Axle Swap

[nagal]

New axles almost done being built. Will get some pics up once I have them finished, probably after Christmas. Gears are all set, I just need to extended the air lines for the ARBs, put in the shafts and disc brakes on the rear and they will be ready to swap in.

Any pointers for swapping in the axles. Seems very straight forward but I'll take any tips/tricks I can get

Will be swapping in Rubicon D44 front and rear into a 98 TJ.

Thanks,

[JeepGal]

NICE!

Congrats!

Tam

[nagal]

Thanks

I only wish I could go to sleep Christmas Eve and wake up to find the Jeep Mod Elves have finished everything for me.

[jmbrowning]

Why ARB's? Why not use the Tochigi Fuji Sanjyo air locker that comes with the Rubicon rear axle? It's a limited slip when not locked up.

[TJSUPE]

That sure is a clean Diff.

[nagal]

Why ARBs?

Well have heard some not so good things about the factory lockers and better gear selection.

[NAILER341]

i nthe snow, the open diffed ARB will likely do a better job of keeping you on the road over the LSD.
i know it can get pretty fun when locked in the snow. i'm guessing it would be real similar being LSD.

[jmbrowning]

Well have heard some not so good things about the factory lockers and better gear selection.

What was the problem with gear selection? I have 4.88's with the TJS lockers.

[nagal]

Problem I have seen with gear selection is you can not use standard D44 gears, you have to get the special Rubi D44 gears.

[goodtimes]

You have to get either gearsets made for the rubicon d44's available in 4.10, 4.56 or 4.88...or you can use a spacer behind the ring gear and run any d44 gearset you want. The only thing that bothers me about the TJS locker is that it uses such a low pressure to operate, that it doesn't always respond immediatly...it can take awhile to lock or unlock, which makes things a pain if you get the front end bound up and need to unlock it to make that sharp turn while perched on top of a rather large rock....

[jmbrowning]

You have to get either gearsets made for the rubicon d44's available in 4.10, 4.56 or 4.88...or you can use a spacer behind the ring gear and run any d44 gearset you want. The only thing that bothers me about the TJS locker is that it uses such a low pressure to operate, that it doesn't always respond immediatly...it can take awhile to lock or unlock, which makes things a pain if you get the front end bound up and need to unlock it to make that sharp turn while perched on top of a rather large rock....

ah ok...I knew about the spacer issue, I needed them to get 4.88's in.

The air lockers do take a little while to unlock sometimes. Helps to scooch back an inch in reverse when they are finicky. I suppose it could be a vulnerability depending on the circumstances. I've never been a situation where I needed to have my axles locked or unlocked STAT; it's usually a very premeditated thing where I think out how to best get over the obstacle at hand. I suspect it would be different in competition where stopping or reversing costs you points.

BTW, doesn't the Rubicon D44 use D30 or D35 parts? I can't recall if it was the outer shafts or the axle tubes or what. Anybody here know for sure?

[nagal]

The rear uses the same brake parts as the D35, the front uses the dana 30 knuckle, hubs. I know the outers have the same spline count as the D30 but do not know how the rest of it compares. I have heard something about the tubes not being the same (thinner wall I think).

[goodtimes]

The front axle in the rubicons uses a Dana 44 differential (including the housing), with the same tubes and knuckles as the dana 30, along with 30 spline inner shafts and 27 spline outers.

[blackZZR]

I checked into a rubi front end at a local wrecking yard and was told the same thing about the axles
I was then shown the rear 44 uses a slightly narrower tube than a aftermarket one
humm

[DesertYJ]

New axles almost done being built. Will get some pics up once I have them finished, probably after Christmas. Gears are all set, I just need to extended the air lines for the ARBs, put in the shafts and disc brakes on the rear and they will be ready to swap in.

Any pointers for swapping in the axles. Seems very straight forward but I'll take any tips/tricks I can get

Will be swapping in Rubicon D44 front and rear into a 98 TJ.

Thanks,

NAGAL,
Are they in yet? Chris and I can give you a hand. Let me know. :thumbs_up
BTW the next meeting is on the 11th.