Upgrade to dana 44 front

[Az84cj7]

Hey guys. I went to Moab for Easter jeep safari last April and snapped a front axle shaft. I would really like to upgrade from the Dana 30 to a 44 by next trip. What I the most ideal Dana 44 axle I need for a 84 CJ7 with wide track axle?
Fitment, install, ease? I know I need a passenger drop.........Any info, websites, pics, or someone who has done this and can explain
Thx

 

[Old Dog]

As far as I know there is nothing that is the same width as your 30 is.
The closest thing out there would be either the Scout or the Waggie which would require less work IMO. Both are about 4" wider than what you have now
Either one will require some mods to make work..
Have you thought about just going cromo axles in the 30 most come with the larger axle joint and would be about as strong as stock 44 axles.

 

[railroadpaul]

Not to get off the subject of the Dana 44 axle swap, I too have a 1984 CJ7 with the Dana 30 ,I run 33 inch tall tires and want to install a ox locker,will the chromoly axle shafts make this a stronger unit. keeping that in mind this axle be tortured on a regular basis as needed.any thoughts anyone.....

 

[Old Dog]

Not to get off the subject of the Dana 44 axle swap, I too have a 1984 CJ7 with the Dana 30 ,I run 33 inch tall tires and want to install a ox locker,will the chromoly axle shafts make this a stronger unit. keeping that in mind this axle be tortured on a regular basis as needed.any thoughts anyone.....

I had problems with axle joints with my 30, so I upgraded to the 27 spline cromos with the bigger joints (didn't want to buy a new locker) It held up to my 33's for years.(I still have it in the garage) I upgraded to a 44 because I went to 35's and plan to go to 36 or 37's sometime in the future, otherwise I'd still be running it. If you haven't bought the Ox yet you might think about going 30 spline just to be on the safe side as the price is about the same.

 

[PaRenegade]

From what I've read, and that's the only credibility behind it, in order to improve the Dana 30 you have to improve all the weaknesses as they apply while keeping the u-joints as still the weak point. Improving the axle shafts includes improving the u-joints which puts added stress on the std. differential. So to go with moly shafts you should also upgrade the differential. Once those are done / upgraded then the hub is the weak spot. So it's kind of a domino effect that can get expensive so for some it's cheaper in the long run to have a waggy or scout axle (Dana 44 ) shortened to fit. That is if you have the resources to find one and get it done.

 

[hagar]

Willys Jeep CJ Dana 44 Front Axle Wide Track | eBay

 

[Old Dog]

Willys Jeep CJ Dana 44 Front Axle Wide Track | eBay

Not to say there is anything wrong with this housing, but I find it strange that I see no cast in spring perch and u-bolt mount as all front housings have. Anyone have any idea what housing they are using?

 

[tarry99]

Not to say there is anything wrong with this housing, but I find it strange that I see no cast in spring perch and u-bolt mount as all front housings have. Anyone have any idea what housing they are using?

Dog,
Funny you ask I have talked to them about doing axles for me...........they take a centered 44 housing and create anything you want. They will even do DOM tubes at 1/2" wall for extra $$$.........the large C's are the old style so they can use the older Dana 30 or 44 parts & knuckles. I have used the Dutchman axles in the past and are as good as any Cho-Mo axles.

 

[PaRenegade]

That actually seems like a decent price even though it's empty.

 

[Posi]

Hey guys. I went to Moab for Easter jeep safari last April and snapped a front axle shaft. I would really like to upgrade from the Dana 30 to a 44 by next trip. What I the most ideal Dana 44 axle I need for a 84 CJ7 with wide track axle?
Fitment, install, ease? I know I need a passenger drop.........Any info, websites, pics, or someone who has done this and can explain
Thx

IMO, the wagon front would be the best choice, you could go outboard or cut the D-side tube down 4".

My previous post,

First, you got yourself an excellent tranny. For the best front axle that would depend on the size tire you’re running. Assuming your running 37” or under I would suggest a 74-79 wagon axle as mentioned their 61” wms to wms so you would need to cut it to desired width.

Cutting down an axle isn’t hard you can use a chop saw or band saw.

Most websites have the front NT waggy width between 59”-60” I measured mine out at 61” wms to wms I ended up cutting 4 1/8 off the long side.

I removed the long side spring pad and shock mount.







I cut the inner knuckle first and made the cut close to the weld to aide in the tube removal.



Final tube cut





I ground down the weld until I could see the separation between the tube and inner knuckle. You will see a definite separation I just wasn’t there yet when I took this pic.



I made two 90 degree cuts then punched out one half at a time.







I had the waggy long side shaft cut down 4 1/8” and the extra chevy shaft spare cut to match.





Primed with a couple coats of gloss black

Hope this helps

 

[tarry99]

Posi...............Good job on the axles.......

 

[Posi]

Thanks tarry

 

[Old Dog]

What would concern me (being an auto Transmission . guy) is the cast in perch is closer to the center of the diff housing, having to weld a perch on further away from the center would place the diff closer to center of the jeep and there is already no clearance for the driveshaft to Transmission pan. Every fraction of a inch counts here. If that makes any since.

 

[Old Dog]

From what I've read, and that's the only credibility behind it, in order to improve the Dana 30 you have to improve all the weaknesses as they apply while keeping the u-joints as still the weak point. Improving the axle shafts includes improving the u-joints which puts added stress on the std. differential. So to go with moly shafts you should also upgrade the differential. Once those are done / upgraded then the hub is the weak spot. So it's kind of a domino effect that can get expensive so for some it's cheaper in the long run to have a waggy or scout axle (Dana 44 ) shortened to fit. That is if you have the resources to find one and get it done.

To me though if I was going to keep the 30 I would rather have to replace a hub than an axle.
Much easier and cheaper fix when you break on the trail.

 

[73CJ]

Nice Posi,

I did mine a dead ringer to you photos. 4" cutoff. Even the F150 rotors the keep the 5x5-1/2 bolt pattern.

I run 38" Boggers, Detroit lockers and beat her pretty hard. So far I've snapped both stock outer axles shafts, one chomemoly outer and one stock passenger side. Mainly jumping logs and walls with to much pedal.

I ran 36 Swampers for years with a Dana 30 . I was breaking all shafts and gears. But lockout bolts were miserable to keep tight.

Ended up around $1500 total. Axles, gears, locker, rotors, lockouts and calipers

I'd do it again.

 

[gert]

Hey guys. I went to Moab for Easter jeep safari last April and snapped a front axle shaft. I would really like to upgrade from the Dana 30 to a 44 by next trip. What I the most ideal Dana 44 axle I need for a 84 CJ7 with wide track axle?
Fitment, install, ease? I know I need a passenger drop.........Any info, websites, pics, or someone who has done this and can explain
Thx

I looked at that guys website awhile back when I was trying to decide how I am building my Dana 44 RP 4WD // Serious Off-Road Since 1989 — CJ Dana 44 Front Axle

 

[Posi]

Thanks 73CJ,

I got lucky and found a Cherokee for $200 so the axle was free after part out. Went with a Spartan locker $225, bone yard hub $20, a set of calipers $30, used gears $25, lockouts $80, cut down shaft plus spare $125, don't recall what I paid for disc and bearings but I figured right around $500 for the complete axle.

 

[Az84cj7]

Thanks for all your help guys.. I know I definitely want to upgrade to a 44. I will probably upgrade to chromo shafts as well. I am running 35" general red labels with spring over setup. I may go to 37's soon so I for sure want a Dana 44 front.
Does anyone know if the waggy 44 axle on the pass side is the same measurement as my Dana 30 when measured from center of spring perch to wms?

 

[Old Dog]

It should be pretty close, but I'll let Posi or 73cj say for sure.

I cut a WT (chief or j10) down to have a little better tire to spring clearance so I can't measure mine for ya.

 

[Posi]

Does anyone know if the waggy 44 axle on the pass side is the same measurement as my Dana 30 when measured from center of spring perch to wms?

Assuming you have a Dana 30 to measure, the wagon/cherokee NT is roughly 14.5" p-side pin to wms.