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Rear axle swap question


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What would be the benefit of upgrading from my stock rear axle to this Dana 44 Rear Axle?

 

The gear ratio is the same as my front, so I wouldn’t need to swap-out my front axle. I realize the stock rear axle also has the same 3.07 gears, so I won’t benefit from any engine performance.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... ink:top:us

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I bought my complete header panel/grill assembly from him. Wouldn't hesitate to buy from him again.

 

The only thing holding me back on that axle is the shipping.

 

Well, that and you possibly wanting to buy it. No need to unnecessarily drive up the price. :nuts:

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This might be a good friend of mine selling this. If his name is Bob and his ol'lady Liza, It is him!! Good people!!

www.baystateoffroad.com

 

Pat is correct, It is stronger and that covers everything. But it sounds like your looking for actual reasons for or to justify this swap.

 

If your plan includes bigger rubber than say 31" this is a very good idea.

 

If your plan includes towing, this is a very good idea.

 

If your plan is off-road, this is a very good idea.

 

You get a negligible stronger housing. But the 44 "guts" are bigger and stronger. For instance, it has a bigger ring gear, bigger bearings, axle shaft's and brakes. After market stuff is readily available and its parts are cheaper and likely "in stock".

 

Don't forget the bragging factor... :brows: :brows: :brows: :brows:

 

CW

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stronger axle means larger tires

 

you'll HATE them on the 3.07 gears. probably better to regear the truck at the same time

 

Does the axle gearing have anything to do with strength of the axle. I know it would be a PITA to put 35s on and the go 35 mph up the passes.

 

And how big of a tire can a stock d30 3.07 axle handle. i want to know so that when i go to do my rear axle swap if i have to swap both front and rear.

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dana 30 will handle those pretty well. I wouldn't go much bigger than that though with a dana 30 front.

 

gearing has nothing to do with strength. the dana 44 has alot more strength because the parts are beefier, not because they're set to a different gear.

 

you'd do alright, but like i said you'd HATE huge tires on those gears. you can forget about overdrive (or 5th gear) with 3.07's and 35" tires...you'll never use either.

 

my bro's got 3.07's in his mj with 31" tires and does just fine...we're regearing to 4.10's soon with a chryco 8.25 rear axle out of my xj, but he intends to run 33's someday.

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my bro's got 3.07's in his mj with 31" tires and does just fine...we're regearing to 4.10's soon with a chryco 8.25 rear axle out of my xj, but he intends to run 33's someday.

My '88 MJ had stock 3.07s when I bought it. I *HATED* it with 31s.

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yes but the cost of regearing this one axle kills this sale for me.

 

I can buy two new axles for the cost to regear one, from a junk yard with 4.** gears. Thats not including the cost to purchase this axle, which will be more than 5 dollars.

 

I say definitally plan on upgrading, but hold off and get the right part first time around.

 

I think ocean state is different than baystate, and not owned by Bliza!

 

:)

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I started with a free MJ D44 with 3.07's (traded an XJ D44 I had for it even-up). Bought a locker already installed in a high-ratio carrier from a friend on NAXJA for $300, swapped some other spare parts I had for a set of new D44 4.56's with master install kit, and paid a local jeeper $100 to set it all up. All done, out the door cost (including lube, gaskets, etc) was right around 500. Already had the matching D30 with 4.56's that I pulled from the junkyard about 2 years ago for $100.

 

Jeff

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After reading all the reply's on this post, I think I'll wait for a larger axle with better gears.

 

It doesn't make sense to go through the hassle of swaping axles for one that is only marginally better....UNLESS the final bidding price of that axle is low. Like I said in the original post, I live about 20 minutes from Rhode Island, so I don't need to pay for shipping.

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1) Dana 30 will handle those pretty well. I wouldn't go much bigger than that though with a Dana 30 front.

 

2) gearing has nothing to do with strength. the Dana 44 has allot more strength because the parts are beefier, not because they're set to a different gear.

 

3) you'd do alright, but like i said you'd HATE huge tires on those gears. you can forget about overdrive (or 5th gear) with 3.07's and 35" tires...you'll never use either.

 

4) my bro's got 3.07's in his MJ with 31" tires and does just fine...we're re-gearing to 4.10's soon with a chryco 8.25 rear axle out of my xj, but he intends to run 33's someday.

 

1) Good advice!! It will handle them well if you easy of the go pedal. You DEF can break if you Drive like you stole it!! 35" s generally accepted as max usable size for the HP-D30 axle.

 

2) WELL.... With 3:07's YES, with the tallest gears available, NO!! ESP when looking at the D30 and 4:88's the pinion for that ratio is TINY...DEF not as strong as 4:56 and lower. With the D44 you are not going to get to that point if your pairing it with the D30.

 

3) MORE good advice!! But I'll push that back a bit...even 31's get old fast with 3:07's as Eagle mentioned!!! This all changes as horse power increases. So these comments are for a basically stock 4.0 either Renix or HO.

 

4) He 's gonna LOVE the 4:10 in comparison!!!

 

My TJ has 4:10's and 35"s. My MJ has 4:56's and 33's. My MJ has no real engine mods for horse power, the TJ has a bunch. the TJ will drive at any legal speed up any hill around here with no problems.

Even with the advantage of the 4:56's and smaller tires in the MJ, I'll have to down shift to 3rd on a some of the biggest hills to stay with traffic. Don't get me wrong, its no dog and will cruse all day at 75. Will also accelerate to 80+ on those same hills on 3rd if I pushed it. But it does slow to about 50-55 on those long steep hills if I don't put my foot in it..

 

CW

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dana 30 will handle those pretty well. I wouldn't go much bigger than that though with a dana 30 front.

 

gearing has nothing to do with strength. the dana 44 has alot more strength because the parts are beefier, not because they're set to a different gear.

 

you'd do alright, but like i said you'd HATE huge tires on those gears. you can forget about overdrive (or 5th gear) with 3.07's and 35" tires...you'll never use either.

 

my bro's got 3.07's in his mj with 31" tires and does just fine...we're regearing to 4.10's soon with a chryco 8.25 rear axle out of my xj, but he intends to run 33's someday.

 

What gearing would you suggest for 35" tires, i know i would hate the 3.07s with 35s as i hate it with just 31"s.

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For what and where I drive, I would recomend 4:56 or 4:88.

 

4:88 gets you a bit more RPM's, but isn't as strong as we already went over.

4:56 is a good compromise.

 

4:10 are a damn site better than the 3:07's but as I already mentioned, the early 4.0's don't quite have the grunt and need a taller gear set.

 

Its also depends on your use, lower gears are good for rocks, not so good for mud where wheel speed is needed to keep the lugs clean.

 

So, you see, ultimately its gonna depend on your intended use..

 

CVW

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Depending on how high it goes.. you can hold it til you get money to build it right. I don't know how you plan on using your rig, but if you are just a mall crawler.. the d35 wil hold up to 31's.... heck I have had them hold up to 33's and beat on them.

 

Currently I have a XJ d44 in my garage waiting on 4.88's and a mini spool :nuts: and I am only going to run 33's :brows:

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:D

 

i'm most likely going to 4.5" lift and 4.10's tomorrow.

 

i'm currently running 3.55's and 3" of lift with 31" tires. i'm not changing tire size at the moment, and am sure i'll still love the results. my powerband is different from your guys' trucks, so i will net a bit different result than normal...right now i run around 1800RPM at 60mph with 31's, and i should run around 2100-2200rpm with 4.10's. i'll appreciate the regear i'm sure.

 

 

for 35" tires, you need to run 4.56 or 4.88 to be satisfied and back to a "stock" axle to tire ratio.

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What gearing would you suggest for 35" tires, i know i would hate the 3.07s with 35s as i hate it with just 31"s.

4.88

 

3.73 with 31s is equivalent to stock

 

4.10 with 33s is barely better than stock

 

IMHO, I view decent "all purpose" ratios to be 4.10s for 31" tires, 4.56 for 32" and 33" tires, and 4.88 for anything larger than 33" tires. The only reason I stop at 4.88 is that's the deepest ratio available for a Dana 30 front axle.

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my '88 2wd 4.0 5 speed was totally useless with the 3.07's.and i run the stock size 205-75-15 tires which are a lot shorter than 31's. i can only imagine how bad it would be with a 4x4 with 31's and 3.07's climbing hills or towing. i swapped in a 3.55 and truck is much better.i think a 3.73 would be perfect for my truck with the stock tires.bigger rubber needs bigger gears-4.11 or 4.56 to have any performance or towing ability especially if you have a manual trans.it's real easy to smoke a clutch in short time if your truck is undergeared/overtired and you try to start off on a hill towing a trailer.

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