dana 44 HD (aluminum)

[fattom4u]

ok guys i just picked up a 98 zj. tryin to sell the 95. it has a dana 44 HD (aluminum)
is this a good rear or is not to far off from the 35c. now that im full time military i'd like to get workin on my jeep. any thoughts?
thanx
tom

[Jeepy5Point2]

there is a TON of info on the 44al overall it is a good rear. there are 2 downsides to it, one the center is aluminum which means it is a little more prone to damage. 2 there is very little if any after market support. the ring and pinion are actually the same size that is in the dana60's which makes the gearing stronger than the 44 iron, it is just that the housing of the 44 iron is stronger than the 44al...

so the upgrades from the 44al is a dana60, chevy 14 bolt... 44iron would only give you aftermarket support
some might say a chrysler 8.25.... most would agree from the 44al this would be a waste of time.

if you had the 35 then the 44al, 44iron, and anything bigger would be an upgrade, but 44al to 44 iron is a lateral move, you just have more after market support
gearing wise you can go down to 4.88's although at that level some will say you will run the risk of breaking them... i am not sure why or how i just know i have read that.

locker wise, you can still find aussie lockers floating around, every once in a while they will make a small run of them, however because of the scarcity of them they will run you about 400 bucks now opposed to 230 that they use to cost. there were rumors floating around about a OX locker for it but i dont know who was talking about making it or if it was really going to happen

you can get yukon alloy shafts for it...

you can truss it and beef it up and it will run just fine, i beat on my jeep pretty hard and it is probaby the last place i have problems with.

touches on all of it
http://www.nagca.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32972

Truss pic on page 2
http://www.nagca.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35326

little about the 8.25 vs 44 and 44A
http://www.nagca.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32809

info about gearing (lower gears (higher ratio) better chace of shearing the gears)
http://www.nagca.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33643

there is a lot more out there, just do a search

(if any of this is not correct let me know and ill change it but im pretty sure it is all accurate.)

[frozenZJ]

One nice thing about the 44a (or 44HD) is the pinion gear. They get smaller as you go up in ratio but this axle already has the dana 60 sized pinion gear. The ring isnt the size of a 60 but it is pretty thick.

The pinion is so close to a 60 that the outer seal, pinion nut, and yokes are all interchaingable. So getting a better yoke is a snap.

If you do change gears on one, the backlash is a different spec then its cast iron relatives. Anything over 6 thousands backlash is too much. Too much backlash can give you problems in the long run.

[Haymaker]

the 44a is decent, but its still pretty much junk. Run it for now but I'd suggest not throwing a lot of money into a d44a. Go with a ford 8.8 axle instead. Its a very easy/cheap swap, TONS of aftermarket support, stronger than ****, and you can find them everywhere.