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Alright, so I ma getting ready to do an axle swap, and have a few questions on the difference between high and low pinion axles
The vehicle that the new axle is going under will be a daily driver mostly/ very light wheeler. Living in Colorado 4wd is good. Right now its 2wd.
High pinions are good for wheeling for better ground clearence and typically stronger components, but if the vehicle is mainly DD is it really worth the wait to find a high pinion? Im thinking of just going with the D30 and call it good. The rest of the stuff has been swapped in like the tcase and 4wd tranny, so all it needs is a front axle.
So if the result will be only a DD, will low pinion be enough? What are the major diffferences as far are ride comfort and stuff?
87 Comanche, but i hope the info is general enough to apply to any high pinion vs low pinion
If you are talking high pinion D30 for the front of a Comanche there is no waiting. Go to your closest pick n pull, yank a HP30 out of the front of an XJ, pay $60 be on your way. You should be able to find them easily with 3.55's and 3.73's. There are some with 4.10's out there - you'd be looking for the ultra awesome 4cyl. xj to get the 4.10's.
And if the HP is not available for some odd reason, will the LP work just as well? I have a 4.0 with AX15 and a 231J tcase, so the rear end (I believe) is a 3.07, so the front has to be regeared anyway
Just about all Cherokee's had a high pinion front axle (maybe 2000/2001 didn't). TJ's and ZJ's have the same front suspension geometry, but are low pinion. Also, TJ/ZJ use cam bolts at the axle side lower control arm mounts to adjust, XJ/MJ's use an adjuster at the body side.
* 91 and earlier on "Command Trac" (NP 207/231) XJ had a vacuum disconnect type axle <-- you don't want this
* All 84-88 D30s have 5-260x u-joints (1 1/16" diameter caps) <-- you don't want this
* 1989-95 non-ABS have 5-260x u-joints <-- you don't want this
* 1989-95 with ABS have 5-297x u-joints (1 3/16" diameter caps)
* All 1995 1/2+ have 5-297x u-joints
So in summary, look for a select-trac '92-'00 ABS axle, or any '95-'00 axle with matching a gear ratio to your rear axle.
http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/tr...ee-axle-guide/
Can the crappy u-joints be upgraded relatively easy? I have a feeling I will need to regear the front axle anyway as the 3.07 gears are hard to come by. Basically take a pre 95 non abs axle and upgrade the ujoints.
Thanks for the info guys!
You can, but you have to replace the inner and outer axle shafts as well. A pick in pull would charge separately for the shafts anyway, so you could pull the shafts from a different housing.
Here is what I did back in the day when I ran a HP D30. I went to the junk yard and found an axle from a 4-cylinder XJ (4.10 gears). But it was from a '87 so had the smaller U-jointed axle shafts. I then found another non-disconnect axle with the bigger u-joints and proceeded to tear it down and swapped the shafts/unit bearings over to the first axle. Actually I think I used the calipers and rotors from the later axle too since they were in better shape. Put it all back together and paid for the axle as a whole assembly.
MJ's were HPD30 stock.
HPD30's are so easy to find I would make sure to get the HPD30 to begin with, plus you can find them with all the way up to 4.56 from the factory gearing.
check my 4wd swap writeup in my sig. it will not directly apply to an MJ but will be close depending if you have an auto (AW4) or standard, but it might help to think about things for a 4WD swap
EDIT: you wont care about ABS vs non ABS for as far as that system cares about but I'm pretty sure the later ABS ones are all the 297X ujoints. or you could just get the CV shafts, but that starts the whole CV shaft vs Ujoint shaft debate again lol
Okay thanks guys. So I was able to find a HPD30 with ABS (so larger U-joints), no disconnect, unfortunately 3.55 gears, and a Double cardan driveshaft. I pulled the springs too cause i think the 2wd ones (or at least the ones i have) are too low and the pumpkin will hit the oil pan. I pulled the calipers also in case they mismatch the ones i have on there now. Next would be to clean up the axle, spray paint it just for some minor rust protection and put it under.
The next issue I have is the following. The guy before me (or 2) decided that it was a good idea to put a spool in the rear D44, which makes corners a little tricky. Fortunately, he also swapped in the 4wd tranny (AX15) and a 231 t-case (along with the 4.0 this is pretty bulletproof). Anyway, the rear is a 3.07 and i have to have the matched axles. So the question becomes where do i find a set of D44 3.55 gears? if i search just D44 3.55 gears, would that work? Or were there different 44s that have to have specific gears that have to go under manche? I also found a carrier case thats cheaper than anywhere else, would any spider gears work?
http://www.4ws.com/dana-44-3-73-down-carrier.html
have you guys had any exprience with this place? Were all carriers for D44 a 30 spline?
Or perhaps someone has a set of 3.55s with a carrier and spider gears and bearings they are trying to get rid off and I could buy them off of you?
I also got the D30 spring cups for my WJ. After those are on its time for some wheeling
Last edited by Tuzmaster; 05-30-2017 at 12:56 AM.
I'm too far removed from d44s to give any decent answers but good luck finishing your conversion. I also converted 2wd to 4wd many years ago, which began an expensive but worthwhile journey. Hope yours is just as worthwhile and enjoy the wheeling.
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