waggy 44 is it strong?

GT MOTORSPORTS · 09-29-2009, 10:59 AM

Ok guys i have a question. I think my chrysler 8.25 has spit a few teeth of the ring gear and through the cover...I have not pulled the cover as I havent got a chance to move it into the shop yet..

I have a front and rear waggy 44. It seems to me the rear 44 is kinda smallish on axle tube diameter. It tapers from the housing ends down to a smaller size before it goes into the center housing. Is this a very good axle to use..I want to narrow it a bit. I know some of you like your fullsize axles under your rigs..I have seen on pirate that some guys go for the isuzu dana 44 for the rear disc brakes.. I have this axle but unsure if it is worth a $#!t.

I am currently running 33" boggers and may only step up to 35" when these wear out. Any info would be great...

94Dodge Truggy · 09-29-2009, 11:14 AM

Moderate riding the 44 with 35's or smaller will do. The 8.25 is usually fairly stout as well though. Disc brake conversions are plentiful for this application. If you want to hit the skinny pedal and not worry you may want to further upgrade though.

GT MOTORSPORTS · 09-29-2009, 11:28 AM

Thanks truggy. The jeep in my avatar is the jeep i wheel right now. I dont plan to go much bigger with it. I dont want no bigger than 35" to be honest i have been fine with the 33" I just figure i may step up. I want to run a hi pinion ford front axle im retubing right now in the front. I have heard that dana 44's are good only to 35"

I dont want to run a dana 60/70 or 14 bolt with 37" or bigger they hang way low..so ths cherokee will not go any bigger..

blazerbrad · 09-29-2009, 01:28 PM

Get an 8.8" rear axle from a Ford Explorer. 31 spline shafts, disc brakes, and the same 5x4.5" bolt pattern.......just reread your post and you mentioned building a different front axle so I guess the lug pattern would be an issue. In our club we have one guy with a CJ-7 that runs a cut down D44 front and an Explorer 8.8 rear with wheel adaptors so the lug pattern matched. Another guy ran the same setup on his YJ (has since gone to D60's).

jfiscus · 09-29-2009, 02:49 PM

x2 on an explorer 8.8
even the bolt pattern matches up to XJ pattern
it's what everyone's doing anymore.

jeeptech77 · 09-29-2009, 09:43 PM

x3 on the ford 8.8
however the front 44 in my opinion is a downgrade from a hp 30 with abs
truss the 30 and be happy with it
i ran a 30 for years with 33 boggers never snaped a axle or replaced a balljoint just bent housing till i trussed it
i swaped to a 44 then the nightmare began by the time you bullett prof a 44 you could build a bad ass 60 or 9 inch hybrid

KennyTJ · 09-30-2009, 09:47 PM

What he said! ^^^^

GT MOTORSPORTS · 09-30-2009, 10:16 PM

Ok!?

I have an 8.8 out of an explore. with disc brakes and a factory posi trac! It was going in my 99 daily driver project..maybe better find another..

So you guys dont like the dana 44 hp front axles? I have bent the front hp 30. Ihave also worn out 3 sets of unit bearings. At $100 a side they arent cheap to replace..Yeah i know warranty...well they only warranty them for a yr.....and they go bad at 13 months

So Im looking a the cost of those And thought why not do a 44 swap...but I guess they suck...but 60 fornt are big and bulky and never wanting to run bigger than a 35 on this jeep I cant see the justifcation. So i have thought about doing the hybrid
9" I have thought hard about redoing the 30hp thats in it after doing said trussing to the housing. I have had killer luck with it..Im not going to say its never going to break but to date all I have done was swap out the u-joints in the axle shafts to some brute force joints and never have had a problem.I just cant see spending the $1200 for the lock out hubs..I guess its not a hugh deal..just thought a 44 would be better..I want to regear the axles and do locker but I guess i will run the 8.8 and redo the 30

with that said..I while ago I read in JP that some one made a locker that use 44 axle shafts..it was a hybird deal. I dont remember who made it but they said it would make the 30 pretty stout. The abs isnt a big deal. Ithought about removing it..i saw some where also about doing an S-10 rotor/caliper swap? has any one ever done this...

itbrokeagain · 09-30-2009, 10:20 PM

Go to Autozone for those unit bearings. I bet the have some with a lifetime warranty.

GT MOTORSPORTS · 09-30-2009, 10:22 PM

Mine came form advance auto..ill check them out tomarrow..jeep rallye is coming up so I got to get to getting it figured out..

jeeptech77 · 10-01-2009, 01:13 AM

the 44 has a bad knuckle design it is hard on parts period
the 30 trussed is sweet light stout
the 30 with abs has factory large u joints 229x same as dana 44 and chevy 10 bolt
try pm ing scotty85 he may share how he made a 30 with knuckle swap hybrid setup for lockouts for cheap mostly labor

i did eat a couple unit bearings however correct torquing of the axle nut should keep this to a minimum with 33 inch boggers i only changed 1 or 2 over a couple of years so maby you got mud in a tire or something shaking the crap out of them

if you can weld a truss can be burnt on in a couple of hours in the rig i actually bent and used a long chevy tie rod its thick long and i had lots of them the aftermarkett bolt ons are junk i only wish i had skiped the 44 era in the xj i run a 60 now and yes with 37 13.00 boggers it is a tank shaved with 20 lbs of air i have 10.5 inches under front diff air down to 10 psi i hang on everything i go over :mad:

i guess if i had a 2 seater cj and no weight on board it would be ok scotty85 has good luck with a 10 bolt but he knows how to keep the wheel straight before hiting the skinny pedal

and he is rather light compared to me
just sharing my opinion that is actually real life experiance ..
put a arb in the 30 and roll with abs axles lock up the rear
you can always ask around naxja anyone who runs a 44 spent a lot of money on it or hasent wheeled it much
however a rubicon 44 if im not mistaken has 30 knuckles so it is probally ok
but still unit bearings i like unit bearings if you do granade a axle you will not be hunting a spindle before you can put youre wheel back on and chances of knocking a balljoint apart are way less likely , also faster service time and no grease to deal and less spare parts to carry
just not easy to find or cheap

blazerbrad · 10-01-2009, 08:57 AM

I personally like the idea of the HP44 front axle, but it is likely more work to make a custom one versus bolting on a few things to the D30.

I've never heard of the D44 having a "bad knuckle design that is hard on parts"???? Anybody care to elaborate? Both the D30 and D44 have the standard balljoint style knuckles of the same basic design from what I can tell, just that the D44 is bigger.

In regards to the comment of needing a new spindle if you grenade a shaft in a D44......well, maybe sometimes if it is a stub shaft (about equal chance to break the u-joint, stub, or inner shaft) and a spectacular breakage. I've seen a couple of D44 stubs break on the trail and you could just pull it out and put a spare in with no spindle damage, but it can damage the spindle sometimes.

jfiscus · 10-01-2009, 10:56 AM

I believe O-reillys has the D30 unibearings for around $60 las ttime I bought them, haven't wore them out yet but we don't daily drive the jeeps.

GT MOTORSPORTS · 10-02-2009, 02:13 AM

JEEPTECH77 wrote:
if you can weld a truss can be burnt on in a couple of hours in the rig i actually bent and used a long chevy tie rod its thick long and i had lots of them the aftermarkett bolt ons are junk i only wish i had skiped the 44 era in the xj i run a 60 now and yes with 37 13.00 boggers it is a tank shaved with 20 lbs of air i have 10.5 inches under front diff air down to 10 psi i hang on everything i go over

I can weld...I have been thinking of making a truss out of 3/16"x2"x4" tubing.

That is why i dont want 1 tons in this jeep...

BLAZERBRAD wrote:
I personally like the idea of the HP44 front axle, but it is likely more work to make a custom one versus bolting on a few things to the D30.

fab time is no big deal to me..I dig it!

BLAZERBRAD wrote:
I've never heard of the D44 having a "bad knuckle design that is hard on parts"???? Anybody care to elaborate? Both the D30 and D44 have the standard balljoint style knuckles of the same basic design from what I can tell, just that the D44 is bigger.

Yeah Id like to know why also..there is alot of dana 44 out there in all sorts of lifted trucks..

JEEP TECH77 wrote:
i only changed 1 or 2 over a couple of years so maby you got mud in a tire or something shaking the crap out of them

This jeep hardly ever gets driven on the street,it hasnt been tagged for 2 years..mud in the tire or sumn shaking it..possible but I dont ever really get alot of wheel speed..Im not sure but maybe ill try the Orielly ones like fiscus.

Flxratd · 10-02-2009, 10:50 AM

in defense of the 44 idea i run one in the front of my rig with an arb and 37" iroks for about 4+ years now and my only failure was a cheep replacement (car quest) u joint that popped and hurt one of the ears on the axle but i blame that more on me for using a substandard part. i know alot of guys hate the 44 but i cant really agree with them if you wheel anything enough you will see failure and i have seen many 60s give up just the same

ok just my 2cents

KennyTJ · 10-02-2009, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GT MOTORSPORTS

JEEPTECH77 wrote:

BLAZERBRAD wrote:
I personally like the idea of the HP44 front axle, but it is likely more work to make a custom one versus bolting on a few things to the D30.

fab time is no big deal to me..I dig it!

BLAZERBRAD wrote:
I've never heard of the D44 having a "bad knuckle design that is hard on parts"???? Anybody care to elaborate? Both the D30 and D44 have the standard balljoint style knuckles of the same basic design from what I can tell, just that the D44 is bigger.

Yeah Id like to know why also..there is alot of dana 44 out there in all sorts of lifted trucks..

JEEP TECH77 wrote:
i only changed 1 or 2 over a couple of years so maby you got mud in a tire or something shaking the crap out of them

I have an 8.8 and a Built D30HP on my '06 Wrangler. I can tell you that the Jeep D44 fronts are not HP, also When the Rubicon was intoduced the knuckles, ball joints, unit bearings, and brakes are the same for the D30 and D44 for '04-'06. The later D30's use the 297x / 760x u-joint, I'm not 100% but I think that is the same as the Jeep D44.
I basically kept the outter knucles, unit-bearings, brakes, and axle shafts from my '06 D30. Then took a D30HP center section, installed all new gears, bearings, seals, and ball-joints, welded up a truss and lower CA skids and now I have a tough D30HP with the large u-joints, unit bearings, and brakes. I have not invested in alloy shafts but that's supposed to add 30% to the shaft strength. I keep hearing the reverse cut gears running on the drive side (D30HP) will be as strong as the std. cut gear running on the coast side (D44) I haven't broken a ring gear yet so don't know. I am probably pushing my luck running 36" SXs on beadlocks with this axle, but i like to pick good lines and wheel smart. Know when to hit the skinny pedal and know when it's time to pull winch cable.

Just my typical long winded 2 cents worth.

Good luck with the build!

TheJeepGuy · 10-02-2009, 02:09 PM

Just my two cents.......I run waggy 44's front and rear.In the front is 4.10 gears with a aussie locker,stock axles.The only problem i have had is with the half circle C clip on the axle u j .The clip was coming off and the cup was working out.I caught this before any damage was done.So to correct this problem i machined the ears on the axle to accept full circle snap rings,and upgraded to spicer 297x u j's.I wheel this rig pretty hard with no problem.I'am also running 36" swampers on beed locks.

94Dodge Truggy · 10-02-2009, 04:22 PM

I ran 36's with a somewhat heavy rig and a strong motor (well used rpm's) to boot and broke inner and outer shafts, ring and pinion and a true track before retiring it for a 60 which broke only once. It was a dodge dana 44 high pinion with ball joints. It would have been fine on a lighter rig with 1/2 the HP.

GT MOTORSPORTS · 10-07-2009, 04:30 AM

Kenny tj, only the rear axle is form a waggy..the front is a 79 ford HP...
I thank you for your axle specs.Good tech.I have the larger U-joints and a HP D30.

Jeep guy,you ever break axles?

94 truggy, so you think I could get by with the d44 in a cherokee with 35's?

94Dodge Truggy · 10-07-2009, 07:32 AM

I think it will be fine and if not you can always install bobby longfield shafts!

KennyTJ · 10-07-2009, 08:54 AM

A big thumbs up on the Longfield shafts!

buckeyezuk · 10-07-2009, 09:08 AM

thejeepguy has his waggy 44 under a xj cherokee with a 4.0 runnin 36" tsl. the only upgrade was the 30 dollar u joint with the full circle clips. the rig has been wheeled hard and has never broke any axle parts. i consider it a big upgrade to the d30!

blazerbrad · 10-07-2009, 06:55 PM

I would consider a D44 under a relatively light rig with only 35's to be fairly beefy. I have heard the "no bigger than 35's on a D44" before but that was considering a heavy fullsize truck with more power.

I've wheeled with several guys with D44 front axles under 6 cylinder Jeeps and they have had really good luck. Two guys had D44 fronts under YJ's with 36" SX's (i.e. heavy), lockers, low geared t-cases, but stockish 4.0L. Both of these guys were running these fronts back in the late-90's when running a D60 front was unheard of, and no fancy chromo shafts or u-joints either.

Another guy just built a D44 for his CJ-7 with 33" Boggers and a built 258. He's been intentionally beating on it to see how it holds up, especially considering he was constantly breaking the old D30 (granted, it was a CJ version LP with the small joints).

GT MOTORSPORTS · 10-07-2009, 07:35 PM

Thanks for all the input!

How do you guys feel about the waggy REAR dana44? Thats the one where I made the comment about the axle tubes tapering from the center cast housing to the housing ends? I have one of those. Im trying to keep my 8.8 for my daily driver...

TheJeepGuy · 10-07-2009, 09:04 PM

The 44 i am running is out of a '83 waggy,which was a very simple swap into my XJ. I am also running a Tom Woods SYE and driveshaft,which is very important in this swap.The 44 is just OK,keeping in mind that you can break anything if you try hard enough.When you wheel with the 'zuki and the 'yota guys you either wheel hard or stay on the porch.

09-29-2009, 10:59 AM	#1
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	waggy 44 is it strong? Ok guys i have a question. I think my chrysler 8.25 has spit a few teeth of the ring gear and through the cover...I have not pulled the cover as I havent got a chance to move it into the shop yet.. I have a front and rear waggy 44. It seems to me the rear 44 is kinda smallish on axle tube diameter. It tapers from the housing ends down to a smaller size before it goes into the center housing. Is this a very good axle to use..I want to narrow it a bit. I know some of you like your fullsize axles under your rigs..I have seen on pirate that some guys go for the isuzu dana 44 for the rear disc brakes.. I have this axle but unsure if it is worth a $#!t. I am currently running 33" boggers and may only step up to 35" when these wear out. Any info would be great... __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

09-29-2009, 11:14 AM	#2
94Dodge Truggy EX-Vice President Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fairfield, Ohio Posts: 3,048	Moderate riding the 44 with 35's or smaller will do. The 8.25 is usually fairly stout as well though. Disc brake conversions are plentiful for this application. If you want to hit the skinny pedal and not worry you may want to further upgrade though. __________________

09-29-2009, 11:28 AM	#3
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	Thanks truggy. The jeep in my avatar is the jeep i wheel right now. I dont plan to go much bigger with it. I dont want no bigger than 35" to be honest i have been fine with the 33" I just figure i may step up. I want to run a hi pinion ford front axle im retubing right now in the front. I have heard that dana 44's are good only to 35" I dont want to run a dana 60/70 or 14 bolt with 37" or bigger they hang way low..so ths cherokee will not go any bigger.. __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

09-29-2009, 09:43 PM	#6
jeeptech77 jeeptech77 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: cincinnati Posts: 12	axle x3 on the ford 8.8 however the front 44 in my opinion is a downgrade from a hp 30 with abs truss the 30 and be happy with it i ran a 30 for years with 33 boggers never snaped a axle or replaced a balljoint just bent housing till i trussed it i swaped to a 44 then the nightmare began by the time you bullett prof a 44 you could build a bad ass 60 or 9 inch hybrid

09-30-2009, 10:16 PM	#8
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	Ok!? I have an 8.8 out of an explore. with disc brakes and a factory posi trac! It was going in my 99 daily driver project..maybe better find another.. So you guys dont like the dana 44 hp front axles? I have bent the front hp 30. Ihave also worn out 3 sets of unit bearings. At $100 a side they arent cheap to replace..Yeah i know warranty...well they only warranty them for a yr.....and they go bad at 13 months So Im looking a the cost of those And thought why not do a 44 swap...but I guess they suck...but 60 fornt are big and bulky and never wanting to run bigger than a 35 on this jeep I cant see the justifcation. So i have thought about doing the hybrid 9" I have thought hard about redoing the 30hp thats in it after doing said trussing to the housing. I have had killer luck with it..Im not going to say its never going to break but to date all I have done was swap out the u-joints in the axle shafts to some brute force joints and never have had a problem.I just cant see spending the $1200 for the lock out hubs..I guess its not a hugh deal..just thought a 44 would be better..I want to regear the axles and do locker but I guess i will run the 8.8 and redo the 30 with that said..I while ago I read in JP that some one made a locker that use 44 axle shafts..it was a hybird deal. I dont remember who made it but they said it would make the 30 pretty stout. The abs isnt a big deal. Ithought about removing it..i saw some where also about doing an S-10 rotor/caliper swap? has any one ever done this... __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

09-29-2009, 01:28 PM	#4
blazerbrad - CORE Member - Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 831 Images: 6	Get an 8.8" rear axle from a Ford Explorer. 31 spline shafts, disc brakes, and the same 5x4.5" bolt pattern.......just reread your post and you mentioned building a different front axle so I guess the lug pattern would be an issue. In our club we have one guy with a CJ-7 that runs a cut down D44 front and an Explorer 8.8 rear with wheel adaptors so the lug pattern matched. Another guy ran the same setup on his YJ (has since gone to D60's).

09-29-2009, 02:49 PM	#5
jfiscus Terrain Stomper Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Crittenden, KY Posts: 633	x2 on an explorer 8.8 even the bolt pattern matches up to XJ pattern it's what everyone's doing anymore.

09-30-2009, 09:47 PM	#7
KennyTJ The Pirate Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Lebanon, Oh. Posts: 297	What he said! ^^^^

09-30-2009, 10:20 PM	#9
itbrokeagain Just Empty Every Pocket - CORE Member - Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Amelia Posts: 1,435	Go to Autozone for those unit bearings. I bet the have some with a lifetime warranty. __________________ 91 fj 80 on 37 Nitto Muds with a 10k winch. Cage and sliders coming soon.

09-30-2009, 10:22 PM	#10
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	Mine came form advance auto..ill check them out tomarrow..jeep rallye is coming up so I got to get to getting it figured out.. __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

10-01-2009, 01:13 AM	#11
jeeptech77 jeeptech77 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: cincinnati Posts: 12	hmmm the 44 has a bad knuckle design it is hard on parts period the 30 trussed is sweet light stout the 30 with abs has factory large u joints 229x same as dana 44 and chevy 10 bolt try pm ing scotty85 he may share how he made a 30 with knuckle swap hybrid setup for lockouts for cheap mostly labor i did eat a couple unit bearings however correct torquing of the axle nut should keep this to a minimum with 33 inch boggers i only changed 1 or 2 over a couple of years so maby you got mud in a tire or something shaking the crap out of them if you can weld a truss can be burnt on in a couple of hours in the rig i actually bent and used a long chevy tie rod its thick long and i had lots of them the aftermarkett bolt ons are junk i only wish i had skiped the 44 era in the xj i run a 60 now and yes with 37 13.00 boggers it is a tank shaved with 20 lbs of air i have 10.5 inches under front diff air down to 10 psi i hang on everything i go over :mad: i guess if i had a 2 seater cj and no weight on board it would be ok scotty85 has good luck with a 10 bolt but he knows how to keep the wheel straight before hiting the skinny pedal and he is rather light compared to me just sharing my opinion that is actually real life experiance .. put a arb in the 30 and roll with abs axles lock up the rear you can always ask around naxja anyone who runs a 44 spent a lot of money on it or hasent wheeled it much however a rubicon 44 if im not mistaken has 30 knuckles so it is probally ok but still unit bearings i like unit bearings if you do granade a axle you will not be hunting a spindle before you can put youre wheel back on and chances of knocking a balljoint apart are way less likely , also faster service time and no grease to deal and less spare parts to carry just not easy to find or cheap

10-01-2009, 08:57 AM	#12
blazerbrad - CORE Member - Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 831 Images: 6	I personally like the idea of the HP44 front axle, but it is likely more work to make a custom one versus bolting on a few things to the D30. I've never heard of the D44 having a "bad knuckle design that is hard on parts"???? Anybody care to elaborate? Both the D30 and D44 have the standard balljoint style knuckles of the same basic design from what I can tell, just that the D44 is bigger. In regards to the comment of needing a new spindle if you grenade a shaft in a D44......well, maybe sometimes if it is a stub shaft (about equal chance to break the u-joint, stub, or inner shaft) and a spectacular breakage. I've seen a couple of D44 stubs break on the trail and you could just pull it out and put a spare in with no spindle damage, but it can damage the spindle sometimes.

10-01-2009, 10:56 AM	#13
jfiscus Terrain Stomper Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Crittenden, KY Posts: 633	I believe O-reillys has the D30 unibearings for around $60 las ttime I bought them, haven't wore them out yet but we don't daily drive the jeeps.

10-02-2009, 02:13 AM	#14
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	JEEPTECH77 wrote: if you can weld a truss can be burnt on in a couple of hours in the rig i actually bent and used a long chevy tie rod its thick long and i had lots of them the aftermarkett bolt ons are junk i only wish i had skiped the 44 era in the xj i run a 60 now and yes with 37 13.00 boggers it is a tank shaved with 20 lbs of air i have 10.5 inches under front diff air down to 10 psi i hang on everything i go over I can weld...I have been thinking of making a truss out of 3/16"x2"x4" tubing. That is why i dont want 1 tons in this jeep... BLAZERBRAD wrote: I personally like the idea of the HP44 front axle, but it is likely more work to make a custom one versus bolting on a few things to the D30. fab time is no big deal to me..I dig it! BLAZERBRAD wrote: I've never heard of the D44 having a "bad knuckle design that is hard on parts"???? Anybody care to elaborate? Both the D30 and D44 have the standard balljoint style knuckles of the same basic design from what I can tell, just that the D44 is bigger. Yeah Id like to know why also..there is alot of dana 44 out there in all sorts of lifted trucks.. JEEP TECH77 wrote: i only changed 1 or 2 over a couple of years so maby you got mud in a tire or something shaking the crap out of them This jeep hardly ever gets driven on the street,it hasnt been tagged for 2 years..mud in the tire or sumn shaking it..possible but I dont ever really get alot of wheel speed..Im not sure but maybe ill try the Orielly ones like fiscus. __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

10-02-2009, 10:50 AM	#15
Flxratd Retired Join Date: May 2008 Location: Hamilton/Ross Posts: 645	in defense of the 44 idea i run one in the front of my rig with an arb and 37" iroks for about 4+ years now and my only failure was a cheep replacement (car quest) u joint that popped and hurt one of the ears on the axle but i blame that more on me for using a substandard part. i know alot of guys hate the 44 but i cant really agree with them if you wheel anything enough you will see failure and i have seen many 60s give up just the same ok just my 2cents __________________ One of these days Zuk 2.0

10-02-2009, 02:09 PM	#17
TheJeepGuy Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 25	waggy 44's Just my two cents.......I run waggy 44's front and rear.In the front is 4.10 gears with a aussie locker,stock axles.The only problem i have had is with the half circle C clip on the axle u j .The clip was coming off and the cup was working out.I caught this before any damage was done.So to correct this problem i machined the ears on the axle to accept full circle snap rings,and upgraded to spicer 297x u j's.I wheel this rig pretty hard with no problem.I'am also running 36" swampers on beed locks.

10-02-2009, 04:22 PM	#18
94Dodge Truggy EX-Vice President Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fairfield, Ohio Posts: 3,048	I ran 36's with a somewhat heavy rig and a strong motor (well used rpm's) to boot and broke inner and outer shafts, ring and pinion and a true track before retiring it for a 60 which broke only once. It was a dodge dana 44 high pinion with ball joints. It would have been fine on a lighter rig with 1/2 the HP. __________________

10-07-2009, 04:30 AM	#19
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	Kenny tj, only the rear axle is form a waggy..the front is a 79 ford HP... I thank you for your axle specs.Good tech.I have the larger U-joints and a HP D30. Jeep guy,you ever break axles? 94 truggy, so you think I could get by with the d44 in a cherokee with 35's? __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

10-07-2009, 07:32 AM	#20
94Dodge Truggy EX-Vice President Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fairfield, Ohio Posts: 3,048	I think it will be fine and if not you can always install bobby longfield shafts! __________________

10-07-2009, 08:54 AM	#21
KennyTJ The Pirate Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Lebanon, Oh. Posts: 297	A big thumbs up on the Longfield shafts!

10-07-2009, 09:08 AM	#22
buckeyezuk wheeler Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: bethel Posts: 134	Waggy 44 thejeepguy has his waggy 44 under a xj cherokee with a 4.0 runnin 36" tsl. the only upgrade was the 30 dollar u joint with the full circle clips. the rig has been wheeled hard and has never broke any axle parts. i consider it a big upgrade to the d30! __________________ ZUKI linked f/r 16v air shocks cut 39.5" tsl. exod. full hydro F/R. rear steer.

10-07-2009, 06:55 PM	#23
blazerbrad - CORE Member - Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 831 Images: 6	I would consider a D44 under a relatively light rig with only 35's to be fairly beefy. I have heard the "no bigger than 35's on a D44" before but that was considering a heavy fullsize truck with more power. I've wheeled with several guys with D44 front axles under 6 cylinder Jeeps and they have had really good luck. Two guys had D44 fronts under YJ's with 36" SX's (i.e. heavy), lockers, low geared t-cases, but stockish 4.0L. Both of these guys were running these fronts back in the late-90's when running a D60 front was unheard of, and no fancy chromo shafts or u-joints either. Another guy just built a D44 for his CJ-7 with 33" Boggers and a built 258. He's been intentionally beating on it to see how it holds up, especially considering he was constantly breaking the old D30 (granted, it was a CJ version LP with the small joints).

10-07-2009, 07:35 PM	#24
GT MOTORSPORTS Custom fabrication Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lynchburg,Ohio Posts: 92	Thanks for all the input! How do you guys feel about the waggy REAR dana44? Thats the one where I made the comment about the axle tubes tapering from the center cast housing to the housing ends? I have one of those. Im trying to keep my 8.8 for my daily driver... __________________ Regret not what you've done,Only what you have'nt.

10-07-2009, 09:04 PM	#25
TheJeepGuy Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 25	Waggy 44 rear The 44 i am running is out of a '83 waggy,which was a very simple swap into my XJ. I am also running a Tom Woods SYE and driveshaft,which is very important in this swap.The 44 is just OK,keeping in mind that you can break anything if you try hard enough.When you wheel with the 'zuki and the 'yota guys you either wheel hard or stay on the porch.