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Front D44 from a 82 "Jeep Station Wagon"?

RWKHausSupply

NAXJA Forum User
Well found a front dana 44 with no vac disco, from what is being said to be a 1982 Front Axle Assy. from a Jeep Station Wagon.

With this being said can Ianyone give me some direction as to if this should be a drivers or pass side diff, and if it still is in the 61.5" WMS range?

Also is 260$ and a 2hr drive each way worth it? Its said to be complete but in rough condish with parts R&R needed. They said its straight and was not damoaged though. It was a non running wrecker...
 
ROBERTK said:
Well found a front dana 44 with no vac disco, from what is being said to be a 1982 Front Axle Assy. from a Jeep Station Wagon.

With this being said can Ianyone give me some direction as to if this should be a drivers or pass side diff, and if it still is in the 61.5" WMS range?

Also is 260$ and a 2hr drive each way worth it? Its said to be complete but in rough condish with parts R&R needed. They said its straight and was not damoaged though. It was a non running wrecker...

It will be a Drivers drop. however it sounds like a Cherokee Widetrack axle at that measurement and not the N/T. Probably not a terrible price especially since you are going to rebuild it anyway...however I know that they can be picked up for less than that sometimes.
j
 
thanks for the info, hey so what do you want for yoru front HP44? lol
 
The axle is out of a Jeep Wagoneer, from the information you gave us we can't know if it is a wide-track or narrow track axle. I do believe in 82 they were using driver's side drop axles in the full sizes. 250 plus the drive sounds kind of high to me, especially in rough shape. I know I have purchased multiple complete vehicles with working 4wd for that price in my area. Check www. car-part.com Chances are you can find a cheaper or better condition axle.
 
Fryphax said:
The axle is out of a Jeep Wagoneer, from the information you gave us we can't know if it is a wide-track or narrow track axle. I do believe in 82 they were using driver's side drop axles in the full sizes. 250 plus the drive sounds kind of high to me, especially in rough shape. I know I have purchased multiple complete vehicles with working 4wd for that price in my area. Check www. car-part.com Chances are you can find a cheaper or better condition axle.

Yeah I did check there, thats how I found this one. It was the cheapest on in California.

Yeah I just got the call back that it was missing all brakes and only one side has the axle and knuckle. SO I will pass on it I think.

But so now I am just going to have and look online for a while.
 
ROBERTK said:
Yeah I just got the call back that it was missing all brakes and only one side has the axle and knuckle. SO I will pass on it I think.
'

why?

you werent planning on building a 44 with stock low steer knuckles, non-alloy shafts, and 6 on 5.5 were you?

Believe me - it sucks... and is 100% not worth the effort and $$$ for a 44 without high steer, alloys, and the bolt pattern of your choice...
 
XJ_ranger said:
'

why?

you werent planning on building a 44 with stock low steer knuckles, non-alloy shafts, and 6 on 5.5 were you?

Believe me - it sucks... and is 100% not worth the effort and $$$ for a 44 without high steer, alloys, and the bolt pattern of your choice...

Well dont have the $ for the "add-on"s yet. My plan is either to spend the 400$ on Yukons for the D30 and buy a currie steering kit for it, both are about 850. Or go a D44 with welded spyders, stock Sleeved tie rod, and fab the spring plates and trackbar mounts and just buy some ruffstuff lowers and avalanch upper mounts. All for the same $ as the first option, but then add in a set of 4:88's for a whoppng 200 total more or there abouts, for a D44 under the front rather then the 30.

Then as money permits, get the partsmike high steer and knuckle kit for 700 and then later some yukons for the D44.

Or should I just dump some $ in to the D30?
 
STEELFISH said:
I didn't use High steer on my HP44, however w/ the 7"of lift that I have and OTK steering my angles do quite well for me.

Oh and waggy axles are already OTK.

Really, OTK? thats all I would really need, I think...

Only down fall is LP but hey its all I can afford and such and its not that big of a prob I think. I am only at 6.5" of lift..
 
You mentioned in another thread that you're building this for JV, but you're moving in the direction of a JV anchor.
If you want to build a capable & reliable XJ for JV, skip the XO cage & LP44, both of which are downgrades for JV.
Put some Warns, Alloys or Superiors in your 30 along with CTM's & 35" tires & have at it.

Paul
 
Paul S said:
You mentioned in another thread that you're building this for JV, but you're moving in the direction of a JV anchor.
If you want to build a capable & reliable XJ for JV, skip the XO cage & LP44, both of which are downgrades for JV.
Put some Warns, Alloys or Superiors in your 30 along with CTM's & 35" tires & have at it.

Paul

As yes I would like this rig to be JV freindly, I also dont know how much I want to keep the 30? I need to tow it some day and with the no slip in the front and flat towing it, I found I need to unhook both drive shafts or fully remove the front to flat tow. Or get the POS warn kit for hub disco.

As well as not finding a friendly steering setup yet. I will need to fab a track bar bracket and do the one ton conv. and then the cost of the yukons. after all said and done you honestly think that the 30 is a good choice rather then the D44 with stock axles for now and then add some yukons in jan? I really like the idea of selectable hubs and bigger ring and pinon. that D30 pinion lokks smaller and smaller every time I do a set of gears in one.

Everyone has always praised the D44 over a 30 and now I get the little bit of $ and time and disire to just do it and then you have to get me questioning it.. The D44 diff really isint all that much bigger, and whats the real issue with it anyways, most jeeps out there have a D44 front on 33-35" tires right? I mean yeah theres 30's but more 44's I would think?

Uggg.....
 
ROBERTK said:
most jeeps out there have a D44 front on 33-35" tires right? I mean yeah theres 30's but more 44's I would think?

I wouldn't say so. There's plenty of folks out there doing just fine with 33's and the stock front, and many with 35's that hold up fine as well.

I ran 33's on mine locked f/r for a while, and only lately when I started getting stupid and more adventurous did I start breaking stuff. And by that I mean, following around guys on 37's and making the same lines they were having a little difficulty with. In the whole year and a half I ran that setup, I broke two 297x joints on the driver's side. The passenger side one never let go at all, and none of the axle shaft splines twisted, and the hubs held together fine too.

It's a point of argument that the stock D30 shafts are actually stronger than the stock D44 shafts too - the D44 ones have that retarded neckdown right before the splines, and tend to break there, while D30 shafts tend to puke u-joints out before the shaft itself lets go. My experience reflects this.

The D30 really isn't a bad piece of equipment IMO as long as you're not trying to be completely retarded with it. Trussed, with decent shafts and joints, and it'll go a long ways. The reverse-cut D30 gears are said to be about equivalent in strength to the standard-cut D44 gears too. Unless you're trying to stuff 4.88s in there I wouldn't worry about the gearset letting go first...and even then, I know a few guys personally who ran 4.88s and 35's and haven't broken anything.
 
I have to disagree with the D30 R&P being as strong. I have a quite a few guys around here that when they are locked running 35's or so have had issues with breaking the teeth right off the gears when in reverse on a good up hill i.e. while turning around and what have you...I have not seen a 44 do that yet.
J
I think the D44 front is a worthy investment.
 
STEELFISH said:
I have to disagree with the D30 R&P being as strong. I have a quite a few guys around here that when they are locked running 35's or so have had issues with breaking the teeth right off the gears when in reverse on a good up hill i.e. while turning around and what have you...I have not seen a 44 do that yet.
J
I think the D44 front is a worthy investment.

Let me rephrase that then - a reverse-cut D30 set is approximately as strong as a standard-cut D44 set when both used in a front axle application AND being driven forward.

Reversing puts the stress on the wrong side of the teeth for the D30, and on the proper side for the D44. I'd expect the D30 to break first in this case.

I really think the 'worthiness' of it depends on why you want to upgrade in the first place. If you've just been snapping shafts and u-joints, then I don't think it's worth it. If you've been messing up balljoints, hubs, knuckles, or gears, then maybe it IS worth it.
 
STEELFISH said:
I have to disagree with the D30 R&P being as strong. I have a quite a few guys around here that when they are locked running 35's or so have had issues with breaking the teeth right off the gears when in reverse on a good up hill i.e. while turning around and what have you...I have not seen a 44 do that yet.
J
I think the D44 front is a worthy investment.

You don't fell this way because you have two for sale do you ?
 
ROBERTK said:
As yes I would like this rig to be JV freindly, I also dont know how much I want to keep the 30? I need to tow it some day and with the no slip in the front and flat towing it, I found I need to unhook both drive shafts or fully remove the front to flat tow. Or get the POS warn kit for hub disco.

As well as not finding a friendly steering setup yet. I will need to fab a track bar bracket and do the one ton conv. and then the cost of the yukons. after all said and done you honestly think that the 30 is a good choice rather then the D44 with stock axles for now and then add some yukons in jan? I really like the idea of selectable hubs and bigger ring and pinon. that D30 pinion lokks smaller and smaller every time I do a set of gears in one.

Everyone has always praised the D44 over a 30 and now I get the little bit of $ and time and disire to just do it and then you have to get me questioning it.. The D44 diff really isint all that much bigger, and whats the real issue with it anyways, most jeeps out there have a D44 front on 33-35" tires right? I mean yeah theres 30's but more 44's I would think?

Uggg.....

Why do you say "the POS warn kit"? It's a great kit, & it's stronger than any 44 hub that I'm aware of.

The HP30 is hands down a better axle. If I were starting from scratch & had the funds to build either to the hilt, I'd build the 30.

If you think the extra ground clearance under dif. + the extra clearance under the driveshaft isn't worthy, you havn't spent enough time on the trail.

In my opinion, the reason most guys 'upgrade' to an LP44 is because they didn't take the time to figure out that the axle that came under their XJ was a better axle to build.
Folks keep repeating things like 'the 30 has weak ball joints' & all of a sudden it's true, but it's not. There's little difference between 30/44 ball joints, & what little difference there is does not make the 44's stronger. Either way, the 30 ball joints will last years.

If money is tight, get some Alloy USA axles with chromo stubs & keep your unit bearings. This would make a very strong combo.

Bottom line is that a built 30 on 35's in a full figured XJ will take all the Hammers you can throw at it. Start chopping your XJ up & using the right pedal more & you'll need more, but even an HP44 won't help much at that point.

Paul
 
Paul S said:
Why do you say "the POS warn kit"? It's a great kit, & it's stronger than any 44 hub that I'm aware of.

The HP30 is hands down a better axle. If I were starting from scratch & had the funds to build either to the hilt, I'd build the 30.

If you think the extra ground clearance under dif. + the extra clearance under the driveshaft isn't worthy, you havn't spent enough time on the trail.

In my opinion, the reason most guys 'upgrade' to an LP44 is because they didn't take the time to figure out that the axle that came under their XJ was a better axle to build.
Folks keep repeating things like 'the 30 has weak ball joints' & all of a sudden it's true, but it's not. There's little difference between 30/44 ball joints, & what little difference there is does not make the 44's stronger. Either way, the 30 ball joints will last years.

If money is tight, get some Alloy USA axles with chromo stubs & keep your unit bearings. This would make a very strong combo.

Bottom line is that a built 30 on 35's in a full figured XJ will take all the Hammers you can throw at it. Start chopping your XJ up & using the right pedal more & you'll need more, but even an HP44 won't help much at that point.

Paul

Well I do know that DL clearance is crutial but diff is not that big of a change is it?

As for the D30 holding up. I think I posted up there that I have Never had a D30 fail on me in ANY fashion except when hitting/climbing a freeway divider "wall of death" when a Semi cut me off in my TJ. We hit it about 60 gradually at least but climbed it about 24" then were able to come back down. Well it chipped 2 teeth on the pinion.

But I have always swore to the D30. Hell Ron from off road warehouse used to beat the Shit out of his YJ on 35's and a D30 in the CRCA events. And up till the last event they held officially, he never broke anything.

So I am just going to do the yukon alloy shafts (read test from a non bias company that rated them highest in the D30, over warn and superior) in yield tens) and some 760s then? I drive it on the street and was always told not to run a non bearing ujoint more then liek 40mph for any long period of time?

Then the tera knuckle and I will just fab a truss. Umm ok change again.
 
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