Should I upgrade my Dana 35 axle?

I have it in my mind that an Eaton E-locker is the way to go in my rig (has a Dana 44 with 3.73 gears). Has anyone had any experience with this e-lockers? I've seen a lot of write-ups on air lockers, but not so much on the other. Any words of wisdom?
I have an E-locker in mine and love it!
 
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I know this is an old thread but I wanted to throw another experience in here on the subject for people that are researching/wrestling with these decisions. I’ll repeat the best advice seen repeatedly here & everywhere else which is build for your purposes, not the purposes of the guy that’s doing things you’ll never do in places you’ll never go.

I went through the whole S35/44/8.8 analysis last year & read every available thread on the subject going back to the beginning of the S35 & forums in general. After reading so much you pick up a flavor for who’s credible & who’s another parrot flying around the substance-free zone. Since installing the RGA-S30/35 I’ve put about 5,000 miles on it nearly all which were off road related (it’s not a daily driver so I pretty much drive it to the mountains, spend the day on the trails, then back home where it sits until it’s time to wheel again, about every other weekend). The trails I do range from easy to moderate to difficult (green/blue/black, 1-6, depending on whatever scale you use), it just depends on the tolerance of the other guys I’m with on any given day. I do avoid giant rocks as I’m only on 33s but I do plenty of steep rocky hill climbs. At first I was tentative with it, while I accepted and took the advice of some Jeep forum members as said above I still had some pangs of doubt echoing in my head from the legions of people in the ‘don’t put a dime in a 35’ crowd. That didn’t last long. I do every possible trail my tires/suspension will allow, follow every variety of moderately built rig everywhere they go, have left plenty of guys behind that can’t follow me, & generally push it hard and so far so good; recently popped the cover on the rear & not a tooth out of place. I couldn’t be happier with my decision & wouldn’t hesitate to build a 35 provided you intend to stay within the recommended parameters (35 inch tires or smaller, avoid driving like a nitwit). I also think going with selectable over auto lockers is a good call, rolling along on open differentials most of the time produces the least stress on the components, the ability to lock it only when you need to therefore is only a temporary stress which, at least for me, is a good thing because for those moments I can really concentrate on finessing my way through the rough patch & avoid getting things bouncing around.
 
I’ve been going back and forth on S35 vs 44 for a while now. I’m comfortable that a fully built S35 will hold up just fine, but pricing out new gears, 30 spline shafts and elockers/air lockers, I’m guessing it’s going to be at least $3k, including paying to get help on installing the new ring and pinon. If I throw in disc brakes on the rear we’re probably talking around $4k. It seems to me that I may as well pay a little more and go for a set of crate 44’s or find a used set of built 44’s.

Am I way off in what I’m seeing on pricing (i.e. is there a cheaper way to build out my stock setup or am I dreaming that I can find built 44’s for close to or only incrementally more)? Anyone comfortable in sharing the rough cost on upgrading?
 
The S35 kit with ARB is about 1400, gear and install kit about 250. Not sure on rear disc set up but will be far less than the 1k you are thinking. A fully built 44 from East Coast Gear Supply with ARB is about 3500 last time I was playing around.
 
I’ve been going back and forth on S35 vs 44 for a while now. I’m comfortable that a fully built S35 will hold up just fine, but pricing out new gears, 30 spline shafts and elockers/air lockers, I’m guessing it’s going to be at least $3k, including paying to get help on installing the new ring and pinon. If I throw in disc brakes on the rear we’re probably talking around $4k. It seems to me that I may as well pay a little more and go for a set of crate 44’s or find a used set of built 44’s.

Am I way off in what I’m seeing on pricing (i.e. is there a cheaper way to build out my stock setup or am I dreaming that I can find built 44’s for close to or only incrementally more)? Anyone comfortable in sharing the rough cost on upgrading?
Pricing on parts for S35

875 for an ELocker
465 for gears
275 for 30 Spline 1541H shafts

If you already have the 3.73 carriers the total is just over $1500. You can hopefully get the work done for $1000. Worth it in my opinion
 
Disc brake kits I’ve seen appear to be in the $5-600 range so with a pro install on the gears, it sound like $4k is about right front and rear for building out the stock kit.

An additional $3k is a pretty big difference for the 44’s. Still a tough call on whether they’re worth the extra cash.
 
Disc brake kits I’ve seen appear to be in the $5-600 range so with a pro install on the gears, it sound like $4k is about right front and rear for building out the stock kit.

An additional $3k is a pretty big difference for the 44’s. Still a tough call on whether they’re worth the extra cash.

Honestly, there is no reason for the rear discs. Even @mrblaine, who is the brake guy, says rear drums in proper working order are totally fine. But hey, you gotta do what you fell best with. Oh, and welcome to the forum!
 
John9999 said: "I’m comfortable that a fully built S35 will hold up just fine.. Am I way off in what I’m seeing on pricing... Anyone comfortable in sharing the rough cost on upgrading?"

I think you're a little off & I’m happy to share my numbers, I did the S35 in May of 2017, work was done by the JpShop in Chester Springs, PA. Here was the breakdown (I did the S30 front too so some of the below numbers are cut in half to account for the charges dedicated to the rear only…). All my numbers include labor because I don’t have the knowhow or tools necessary for these kinds of modifications so if you’re doing your own work you’d have to adjust accordingly:

Super35 with drum brakes: $2,418
Gear package: $253
30 spline shafts: $277
ARB locker: $940
Air line: $84
HO compressor: $147
Synthetic lube: $17
Labor: $700

I built a 44 axle on EGCS’s website with the same gearing, locker, & both re-use of drum brakes and upgrading to disc, & then added what you’d have to do once it’s delivered (I really have no idea what the labor would be to have it swapped by a shop as I’ve never priced it so my numbers below might go up or down depending on that cost):

Dana 44 with drum brakes: $3,599
Axle: $2,868
Air line: $84
HO Compressor: $147 (this presumes you're doing the front too, if not double this)
Labor guesstimate: $ 500

Dana 44 with disc: $4,524

I agree with Rob5589 above regarding the disc v. drum, for me the cost wouldn’t be justified but that’s up to you. Funny thing is I haven’t had a drum brake on a vehicle since I got rid of my 72 Nova back in around 91, I went about 25 years on all discs until I picked up my TJ with rear drums. Honestly, if I didn’t know they were drums I would never guess they were, I cannot detect a difference between the two performance-wise.

Given that you’re comfortable that a fully built S35 will hold up just fine the real question is does it make sense to build something beyond what you know you need & is it worth over a grand more, or in the case of the disc brake option two grand more?

On the other hand if you can find a built 44, particularly one that has your preferred locker & gear ratio already in it & you can get it at a price (factoring in the cost to swap it in) that puts you much closer to the S35 build price then it makes a lot more sense. Not only couldn’t I find a 44 set up like that when I was in the planning stages I couldn’t even find one with any configuration so my options were pretty much build a new one or go the route I went.
 
Honestly, there is no reason for the rear discs. Even @mrblaine, who is the brake guy, says rear drums in proper working order are totally fine. But hey, you gotta do what you fell best with. Oh, and welcome to the forum!
Sort of. To clarify, if you have working rear drums, switching to rear discs will not improve your stopping ability. There are several reasons to swap to discs, to increase your braking in general isn't one of them.

My personal reasons for running rear discs is they are simpler to work on.
They stay in adjustment.
They fade a bit less. (minor point since the rear brakes don't do much)
The parking brake is not dependent on the service brake to stay in adjustment.

Performance wise, they are fairly equal and fairly expensive to do a swap if you have other things you can spend several hundred dollars on. I dislike working on drums.
 
John9999 said: "I’m comfortable that a fully built S35 will hold up just fine.. Am I way off in what I’m seeing on pricing... Anyone comfortable in sharing the rough cost on upgrading?"

I think you're a little off & I’m happy to share my numbers, I did the S35 in May of 2017, work was done by the JpShop in Chester Springs, PA. Here was the breakdown (I did the S30 front too so some of the below numbers are cut in half to account for the charges dedicated to the rear only…). All my numbers include labor because I don’t have the knowhow or tools necessary for these kinds of modifications so if you’re doing your own work you’d have to adjust accordingly:

Super35 with drum brakes: $2,418
Gear package: $253
30 spline shafts: $277
ARB locker: $940
Air line: $84
HO compressor: $147
Synthetic lube: $17
Labor: $700

I built a 44 axle on EGCS’s website with the same gearing, locker, & both re-use of drum brakes and upgrading to disc, & then added what you’d have to do once it’s delivered (I really have no idea what the labor would be to have it swapped by a shop as I’ve never priced it so my numbers below might go up or down depending on that cost):

Dana 44 with drum brakes: $3,599
Axle: $2,868
Air line: $84
HO Compressor: $147 (this presumes you're doing the front too, if not double this)
Labor guesstimate: $ 500

Dana 44 with disc: $4,524

I agree with Rob5589 above regarding the disc v. drum, for me the cost wouldn’t be justified but that’s up to you. Funny thing is I haven’t had a drum brake on a vehicle since I got rid of my 72 Nova back in around 91, I went about 25 years on all discs until I picked up my TJ with rear drums. Honestly, if I didn’t know they were drums I would never guess they were, I cannot detect a difference between the two performance-wise.

Given that you’re comfortable that a fully built S35 will hold up just fine the real question is does it make sense to build something beyond what you know you need & is it worth over a grand more, or in the case of the disc brake option two grand more?

On the other hand if you can find a built 44, particularly one that has your preferred locker & gear ratio already in it & you can get it at a price (factoring in the cost to swap it in) that puts you much closer to the S35 build price then it makes a lot more sense. Not only couldn’t I find a 44 set up like that when I was in the planning stages I couldn’t even find one with any configuration so my options were pretty much build a new one or go the route I went.

Thanks for this detail. Exactly what I was looking for. I can do the axle swap myself versus if I replace gears in my existing set up I want someone with more experience to set the gears (I'd hate to blow up a $2000 set up to get some practice...) This is why I've been seriously considering the 44s as I'm thinking the labor savings will make the price closer. If I stick with the drum brakes it looks like about $6k to go with the 44s (front and rear) and $5k to rebuild the existing set up. For me, the extra $1k is probably justified to have some future optionality if I really want to go crazy on the build!
 
Sort of. To clarify, if you have working rear drums, switching to rear discs will not improve your stopping ability. There are several reasons to swap to discs, to increase your braking in general isn't one of them.

My personal reasons for running rear discs is they are simpler to work on.
They stay in adjustment.
They fade a bit less. (minor point since the rear brakes don't do much)
The parking brake is not dependent on the service brake to stay in adjustment.

Performance wise, they are fairly equal and fairly expensive to do a swap if you have other things you can spend several hundred dollars on. I dislike working on drums.

I don't mind adjusting drums or working on them. The drums are fine on a stock set up, but I expected that with bigger tires (35s) I'll need as much extra stopping power as I can get to offset the increased leverage and rotational weight of the bigger tires. I know the rears aren't the best place to add stopping power, but again, just thinking even an incremental change would make a difference. Good to know that the benefit is negligible though. I've got plenty of thousands to spend on the drivetrain so I'm happy to save a few hundred on the brakes.

On crate axles, are there any brands that you guys would recommend avoiding?
 
I know the rears aren't the best place to add stopping power, but again, just thinking even an incremental change would make a difference.

If you know, then you know. What a lot of folks overlook is weight transfer increases as we lift our rigs. We know we should upgrade the fronts since they do the vast majority of the work. So now we have better working front brakes, a bit more lift, and now what happens with weight transfer when all that is done?

That's right, it increases which in effect removes weight off the rear tires under hard braking. So, that little incremental change you are looking for may just be enough to move the correctly non locking up rear brakes past the tipping point to where they now lock up. Reality is when we get all this done, we should be looking at how to slightly reduce the effectiveness of the rear brakes to deal with the higher weight transfer or at least do some testing to find out.