trussing a D44hd (aluminum housing on ZJ)

[JackstandJohnny]

just looking for thoughts on this. instead of doing an 8.8, maybe picking up one of thee axles cheap, and getting it trussed up.  anybody tried this?  furthermore, who in town would be able to do such a request for me should i pursue it?
thanks
John

[cotaman]

not much aftermarket for the d44hd in the zj.  i believe the only diff that you can get for it is the factory traclok  and they is not much for choice in the gear dept either( i may wrong  :?:  :?:  )

the 8.8 is a stronger axle, not really that hard to put in once the mounts have been taken care of :? .  you can also make the ford abs talk to the jeep abs brain.   I am planning on doing the 8.8 swap in the Grand this spring when i start to do all the required work that it needs to pass the Sask out of province inspection... they are picky here... i had to replace the rear swaybar links on my 01 grand cause there was play in the bushings :evil: .... jeez my 98 doesn't even have the rear sway bar anymore :shock: and what will they say to the front sway bar disco's :roll:

[JackstandJohnny]

hey eugene, have fun with the sask, provincial inspection, make sure you explain to them what discos are, and then why a luxury SUV needs such things haha.
doing some research on the 44hd.  not a lot of aftermarket support indeed, but theres some stuff.  info i've found; pinion is beefy, almost same size as D60 (close) shafts are still D44 though.  gear ratios go to 4:56, and are not the same as a regular D44; compeletly different ring and pinion. the only locker option is an aussie locker (dropin like a Detroit EZ locker) most of these options in the US surprise surprise.  reason I am thinking of the swap is for simplicity.  I'm not set up to weld, nor am i very good at it; so its basically a drop in D44 with all the correct brackets, just not very strong due to the aluminum housing, so hence the option to truss the hell out of it to give it some rigidity. second, tire size I'm looking to run is 35s, so i'm assuming a trussed and locked D44 should be able to hold up to it, maybe a little weaker than the 8.8, but still sufficient....

[Trouble Maker]

FYI they are stopping production of the Aussie locker for the 44-A. Once this latest batch is gone they are gone forever.

[hps4evr]

we had a customer that needed a whole bunch of diff parts for his dana 44a in his zj. it was a nightmare finding the right parts. the pinion IS very close to dana 60 size, but the ring gear isnt. the shafts are special as well. and ive seen on more then one occasion the shafts pitting at the outer wheel bearings. if you can find a 8.8, go that route. you may spend more in the end, but its a beef unit and has way more upgrades. heck, swap it in as-is and its better. save for the c-clip eliminators, chromo shafts, whatever diff you want, and way lower gear options, and disc brakes! ok, just go to the moser website and drool for a while;)

[Mudpig97]

I found one of these aluminum 44's at the dump once it was stripped except for crown and pinion  and one of the carrier bearing caps was broken.  I took it home to maybe swap into my zj but after researching the diff found the broken bearing cap was a common problem and you can't get another one.  Sent it back to the dump.

On another note I passed alberta inpection with disco's without a problem.  As for the 8.8 swap I don't know about making the ABS work as my 35 has the tone rings on each axle and the 8.8 has one ring on the ring gear.

[JackstandJohnny]

after looking into this a bit more, it really isn't a great route.  aussie lockers are indeed no longer producing lockers, and to get gear ratios is a pain.  8.8 is definitely the way to go. just gotta find a nice clean way to pull the brackets off of a35 without mangling them, so i can weld em onto teh 8.8

[cotaman]

to make the ford abs talk to the jeep abs is kinda a fluke
i have not done it yet myself but several guys have done it down in the states... the info i found was though mallcrawlin.com i believe.

1.  turns out that the jeep axle tone rings have 1/2 the number of teeth as the ford diff tone ring.  the fix.... grind every second tooth off the ford diff tone ring... the tone rings only work on the principle of the tooth or no tooth... thats it.

2.  as for the wiring....  here is the wiring diagram  that i have gotten off the same site



hope this helps.... according to what other guys have said ... works like a charm the abs works with out a problem.