Dana 44 swap with 2.5" lift. Keep the longer driveshaft?

J

Jeff d

Member
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
41
Location
Louisiana
I'm swapping a Dana 44 out of a wrecked 2001 TJ that I own into a new-to-me 2000 that has the Dana 35. They're both manuals with 3.73s. I'll be putting in the 2.5" lift on with 1.5" bumpstop extensions simultaneously. Anyway, should I bring over the donor driveshaft or leave the stock driveshaft on the 2000?

The 2000 with the Dana 35 has about a 3/4" longer driveshaft that I could just leave in. The driveshaft is going to slide out some in the new neutral position given the lift and isn't going to be able to push back as far in with the 1.5" less of suspension compression. My angles should be slightly better with the 3/4" longer shaft but do I risk it bottoming out in the slip yoke at full compression even with the 1.5" bumpstop extensions?
 
Jeff d said:
I'm swapping a Dana 44 out of a wrecked 2001 TJ that I own into a new-to-me 2000 that has the Dana 35. They're both manuals with 3.73s. I'll be putting in the 2.5" lift on with 1.5" bumpstop extensions simultaneously. Anyway, should I bring over the donor driveshaft or leave the stock driveshaft on the 2000?

The 2000 with the Dana 35 has about a 3/4" longer driveshaft that I could just leave in. The driveshaft is going to slide out some in the new neutral position given the lift and isn't going to be able to push back as far in with the 1.5" less of suspension compression. My angles should be slightly better with the 3/4" longer shaft but do I risk it bottoming out in the slip yoke at full compression even with the 1.5" bumpstop extensions?
Click to expand...

You need to install the Dana 44 without springs and jack the axle up to the bump stops. Then try out both driveshafts. We can't safely answer this for you
 
Jeff d said:
I'm swapping a Dana 44 out of a wrecked 2001 TJ that I own into a new-to-me 2000 that has the Dana 35. They're both manuals with 3.73s. I'll be putting in the 2.5" lift on with 1.5" bumpstop extensions simultaneously. Anyway, should I bring over the donor driveshaft or leave the stock driveshaft on the 2000?

The 2000 with the Dana 35 has about a 3/4" longer driveshaft that I could just leave in. The driveshaft is going to slide out some in the new neutral position given the lift and isn't going to be able to push back as far in with the 1.5" less of suspension compression. My angles should be slightly better with the 3/4" longer shaft but do I risk it bottoming out in the slip yoke at full compression even with the 1.5" bumpstop extensions?
Click to expand...

I’m pretty sure I’ve read info from the knowledgeable gurus on the forum indicating the opposite. Assuming you’re using the oem control arms, the driveshaft will actually be marginally shorter the farther the axles droops from the frame. When a modest lift is installed using oem arms, the wheelbase shrinks slightly. The rear axle swings forward as it drops and the front axle swings rearward. Since the rear control arm mounts on the frame are rearward relative to the tcase output, the pinion swings incrementally closer to the tcase output when the axle moves downward.

I’ll hazard a guess that you’re rig will be happier with the shorter driveshaft
 
I guess I could just mark where the current slip yoke sits at factory height then just jack up on the frame to lift it 2.5" and see if the slip yoke moves in or out of the transfer case. I'll be putting the lift on in the coming days as I'm waiting on shocks to arrive. The shocks on the wrecked TJ were only a few months old (Rancho RS500x) but they all got their cans dented during the wreck. It was a stop-and-flop on the passenger side when an 18-wheeler pushed my daughter up onto a guard rail.
 
This morning I measured the slip yoke at stock height and then measured again with the rear bumper raised 3” with a jack and the rear suspension sagging. The drive shaft did pull out, as I would have expected, but only by 1/8 inch.

So, it’s not going to be nearly enough to accommodate the 3/4 inch longer driveshaft and the longer differential housing of the Dana 44. I will be bringing over the shorter shaft with the Dana 44.
 
Top Bottom
Back