Dana 44 rear disc brakes

[Blaine.D]

I recently found a dana 44 out of an xj and one of the mods that I want to do is disc brakes. I need to keep the e brake.  What is the best route for doing the conversion? Also would the rear disc brakes off of a Grand Cherokee with a dana 44 work? Any advice or help is appreciated.

 

[agamble]

The easiest route is to use Ford 8.8 parts, for cables I found that grand cherokee ebrake cables are long enough to use. I did a write up not to long ago; there's a link in the thread to a naxja thread that goes over everything in great detail.

 

[Eagle]

I thought the easiest conversion was the ZJ rear disks ...

[Minuit]

The ZJ discs are as easy as it gets on the Dana 35 with C-clip. The only modification to the axle needed there is longer rear studs.

 

On a D44, my understanding is there is no "direct bolt on" swap like with the D35. They all require some modification to the backing plate and/or preload spacers for the bearings.

[DesertRat1991]

Despite the deceptive thread title, the thread below actually has a lot of good information on the d44 brake conversion:

 

 

 

 

 

[MancheKid86]

if your not scared of spending a bit,

TSM MFG makes bolt on disc brake conversion kits with e-brake calipers or options for a secondary caliper as an ebrake

 

 

 

 

[WahooSteeler]

Teraflex has backing plates for D44s that need no modification, no drilling or need to enlarge the holes. When you order you must specify if they are early D44s or late model. 

[Blaine.D]

17 hours ago, WahooSteeler said:

Teraflex has backing plates for D44s that need no modification, no drilling or need to enlarge the holes. When you order you must specify if they are early D44s or late model. 

How bad are they price wise? Should have mention this in my first post that I'm trying to do this on somewhat of a budget without spending the $600+ on a kit. Also thanks guys for the advice so far. 

[Vakarian]

Rear ZJ disk brakes work but you may need to sand out the center some to fit over the axle shaft center depending on shaft manufacture. At least that was required for me and my new rear axle shafts that I bought for my rear disk conversion. Below is a list of parts I used to complete by conversion and will have to find the part numbers later when I get home, sorry for that inconvenience. However, I still am working on the parking brake setup currently as the wire connecting to the release handle snapped the last time I released my parking brake.

 

AutoZone:

1998 ZJ Rear Rotors

1997 Ford Explore Rear Calipers

New hard brake lines and fittings (not required but mine need to be replaced)

 

NAPA:

1991 MJ/XJ Front Drive and Passenger Rubber Brake Lines.

 

TeriFlex:

spacer

 

[WahooSteeler]

On 6/7/2019 at 4:44 PM, Blaine.D said:

How bad are they price wise? Should have mention this in my first post that I'm trying to do this on somewhat of a budget without spending the $600+ on a kit. Also thanks guys for the advice so far. 

 

Most, if not all, of your questions are answered in this similar thread......

 

 

[Blaine.D]

Thanks for the info