Aaron

Found an d44 out of a 70’s F250. Guy is a mutual acquaintance of a family friend. He wants $175 for it which seems like a steal. He said it’s in good shape but the price has me thinking (and he said he’d pull it for me). I think if it’s not a pile of rust and has the welded wedges I’ll pick it up. I know low pinion but worse come to worse it could be a good for bartering lol.

That’s a great point..I got a u pull-it here in town that sells full assemblies for $130 plus a $25 core and tax. they usually try to stock newer vehicles tho. Feel like I won the lotto if they have a Renix Cherokee to pick from but I’ll do some reading tonight. My brother in law is a diesel mech by trade so I’ll see if I can buy him a 6 pack and pick his brain too!! Thanks again gentlemen!! Sure are saving me a whole lotta time. I’ll make sure to pay it forward

Didn’t think frame strengtheners. I’ll look into 1 tons. I assume they’re going to be more pricey. Either way it’ll definitely be worth gathering the information I can so I can make the most informed decision I can. And just to clarify for me. The abuse the tires are putting because of the weight, correct?? Just asking because I understand the q78 is much narrower than a Normal 35/36” tire and in tern reducing the weight.

And as far as how I wheel..I don’t need to traverse rock half the size of my truck or be hanging off the side of a cliff to be having a good time. And I usually am followed by my wife in her 2 door Tahoe and the 3 kids divided up between the two rigs. Point being I wheel like I’m 70 years old and VERY rarely do I push the limits of my skills/vehicle. drive to live, love to drive right?? Lol

And that’s where I’m getting conflicting info. A good buddy of mine has run 37’s on his 85 bronco for a few years without problem and that’s with stock axles. That’s what got me researching for my MJ. (And that’s the 28 spline) so i figured between the the 31 spline 9” in the back and the reduced overall weight (bout a half ton diff IIRC) I should be golden

And thank you both for feilding my ?’s. I appreciate your time and opinions it’s been very helpful!!

Lol, yeah I realized late last night looking at WJ axles that it seems to be around the same amount of work as the ford 44. I think I’m just going to do the 44 and be done with it. I feel pretty confident between what I can learn and the right help I can get, to get it tacked up and let a pro weld it.

Never thought about the 8 lug life, I read another thread On the front ford 44 swap where you had mentioned tacking everything and taking it in which would be advice I would take. There’s a weld shop right down the road from me. I just don’t want to run 2.5” wheel spacers if I can avoid it. I think I can get away with 37’s on a d30 from a WJ but wheel spacers on an xj one no bueno

q78 tires could be up my ally too, but I don’t know too much about um and I’m not to sure about a bias ply keeping in mind I’m going to be driving her to and from wheeling trips which most of the time is 30min or so each way (about 25 miles)

4.0 and 37’s are the end game for the tires. I was just curious about the WJ setup cuz if it was a pretty straight forward swap I’d opt for it instead of the Ford d44. I sold my 90 xj about a year ago and it already had the lift tires sye and all that it just had a whole bunch a other problems that I fixed and is the reason I fell in love with these jeeps as silly as that sounds lol. Point being it’s pretty exciting to start from scratch, and it gives me the opportunity to learn more!

I’ve been doing ALOT of research and am about to start gathering parts for my MJ. I’m doing a 4x4 swap to my rwd 89 MJ longbed. I’ve decided on a 9” rear out a 74-86 f150 which is 65” wms to wms. The WJ dana 30 is the same width so It got me thinking. I know the lug pattern is different but is that all I’ll have to deal with? I would love it if it’d just bolt right up, there’s hardly anything I can find on the subject and what I did find was “it’s wider and why would you want to do that” (maybe that’s a sign) but I gotta know. I really would like to get a front 44 out a mid 70’s f150 but I have no welding skills (which I would love to change) or might be low on $ after I get a trans TC and rear end. My front end is the last thing I haven’t made my mind up on yet. I’m getting a 231 tc and AX15 trans