XJ: more gear ?s

[bails85]

ok guys sorry i havent been back in awhile. my com was down. i read all of your posts but am still kind of confused. what i want to know is what would be my best bet. i have an 89 xj 4.0 aw4 242 tcase and dana30 f and dana 35r on 32s what gears do i need. my trans just went out so i am already looking to rebuild it and the t-case. i dont want to dump too much into it cuz i aleady have more than my wife likes already. one question i have is when you guys talk about axle upgrades what exactly do u mean. do i replace mine with better parts or do i replace the whole unit. i would like to go to dana 44s but i heard that the application is not bolt-in.there has to be fab work done to install them. i can call 4 wheel drive shops all day and all they want is money or tell me to go online. i dont do alot of "rock crawling" im more of go up a big hill with a few ruts type of guy. i live in phelan and go in the hills by my house and up cleghorn and such. i just want my rig to go when i want it to but not anything really extreme. also if i do pull my front and rear end off and put in "better ones" what do i put in and what do i get them off of. i can go to the junk yard but once i get there i am clueless. i dont even know what an mt is. or means. and once i get them do i have to change my suspension and stering mounts or do i just bolt them in. also what do i want to use in the front and rear ends do i go d44 on f and r or d44r and d35f. thanks for being patient with me guys. im just looking for some know how. ive got my rig sitting waiting to do something to it im just trying to get an idea of what to do. ive already got my lift and tire size down. and ive got my motor dealt with next is trans t-case and f and r ends. ive been told that the aw4 is a real good trans and ilke the 242 because of the full time 4wheel it has for driving in the rain and such. and i kinda dont want to change much of that. i like how i have it set up now. i have a 4.5 inch lift on 32s and my engine is pretty much brand new. i really just want to know what axles to hunt for and with what gear ratios. also where to find them im not very good at hunting online at all. i have a hard enough time getting around mjr. even when i try to find info online like gear ratios i can never find anything. i guess i suck at coms. im kinda old school and like to do things the way they did them before the internet. thanks alot guys.

[aw12345]

Some Cherokees came with a dana 44. That would be a straight swap. A ford 8.8 from an exploder should not be all that hard either if you stick with 32's and don't do to much rock stuff 4.10 gears might work for ya
Especially since this is an automatic