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Rear 44 or 8.8

751 views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  Bronco II 
#1 ·
I found a pair of waggy 44's for my SAS and they are both geared 4.88
I was going to swap the front only and keep my 8.8 rear and regear but it would be so much easier to swap both 44's under already matched. Will the 44's hold up to my 37" Iroks or should I stick with the 8.8.

Also the reason I was going with the 37's is because they come in 12.5 which will work on my 8" rims. Should I step down to 36's? for the 44's sake?
 
#3 ·
37's are pushing it with both rears. your 8.8 is only 28 spline and that 44 is 31 spline. and since it would be alot cheaper to keep the front and rear matched i would go that route on top of that go the junkyard and get rear disc's from a rodeo or a passport and you'll be good to go. and after you spend the money regearing and getting wheel adapters so your front and rear will match and converting to 31 spline you could have already been out on the trail breaking other parts. good luck.
 
#7 ·
yah its 28, its under a 96 ranger.

doh! I thought you had said it was an explorer in the first post...
either way, I wouldn't swap a 44 into the rear of anything, leave it for the jeep guys. Personaly, I'd probably put a fullwidth 44/9 under it, and call it a day.
 
#6 ·
What is the axle going into? How much does it weigh and what kind of terrain will it see?

I've seen a lot of trucks in the midwest running 1/2 ton drivetrain and using 37" - 40" tires on them successfully. I believe that it is mostly due to the type of wheeling that is around here, but it may be worth taking that into consideration.
 
#9 ·
If it is mostly mud, I'd bet you will be fine. There are a lot of mudders here in the midwest and most of them still run stock 1/2t drivetrains with large tires successfully.

I'd say both axles are pretty close to each other IMHO. The fact that the 8.8 is a c-clip axle would make me lean more towards the d44 in this case though. The other nice thing about the d44 is that it is already geared the same too.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I'd say both axles are pretty close to each other IMHO. The fact that the 8.8 is a c-clip axle would make me lean more towards the d44 in this case though. The other nice thing about the d44 is that it is already geared the same too.
Thats about the same as saying:
"I'd rather have the axle break easier, even though it won't come out of the housing afterward". Either way your weekend's screwed unless you have a spare on you.

All that wouldn't matter if the 8.8 was disc brake though, it wouldn't come out either way then.

In this particular case though, the 44 is already geared, matches the front lug pattern, and is still a slight upgrade over the 28 spl 8.8" you have now.
I'd use the 44 under these circumstances.
 
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