cherokee front axle

mileshigh

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 2, 2005
Location
Charlotte NC
just looking a my options but what dana 44 would i want to put under the front of my xj. As far as width goes i would like to stay close to stock just because i dont thing full widths and a unibody would last to long. As well what all would be involved in this swap has anyone done it??? pics perhapse? Thanks guys
 
you can put a jeep wagoneer front under an xj. similar width etc. Cons, 6 lug, bracket kit, steering.....
 
because i dont thing full widths and a unibody would last to long
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why do you think this? there are plenty of people that run full widths just fine , and in either case, if you're doing serious enough trails to warrant any axle swap, it would be a good idea to go ahead and reinforce the unibody anyway
 
have you blown alot up on the HP30? I've been wheeling the crap out of my HP30 for a couple years now on 33's and 35's and have yet to have a problem with it. The upgrade to a waggy 44 isn't gaining you A WHOLE lot in my opinion.
 
hmm well im running 33's and i can here splines poping in the front driver side and rather than just get alloy shafts i rather upgrade and get lock out hubs
 
Elliott said:
splines popping?

either way 33's and a D44 front is a bit overkill IMO.
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Um yea splines popping, have u never heard of this..its like striping out a gear so to speak..the splines round off and no longer have all the teeth to grip...and i dont think a 44 is overkill for 33's if anything its being safe. and someday i will be upgrading to a larger tire. But for the wheeling i do the dana 30 is not going to cut it for me.
 
man, you must do some sweet trails. ever done rocky mountain loop? it is impossible.
 
there is no such thing as overkill when it comes off roading. it is better to have a stronger axle rather than have to worry about what you are gonna do if your week axle decides to break on you while you are out on the trail. the point of four wheelin is to get over or around obstacles, not to see how much stuff you can break and have to replace while you are out there. having the stronger axles will allow you to put more power to the ground allowing you to overcome stuff that would normally have been difficult before. and yes a properly built hp dana 30 should be sufficient for 33's but why waste the money on that when you can buy a 44 that has the same strength for less, and also if you ever decide to move up in tire size then you already have an axle that will hold up.
 
pheery said:
man, you must do some sweet trails. ever done rocky mountain loop? it is impossible.
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you are clearly joking about the impossible part right? i was able to do all of that back when i was runnin my 33's on my stock 30 and 35, not locked or geared, hence forth stock.
 
The splines shouldn't round off. What could be the problem is that the unit bearing is going bad. Splines typically fail, not sort of work. I do understand the desire to upgrade, just don't see throwing a bunch of money away if you don't need to. A dana 30 with 33's is plenty. The upgrade would be a dana 44 set out of a grand wagoneer. The rear swap is easy, the front takes more a lot more work. If you haven't done a couple or you don't weld for a living, please don't do this swap yourself on a streetable rig. Get Andy or someone to weld up the brackets for you. Go ahead and grab some flat to knuckles and install high steer while you are there, it makes the steering much easier to get in and working. If you want to step up a little wider for stability then look for a widetrack set out of a J truck. Either way build up the unibody to handle the stress.
 
imma agree with down&dirty all the way around i would bet that it is that unitbearing crap popping, my 97 did that and its a very expensive part for what it is.
 
And to further add to the confusion... I have a bud that wheels the piss out of his TJ D30 (well, did until he was sent to Oki about 2 years ago)...

Even with the hub conversion & alloys, it's held up fine to 37"s...
 
Elliott said:
have you blown alot up on the HP30? I've been wheeling the crap out of my HP30 for a couple years now on 33's and 35's and have yet to have a problem with it. The upgrade to a waggy 44 isn't gaining you A WHOLE lot in my opinion.
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D30=D44 :confused:
mabe d30= Rubi D44 not much difference
 
Ridgerunner said:
D30=D44 :confused:
mabe d30= Rubi D44 not much difference
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haha how true, a rubi 44 is a glorified 30 and a waste of money. a real dana 44 is worth it. total for me to do my front waggy 44 swap was about $715, that included the initial price of the axle, rubicon express tj brackets, new gears, overhaul kit, installation of the gears and a limited slip locker that i picked up from a buddy for cheap. the axle itself came with the stock steering components, flat top knuckles, (at least 10 times better than that of a stock TJ steering), locking hubs, all the brake components and the labor to install the brackets was included.

i am pretty sure that a super 30 kit is about $1200, plus you gotta get new gears plus have them installed, most of the time.
 
ok thats cool and all but i dont have alloys and a hub conversion mine is the same 30 that came out of the factory 16 years ago....im going to look into this wheel bearing thing and replace it and see if that fixs the problem
 
jrraw23 said:
Anything that comes from a stock jeep is junk anyway :flipoff2:
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Maybe that's "that Jeep thing" we all don't understand. Well, maybe i do. That's why I drive a toyota.:lol:

Sorry, back to the topic at hand...
 
Back to the XJ front axle swap....

I'm new to XJ...From CJ.
To upgrade to FULL WIDTH, what is the easiest to come by? Ford 3/4 ton 44 and 60?

Thanks,

Rick
 
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