D35 to D44 upgrade worth it?

[dac]

I'm considering upgrading my D35 to a D44 for my 02 TJ and in the process regearing from 3.73's to 4.10's and adding gear driven LS's.  For 33's is the D44 swap worth it?

[apex]

how heavy is your throttle foot? I've run 33's on the D35 for a while. When I did wheel, i never broke anything but I was easy on the right pedal. Also open-open all around which I'm sure saved me from a few broken axles.

[AV.NINE]

I run a welded 35 with 36"s.... havent broken them yet, but I have broken axles on my old yj with 33's. I guess im just lighter on the throttle now!

The hard part is finding bolt in axles, you either have to shorten 44's or use old wagoneer 44's. A good swap is a ford 8.8, this is what I just purchased. Heres a good install page:

http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/8.8axle/8.8axle-1.htm

Good luck!

[BlackYJ]

I ran 33" swampers on my D35, an ARB and with both a 2.5L and 4.0L and never broke anything, but I was usually pretty easy on the skinny pedal.  For piece of mind and if you ever have any plans to go bigger then put the money in the D44.

[dac]

Does anyone know if the rear drums will swap over to a factory TJ D44 with no modification?

[Vinman]

I think regearing from 3.73's to 4.10's is a complete waste of time and money, I doubt you will even notice the difference.
If you have the manual tranny (or swapped in auto with overdrive) I suggest regearing as low as you can go, 4.88's or deeper.

My old Rubicon was an absolute slug with the stock 4.10's and 31's.
Now before people even suggest a drop in gas mileage, the absolute best mileage I ever got (21-22 mpg)with the Jeep was with 35's and 5.13's.
Just my opinion.

Vince

[dac]

I've installed a header, cat back and the edge kit on the 4L.  It goes pretty good with 31's, figured 4.10's with 33's would be close to how it is now, in theory.

[jpthing]

for what it's worth,,

I'm running 35 bfgs on my tj with 4.10's and the 4.0. I feel that the gearing is perfect...of course anything would seem good after running the  4 banger, stock gears and 33's ( my old setup)

i just picked up a d44 from an 02 tj to swap in as soon asi get time to regear it.

i never had any axle breakage running the d35 on 33's but i ollapsed the crush sleeve and took out the pinion bearings

[Bnine]

Does anyone know if the rear drums will swap over to a factory TJ D44 with no modification?

The hole in the backing plate needs to be hogged about 1/8th of an inch all the way around to allow the larger d44 bearing to pass through. Minor.

I agree with vince. Numerially the 4.10's would bring you close to to stock, but it doesnt account for the additional weight, and rotating mass. 4.56 minimum if you never plan on 35's and do a lot of higher. 4.88's if you ever thing 35's are in the future.