~Nick

bchesley

If money is no object put a 35 spline 60 at each end with good quality components. If not then you can make a 44 and 9 survive. I did for four years in my buggy. I only broke one ujoint in the front and that was in a creek in clayton Oklahoma. I had a log pinned in the wheel well and did not no it. I was light, under powered and moderately conservative. I could be though because of my setup. My buggy weighed 3200 pounds on Dana 44's with 38" TSLs. Both locked of course. I also had a crawl ratio in the upper 80's. It would creep along. As a matter of fact I could barely use 1st gear on the trail. If you have power and an aggressive wheeling style then do it once. Beef!

Brad

CTD NUT

I 2nd the D60's.....

But is sounds like you are getting a good deal on the 9" and D44....

Personally, I'm really not a fan of the 9" in a heavy duty crawler - I have seen too many fall apart. There really isn't a substitute for the D60 when it comes to strength. 9" axles that came out of the 66 - 77 Broncos almost all had 28 spline shafts unlike the full size trucks that came with the 31 spline shafts. Even then, wheeling hard with 37" tires can quickly eat up old 31 spline shafts. Converting to a full float 31 spline can add a lot of strength but is much more expensive than a mild 35 spline semifloat D60 and still is not as strong. You can convert to a 35 spline semifloat on a 9" but you will be forced to buy an aftermarket large bearing 3rd member that will accept the 35 spline carrier - not cheap. For a high strength axle build up, you will get more strength for less money from a D60.

While you can make a D44 live up front, hard wheeling with a front locker and 37" tires will take a toll on it too.....it's like anything else, if you are careful, you will be successful.....if not, they WILL fall apart!

All that said, you are getting a good deal on those axles.....they will offer a marginal gain in strength over the stock XJ stuff and will work well as long as your expectations aren't too high.

Gotlift01

I'm not into abusing my stuff hard when I'm wheeling, I stay pretty calm and don't just mash on the gas to get up stuff.....so I should be ok......I think

The D60's would be sweet, but around here they are kinda hard to find ( cuz everybody wants them I'm guessing ) and when you do find them everyone wants GOLD to get em. My buddy Jeremy is looking for the same setup for his FJ40 and isn't having much luck find a good price on any of them.

I really do appreciate your guys' help on this. I know quite a bit about a lot of things, but when it comes to axles I'm still a rookie........never had to deal with them much!!!

I might just buy the D44 and the 9" just cuz they are a really good deal, and still look around for some 60's........although those 70's I can get for the same price......??? Decisions decisions



~Nick

Shady TJ

Well just to ad my .02 on this one. I am running 9" center with 60 king pin outters up front and a 9" center with 60 full float in the rear. 35 spline all the way around. I spent the $$$ on HI 9 centers but it was worth it. BUILD IT ONCE AND BE DONE!

Not like me. Upgrade the 30 and 35 then go up to 44's and then build the axles listed above. If I had just spent the $$$ the first time

later

Bruce

displacedtexan

If you can get the 70's for the same price, I would think that would be the way to go.

I don't know a lot about axles, but I am a big beliver in over building, rather than under building.

bgwhtjp33

The d70 front is a closed knukle, won't turn as tight. Also the shafts will be the same as the d44, 30 spline. I think they only came with drum brakes.