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Anyone know what this is and where its going?


Sir Sam
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I was wrong and I'm ok with that :)..... JK

 

 

Bingo JK D44 with 4.10s and an E-locker.

 

Gonna get a 8.8 with 4.10s and LSD to match for the rear, top it off with a TJ locker switch and I will have a nice factory like switch for the E locker. This is my ideal setup with a LSD for the rear and a selectable locker for the front.

 

Cost me $300 for this axle, its missing the brakes and the passenger side knuckle, I will either rebuild it to JK specs and run adapters for 5x4.5, or replace the passenger side knuckle and try to run XJ unit bearings, or I might try WJ knuckles and calipers with XJ unit bearings(cheapest option thus far if it all works)

 

The idea is that since this axle is wider than the XJ axles to keep it as narrow as possible, running adapters will just make it that much wider anyways.

 

The WJ and the JK knuckles are also high steer, which I suppose is a nice way to go as well.

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It's not a JK front is it? Cause there's no matching rear in the pictures and I gotta imagine you'd have snagged that too.

 

 

It's not a JK front is it? Cause there's no matching rear in the pictures and I gotta imagine you'd have snagged that too.

 

or the disconnect swaybar.

 

This was all that was availble, I didn't get to pull it off a donor vehicle otherwise a lot of other stuff would be crammed into the back of my jeep.

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I thought the rusty knuckles looked familiar. And the S/B disconnect is junk, cool idea bad execution on DC's part!

 

Ya I got some skyjacker disconnects I can use anyways.

 

I haven't seen anyone else play around with this axle, I am hoping I can figure a way to get it to natively run 5x4.5 wheels without adapters.

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I thought the rusty knuckles looked familiar. And the S/B disconnect is junk, cool idea bad execution on DC's part!

 

Ya I got some skyjacker disconnects I can use anyways.

 

I haven't seen anyone else play around with this axle, I am hoping I can figure a way to get it to natively run 5x4.5 wheels without adapters.

 

Are the hub assemblies the same as the D30 ones? They look very similar.

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Whats the differince between the jk and tj d44 front mines out of a rubi and my rims fit fine?

 

 

Very different axles. If fact, it's possible that everything is different. The big points are the JK is high-pinion, 4 " wider, and has 5on5" rim bolt pattern.

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I thought the rusty knuckles looked familiar. And the S/B disconnect is junk, cool idea bad execution on DC's part!

 

Ya I got some skyjacker disconnects I can use anyways.

 

I haven't seen anyone else play around with this axle, I am hoping I can figure a way to get it to natively run 5x4.5 wheels without adapters.

 

Are the hub assemblies the same as the D30 ones? They look very similar.

 

They look very similar, I will find out tomorrow if they interchange.

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I thought the rusty knuckles looked familiar. And the S/B disconnect is junk, cool idea bad execution on DC's part!

 

Please elaborate. Why is it "junk"? Have you experienced hardware failure, or just electrons?

 

 

Sam, what about switching the rear bolt pattern so that you can run 5 on 5 wheels? Then you wouldn't need all of those silverstars you are hoarding and could sell me a couple! :brows:

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I thought the rusty knuckles looked familiar. And the S/B disconnect is junk, cool idea bad execution on DC's part!

 

Please elaborate. Why is it "junk"? Have you experienced hardware failure, or just electrons?

 

Mine was fussy with the disconnect and then it wouldn't re-engage after using it. Subsequently after a few trail rides the guts blew out of it. DC was nice enough to replace it under warranty, but that one also failed after a few month's. So I just use the standard set up now. And on a side note I don't wheel hard and never play in water or mud so it didn't fail due to abuse. The axles are top notch and a better product than the TJ D44's. And if I can remember correctly you can use the JK D30 brakes, knucks and unit bearings. I did remove the OE switches in mine and replaced them with some Contura II ARB style ones that were relocated above the center stack.... mainly for comfort and so they could be used in 4 hi and independently of each other. This all took place back in late 07 to mid 08 so it's possible that there was a redesign since then to address some of the failures.

-C

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Sam, what about switching the rear bolt pattern so that you can run 5 on 5 wheels? Then you wouldn't need all of those silverstars you are hoarding and could sell me a couple! :brows:

 

Well thats exactly it, if I can't run silverstars with this axle then I won't run it at all.

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Ok so I started getting into this today.

 

The XJ/MJ/TJ/WJ/ZJ knuckles WILL NOT bolt onto the JK inner C's. I hadn't heard anything probative on that, and now I know for sure. In addition to the knuckle being a little too "small" the taper on the bottom balljoint appears to be different.

MJ221.jpg

 

Now for the hub, as I suspected the hub will interchange between the two, so at the very lease the XJ hub will bolt into the JK knuckle for whatever good that will do me.

MJ222.jpg

Note the hub isn't fully installed or clocked correctly, I just wanted to show that it will in fact install into the XJ D30 knuckle.

MJ223.jpg

MJ224.jpg

 

And now the shaft, thicker and with more splines, so the JK shafts won't mate to the XJ D30 hubs.

MJ225.jpg

MJ226.jpg

 

So right now my two options are:

Find a U joint to mate between the XJ stub and the JK shaft(weaker).

 

Redrill the JK hub in some manner to make it 5x4.5.

 

Lug adapters really aren't an option for me unless I can find some that are only about .75 inches thick. The JK 44 is about 5 inches wider than a XJ D30, and by the time you throw on lug adapters(spidertrax for example would add about 3" to the overall width) thats alot of extra tire sticking out.

 

So time to consider some more options......................anyone know if any other hubs might bolt in that have the correct spline count? This unit bearing hub seems to be fairly common, see it on fords and such, I just wonder if any of them have the correct spline count and bolt pattern.

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This is how you tell the gearing from the stamped numbers on the ring:

MJ227.jpg

 

Oh ya, bring the sexy, E-locker!

MJ228.jpg

 

So the shock mount, trackbar, and damper all mount different.

MJ229.jpg

MJ230.jpg

 

Compared to he D30 mounts:

MJ232.jpg

 

So the spring bucket is also too wide on the JK D44. So between all these things being different and the spring perch needing to be moved anyways I figure I will just cut off the JK stuff and toss it, then cutoff the D30 stuff and weld it on at the correct width. Problem solved.

 

Same hub size, but different lugs, why the hell would they do that? :shake:

MJ233.jpg

 

So thats the plan now, get hubs/rotors redrilled, weld on D30 spring stuff.

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