dana 44 axle swap

burdman

New member
OK, here's the deal-I have a 93 Wrangler, 4.0 auto w/ 4.10s in stock axles. I'm tired of fighting with the vacuum problems. I have a pair of dana 44s out of a 74 scout II that I would love to put in, but the scout front axle is a pass. side drop. I have all the tools and a garage to do it in, but I'm a little concerned about flipping the front axle. Any suggestions?
 

Sell or trade the Scout axles, use a set from a Ford.
Nothing wrong with the Scout axles, just that they pose some issues that the Ford D44 will not have. Also the Ford truck 9" is stronger than a D44 rear. Another option is to use Ford Snow fighter D60's, they will bolt up to your springs without any spring perch mods.
 
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Doubt you would be able to flip the t-case. You could find a Dana 300 from a CJ and use an adapter but you'll need to reroute the exhaust to the driver side.
 
Find a Waggy front d44 and, if you want to keep the Ford wheel pattern, use the spindles and hubs from the Scout d44.

Or use a Waggy front d44 and Isuzu Rodeo rear d44, gives you a matching 6-lug wheel pattern and 4whl disc brakes.
 

Find a Waggy front d44 and, if you want to keep the Ford wheel pattern, use the spindles and hubs from the Scout d44.

Or use a Waggy front d44 and Isuzu Rodeo rear d44, gives you a matching 6-lug wheel pattern and 4whl disc brakes.


This!

I would tend to avoid the D44's from fords due to a large number of them having the radius arm mount actually cast into the differ casting. while people get around this issue, it is not a fun task. if you can find a ford D44 with a welded mount, just need to grind the welds and it pops off.
 
What is the drawback with the Rubicon d44s?

Thin axle tubes is the main one... Except for the gearing, there is not much different between the front D44 and the later D30's (spline count is different, IIRC, but strengthwise, not much difference).
 
Plus the Rubi d44's use the POS unit bearing assembly, smallish breaks, no locking hubs, more expensive to highsteer, the list goes on. Avoid the Rubi axles unless you have a TJ and are staying with smallish tires.

The jeeper that started this thread has a YJ and standard non-TJ axles are a much simpler and more cost effective swap.
 

I agree with jps4jeep, I didn't mean just use any Ford front D44 some are less desirable than others. But once the proper model axles are known such as the early F150 or the mentioned Snow fighter axles which are a rather simple no welding required swap. Pick a straight axle D44 from a F250 and there are no radius arm wedges at all to mess with, not to mention very thick axle tubes, huge brakes, and high GAWR.
On the same note AFAIK and I do not claim to be any sort of authority. I believe most waggy D44 fronts (SJ) were right side drop so he is back in the same boat as with the Scout axles. Also AFAIK the XJ never came with a D44 front, but I may be wrong. Waggy axles are great for CJ's not so much for the YJ,TJ (left side drop Jeeps)
The YJ t-case does not lend itself well to being flipped since it has a oil pump and flipping it will require some fab work etc. to change the sump pick up.
 
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Plus the Rubi d44's use the POS unit bearing assembly, smallish breaks, no locking hubs, more expensive to highsteer, the list goes on. Avoid the Rubi axles unless you have a TJ and are staying with smallish tires.

The jeeper that started this thread has a YJ and standard non-TJ axles are a much simpler and more cost effective swap.
Gotcha, good to know. I will need to change axles when I swap the Hemi into my TJ. Thanks for the info.

Sorry if I pirated your thread.
 
I believe most waggy D44 fronts (SJ) were right side drop so he is back in the same boat as with the Scout axles.
Not really, they were pass. side drop up until about '81 or so, then they went to driver's drop until they stopped making the Waggy around '91. So a lot of Wagoneer front axles out there are the correct width and drop for a YJ.
 

Ah ok BH thanks for the info. So they seem to be a lot like the Ford D44 in that if you choose the right year you are good to go. Also in both cases there are more years that are less desirable than the years that are beneficial.
 
the best part about the waggy D44, almost all parts are interchangable with a chevy, dodge, or ford D44, you can mix and match to get the larger bearings from a chevy, the 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern of the ford and the flat top knuckles and brakes from a chevy, slap all that on a dodge or fsj axle.
 

Thanks guys, that just saved me a lot of work and money.
 
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