well i found an 87 dodge ramcharger with a 44 front axle. which is what im looking for. for my tj axle upgrade here is were the question is this 44 has a vacum disconnect. i see on some yj jeep they used this when they had front lockers. i dont want to use the disconnect can anyone tell me how this diconect operates? and can i run the axle with out this diconnect in the axle? reason i dont want this disconnect is cause i want to use an ox locker and dont wanna deal with vacum controling it. also can i use a chevy 44 and the dodges knuckles i think i can just want a second opion.the dodge axle has lockouts so its not full time. i wanna use the dodge knuckles so i can have the same 5 lug bolt patern as my 9inch rear.  

the chevy is a right side diff...
the 5-5.5 cj rotors and hubs swap to the 44 and 10bolt I'm pretty sure there..

the vacuum won't effect the ox or other selectable, It controls the axel/hubs  

i kno its a right side diff im using a dana 300. the dodge has manual hubs so idk why the disconnect would control the hubs.and when you told me about the 10 bolt being as strong as the 44 i read a bit and found the 44 has 30 spline axles. and the 10bolt only has 28 spline.  

I haven't broke an axle yet w/40's and 5:13's after 15 years of banging around....



 

i probly wouldnt break anything either but i think i would cry if i broke after this swap and give up.
WOW thats alotta meat on half ton axles lol is that a 10bolt rear too?  

nope 10.5 and a 10 bolt 3/4t  

Sammy,
That '87 Ramcharger axle will be a 5x5.5 bolt pattern with CAD (Central Axle Disconnect). The vacuum doesn't have anything to do with the hubs. In fact, that axle didn't come from the factory with hubs. It had drive flanges with little chrome caps in place of hub dials. The vacuum controlled the sliding fork in the driver-side axle tube. The fork moves a splined coupler back and forth to either connect of disconnect the 2-piece driver-side axleshaft.

To bypass the vacuum on this you can pop off the CAD vacuum motor assembly (4 bolts on the top of the tube and the motor/fork assembly comes out) and drill the collar. Slap a bolt the correct length through the collar to pin the CAD in the Locked position and you won't need to worry about it. Install any set of Dana 44 locking hubs, throw the drive flanges in your tool box for spares, and don't worry about the CAD ever again.  

hmm just thought idk why but always late. before i wondered about unbolting the CAD and putting a small steel plate in its place. until last night i seen that the driver side axle shaft was a 2 peice design any way what about killing the cad placing the metal sheet over the cad hole. and putting in a driver side 44 axle shaft instead of the drilling and slaping a bolt in the connector. never had much luck drilling a circular peice at least thats what i would think the axle shaft connector shape would be.  

Yeah, my bad for calling it the collar.  You don't drill the circular splined collar.  You drill and pin the fork so it doesn't slide the collar back into the "unlocked" position. The operation is always referred to as "pinning the collar" in the Dodge world even though you actually pin the fork. Sorry - I was rushing to answer before my laptop battery died.

The inner seal on the driver side of that axle isn't in the pumpkin - it's at the CAD motor window. There's no inner seal bore on that side of the axle pumpkin,so you just cant install one.  And you can't just slap in a D44 shaft from a non-disconnect axle because there's a portion of the shaft that necks up to a pretty large OD to index the oil seal that's right near the CAD window. Put in a regular non CAD shaft and you'll have gear oil pumping out the axle tube. Drill and pin the shift fork is the easiest way to kill the CAD in that axle. Or a 4x4 PosiLock. Or grab a '80-'84 non CAD Dodge D44 axle.  

so shoot me for asking this again what is the problem with using a chevy dana 44 and the ramcharger outer knuckles. this seems simple to me but idk anymore. were can i find the top and bottom knuckle bolts cause im sure i will have to torch the old ones due to the crud on them.  

Just reading the blogs, and I have a unrelated question.  Who offers disc brakes for a '06 Wrangler X with a Dana 44, non ABS?  The factory shoes don't stay adjusted tight enough for those instances I'm forced to back down an impossible obsticle.