Muncher Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Is it worth swapping my d44 out for a 8.8 ? The worst part about the swap just seems to be ford is in the title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 If you had a 35, I would say yes absolutely. The 44 and 8.8 are very close to each other in strength. Enough that the swap isn't worth the time and money to do it. You can always do a disc brake upgrade on the 44 for less than it will take to get the 8.8 in and working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muncher Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 24 minutes ago, derf said: If you had a 35, I would say yes absolutely. The 44 and 8.8 are very close to each other in strength. Enough that the swap isn't worth the time and money to do it. You can always do a disc brake upgrade on the 44 for less than it will take to get the 8.8 in and working. Yeah thats the one reason I was thinking of doing the 8.8 is because of disc brakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I would just convert your 44 to disks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeatCJ Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I would say absolutely not. Ford 8.8 center section will hang down lower, I would bet the tubes are thinner wall than your 44, it's narrower than your 44. Maybe I'm just old, but I really don't have an issue with drum brakes. My first 3 cars were drum brakes front and rear, so I guess I just got used to them. Discs ARE easier to work on, cool better, and the self adjuster works, but I never really had that much issue with my drum brakes. It will probably be less expensive to keep your axle, set it up the way you want it than to get an 8.8 that does the same thing. I have an 8.8, as the backup replacement to the 8.25 I swapped into my son's Cherokee. I'm not a naysayer, I have just examined the strengths and weaknesses for our uses. He destroyed his D35, so I had to do something. I flailed a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 29 minutes ago, BeatCJ said: Maybe I'm just old, but I really don't have an issue with drum brakes. seems to me that someone hasn't spent time cleaning mud out of their drums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Having done the Teraflex disk brake swap on my 2001 XJ (with a rear Dana 44 from an 80's XJ), I would say that you don't see a huge improvement in braking over a properly adjusted rear drum. Of course, the "self adjusters" never really work well so the rear drums always seem to be soft. The disks are self adjusting so they stay in better adjustment over the long term. And replacing the pads is a whole lot easier. So there are some up sides to having disks in the rear. But I had to step up to 16" wheels because the stock wheels rubbed a bit, and I had to install longer wheel studs (Dorman 610449) in my Dana 44 to deal with the thicker rotors. Also, no matter what, when you do a disk brake upgrade in the rear, you want at least a new master cylinder designed for disks. It's a perfect opportunity to upgrade to the 97?+ dual diaphragm booster and master cylinder from an XJ, as well as a good time to fully flush the whole system with fresh fluid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeatCJ Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 21 minutes ago, Pete M said: seems to me that someone hasn't spent time cleaning mud out of their drums Wrong again. What I found easiest was to just pull the drum off, hose it down, blow it out, WD-40 everything then use brake cleaner on the shoes and drums. But NEVER EVER EVER let it wait. PNW. Believe me, I know mud. Somewhere I have a photo of my CJ getting the strap, with water in the floorboards. Changed fluids in the transmission, transfer case, axles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 I stand corrected. been there, done that. I even carried a refillable fire extinguisher to give me pressurized water. then one day I said disks are going on that truck, and I never ever had to do it again. (at least not in a rando parking lot. once home she always got a good bath) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 A lot of disk brake setups have a drum brake for the parking brake. Do you have that and do you clean it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muncher Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 2 hours ago, derf said: Having done the Teraflex disk brake swap on my 2001 XJ (with a rear Dana 44 from an 80's XJ), I would say that you don't see a huge improvement in braking over a properly adjusted rear drum. Of course, the "self adjusters" never really work well so the rear drums always seem to be soft. The disks are self adjusting so they stay in better adjustment over the long term. And replacing the pads is a whole lot easier. So there are some up sides to having disks in the rear. But I had to step up to 16" wheels because the stock wheels rubbed a bit, and I had to install longer wheel studs (Dorman 610449) in my Dana 44 to deal with the thicker rotors. Also, no matter what, when you do a disk brake upgrade in the rear, you want at least a new master cylinder designed for disks. It's a perfect opportunity to upgrade to the 97?+ dual diaphragm booster and master cylinder from an XJ, as well as a good time to fully flush the whole system with fresh fluid. My brakes are absolutely terrible. Don't. I mean I haven't checked pads or rotors yet but I do know that the master cylinder is leaking. So maybe it'd be a good upgrade. Did you have a kit to upgrade yours to disc ? And is the newer xj master bolt in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Muncher said: My brakes are absolutely terrible. Don't. I mean I haven't checked pads or rotors yet but I do know that the master cylinder is leaking. So maybe it'd be a good upgrade. Did you have a kit to upgrade yours to disc ? And is the newer xj master bolt in There is a Terraflex kit to upgrade the Dana 44. It's $700 or so and it takes different parking brake cables. You can do it a lot cheaper with junkyard parts. As far as the booster, I believe it is bolt in but don't quote me. One of the sticky threads should link to a thread that has all you need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 2 hours ago, derf said: A lot of disk brake setups have a drum brake for the parking brake. Do you have that and do you clean it out? the particular truck in question doesn't have such fancy things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omega_rugal Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 a ford 8.8 for a Dana 44? naa not worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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