1987 MJ Dana 44 swap.

[Tera]

hello all i am new here and looking for some help. i am trying to swap up to d 44s (is that a bad idea?) and am looking for incite, tips , tricks, and the simple stupid stuff. i am looking at set of D 44s out of a 1988 Wagoneer for $500 each.

 

 

[DirtyComanche]

More info on your plans?  Lift, tire size, wheeling type, etc, etc?

 

IIRC, that Waggy rear axle is about 58.5-59" wide, they're a little narrower than the rear you have, not sure if it's a problem for you or not, but it can be.  It's also a bit offset, which is not normally an issue.

 

The front is low pinion, which can be a bit of a bummer for driveshaft angles and getting enough caster for it to drive nice.  The D44 fronts also use rather weak outer shafts, there is upgrade options there, but it's pay to play.

 

$500/each seems expensive.  I can get a Ford D60 and 10.25/10.5 rear for about $1000 total, as in, the same price.  If these axles are in 'as pulled' condition from a vehicle that was driven to death, expect to spend a bunch of money replacing worn out parts.  Also, they probably have a fairly ugly gear ratio in them (3.07 is typical), so plan on regearing.

[Pete M]

what are your end goals for the truck?

 

 

the mid 90s Isuzu rodeo and Honda passport rear dana 44 axles are the same width and same wheel bolt pattern as a grand waggy but can be had with disk brakes and deep gears (4.10 and 4.27) from the factory.  the front of those rigs has IFS so that part is worthless to us.

 

I would never pay that much for waggy axles unless they were already built with better gears and brakes.  gears alone are 400-600 per axle to get done.

 

car-part.com can help with finding junkyard parts. :thumbsup:

[Tera]

To answer both questions i am looking at a 4" not sure on the tire size as of right now, i would like a more robust drive train over all. I was thinking that that was a bit to expensive i am glad to here that i was not wrong. i appreciate the information and will have to do some more recherche.

[DirtyComanche]

Figure out what you want the truck to do first, and then what you want to do for tires and lift, and then figure out what axles.

 

There's lots of options, but in general it winds up getting expensive.

 

Do not hesitate to ask any questions you have, or hit up the search function and read through the builds in the projects section, it's way better to ask now than to buy parts and spend time swapping them in and find out they're inappropriate.