I am debating on the D44 or ford 8.8 I can get a 44 for semi cheap and was wondering if anyone has broken one. If so what is the weakest part. I will be running 31" for now. 33" by the end of the summer and 35" in the future. I do wheel hard and often mostly rock. I snap D35 shafts and spiders like twigs with my 31" tires now. Which one would work best for me? Thanks for the input. As always Keep DIGGIN IT!
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Is an XJ Dana 44 strong enough
- Thread starter BUCKYXJ
- Start date
REDXJ4FUN
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- fredericksburg VA
Unless your going to be useing a bunch of gear like a np4500 and an atlas 2 you'll be fine. I run a 44 with 4.56 on 35 SSRS and I'm hard as heck on it I;ve already broke one drive shaft but the 44 keeps ticking. and for that price its even better.
- Location
- NC Sandhills
I agree with RED...I was a throttle-jockey with my 30 spline 44 in the MJ (Spicer geared 4.56 and spooled turning 33"BFGMT) and didn't break anything important.
The 8.8 may be a tick stronger, but not enough to matter much.
(The ford axe offers up OEM 4.10, LS and discs though, so that is attractive swap in)
I just got mine back from the welder tonight, swapped from MJ spring/shock mounts to XJ style...I have no worrys about it (got spare shafts, joints/yokes/DS) with a tired 4.0 and AW4/231. Tommorow this time I'll be a 44 throttle jockey again LOL!
If deep gears, big meats, heavy foot and such are in the plans, budget for a 9" or 60 both ends.
The 8.8 may be a tick stronger, but not enough to matter much.
(The ford axe offers up OEM 4.10, LS and discs though, so that is attractive swap in)
I just got mine back from the welder tonight, swapped from MJ spring/shock mounts to XJ style...I have no worrys about it (got spare shafts, joints/yokes/DS) with a tired 4.0 and AW4/231. Tommorow this time I'll be a 44 throttle jockey again LOL!
If deep gears, big meats, heavy foot and such are in the plans, budget for a 9" or 60 both ends.
- Location
- San Bruno, CA.
Mine's locked with 4.56 gears and an Atlas 4.3 in front of it and it survived a lot of rock trails last year. The axle shafts were in fine shape when I replaced them with some Superior alloy shafts earlier this year. I now carry the stock shafts as spares, just in case.
Jes
Jes
KarmirXJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Granada Hills, California
I run 4.88s on 37s in my 44s and havnt broken anything yet, Ive done mostly rock in death valley area. I just changed to supperior shafts just to be on the safe side cuz my rig is just shy of 5000lb hope this helps
watson
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Cincy, Ohio
I ran an MJ 30 spline 44 in the back of mine for about a year and a half with some hard wheeling and never broke anything. Had 4.56 gears and a detroit turning 36" swampers. The motor is a healthy 4.0L. Looking back at some video, I can't believe I didn't break a axle. They are stronger than you think.
simonsxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Daytona Beach, Florida
I agree with the above guys, 44 is the way to go. One point that is missed alot on the Ford 8.8 is the fact that it is a C-clip axle, in other words the shaft is retained by a clip, the same method as the D 35. Break a shaft and out slides brakes and all. Swapping to disk brake is not all that expensive. A guy on ebay sells the brackets and rotors for real cheap, I think around $150< add caliper and roll. I stay with drums as I don't do much mud and they work fine with my 35's. I hope this helps.
TRL WGN 1
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Central IL
ah, but with the disc brakes on the 8.8, the axle won't slide out as the caliper holds it in, so that makes the c-clip argument pretty pointless
simonsxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Daytona Beach, Florida
How strong is a rotor. I have actualy experienced this. The axle slid out and shattered the rotor and brake the mounting pins on the caliper rendering it useless. When this happens on a drum braked 44 the only thing that broke was the brake shoes. It has happened twice. I would rather replace just shoes than a rotor caliper and pads each time.
Gary E
NAXJA Member #687
- Location
- Elk Grove CA
Simons XJ, on what axle, a dana 35 converted to discs?
thompson97
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- harrisonburg, va
One point that is missed alot on the Ford 8.8 is the fact that it is a C-clip axle, in other words the shaft is retained by a clip, the same method as the D 35. Break a shaft and out slides brakes
i heard that the disc brakes actually prevent the axles from falling out when the break. therefore negating the dissadvantage of the c-clip design. anyone know for sure?
i heard that the disc brakes actually prevent the axles from falling out when the break. therefore negating the dissadvantage of the c-clip design. anyone know for sure?
thompson97
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- harrisonburg, va
sorry, i should have used the "quote" tool.
- Location
- Foresthill, CA
In my mind this argument is moot, if you break a shaft in either axle, you need to change it RIGHT FAWKIN NOW.
A tapered roller bearing, running in single shear, is not going to hold together for very long. Similarly, whether the disk brake caliper holds an 8.8 shaft in place or not, if you drive any farther than necessary to change the shaft (measured in YARDS, not miles), the roller bearing, the caliper, and the rotor are in danger of serious FUBARage.
Either of your axle choices is fine for up to 35" tires. I run a Dutchman-axled 8.8 with 35's, and a 6.3 to 1 NV4500, with no issues. The pinion on the 8.8 is about 30% stronger than the 44, and of the multiple rear 44's I've seen broken, the pinion shaft was always first to go (unless they had ancient shafts).
CRASH
A tapered roller bearing, running in single shear, is not going to hold together for very long. Similarly, whether the disk brake caliper holds an 8.8 shaft in place or not, if you drive any farther than necessary to change the shaft (measured in YARDS, not miles), the roller bearing, the caliper, and the rotor are in danger of serious FUBARage.
Either of your axle choices is fine for up to 35" tires. I run a Dutchman-axled 8.8 with 35's, and a 6.3 to 1 NV4500, with no issues. The pinion on the 8.8 is about 30% stronger than the 44, and of the multiple rear 44's I've seen broken, the pinion shaft was always first to go (unless they had ancient shafts).
CRASH
