Front Axle Swap

[Impact]

Hey guys,

So for over a year I have been tossing the idea of swapping a new front axle into the front of my 2005 TJ to get rid of the d30 that came stock with the Jeep. Well finally out of no where I was pretty much given a 1980 J10 wide track Cherokee d44... Missing r&p and knuckles out. This is my plan, I was wondering if you could check over it and give me some advice whether I am on a straight path ( I know it's not a 60!) or completely out to lunch.
My plan is to truss the d44, swap in 70's chevy d44 flat top knuckles (hi steer), spindle, caliper mounts and outer shafts and run 80's ford hubs and rotors (5x5.5). Also swap in some 5:13's and run it open for now until some chromo shafts come in

[cLAY]

I used a wide trac waggy for my D44 build. Only problem with is that is an odd ball diff and I can not find any axle shafts for it. I can find aftermarket HD shafts for a regular Waggy D44 but not a wide trac. Last year I broke a shaft and had to take a slightly longer Chevy inner shaft and cut it down, extend the splines and buff a new spot for the seal to ride on. It works good so far but I`d like to get some HD ones. Width for me worked perfect with my rear D60 but you may find it a bit wide depending on what you plan to run in the back.

Regular Waggy diffs are fairly common and usually go fairly cheap.

For the knuckle consider using Dodge stuff. All Dodge D44 outer knuckles are flat top from 1980 thru to 1993 off . Direct bolt on to any other D44 axle that had locking hubs and comes in a5X5.5 or 8  bolt pattern. Also it uses the big bearings like the Chevy vs the smaller Ford bearings. Brake options are fairly limited to stock but I run 37s on mine and have plenty of braking. Don`t really need dual pistons.


5.13s are are a good choice but you`ll want to run a min 35 tire with that. I run 5.38s on my ZJ with 37s and like it. Might be a bit low for DD but who DDs a rig with 35s anywayÉ

I would try lock it when you do it up the first time, saves time and money later. I personally believe that you are less likely to break a shaft in locked a up diff than an unlocked one. My thought is that if the diff is locked then the torque must be spread evenly over both shafts vs having one shaft spinning while the other sits still and then suddenly grabbing. This is assuming a selectable locker that is locked before getting into the obstacle vs an automatic locker that can suddenly shock load when it locks up or an open diff that that suddenly grabs and shifts all the torque to one shaft. I would never put an automatic locker in the front, only a selectable(ARB,OX,Eaton, etc).

I broke two shafts when I was open in the front and have yet to break one now that the locker is in.

[FiEND]

when i built my front i ordered inner shafts from Moser and picked em up at the border.  wish i could remember the price though, was somewhere around $250 canadian i think.

[cLAY]

BTW if you find Chro-Moly shafts for it I`d be very interested in getting a set as well or if you plan to go a different route I`d buy your shafts off you.

Buy a bracket kit. Its worth the money as doing it yourself is very labor intensive and time consuming. Plus it has to be right or you`ll have alignment issues.DO NOT cut the stock brackets off the D30 and reuse them. They aren`t strong enough.

Incorporate ram assist into the design. You may not not need it right now but atleast it will be there later.

I don`t think a truss is needed unless you plan to go fast or jump it. For the pumpkin mount you can either build a bridge(most common) or weld a mount to the cast diff. Welding to cast is tricky and must be done right. Hence why most build a bridge. I welded to the cast housing.

You will also need to cut off the weld on the inner knuckles and rotate them. This is so you have proper castor alignment while having a good pinion angle.

Here are some pics.

[cLAY]

when i built my front i ordered inner shafts from Moser and picked em up at the border.  wish i could remember the price though, was somewhere around $250 canadian i think.

Was this a custom made length or a common off the shelf length? What was the axle out of?

[FiEND]

Was this a custom made length or a common off the shelf length? What was the axle out of?

some kind of chromoly alloy and they were both custom lengths.  can check on their webpage for their axel information.

[Impact]

My plan for the rear is to run the stock 44 with the truss for the 4 link and run wheel spacers (5.4 to 5.5) to lengthen the width and to deal with the bolt pattern issue for the rear. I would like to upgrade the rear shafts to 33 or even 35 spline. Is it worth going to 35 spline??? I would much rather just upgrade the shaft to the normal 30 spline so I have a spacer stock shaft if need be...
I didnt know that this axle was an odd ball... as for regular waggy axles, where I am good luck finding them and if you do then you might as well pay a couple hundred more and get a d60.
My plan is to run 37's with the 5:13's which would be an all around good size/ratio I believe for my 6cyl/6spd. It makes sense about the selectable locker but that might have to hold off... moving into a new house!
I looked into running the dodge knuckles but everything I had found previous to this other then the bearing size said that the the knuckles were weak and pron to breaking due to the thickness...
My hopes were on using a TNT truss (coils, links, mounts etc) are already built in all as one, but now that you tell me this is an "oddball" 44 who knows if their kit will even work... I was also looking at the RE bracket kit set.
Do the knuckles really need to be turned? I know its pretty much a must for the scout 44's but everywhere I have read (and again this is about waggy 44's...) have said that there is no need to turn them...
Again, keep the comments coming!

[cLAY]

I've been running the Dodge knuckles with no issues and I don't know of anyone who has actually broken one. The part that is said to be weak is where the brake bracket bolts on which is over an inch thick as well the spindle bolts on there so I cann't see it being an issue. I would WAY rather run the Dodge stuff than the samll bearing Ford.

Any truss kit should work on it but like any fab job you may need to customize to suit what you have.

I see Waggys got for $100 to $300 complete, they come up every few months or so. The only problem I've had with my widetrac Waggy is finding replacment shafts, everything else is off the shelf Dodge stuff.

In my mind turning the knuckles is a must to get good driveshaft angles while maintaining good castor. Every writeup for putting a Waggy into a XJ/TJ rotated the knuckles, I didn't think that a TJ would be different but maybe it is....

What do you have in the back? Not a D35 I hope.....

[Impact]

Ill have to start looking into the dodge stuff and see if I can find anything kicking around some where.
Ya if only i could get a 44 for $100... In Ontario (where I am for now) your looking at about $500 for a complete set... and if you find one everything is rusted/seized up good!
About the knuckles everything should be the same XJ/TJ... for the waggy axles I have read both about turning and not turning... mostly not turning... If I am going to have to end up turning the knuckles then I might as well go with a HP44 and shorten it, turning the knuckles is half the job right there. As for my job there is always the chance of getting moved around to different provinces so I want to get the best use out of my TJ while trying to maintain a "normal" width.
As for the rear it is the D44 disk brake axle from the factory.

[cLAY]

As far as turning the knuckles goes it should be pretty easy to tell if you need to or not. Just set the axle on stands and then set the caster where you want it then measure and see if you have an acceptable pinion angle. If you do, great, if not then you'll have to change it.

If you don't drive in 4hi much(ie its not used as a DD or second vehicle in the winter) then ou could probably just live with a bad pinon angle if you had to. My pinion angle is good enough that I often don't bother undoing my hubs.