| Putting an 88 XJ Dana 44 into a 92 XJ |
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| With the addittion of larger tires I decided I needed to find a stronger axle for the rear of my Cherokee. The easiest answer was a factory Dana 44 out of an 87-88 XJ with the metric ton option. Since I was in no particular hurry I have been keeping an eye out for one because they are notoriously hard to find. I was lucky one day and found one in a 88 XJ at the local U-Pull-It. I pulled the axle, payed the $86 for it and took it to a friends garage for clean up. Since I am only running 31" tires while saving for more lift and bigger tires there wasn't an immediate need to install it. I decided to relocate the shock mounts higher up on the axle tubes so I wouldn't catch them on anything. |
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| The very first thing to do was completely strip the axle.
The first step of the rebuild was to grind off the shock mounts and wire wheel the entire axle to clean up the rust.
Next the factory shock mounts were put in the chop saw and shortened.
Then my good friend Dan welded the mounts onto the axle. As if that wasn't enough, he then painted it.
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I put the shafts back in the axle and began the brake rebuild. All the part numbers are below in the chart along with the prices. I got all the parts at Napa.
When I got the axle from the yard it was missing a couple pieces of hardware. One was the lever for the self adjuster assembly, the other was the cable for the self adjuster assembly. (I can't remember what side the part number for the lever is for.)
If you don't know how to put drum brakes together you should pick up a repair manual, most of them have good instructions and illustrations. Do one side at a time to use the other as a reference.
Brake Part Numbers
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| After that I bent new hard lines for the axle and put on the e-brake cables.
After I actually install it along with more lift I'll post the install steps.
It should be very straght forward though because it's a factory axle. The only issue may be with the driveshaft because the pinion on the Dana 44 is about 1" longer than a Dana 35. Depending on your set up there may be length issues. I have been told the pinion on the 8.25" axle is close to the same size as the Dana 44 so that shouldn't be an issue for vehicles with that rear axle.
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| Part Numbers: |
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| Brake Shoes |
TS-481 |
$11.99 ($6.50 Core)
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| Wheel Cylinders |
4617507 (Left) |
$10.77 |
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4617508 (Right) |
$10.77 |
| Adjuster Assemblies |
80558 (Left) |
$8.29 |
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80559 (Right) |
$8.29 |
| Hardware Kit |
H7064 |
$5.49 |
| Self Adjusting Lever |
80773 |
$3.99 |
| Cable |
80751 |
$3.77 |
| YJ Passanger Side E-Brake Cable |
94371 (x2) |
$49.18 ($24.59 each) |
| Wheel Bearing |
BR-10 (x2) |
$65.98 ($32.99 each) |
| Wheel Seals |
18731 (x2) |
$29.38 ($14.69 each) |
| Axle |
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$86.00 |
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