Ring gear question

bigblueyj

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Location
Woodlawn, VA
I have an 82 waggy front dana 44 that I'm throwing in the front of my wrangler. I bought a set of 03 Jeep rubicon 4.11's and I"m looking to swap gears. I know that the gears will fit but are the ring gear bolts the same size from the rubi to the waggy? I've heard that the bolts aren't the same size but I'm not for sure. Any ideas?
 
As far as I've always known a D44 is a D44. They should all be the same.
 
The bolts are not the same size. If you are trying to fit them to a stock waggie carrier you will need to drill out the holes to match the rubi ring gear bolts.
 
Dana 44's are not dana 44's
there are:
dana 44's
aluminum dana 44's
Rubicon 44's
hp 44's
JK 44's
why they can't all be dana 44's i don't know but 44's are turning into a nightmare if you ask me

And no you can't put those rubi gears in your waggy housing, if you can you'll have to get real creative, and not worth the energy dana 44 gears are pretty reasonably priced. they did make a ring gear bolt change some aftermarket ring and pinions are double drilled. from 3/8 to 7/16 very common just measure the hole on the gears and order some bolts about $15 bucks for the bolts we have them in stock, and yes you will have to drill the carrier.

edit: i could be wrong about this but i am pretty sure that TJ 44's went to the different bolt size than a older style reguar 44, but the rubicons have a different offset gear and have the different bolt size, a regular 44 carrier can go in a rubicon axle if you drill the carrier but it does not shim the same. so basically why go threw the hassle of it over a $150 R&P
 
Wow was I ever wrong. I knew the alum D44's were different but I sure thought the rest were the same. Never stop learning. LOL
 
Sorry to beat a dead horse but, let me get this straight. The Rubicon gears that I bought won't fit because you said the offset is different? Does that mean it's not a true "thick" ring gear or is the gear made completely different? I was told that the rubicon's used a thick ring gear by a reputable shop that had regeared several rubicons and other vehicles. Just my information as I am by no means a ring and pinion guru. My Waggy has a 2.72 carrier in it as thats the reason behind me needing a thick ring gear. I don't have the cash to get a new carrier and new gears as well.
 
bigblueyj said:
Sorry to beat a dead horse but, let me get this straight. The Rubicon gears that I bought won't fit because you said the offset is different? Does that mean it's not a true "thick" ring gear or is the gear made completely different? I was told that the rubicon's used a thick ring gear by a reputable shop that had regeared several rubicons and other vehicles. Just my information as I am by no means a ring and pinion guru. My Waggy has a 2.72 carrier in it as thats the reason behind me needing a thick ring gear. I don't have the cash to get a new carrier and new gears as well.
Click to expand...

Let me add to the confusion. I have never attempted the Rubi D44 ring and pinion swap to Waggy D44. But EVERY Rubi D44 I have regeared (many, many) I have used thick gear sets.

So, I would ASSUME that if using Rubi D44 stock 4.10's and installing them in a non- Rubi housing, it could be accomplished with a high ratio gear carrier.

I.E.- Rubi 4.10 r and p in a Waggy D44 with a factory 2.73 carrier sounds like it would work, but I have no first hand knowledge.
 
X2 on what they have said...

The rubi used thick ring gears and different size bolts, so you should be able to use your 2.73 carrier and drill out the holes for the larger bolts...

***I have never done this, but from all Ive heard/read, this should work...
 
Well that sounds a little better to me.

One guy I know said that he thought the pinioin was shorter in the rubi, than in the waggy. I just thought while we were at it I would throw that into the mix. I'm almost sure it's not but I can't confirm this so I don't have any truth to it yet. The rubi measures jsut at 8.5 inches long. Anyone have a measurement for a waggy d44 pinion?

Just to ease my mind I called up Randy's Ring and Pinion and the guy told me that the carrier would have to be drilled to fit the bigger bolts but other than that, it should fit just fine. So I had him send me the bigger bolts and a shim kit. Off to the races we go I guess.
 
why did you call randy's? you could have ordered them from cperry and gotten them faster and supported a member on the board
 
All I ordered is a shim kit and bolts. Other than that I didn't even know his shop existed until he told me that they wouldn't work. I'm not on this board too often but it's kinda local to me. Believe me, I'm a big supporter of local shops, but when it comes to gears I tend to lean towards the companies I know. No offense to anyone on here, thats just me.
 
TJ Rubicon gears will set up Just fine in a Waggy Dana 44 on the high ratio case (3.73 and lower numerically). They are basically a "Thick" ring gear for Dana 44's like has been available for GM (AAM) 10 & 12 bolts for years.
 
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