Front waggy 44 in a TJ?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Long term I am thinking about putting a waggy 44 in the front of my TJ. I had one in the ZJ and it worked great.

So what are the nuances with putting this axle in the front of a TJ?

I know I need an axle from the late 80s to 91 to get driver drop and non disco. I know I will need to run adapters on the rear to run 6x5.5 wheels at all four corners.
 
shawn said:
First, you have to ask yourself: why do some dumb, 1998 shit like that, when you can buy a JK Rubi front for $1800?
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Exactly, the jk is high pinion, bigger shafts, bearings, brakes, ball joints, etc. Oh and it's 65" wms.
justjeepin86 said:
I didn't think that a JK had locking hubs. That would be the main reason to swap over, IMO. That's the only reason I want to swap out the front in my YJ.
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It doesn't but why on earth would you want locking hubs? (That's rhetorical, I don't want to turn this into a unit bearing vs locking hub shit show)

Clay your best bet long term is done sort of bolt in high pinion 44. When I bought my TJ I went a little stupid with researching and pricing 44 swaps. ECGS and Dynatrac we're the best deal for bolt in 44's.

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Chris_Keziah said:
It doesn't but why on earth would you want locking hubs? (That's rhetorical, I don't want to turn this into a unit bearing vs locking hub shit show)

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Not gonna hear a unit bearing argument from me. I actually like them and I despise packing bearings. I just don't like my front end turning all the time. I guess I'm still a little old school on that one.

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Unit bearings suck, I'll just leave it at that. TJ frontend is pretty much identical to ZJ frontend, so pretty much just copy what you did on the ZJ. There's another thread around here about JK vs older D44's, and there are pluses and minuses to both. If you don't want full width, JK is a pretty good way to go, and is a little wider than stock TJ. If you want a lot more width, a late 70's D44HD with JK gears is a good way to go.
 
shawn said:
First, you have to ask yourself: why do some dumb, 1998 shit like that, when you can buy a JK Rubi front for $1800?
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Serious question, is $1,800 the price for a new JK Rubi axle, or a used takeout? I'm not in the loop on Jeep stuff. The original Rubi axles were air lockers, but the newer ones are electric? Is that correct?
 
Used takeout. Electric locker. Works great.

Dunno what the going rate is right now. There used to be a guy on eBay selling F/R sets for $3k.
 
obullfish said:
What's the going rate on TJ Rubi 44's with factory lockers 5.13's and chromo's F/R? Thinking of going to 1 tons.
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$500
But I'll give you $600 to save you some headache
 
I have looked at the JK 44, and after buying the axle and getting it under a TJ, looking at like $4k, so looking for cheaper options. Is a TJ 44 worth swapping in?
 
BigClay said:
I have looked at the JK 44, and after buying the axle and getting it under a TJ, looking at like $4k, so looking for cheaper options. Is a TJ 44 worth swapping in?
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No, not really. Only real gain is ring and pinion strength and loss of clearance since it's low pinion if you're running a hp30 already.

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adamk said:
Why not a Ford D44?
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Smaller shafts and u-joints than the JK axle, no upgrade from standard LP D30 stuff. It's the same problem with the Waggy axle. The only thing you're getting is a lockout hub (which is no big benefit in my mind) and an incrementally stronger R&P. The brakes and ball joints on the Ford stuff suck, too.

BigClay said:
I have looked at the JK 44, and after buying the axle and getting it under a TJ, looking at like $4k, so looking for cheaper options. Is a TJ 44 worth swapping in?
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It all-but bolts in. Where did you come up with $4k?
 
shawn said:
It all-but bolts in. Where did you come up with $4k?
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Yeah I like the fact it would bolt in, but I have just heard the TJ 44 is not a huge upgrade from a TJ 30.

I got $4k from ECGS turn key, I bet it could be done for closer to $3k by collecting the parts separately.
 
shawn said:
Smaller shafts and u-joints than the JK axle, no upgrade from standard LP D30 stuff. It's the same problem with the Waggy axle. The only thing you're getting is a lockout hub (which is no big benefit in my mind) and an incrementally stronger R&P. The brakes and ball joints on the Ford stuff suck, too.



It all-but bolts in. Where did you come up with $4k?
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A JK 44 uses larger diameter shafts and bigger U-joints than all the old school D44's?
 
They are both 30 spline shafts but the JK neck down to the sealing surface/splines. JK shafts use 1350 ujoints and older 44s use 1310.

I prefer the ball joints pressing into the knuckles vs the inner Cs. I don't know about Ford brakes because I converted to Chevy knuckles/spindles/brakes when going to 8 lug. I also prefer locking hubs for on-road use. But, these are just my preferences.
 
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Jk factory 44 shaft and a TJ/XJ shaft for reference

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The rear jk rubicon axles saw bigger shafts (32 spline 1.41" shafts) and ring/pinions

870b232257ac7a493a8834296353dae9.jpg


83bd7565aad7fc8288faef67aa3809f5.jpg
 
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