I recieved the May 2007 issue and there was an article about putting a rear Dana 44 out of a Honda Passport into a YJ, and the front axel will be in the next issue. Is there a front Dana 44 with the same gear ratios and lenght as that rear?  

They are also 6 on 5.5 bolt pattern.  

Well you are going to have to wait until next month to find out! lol  

Jeff,
Do you have a Passport axle in your hands?  There are a lot of other D44's that will go into your YJ.  I don't have the dimensions of the Passport axle but why not find a matching set of Wagoneer axles?  You will need to make sure your donor 44 front axle is driver's side drop no matter what application you get it from.  i put a matching set of Scout II 44's under my CJ but what you need to watch out for with Scout II front 44's is that they are set up spring UNDER with a 2 inch wide front spring.  your YJ will have 2.5 inch front springs.  If you are going SOA then you won't have a problem, except grinding down the top of the housing to mount your perch which you would have to do with any 44 other than a custom shortened one - $$$   I have also heard that some isuzu's ??? run a rear dana 44.  Other things to watch for are the carrier breaks...if you want 3.93 and up gears try to find some 44's with those gears or higher or you will be swapping out carriers = more work = more ***
The carrier break on 44's is 3.73 and numerically lower and then 3.93 and numerically higher.
-Funhog  

The reason I am asking is that we have a tripped planned for May 20th and want to have some upgrades, tires, rears... So any help is much appreciated.  

Sounds like FunHog gave some good info for ya there...  

Jeff
Major upgrades like these are not something that you want to rush into and try to get done before a dead line.  I tried that once and instead of making the ride with new heavy duty gear I didn't make the ride at all.  IF you do want to start the project I would recommend getting a Scout II rear axle and a Jeep Wagoneer front Dana 44.  The rear axle you will need to rebuild the brakes (At least I recommend it and advanced auto normally has everything for this) and also for the rear you may need longer E-brake cables and a shortened driveshaft.  The yoke on a 44 is larger than that of a 35 (about 1 inch I think)  So in addition to moving the rear spring perches, rebuilding the brakes, new cables/hoses, you will need to get the axle in and measure to have a driveshaft made.  I made my own from an XJ front driveshaft.  If you are a competent welder this is not a problem and there's a lot of info out there to tell you how to do it.  The rear is the easy one...OH YEAH - one more thing.  I don't think you can buy a 44 with 4.5 on 5 lug pattern which is what your YJ currently has.  SO, I will give you another option for a rear axle that people like alot better anyway.  Go find a Ford Explorer 8.8 rear from I think the late 90's explorers with DISC BRAKES!   That's a bonus.  The 8.8 is just as strong as the 44 if not stronger and for you it will have a 4.5 on 5 lug pattern to keep your original wheels.  You will still need to move the leaf spring mount though (I think)  I have personally never done an 8.8 swap yet.
The front axle is a bit more difficult.  Scout II  D44's have no castor in them, they are set up for SUA with a 2 inch wide leaf spring and run a 5 on 5.5 lug pattern.  Wagoneer front D-44s are SUA with 4-7* castor built in, a 6 on 5.5 lug pattern and set up for a 2.5 inch leaf spring.  Both of which should bolt right under your YJ.  Sorry if I am writing a book here....In addition to sourcing your new front axle you will need to rebuild the brakes (again only a recommendation) Get new extended brake lines (maybe) new steering links as the 44 takes a larger ball joint than your 30, a new driveshaft/relengthened, and find a way to convert this to 5 on 4.5 to match the 8.8 rear or use Scout II outers to match it to the rear Scout II 44 or get flat top knuckles and use a small bearing chevy spindle and ford hub and rotors to make it 5 on 5.5.  There are so many options.  If you do the 8.8 rear (recommended) with a Wagoneer front I would convert everything to 5 on 5.5 lug pattern.  There is no way(other than maybe spacers - boo) to get a dana 44 to 4.5 on 5 lug pattern that I know of.  

My opinion - I would start to go salvage yarding and collect all the parts that you need and just continue to wheel the crap out of your rig until it breaks...then begin the overhaul.  If you need any more opinions or anything else let me know.

-Funhog  

I just thought of this...I don't believe that Scout II front D44's ever came in driver side drop.  So you should look for a wagoneer front 44 and do something with that.

-Funhog  

I dont have my mind set on a rear out of a rodeo or passport but the article in JP made it sound "pretty easy" and the bolt pattern would match the waggy front of 6 on 5.5 and would also have disc brakes, 4.30 or 4.56 gears and are 60 3/4 wms-wms which from my research is *** close to a 35. And the other question is what year wagoneer should I be looking for the front.  

Jeff,
My recommendation is find a matching set of 44's from a Waggy.  The rear will not be hard to do, it just requires rewelding the spring perches and you can set your pinion angle in the process.  Just measure the axle to center it, don't go by looking at the pinion because it will be slightly offset the one side.

Usually, 1986+ Waggys had the drivers side drop D44s and a centered rear Dana 44. Their WMS is roughly 60" or around that of a stock XJ/YJ/TJ etc. So they wouldn't be any wider than a YJ D30.

The 80-85 Waggys had a drivers drop front D44, but the rear was the rather undesireable AMC20 or an offcentered D44. Older than '80 and the front diff was on the passenger side and the rears offcentered.

Hope that helps ya out.

-Funhog  

Yes your info helped a lot I got a 94 Passport rear, and I am getting an 86 Waggy front, both have discs and 6 on 5 1/2.  From looking and measureing the rear it seems like it will bolt right in but I know the front is going to be a bit more work.
Thanks Funhog  

I'm planning a Ford 8.8 Axel swap, D44 is not an option as there are none available that won't have the tires hanging out of the weal arch.  My budget is limited so I wanna keep to the 8.8 as there are loads of them all over the place.  I have a friend that owns a scrappy so I will probably get it for next to nothing.

I just wanna ask someone what do I do with my front axel.  I doubt that by doing this swap the ratios will be the same, and tearing a drive shaft or messing up my T/C is not an option.  So I would like to know if anyone knows if it is possible to take the front axel of a ford explorer and stick that in the front of my YJ?  

I have 2 reasons for doing this, less confusion about parts, and fluids.  The other I will yank the entire brake system from the Ford Explorer and have ABS.  I want ABS because the people here drive like a bunch of yahoos, me included.

If the swap is possible, does anyone know if the front axel of a Ford Explorer is stronger than the front axel of a YJ?  

For the front, axle get a chromoly 4350 shaft kit with 760X u-joinjs. I got mine from trailsport4x4.com about 18 month ago. $450. Beefs up the front to match the strength of my Ford 8.8" rear.
You don't want ABS on your Jeep. I did not mind that mine disabled once I replaced the rear axle.
I got the axle adapter kit from MORE in Colorado. They sell it piece wise so you can get just the pieces you need to match the axle you are installing.
The next axle upgrade i want to do is the Super88 kit from Superior for the Ford 8.8 on a Jeep.  

grand cherokees have abs. u would have to cut the coil and 4link brackets off that axle but its a 30 like yours and has abs if thats really what u want. also your gonna want to get the abs parts off the grand cherokee. a way to tell if it has abs there is a gear looking thing on the axle shaft in the front easy to see. and a way to strengthen it would be the super 30 kit also and comes with an arb air locker. also the 8.8 is skinnier than the 35. so i read that if u want the wheels to stick out the same width as the 30 front. you will need some wheel spacers. alot of 8.8s have limited slips too.  

one more thing abs axle parts are more expensive because of that gear type thing.