MJ D44 Gearing

[SoCalManche]

For all you boys that run an MJ D44, what's the deepest gearing you've thrown in? Is 4.10 the max? 

 

Mostly looking at the offroading rigs that run bigger than 31" tires. Thanks!

[DesertRat1991]

4.10 is def not the max that is possible. ECGS has them all the way up to 5.89.

 

How big a tire do you have in mind?

[SoCalManche]

Oh sure, ECGS does everything, haha. My question is more to the tune of the MJ specific D44 possibly having more limitations than a modern D44. I was skimming the forums and some people were saying to go over 4.10, you'd have to swap more than just the ring and pinion.

 

I run 32x11.5 right now, and the max I'd potentially ever go is 35s, thus deepest I'd go is 4.88.

[derf]

The MJ Dana 44 is a standard axle using standard bearings, shims, carriers, and gears.

[89 MJ]

For some reason I’m thinking there is a carrier at 3.73. But

[WahooSteeler]

MJ D44 has a carrier break at 3.73, so you'd either need the 3.92 and up carrier or I believe you can get thick cut gears in 4.88s to fit the lower carrier. 

[Minuit]

As I, not much of an offroader, understand it:

 

The D44 carrier break is <-3.73 | 3.92-> However, you can ignore this carrier break by using "thick cut" gears to run a ratio that "should" be on the numerically high side of the break in a carrier that was meant for the numerically lower side of the break.

 

I think after a while, the factory used one carrier for everything and used thick cut gears or "standard" gears, depending on the ratio used. I am unsure of when this started.

 

The big difference you're probably thinking of came with the introduction of the JK. The JK Dana 44 is a beefier (and wider?) axle, and within that subset I'm pretty sure there are substantial differences between the Rubicon and non-Rubicon

[SoCalManche]

7 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said:

MJ D44 has a carrier break at 3.73, so you'd either need the 3.92 and up carrier or I believe you can get thick cut gears in 4.88s to fit the lower carrier. 

 

2 minutes ago, Minuit said:

As I, not much of an offroader, understand it:

 

The D44 carrier break is <-3.73 | 3.92-> However, you can ignore this carrier break by using "thick cut" gears to run a ratio that "should" be on the numerically high side of the break in a carrier that was meant for the numerically lower side of the break.

 

I think after a while, the factory used one carrier for everything and used thick cut gears or "standard" gears, depending on the ratio used. I am unsure of when this started.

 

The big difference you're probably thinking of came with the introduction of the JK. The JK Dana 44 is a beefier (and wider?) axle, and within that subset I'm pretty sure there are substantial differences between the Rubicon and non-Rubicon

 

 

Yes, maybe that is what I was reading; the carrier break. If I wanted to try and find a different carrier, would any D44 carrier work? I'm assuming the best way to go about it is just drop in thick cut gears.

[eaglescout526]

I would just like to point out that the D44 without lockers was offered with 3.07, 3.55 and 4.09. With lockers only the first two could be had. 

[WahooSteeler]

23 minutes ago, SoCalManche said:

 

 

 

Yes, maybe that is what I was reading; the carrier break. If I wanted to try and find a different carrier, would any D44 carrier work? I'm assuming the best way to go about it is just drop in thick cut gears.

 You'd need to find a carrier from an earlier 44 from an MJ, XJ or ZJ. Someone on hear could probably confirm if one from a TJ will work, but I know later ones are slightly different and won't work. I plan to go to 4.10s eventually from my 3.54s and use thick cut gears. FYI, you'll have to get a new carrier for your D30, I'm pretty sure they don't make thick cut in reverse rotation.......IIRC. 

[derf]

11 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said:

 You'd need to find a carrier from an earlier 44 from an MJ, XJ or ZJ. Someone on hear could probably confirm if one from a TJ will work, but I know later ones are slightly different and won't work. I plan to go to 4.10s eventually from my 3.54s and use thick cut gears. FYI, you'll have to get a new carrier for your D30, I'm pretty sure they don't make thick cut in reverse rotation.......IIRC. 

The TJ 44 is the same.  Though the TJ Rubicon has a carrier that requires a special setup kit since the carrier shims are different.  But you don't want to waste time with a Rubicon carrier.  There are better lockers than that.

 

The MJ and XJ 44 uses the same carrier as the Chevy/Dodge/Ford 44s used in the 70s through into the 90s.

 

The JK axle is the "next generation" 44 that is a confusing mess.  Different ring and pinion gears but the non-Rubicon carrier is the same as the old generation 44 for 3.73 and down (but works for all gears 3.21 through 5.38 in the new generation axle).  The JK Rubicon 44 uses a completely different carrier and different bearings that won't fit in and older 44.

[ghetdjc320]

 The MJ 44 is just a regular 44 nothing special about the center section/ring and pinion. Grab whatever locker or carrier you want for a standard 44 and throw on whichever gearset you prefer. The carrier break is 3.73 meaning anything numerically higher will have a different carrier to align the ring to the pinion. But thick cut gears are an easy way to keep the 3.73 and numerically lower carrier. 
 

The JK Dana 44 design was used previously (same guts as a 98+ rodeo/passport). They have 8.9” ring gears and a Dana 60 size pinion. The rubicon axle is a bit different as @derf mentioned 
 

TJ Dana 44 is also just a regular Dana 44 with thick cut gears. It had a unique rear locker that acted as a Torsen style limited slip when unlocked and a full spool when locked. A unique locker but not necessarily the most reliable option and not worth trying to track down. I’ve had a couple of these lockers in the past though and did like them. They used a much lower air pressure than the ARB’s and Yukon’s 
 

 

[SoCalManche]

Thanks for all the info guys!