dana 44

[YJ209]

I have just bought a spring over for my 94 jeep wrangler, which has a dana 35 in the rear and dana 30 in the front. i also bought a high steer kit for it. saying all of this is there any dana 44 out there or any other front or rear ends that will be pretty close width wise? to where i can still use my kit? i no i will have to get new spring perches but what about the steering>? would the high steer for a dana 30 match up to any other front ends out there. Out of all of this im trying to get 35's instead of 33's.. Any help would be appreciated. Thank You

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

D44 axles from an '80s Wagoneer would work well, same width as YJ axles. What brand or type of highsteer kit did you get?

 

[algodones23]

Your problem might not be so much the width, but the knuckles and how your high steer kit mounts. I picked up the Rocky Road OTT High Steering kit for my Jeep and it is very specific to the axle and steering knuckles. We looked at a couple of D44s for the same thing, to upgrade. Won't work with the existing high steering kit.

For me, its not worth taking off my OTT kit go for the new D44. YMMV.

 

[YJ209]

Your problem might not be so much the width, but the knuckles and how your high steer kit mounts. I picked up the Rocky Road OTT High Steering kit for my Jeep and it is very specific to the axle and steering knuckles. We looked at a couple of D44s for the same thing, to upgrade. Won't work with the existing high steering kit.

For me, its not worth taking off my OTT kit go for the new D44. YMMV.

Ya i have the same steering kit. Would it be a dumb idea to run a dana 44 in the rear and keep the dana 30 in the front. i no id have to do the gears and all that.would it hold up to 35's?

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Consider a Ford 8.8 rear from a '95+ Explorer, it has disc brakes and the same wheel lug pattern as your current axles. Keep the d30 front and use the highsteer. Just don't hammer on the d30 offroad and you'll be okay.

Otherwise sell the highsteer and don't let the mere possession of it dictate having to sacrifice certain areas of your build. Then you can go with a pair of d44 axles with a much stronger highsteer setup.

 

[algodones23]

I carry spare fronts on the trail... complete axles with Ujoints with 35's and a front locker. Like the man said, just don't hammer down too hard, know when to say when.

 

[Utah_jeepster]

I have been running a Dana 30 on 35's for 8 years with a ARB. And I do hammer it pretty hard on the rocks. I did upgrade to a super 30 kit, so I could stop carrying spare axles.

 

[YJ209]

I have been running a Dana 30 on 35's for 8 years with a ARB. And I do hammer it pretty hard on the rocks. I did upgrade to a super 30 kit, so I could stop carrying spare axles.

what do you have in the rear?

 

[jps4jeep]

35" tires is a thresh-hold for the a locked D30, and the axles and u joints really are not the issue, the brakes, unit bearings and ball joints simply were not designed for this type of load, especially if your running a 14" wide tire.

The U-joints in a Dana 44 waggy axle is the same 297 joints as the D30 tj shaft, which you should swap into the front of your yj if you have not already, and get rid of the 2 pcs shaft and 260 joints.

With a D44 and spring over, you can run a flat top knuckle and a true hi steer that will out perform any kit and will probably cost way less. I have jacked the front of my jeep up off the tie rod. The tre's are all from a 1 ton chevy, link material is 1/4 wall DOM


My final advice, if you think you ever want to go to a larger tire than a 35 or you want to have a bullet proof set up that will pretty much take a hammering and almost never fail, run 1 tons or a 609 front and 9" rear.. But run something with 35 spline shafts.

 

[algodones23]

what do you have in the rear?

I picked up the D35 alloy axles from Rocky Road Outfitters for the rear. I'm really happy with them Haven't had any problems in back either.

Of course I only have the 4cyl engine which gives me a little extra safety buffer for those 35's.