Found a good deal on a pair of factory dana 44s from an 04 was wandering if that will work with my current suspension set up I have a 98 with dana 30 front and 35 rear I assume it should work but just wanted to be sure
Axle swap
- Thread starter floridaman
- Start date
Should bolt right up.
They Rubicon 44s or no lockers?
Be aware the 04 has different unit bearings/brakes when you need replacement parts.
-Mac
They Rubicon 44s or no lockers?
Be aware the 04 has different unit bearings/brakes when you need replacement parts.
-Mac
You will need different driveshafts or at least current ones rebuilt/modified.
And you're going to have to figure out how to provide 5 psi of air pressure to actuate the lockers.
Assuming the lockers are still functional.
What about gears? What ratio?
-Mac
Assuming the lockers are still functional.
What about gears? What ratio?
-Mac
If the axles are still equipped with the OEM lockers make sure they are full functional, including the pumps.
From when I did it I needed:
-New rear driveshaft (mine was seized, so see if you can just shorten yours).
-New/shortened front drive shaft.
Note: If you get new shafts from Tom Woods, ask them to swap the axle end for 1330 yokes for less headache. If you're shortening old ones you'll have to find 1310-1330 ujoints to mate the axle to the driveshaft. I used spicer 5-134X off of Amazon.
-New rear parking break cables.
-Hose for the diff breather and lockers.
-If you don't have the correct locker pumps when you bought the axles, Rubicon Ressurection is a good source to find them.
-Switches for the lockers.
-If your gearing changed, you need a new speedo gear.
Some things that help the install:
-6 ton jack stands for the frame (we didn't have any so we built a platform for 3 tons).
-Cheap furniture dollys to move the axles.
Other than that, anything else I can think of is gonna be specific to the condition of your axle. It's a fairly straight forward process since they mount the same as your old ones, but there will always be one or two hang up points. It took me maybe 2-3 days per side when I did mine simply because of those hang ups and being a garage floor mechanic. I also highly recommend changing the gear oil and pulling the cover to see the condition of everything inside for peace of mind.
Keep in mind, those lockers (particularly in the rear due to the limited slip) are not very strong. I just recently broke my rear and replaced it with an ARB about a month ago. I'll echo the advise of others, don't go fast around corners, don't launch off the line, and lock when you touch dirt. That should help keep it happy for a while hopefully.
-New rear driveshaft (mine was seized, so see if you can just shorten yours).
-New/shortened front drive shaft.
Note: If you get new shafts from Tom Woods, ask them to swap the axle end for 1330 yokes for less headache. If you're shortening old ones you'll have to find 1310-1330 ujoints to mate the axle to the driveshaft. I used spicer 5-134X off of Amazon.
-New rear parking break cables.
-Hose for the diff breather and lockers.
-If you don't have the correct locker pumps when you bought the axles, Rubicon Ressurection is a good source to find them.
-Switches for the lockers.
-If your gearing changed, you need a new speedo gear.
Some things that help the install:
-6 ton jack stands for the frame (we didn't have any so we built a platform for 3 tons).
-Cheap furniture dollys to move the axles.
Other than that, anything else I can think of is gonna be specific to the condition of your axle. It's a fairly straight forward process since they mount the same as your old ones, but there will always be one or two hang up points. It took me maybe 2-3 days per side when I did mine simply because of those hang ups and being a garage floor mechanic. I also highly recommend changing the gear oil and pulling the cover to see the condition of everything inside for peace of mind.
Keep in mind, those lockers (particularly in the rear due to the limited slip) are not very strong. I just recently broke my rear and replaced it with an ARB about a month ago. I'll echo the advise of others, don't go fast around corners, don't launch off the line, and lock when you touch dirt. That should help keep it happy for a while hopefully.
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