Dana 44 or Ford 8.8?

Jerry Bransford said:
I'm not clear what you meant there, the Dana 35's axle tubes are the same as what TJ's Dana 44 uses. They are cut from the same tube stock.
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@Jerry Bransford I guess it just still baffles me that at this point in time at 17 years post-production of the last TJ & with hundreds of threads spread over multiple forums across the internet there are still people regurgitating nonsense that was debunked what, 20 years ago? How does a guy with not one but two TJs not know he's been riding on what he calls toothpicks when he gets in his Ruby?

Thankfully he's got a big strong 8.8 under at least one of them, perhaps he could grab another & send his Ruby 44 to the OP & solve both their problems :ROFLMAO:...
 
sam53 said:
Well I will get beat to death, but here goes.
I have a 2001 sport and an 03 rubicon, so I have both axles.
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Your sport and rubicon have the same axle tubes, or at least they did when you still had the 35 under the sport. You now have larger diameter, thinner, slightly stronger tubes on your 8.8 than on the 44/35.

sam53 said:
My 01 had a hammered 35. I'm sorry but the axle was junk. Did not want another tooth pick, I shoped for a 44, couldn't find one. Studied the 8.8 and became impressed. It is stronger by quite a bit. The big one for me was also the cost, it was $50. For that cost it has factory installed 4.11's and disc brakes. Yes, it is an inch narrower and the opinion shaft is offset. Neither has cause me problems.
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"Junk" can mean different things. The Dana 35 was never shipped from the factory with any larger than a 30" tire mounted to it. That is the max it was designed for. It very rarely fails in stock form on any of the stock tire sizes. If it failed regularly, I think "junk" would be a fair way to put it. Since it rarely fails until either a locker, larger tires, or both are installed, I don't think "junk" is fair.

8.8 has a slightly larger ring gear than Dana 44, and it has 1 more spline (31 vs 30) compared to the Dana 44. They are virtually the same strength.

Things like finding them for $50-250 are the ONLY reasons folks choose an 8.8 over anything else.

Most aren't excited about 4.10s unless they have a stock tire 4.0 manual or a 33" equipped 3 speed auto. The stock tire 4.0 manual doesn't need stronger than the Dana 35, so he's probably not looking for 8.8s, 4.10 or not. Anybody else will be undergeared with 4.10s, so it's not such a win. Disc brakes are nice.

The inch narrower can be a problem, it depends. I'm not sure what an opinion shaft is, but yes the pinion shaft is offset. Your diff hangs down a bit lower than either of the other two axles, so that is a lose. May not matter for your uses.

sam53 said:
Granted, had it I been able to find a 44 I would have went this way probably. But not at the $1000 plus.
I was not thrilled with the super 35 stuff. The axle is still a tooth pick.
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Why would you go with a 44 if you think the 35 is a tooth pick? As stated, the tubes are the same. If you think the 35 is a toothpick, then you think the 44's are also toothpicks.
 
Not the popular choice in some places, but I have the Ford 8.8.

I never plan to go bigger than 33s, and the 8.8 will handle up to 35s easily, and I don’t plan to do crazy rock crawling or anything of that nature. The 8.8 handed 3000miles of Baja just fine, and the 2000 miles to get there and back.

The biggest factor was price. It’s been a few years so I don’t remember exactly, but a local guy here procured and installed the 4.10 8.8, installed a limited slip in front (8.8 came with), and regeared the front Dana 30 for about the same price as the Dana 44 would have cost just to buy.

The funny part was, I originally just wanted to re-gear the Dana 35 to 4.10. It was only a few bucks more to just buy the 8.8 in 4.10 and swap axles. Even today, 8.8s can be had for stupid cheap. If you’re doing the work yourself it’s almost free. The 8.8 axle with the gears you want in it (and a locker or limited slip, and disc brakes) can be had for less than the kit to regear your front Dana 30 if you look around.

If you’re going to be doing things where the 8.8’s slight disadvantages will matter, buy the Dana 44. It IS better.

….but if you’re NOT doing those things, get the 8.8.
 
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Rickyd said:
After brackets,driveshaft,gears,ebrake cable,etc its no longer a good deal. But guys still do it for some reason.probaby dating back to the yj days

Even free the 8.8 is a dubious proposition
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Even the YJ option isn’t great price wise unless you compromise and run it as-is from the JY. Basically same problem as the costs you listed. Of course, YJ guys are typically super cheap bastards so a 4.10 disc axle for $250 and some welding appeals to a lot of them, even if not ideal. If they’re the type to build it up with all the upgrades, they’ll easily spend $3k.
 
machoheadgames said:
Even the YJ option isn’t great price wise unless you compromise and run it as-is from the JY. Basically same problem as the costs you listed. Of course, YJ guys are typically super cheap bastards so a 4.10 disc axle for $250 and some welding appeals to a lot of them, even if not ideal. If they’re the type to build it up with all the upgrades, they’ll easily spend $3k.
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I meant back when there was no super 35 kit or easily available Dana 44. I agree though.
 
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Rickyd said:
After brackets,driveshaft,gears,ebrake cable,etc its no longer a good deal. But guys still do it for some reason.probaby dating back to the yj days

Even free the 8.8 is a dubious proposition
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Brackets don’t cost $4k. Everything else comes with the 8.8, except a drive shaft adapter that costs $45.

There are reasons the Dana 44 is better, but price and availability isn’t one of them.
 
Tanksoldier said:
Brackets don’t cost $4k. Everything else comes with the 8.8, except a drive shaft adapter that costs $45.

There are reasons the Dana 44 is better, but price and availability isn’t one of them.
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The 8.8 only works out price wise if you can weld or have someone weld for you cheap, if you are happy with 4.10s or less, and are happy with the factory Ford clutch LSD. And of course, if the diff shape and ground clearance isn’t a problem.
 
machoheadgames said:
The 8.8 only works out price wise if you can weld or have someone weld for you cheap, if you are happy with 4.10s or less, and are happy with the factory Ford clutch LSD. And of course, if the diff shape and ground clearance isn’t a problem.
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I had the opposite experience, as I posted above. Perhaps I’m a liar.
 
Tanksoldier said:
When you add the gearing, locker or limited slip, and disc brakes the 8.8 comes with it costs more than the 8.8.
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All that can be found on tj axles. News flash-8.8 from an explorer doesn't come with a locker. But does with a s35

Finding some Ill fitting junk and making it work because you saved a few hundred bucks(doubtful) is hardly a good choice.

Digging in and defending it is just pride
 
I figure , to each his own. My Jeep has the 8.8 under it but , I just built a super 35 to install. For me , I wanted back in it what it was born with. I would have built a 44 but , they are crazy expensive around here. I did a lot of research and decided that the super 35 would be a good choice for my intended purpose for the Jeep. It’s really funny because I put it on Facebook awhile back and , people were like they were mad at me for saying I was swapping the 8.8 for the super 35. They all said I was crazy or just plain stupid. That’s my 2 cents.
 
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Rickyd said:
All that can be found on tj axles. News flash-8.8 from an explorer doesn't come with a locker. But does with a s35

Finding some Ill fitting junk and making it work because you saved a few hundred bucks(doubtful) is hardly a good choice.

Digging in and defending it is just pride
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A little aggressive are we?

That’s a pretty broad statement, are you sure people didn’t get a cheap 8.8 with a locker and 4.10’s for cheap?


I don’t have an 8.8, I found Rubicon Dana 44’s from and 05 to go on my X 05, with what look like new Locker pumps and 4.88 gears and all Chromoly what’s (Rev front G2 rear). For $4k. I sold my 30/35 set for $1,400 so $2600 for the set net. So I’m I’m in the Dana 44 camp, but still, there are other options that can be cost friendly and very solid.
 
I replaced my Dana 35 with a Dana 44 and noticed a difference right away with the stiffness in axle shafts, the Dana 35 shafts behaved like torsion bars, it had a very bouncy, springy acceleration, especially when starting from a stop. The Dana 44 doesn't do any of that, so feels nice and solid.
 
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