What parts do I need for a Super 35 conversion?

[Rob5589]

I don't think anyone was saying it was a super strong diff in comparison to the super 35, I was just asking a question to learn about it because I knew nothing about the super 35. The guy who did my 8.8 swap seemed to think it was the way to go so I just trusted that was the best option since I'm just learning that you can upgrade the 35 to make it good for 35s

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The S35 replaces the parts that are broken the most often; axles and carrier. I cannot say when the 8.8 became all that, I was out of the differential business before then. I can say that when I was, the 8.8 and even 44 weren't considered to be all that great. We swapped out several 44's for something stronger, usually a beefed up 9" Ford or Dana 60. The 8.8 was just a factory diff Ford used to replace the 9", nothing special, although Fords "Sterling" gear set up beautifully.

 

[Mike_H]

I think the use of the 8.8 in wranglers started with the YJ. It was an easy swap with leaf springs. You could pick up a Dana 30 front from a 4 cylinder YJ, an 8.8 from an explorer and get rear discs, 4.10 gears, and a "stronger" axle pretty inexpensively. The wheel bolt pattern matched even. If you just wanted a lunch box up front as a locker...You're into it for around a 1000 bucks or less and you'll have a pretty stout set-up for 33's I have a couple friends that did just this. It worked for them.

The TJ is a different animal. Gotta weld on all kinds of brackets. But like anything on the internet...the truth doesn't much matter, so the same bad information keeps getting passed around and around. 8.8's are a TON more work to hang under a TJ, especially when you can go out and get a Dana 44 all ready set to go.

 

[balfred]

I think the use of the 8.8 in wranglers started with the YJ. It was an easy swap with leaf springs. You could pick up a Dana 30 front from a 4 cylinder YJ, an 8.8 from an explorer and get rear discs, 4.10 gears, and a "stronger" axle pretty inexpensively. The wheel bolt pattern matched even. If you just wanted a lunch box up front as a locker...You're into it for around a 1000 bucks or less and you'll have a pretty stout set-up for 33's I have a couple friends that did just this. It worked for them.

The TJ is a different animal. Gotta weld on all kinds of brackets. But like anything on the internet...the truth doesn't much matter, so the same bad information keeps getting passed around and around. 8.8's are a TON more work to hang under a TJ, especially when you can go out and get a Dana 44 all ready set to go.

That makes a lot of sense actually that it started with the YJ. Because of where I lived at the time I had mine done, a dana 44 was either really hard to find or $$$. So I had my Dana 30 regeared to 4.88s, the shop went to a junkyard and pulled a disc brake lsd 8.8, a truss put on the 8.8 with all bracketry, it was regeared also, all using Yukon stuff and I was out the door for about 2300 dollars with all that installed. I think when I last looked in my area a good Dana 44 was over a grand easily and I would have had it all rebuilt too adding to that cost. I can definitely understand why it's not that popular to do in areas where a Dana 44 from a tj is easily sourced. Good info guys! Thanks for the explanation.

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[Mike Jolley]

I picked up my TJ Rubicon Dana 44 with chromoly axles and 5.13 gears for $600, with broken stock locker. It even had the brackets welded on it for the RE long arm kit that I already had in waiting and thought that would be the last I worry about an axle, I was wrong.

My wheeling buddies have well built rigs and I don’t like sitting on the sidelines so I’m pretty tough on my 35” tire equipped rig. Rear ended had started growling after my last Rubicon trip. Pulled the axle apart and discovered a chip in one of the ring gear teeth. The chip seems to have found the pinion bearing. Now I’m having a new ring and pinion with bearings getting installed. In the future I will be stepping up to a Dana 60 and 37” tires so I can better keep up with those buddies. Sometime before Easter Jeep safari 2019...

My sister picked up a TJ a few months ago. We just grabbed a geared and locked super 30 with chromo axles off craigslist for the front. From my perspective spending a dime on her 35 would be a mistake. She will be getting a Dana 44 regeared with a trutrac to turn 33” tires. She probably won’t run any trails harder than the Rubicon but I have seen a few guys break 35s on the con. For my money it’s too close to not upgrade to a 44. Plenty of 8.8” success stories so that’s also a great option if you have skills or a buddy with the skills to do the welding on those tubes. At least one eBay source for with reasonable prices for a super 30/8.8 pair on a pallet so that’s an option that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Given a choice between a weak locker or a strong limited slip I’d choose the latter, just based on my own experience.