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Front Axle Swap
Using the Rubicon Express Bracket Kit to Install the Axle of My Choice
by Jonathan Yim and Rob (Rye Guy) Bryce
Sept. 7, 2000
Midnight repair on my Dana 35C axle.
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One fateful day in August 1997, I broke an axle shaft in my Dana 35 rear axle up at Hut Lake, north of Squamish. Determined to avoid any other 7 hour trail fixes in the future, I replaced the D35 with a stock TJ D44 axle in 1998, but I was still uneasy about the strength of my front D30 axle. In the back of my mind, I began planning for the day I would have essentially indestructible axles for my TJ -- dreaming of high-pinion D60s from Dynatrac ($$$!). Unfortunately reality (aka, my bank account) told me that Dana 60s would be gross-overkill for my TJ with it's relatively small 4.0L I-6 engine, and I would have to run 36" tires to maintain decent ground clearance under those huge differentials. So, it was actually an idle suggestion from Chris Waterman during a trip up to Whipsaw which sparked me into turning my planning into a reality that made sense.
Similar to Lars' YJ (with Scout Dana 44's front and rear), Chris had also chosen a D44 for his YJ's front axle, but had chosen an Early Bronco (EB) as his vehicle of choice for scavenging. Thus, he also went with an EB Ford 9" as his rear axle. What Chris had suggested to me, though, was that if given the choice for an axle swap again, he would have likely gone with a high-pinion Dana 44 from an F-150 for his front axle for the following reasons:
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driver's side differential is the same as my Jeep's D30
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only the passenger side of the axle would have to be shortened as the differential was likely far enough over to clear the oil pan
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the axle could be shortened to use either EB or Scout long-side axle shafts, and would still use stock F-150 short side axle shafts
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the Detroit Softlocker I was currently running in my rear D44 would work in the front D44
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manual front hubs so my front driveshaft isn't always turning
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reverse rotation carrier is gravy for better driveshaft angles
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stronger ring and pinion gear arrangement when going forward
I'd been driving my Jeep with the D30/D44 axles for the last few years with no real problems related to the strength of the axles, only a couple problems with the rear trackbar and a broken control arm mount on the rear axle. That could be attributed to the relatively flimsy factory axle brackets, but I felt I was living on borrowed time running 33" Swamper TSLs on the relatively weak D30. The rear D44 was working out fine for me, but for several reasons I ended up swapping it out as well, in favour of a full-size Ford 9" rear axle:
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with the front D44, I would have to change to the 5 on 5.5" bolt pattern (stock is 5 on 4.5") -- this would require custom axle shafts ($$$) for the rear D44 as the axle flange does not have enough metal to drill the larger diameter bolt-pattern. On the other hand, the Ford 9" came with the same bolt pattern as the front D44.
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with the Ford 9" in the rear, I wouldn't have to shorten the front D44, since both axles were the same width.
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I managed to find a Ford 9" with the stronger, but rare 31-spline axle shafts (28-spline is more common).
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I got the Ford 9" at a wrecker for $75 CDN, whereas my TJ D44 is very uncommon and could be sold to help cover part of the cost of the project.
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