35xj

well. as a person who built an xj with 37's a couple of years ago... screw the 70's. ever driven a 60/70 como with 37's? its DUMB!
go with a front 44. good shafts,detroit, shave it as much as you can with a grinder.
Rear, 2 options... cut and plate a 9" to get as much clearence as possible, 31 spline shafts, discs, etc, or..... a toyota tacoma rear! plenty strong, light, small, lots of affordable upgrades, 6 on 5.5 (same as most 44's)
my money is on the yota. I had a waggy 44 front, yota (85 model) rear in my xj. finally killed it and built a buggy. kept the axles and they are still doing great with 37 sticky krawlers and a HEAVY foot (200 hp 4.0)

Gotlift01

Wow I never even thought of a toyota rear.........that'd be something to look into!! Might have to check around and see what I can find one of them for. Thanks for the tip!!!



~Nick

GO 4LO

Go 44/9 unless you like digging ditches with the pumpkins. You don't need 70's for 35's or 37's (unless you've got a CTD under the hood). If you're looking to eventually go to 40's and want the extra width and strength, then go for the bigger axles.

Chris

Gotlift01

Yeah that was one concern I had with going with those big monster axles.....is the dang pumpkins!!! I don't ever plan on going any bigger than 37's.....possibly 38's but I don't think I will!


~Nick

CTD NUT

Don't rule out shaving the pumpkins! My D60's have a 1/4" MORE ground clearance than a D44. That said, there is MUCH less room for shaving a D70 and is hardly worth it.

Gotlift01

Yeah I could do that I suppose........never shaved a pumpkin.....just take a grinder to it or what???


~Nick

CTD NUT

There is a bit more to it if you want to get the full 1 1/8" removed from the D60. You can lose about 9/16" with a grinder alone on most D60 castings but for the full 1 1/8" a section of the bottom of the pumkin has to be cut out and a new plate and some re-enforcement welded in. Also, the diff cover will have to be shortened up and modified since you will be losing the bottom bolt in the cover. It sounds like a lot of work and I suppose it is but for those of us who are clearance freaks it gives us a nice warm feeling to know that you can have a D60 with more clearance than a D44.

displacedtexan

Well I am far from a clearance freak, but having a 60 with 1/4" more clearance makes me smile

ruquik

Why not dana 44 front and rear ? no cutom fab work, just bolt in and go.

GO 4LO

You can shave 44's and 9's for more clearance, too. If you need the strength or the width of the 70's due to power, tire size, or because your throttle foot never comes off the floor, then go for it; otherwise, you're giving up ground clearance and weight for no reason with a light vehicle with 37's and a 4.7... JMO.

Chris

CTD NUT

You can't shave much of a D44 without losing a lot of strength and there really isn't enough room to make cutting and welding in a plate worth while. The 9" is a somewhat better canidate but gains hardly any clearance over the D60 and has a MUCH weaker housing.

If there is an investment to be made in custom axles, I would not bother with anything else other than D60's when rock crawling with 37" tires. I know the D60 front can get exspensive but at least start with a D60 rear for now. A D44 WILL fail.....it will only be a matter of time. It's easy to say "oh, I'll be careful - a D44 will work just fine for me"....I have heard it all before and have been there and done that (I used to think D44's would be just fine too!). The problem is, by nature, rock crawling is hard on parts......being careful is VERY subjective here. What exactly does careful mean when you have your truck all bound up in a bunch of boulders? More often than not, good parts can quickly be not good enough. As your experience grows, what you thought was overkill can easily become regarded as only adequate.

Just some food for thought.....

Gotlift01

So where is the best place to find D60's?? I am a retard when it comes to axles so I don't know the first place to look. I'm sure out here, most of them have been snagged out of the salvage yards....lot's of wheelin guys around my parts.



~Nick

Gotlift01

Alright CTD NUT......I got me a D60 for the rear yesterday!!!! It came out of a 96 E350 Ford Van.....well that's what the tag said anyways. Still on the search to find a front D60.....my buddy Frank owns a junk yard so we've been searching around...hopefully I can find one!!

So if I can't find a D60, what would you suggest to run on the front??? A D44? or what will be a wise decision??

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention......I got the D60 for FREE!!!!!!!!!


Oh one more thing.....forget what I said a couple posts above about not going any bigger than 38's.....I'm thinking 40's would be SWEET!!! Especially since I can fit them now.......chopped the body off and it's full tubed now

~Nick

CTD NUT

See what I mean, Nick? Your tires are growing and you have not even got the axles under the truck yet! This is kind of what I meant when I said that what was ok for running gear at the time quickly becomes marginal at best as you progress.

Good score on the D60 but beware that what came out of many Ford vans was a 35 spline semi float with c-clips.....most 1 tons did have a full float, though so you should be good to go.....also be careful and double check that it is not a D61 - not uncommon for an econoline.....if there is no means of ID on the axle inside or out, check the ratio...if it is below 3.54, it is a D61 and there is very limited aftermarket gear selection for a D61.

As for the front, make no mistake, rock crawling with 38's to 40's is D60 territory. IMO, you really will be wasting your time and money by installing a D44 in the front if your intent is to have 40's......do it once and do it right or you WILL be spending a lot more money to do it twice! I know it is exspensive but you do get what you pay for here. Maybe your buddy with the wrecking yard can help to source a D60 front? Really your only two choices for the front are a D60 or a D44 - it's up to you.

Let me know how you progress with the project....it will be one sick XJ when you are done!

Cheyne

Gotlift01

Well I was gonna stick with the 37's if I went with the D44 and the 9", but figured since I got the D60 I might as well go big!!!

We did some research on that axle and made sure it was a D60....the tag was still legible and we looked it up in his book in the shop to double & triple check. It has the 3.54 gear ratio in it right now and it is a full float ( not sure if that is rare or not ).

I've been looking on Curries website and I guess if it comes down to me not being able to find a used D60 front......I might just bite the bullet and buy one from them. Expensive but like you said will be worth it in the long run!

Thank you for all your help, rock crawling isn't a new sport to me......but building a rig like this is.......didn't want to make any mistakes. I'm gonna try to get some pictures up of it here hopefully this week to show you how it's coming so far.......looks pretty evil with no body and all cage ( still working on the cage though ).


~Nick