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will 1988 wagoneer dana 44's work with my comanche?


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I did this conversion.

 

It is driver drop front pumpkin.

 

They will work fine EXCEPT the rear D44 has limited aftermarket (alloy) axle offerings. I have Waggy axles from an 84 and it looks like custom mage shafts only for my rear 44 ($460). I am going to toss the rear here shortly and since I have a D60 35 spline Detroit already I am going to have the custom shafts built for a 60 at the same price the custom 44 shafts cost.

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Guys, he's asking about a 1988 Wagoneer. That's an XJ Wagoneer -- a Cherokee in dress-up clothing. The rear axle just needs to have the spring perches cut off and relocated. You can leave the XJ shock mounts in place, or cut them off. They're not used in the MJ.

 

The ratio will be 3.54 if it's a 4.0L, and either 3.73 or 4.10 if it's a 2.5L. The Wagoneer wasn't available with a standard tranny, so there's no chance of 3.08s.

 

Although the XJ Wagoneer didn't have a Dana 44 front, and the question was in the plural. Are we talking "Wagoneer," or "Grand Wagoneer"?

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I'm pretty sure hes talking about a grand wagoneer, since he said d44's

 

alright fsj newbs, here the facts,

-gearing is either 2.73 or 3.31,

-the front has driver side pumpkin, the rear is centered pumpkin

-88 grand wagoneers only came in auto(torqueflight 727)

-the front is a spring under, and the rear is a spring over, so the front you would have to redo the spring perches, unless your doing leaf springs in the front, the rear, even if youre doing the spring over, I'm pretty sure it won't bolt in directly

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Guys, he's asking about a 1988 Wagoneer. That's an XJ Wagoneer -- a Cherokee in dress-up clothing. The rear axle just needs to have the spring perches cut off and relocated. You can leave the XJ shock mounts in place, or cut them off. They're not used in the MJ.

 

The ratio will be 3.54 if it's a 4.0L, and either 3.73 or 4.10 if it's a 2.5L. The Wagoneer wasn't available with a standard tranny, so there's no chance of 3.08s.

 

Although the XJ Wagoneer didn't have a Dana 44 front, and the question was in the plural. Are we talking "Wagoneer," or "Grand Wagoneer"?

 

 

Ya if its a grand wagoneer then it will have the centered pumpkin D44 rear, and the drivers drop LP D44 front. And something like 3.33 gears.

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The Isuzu 44 will still need a Grand Waggy front axle (and the GW axle will need to be regeared to match the Isuzu and have the Jeep brackets welded on, so factor that in to your cost).

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Any year that has the drivers side differential. At least 85+. Possibly older too. Try to avoid the CAD axles if you can, but they are overcome-able in the same manner as the MJ CAD.

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don't waste your time doing a d44 front...if you only going to go 33's then leave the d30 get an 8.8 (WAY less work to swap in) and call it good...

 

What is your problem with a 44?

 

I would do a 44 all day long over a 30 even on 33s. Way better ball joints, thicker axle tubes, locking hubs, and the possibility of going to a REAL high steer for VERY little money. I bought my 44 for $62 and needed $40 worth of steel and it took me two days to cut/turn the knuckles, cut the old leaf casting off, and fab all brackets. At the same time I adjusted all my brackets for optimal clearance.

 

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All I have to do now is add my gears, lockers, CTMs, and alloys which I'll do next weekend then source some chevy 'flat top' knuckles for high steer (I already have my high steer arms).

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As I see it now... The D44 occupies a very fine space between the D30 and the D60. I hate the D30 in a lot of ways, but I don't see the D44 as offering enough of an improvement to bother in a lot of applications. I'd probably rock a D30 for 33s and mild wheeling. I'd probably not rock 33s for anything but mild wheeling anyways... 35s, no, a D30 won't handle that (IMHO and experience) with some decent wheeling. A D44 could... But once you hit 37s the D44 is at its limit, basically.

 

A D44 MIGHT have a little more hope with 30 spline outers. Bore the spindles, get the shafts made, run drive flanges... Maybe there is 30 spline hubs for a D44 now, there wasn't when I was looking into it. Otherwise, your outer shafts are just too weak. Beyond that, you're still stuck with a 760X style u-joint, which won't be a problem if you buy CTMs (the yokes on the shafts or something else will go before they do).

 

I probably have nothing else to add to the topic.

 

Edit. I do. A point of economics.

 

The Isuzu D44 rears make sense if you can find one and have a 6-lug front for some reason. They are not overly available since not many were sold here, AND they're actually half decent vehicles so a lot of them are still on the road. I think that if a guy knows exactly what he wants out of his build, the isuzu 12 bolt might be a better axle anyways. More strength than a D44 from the factory, almost all have 4.56 gears, disk brakes, some have a factory L/S and now you can buy a lunchbox locker for them (or an ARB). For the price of a 'zu 12B, you couldn't possibly build a comparable waggy D44.

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As I see it now... The D44 occupies a very fine space between the D30 and the D60. I hate the D30 in a lot of ways, but I don't see the D44 as offering enough of an improvement to bother in a lot of applications. I'd probably rock a D30 for 33s and mild wheeling. I'd probably not rock 33s for anything but mild wheeling anyways... 35s, no, a D30 won't handle that (IMHO and experience) with some decent wheeling. A D44 could... But once you hit 37s the D44 is at its limit, basically.

 

A D44 MIGHT have a little more hope with 30 spline outers. Bore the spindles, get the shafts made, run drive flanges... Maybe there is 30 spline hubs for a D44 now, there wasn't when I was looking into it. Otherwise, your outer shafts are just too weak. Beyond that, you're still stuck with a 760X style u-joint, which won't be a problem if you buy CTMs (the yokes on the shafts or something else will go before they do).

 

I probably have nothing else to add to the topic.

 

37s were MAX we could run on our D44s in deep rocks and we WORRIED constanly about breaking. 30 spline outers are OK but not necessary. After years of messing around in some of the finest rock wheeling, we found that the 19 spline alloy stubs were more than adequate. After going to drive flanges, the 19 spline stubs RARELY were the issue No faliure at the splines). It seemes that the yolks to the axle shafts gave way on a regular basis. Once we got to that point, there was nothing we could do and I had to build a real axle:

 

DSC04673%20(Small).JPG

 

:yes:

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:yes:

 

 

What all is in that...? I see (obvious) full hydro steering, a drop out third so I'm assuming a 9" or a True Hi9, kingpin D60 knuckles, what looks like either Sunray inner Cs or plated Cs, and a Diamond or Spidertrax housing?

 

 

Close. Spidertrax housing with SOLID axle kingpin inner and outer knuckles. True Hi9, 4340 shafts on CTMs. PSC 1.5" full hydro ram on there and it has been trussed and plated as well. We call it the 609. :D

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