i meant what lift do you have on it and other current mods... sye? frame stiffeners? aftermarket bumpers etc. all that stuff adds up as well because you will want to do long arms when you swap the axles and you'll have to buy or mod drivelines etc

also what kind of wheeling do you want to do?

you don't have to swap axles and run huge tires to have fun. my old xj i cut in half and tubed out. waggy 44's, 4:1 teralow, sye, spool rear, lockrite front, leaf swap up front, traction bar in the rear, 36" iroks on diy beadlocks etc... it was a trailer queen. it was seriously a blast but having a truck payment and a trailer to haul it around really sucked. i got married, bought a house and sold the beast.

now i have another xj that i bought for $1500, scrapped together lift parts(3" and i love love love the low COG), found a xj44 in the jy for $88, minispooled it, cut the fenders out for some cheap 33's on steelies, built super-beef f/r bumpers, 2x6" rocker replacement, "frame" stiffeners, jcr skid, tranny cooler, p/s cooler, 1-2 gear switches, super-beefy traction bar, rock lights, roundeyes h4 headlights, front-center limit strap etc etc etc. i think i probably have an additional $1k give or take into it and the thing does work in moab. i run trails that it shouldn't even touch, no sweat. when i'm driving it 4 hours to get there and wheeling it all weekend and driving it back i don't miss the old xjuggy at all. i don't put a ton of miles on it around the city cause the wife and i carpool but i drive it every once and a while and it's a blast.


sorry for the story, but i think it needs to be told lol

 

do what you want just remember it's all comprimise...no such thing as the perfect set up or we'd all have the same answer...when someone invents cheap, light,small axles that are 100% bulletproof and availible in different widths we will all agree

 

If you're going 37s anytime soon and 39s down the roads, bite the bullet like I am, skip all the puny **** and go straight to Tons.

Built Dana 60s are generally accepted to be good up to 42s, and then you have to start looking at Dana 70s/14BFFs Mogs and Rockwells.

....All I've seen this whole thread is you spouting off a whole bunch of nonsense. Like a stock Dana 60 not being much stronger than a Dana 44.

Good for you, Dana 44s held up in Moab with Sandstone and Slick Rock, you ever try to drive a wet muddy hill-climb with rocks? Even with lockers, just about the only way to do it is to pick a good line and use a healthy amount of the skinny pedal. Dana 44s WILL NOT stand up to that on 37s, You'd be blowing up axle shafts, U-joints and Ball-joints on a semi-regular basis.

Let me break the difference down for you:
Dana 44
8.5" Diameter Ring Gear
COT(Continuous Output Torque) 1,100 Ft-lbs
MOT(Maximum Output Torque) 3,460 Ft-lbs

Commonly found with .250 wall axle tubes, .375 and .500 wall models are available but generally hard to come by. Plus with a D44 front you're stuck with the same puny 5-760x series u-joints that are in a Dana 30 and weak ball joints.

Dana 60(I'm going to list the ratings for the Semi-Float models, FF D60s are even higher)
9.75" Diameter Ring Gear
COT 1,500 Ft-Lbs 36% Increase over a Dana 44
MOT 5,500 Ft-lbs 58% Increase over a Dana 44(this is the rating that really matters when you're spinning tires)

Almost ALL Dana 60's have .500 wall axle tubes, but .375 wall models do exist. Dana 60 Fronts come with either beefy 1-ton Ball joints, or the darn near indestructible King-pins. They also have the significantly stronger 5-806X series u-joints.

Considering Both axles have about the same aftermarket support, and cost about the same to build when its all said and done, the 60s are a much better investment. If clearance is an issue, shaving a Dana 60 housing can be done with simple hand tools, some skill and ingenuity(Its been done quite a few times before)

 

Alright I think I've dexidedon the 60 rear. The only problem ithey only have a 44 front. Is that ok with 37. Anright now I have 4.5 lift and rustys long arms. No bumper yet ani wheel like everything. I like mud runs and trails with rocks...not yet full blown moab rock crawling but you get the point. Also again lol is 500$ too much for two axles together. Thank to eeryone for all this info

 

$500 is still high unless you get a Dana 60 front... any other combination you can get them cheaper... I bought a 76 f150 4x4 that caught on fire off eBay classifieds from about 30min away... had the Dana 44 front that everyone loves and the 9in rear... have $400 for the whole truck... parted out what was still good on the truck... scrapped it... made my $400 back... kept the axles free...

 

$500 still ain't bad i guess if you don't feel like wasting time and dealing with it all... figure to spend $200 per axle whatever's of is... $400 total... so you really only saving $100 by just getting it there... and if there gonna pull them from the truck then its worth it... cheapest you'll come out is probly $300 for both axles... I almost bought a f350 Ford non dually for $800 off Craigslist just because it had the 60 front... that alone had a $1200 axle... so keep whole vehicles in mind... who cares if they run...

 

Ya that's true its just that the ny ilike 5 mins from my house and is readily available right now. Id hate to pass up and then when I go back they don't have what I need. Maybe I can work a deal to get them for like 400 so it's 200 an axle

 

37s is pushing the limits of a 44. For the room to go significantly bigger(up to 40s/42s) I'd just go ahead and get a HPD60

 

Even if I put cromos in the 44

 

you can go ahead and spend $600 on Chromoly Shafts for a 44, at best they'd be as strong as stock Dana 60 shafts, again you're still stuck with 5-760x series u-joints along with the weaker ball-joint setup of a Dana 44.

I spent a solid 6 months doing research and figuring out what axles I needed to go with for an XJ on 37s. While a 44/9" combo would do the trick I'd be pushing the limits of those axles and for about the same price I could build Dana 60s instead and have a significant improvement in strength.

 

Alright thanks

 

definitely dude. Get a D60 out of a 77.5-79 F350

or a D60 out of a late 80s to early 90s F250 or 350