Do I need a new carrier for re-gearing Dana 44 to 4.88?

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cballestrazze

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Hello,

I have a 2002 Sahara with a Dana 44/Dana 30 and 3.73 gears with LSD. I just ordered 4.88 gears so i can install some 35's. On Quadratech's website, it shows that i will need a new rear carrier ONLY to fit the 4.88 gears. On extreme terrain's website it shows that 4.88 gears will fit just fine without buying a new carrier. Can anyone confirm this for me? i have reached out to extreme terrain and they did not 100% know if they would fit or not.


**EDIT**

Here is what i ordered.

https://www.quadratec.com/p/yukon-g...tall-kits-jeep-wrangler-dana-30-front-dana-44

If I DO need a new rear carrier, can you point me in the right direction and tell me what carrier to get? Im new to this!
 
Last edited:
I bet @Jerry Bransford knows, but it’s my understanding that the Dana 44 requires either a carrier change or thick cut gears. The 30 doesn’t (and should use the standard gears - not thick cut). But I don’t know if or what exceptions may exist.
 
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First, who will be installing the gears? If it's going to be a shop I strongly suggest you cancel the order with Quadra and have the shop provide ALL of the parts so there will be no warranty issues.

You're OK with the front Dana 30, no carrier or thick cut gears are needed.

For your rear Dana 44, you either need a new carrier for the 4.88 gears or eliminate that need by going with thick gears in the rear. Thick gears eliminate the need to replace the carrier. Actually it's only the ring gear that is made thicker to eliminate the need for a different carrier.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
First, who will be installing the gears? If it's going to be a shop I strongly suggest you cancel the order with Quadra and have the shop provide ALL of the parts so there will be no warranty issues.

You're OK with the front Dana 30, no carrier or thick cut gears are needed.

For your rear Dana 44, you either need a new carrier for the 4.88 gears or eliminate that need by going with thick gears in the rear. Thick gears eliminate the need to replace the carrier. Actually it's only the ring gear that is made thicker to eliminate the need for a different carrier.
Click to expand...

OK I have a 1998 Tj sports 2.5L fitted with a dana30 int he front and a dana 44 in the rear from the factory uk spec.
Will I need a new carrier for the dana 44 when I regear it to 4.88?
 
Grub said:
Will I need a new carrier for the dana 44 when I regear it to 4.88?
Click to expand...
Yes so long as it is currently geared to 3.73 as is common for the Dana 44. If because of your 2.5L engine it's geared to 4.10/4.11 you won't need a new carrier.
 
Since it's a Export model I would crawl underneath first and verify what gears you have. There should be a tag on the diff cover that looks like this.

1709242988839.png


This is how you decode what it says.

1709243080764.png


https://www.differentials.com/technical-help-2/differential-identification/

This way we make sure you don't get the wrong information.
 
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Grub said:
Thanks for helping me out with all this.
If my axle is fitted with a LSD would it be better to go with thick gears
Click to expand...
Probably not, the clutch pack inside your LSD is most likely worn out by now so it not likely still working as an LSD. If you still want a LSD it'd make economic sense to replace your LSD with an Eaton Truetrac LSD that uses gears instead of a clutch pack. Labor and the cost of the new clutch pack to replace the clutch pack, if you could even find someone who knows how to do it, would very likely exceed the cost of the Truetrac. And you can get the Truetrac for the 4.88 gears so thick gears wouldn't be needed.
 
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