TJ Dana 44 Clearance vs One Ton Axle Clearance

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mattcogdell

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Hopefully some find this useful, since some people like junk yard axle swaps. I went over to a friends house this evening and measured his ground clearance to compare to mine.

His:
2001 TJ
Dana 50 front
Sterling 10.25 rear
6” RC Long arm
37” Nitto

Bottom of front diff to ground = 12”
Bottom of rear diff to ground = 11”
Bottom of frame rail at the center body mount bolt = 25.5”

Mine:
2005 TJ Rubicon
Dana 44 front
Dana 44 rear
4” savvy short arm
35” Coopers

Bottom of front diff to ground = 11”
Bottom of rear diff to ground = 10.5”
Bottom of frame rail at the center body mount bolt = 21”

Curious if the difference in frame height has to do with the Artec truss brackets?
 
A good measurement that is quickly comparable is the center of the axle tube to the lowest point in the axle. It bypass any mathing needed to account for tire size, air pressure, tire wear.
 
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Sounds like If you deduct the 1" for the diameter difference in tires it seems:
the Dana 50 has the same amount of clearance as your 44
and the Sterling he's giving up (or losing) 1/2" of clearance.

But that doesn't take into account tire wear or tire pressure.

The most accurate way is to measure to the bottom of the axle tube to the ground, add to that the diameter of the axle tube. Then measure the from the ground to the bottom of the pumpkin.
The difference between the two will tell you how much the pumpkin hangs down below the centerline of the axle, that's about the only way to do it, unless you put the same wheels & tires on both jeeps and then measure like you did.
 
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jjvw said:
A good measurement that is quickly comparable is the center of the axle tube to the lowest point in the axle. It bypass any mathing needed to account for tire size, air pressure, tire wear.
Click to expand...
I’ll have to get that a try next time I’m over that way.
 
Lilnuts said:
Sounds like If you deduct the 1" for the diameter difference in tires it seems:
the Dana 50 has the same amount of clearance as your 44
and the Sterling he's giving up (or losing) 1/2" of clearance.
Click to expand...
Yes. I was actually surprised. I know a lot of guys bash the junk yard axles for clearance problems but from what I measured I was slightly impressed on the clearance. Most guys run 60s front and 10.5 in the rear so this will vary slight as the 60 and 10.5 is larger. Last wheeling trip I got sick of trailing behind a guy who had a 8.8, as if got hung on absolutely everything. I took a by pass around him after he got stuck again for the 100th time. Took him forever to catch back up to the group (4 rigs).
 
There is way too many variables there.

Measure from center of tube to bottom of diff.

Other things to consider are which Dana 60 and how large the lowest contact patch is.
 
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toximus said:
There is way too many variables there.

Measure from center of tube to bottom of diff.

Other things to consider are which Dana 60 and how large the lowest contact patch is.
Click to expand...
I’ll try to get that measurement within the next few days. Like I said i got these to help others. I’m happy with my 35s and 44s. I know a lot of guys look for clearance info before doing a one ton swap.
 
mattcogdell said:
I’ll try to get that measurement within the next few days. Like I said i got these to help others. I’m happy with my 35s and 44s. I know a lot of guys look for clearance info before doing a one ton swap.
Click to expand...

I'm curious what you find out. It was a big consideration when I chose my RJ60 over a junkyard Dana 60.
 
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mattcogdell said:
I’ll try to get that measurement within the next few days. Like I said i got these to help others. I’m happy with my 35s and 44s. I know a lot of guys look for clearance info before doing a one ton swap.
Click to expand...
It isn't quite as simple as the low point. Better if you imagine driving the rig through a sand box that comes up to the axle tubes. What you prefer is the least foot print possible in the sand after the axle tubes mow it down flat. That's why the 8.8 sucks so badly. It doesn't hang down a whole bunch more but it has a big footprint.
 
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mrblaine said:
It isn't quite as simple as the low point. Better if you imagine driving the rig through a sand box that comes up to the axle tubes. What you prefer is the least foot print possible in the sand after the axle tubes mow it down flat. That's why the 8.8 sucks so badly. It doesn't hang down a whole bunch more but it has a big footprint.
Click to expand...
This is a good example!
 
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