Should I do an axle swap and re-gear on my '99 TJ?

[Michelle Sweeney]

Hey everyone. I am an am impass here and can't decide if doing an axle swap and regear is a good idea. Now you may be thinking, "well if you think its not a good idea, then it probably isn't". True. But thats not good enough....I want to make my jeep better...and Im currently running mostly stock like this...

1999 TJ 6 cyl Auto
4" lift with stock suspension config
Dana 30/35
BFG KO2 33s

I do some occasional off roading, as much as FL can offer and when I wheel I don't do too much crazy stuff. I dont have lockers so that should tell you about how much I can/cant do, but I am contemplating this setup....

axle swap 8.8 with 3.73 gears in the back
keeping the Dana front regearing to 3.73

I want opinions/thoughts/advice on whether you guys think this is overkill, not enough, or am I right to be on the fence about doing this....

 

[Chris]

Doing an axle swap to run 33s is an absolute waste of money.

A built Dana 30/35 combo can run 35s without issue, so running 33s isn't trivial at all.

An 8.8 is not as good of a swap as people would lead you to believe. If you do your research on it, you'll see that there's reasons it should be avoided.

The smart thing to do would be to get alloy axle shafts front and rear, and put a Super 35 kit in your Dana 35, which converts it to a 30 spline axle (same as a Dana 44) with alloy axle shafts. At the same time you'd ideally put lockers in and re-gear.

But again, doing an axle swap for that setup is a gigantic waste of money. You don't need different axles in there to run 33s or even 35s for that matter.

This thread may be of interest to you:

Should I upgrade my Dana 35 axle?

 

[Michelle Sweeney]

Doing an axle swap to run 33s is an absolute waste of money.

A built Dana 30/35 combo can run 35s without issue, so running 33s isn't trivial at all.

An 8.8 is not as good of a swap as people would lead you to believe. If you do your research on it, you'll see that there's reasons it should be avoided.

The smart thing to do would be to get alloy axle shafts front and rear, and put a Super 35 kit in your Dana 35, which converts it to a 30 spline axle (same as a Dana 44) with alloy axle shafts. At the same time you'd ideally put lockers in and re-gear.

But again, doing an axle swap for that setup is a gigantic waste of money. You don't need different axles in there to run 33s or even 35s for that matter.

This thread may be of interest to you:

Should I upgrade my Dana 35 axle?

Cool. Good info, thanks!

 

[Chris]

Cool. Good info, thanks!

No problem! I hate to see someone waste their money on something they don't need.

There's guys down in Johnson Valley who are wheeling on Dana 30/35 combos with 35" tires through some of the toughest terrain you can imagine, and they aren't breaking the axles.

Somehow the Dana 35 got a bad reputation over the years from parrots on the internet who just liked to call it a bad axle when they really had no idea. Built properly, it is a great axle as long as you don't plan on going over 35" tires.

 

[Rob5589]

For mild wheeling; rear diff, 1541H axles & Truetrac. Front diff, install 5-760x axle ujoints, Truetrac or Aussie locker. I would choose 4.10 over 3.73 for 33's.