rear ends (no pun intended)

[konastinky1234]

i may be just about to buy a rear end. obviously an 8.8 since theyre awesome.

so here's what im lookin at

1999 8.8 ford w/ 3.73's and disc for $275

good deal or not? it seems like it is from what i've heard.

BEFORE i buy, would i want to possibly consider a d60 or a d44 potentially? it is for a tj with dreams of going 35's locked or smaller.

[Pedro]

Thats about normal price for them. Andrew (cumminsjeep) just paid 300 with everything cut off already. if you are going to 35;s you are going to need to regear it anyway so why not

[Zullock Holmes]

i'd say good deal, well worth it.

[konastinky1234]

i know i will have to regear it now anyways cuz i have 4:10s and will probably have them for a pretty long time and keep rolling with my 31's for quite a while as well.

does anyone know how much the welding costs? and good welders to go to?

second, does anyone know anyone who is GOOD at setting up gears that can maybe mentor me while i learn how to do that? (the axle won't go into the jeep for a while so i am going to try to learn how to set up gear myself while it's in the garage)

any info on dana 44s is also appreciated since that would possibly be another option to look into if i don't go the ford route.

[Zullock Holmes]

a tj dana 44 would be bolt in, but most likely cost you twice what the 8.8 is going to.

CustomCreations on here, Justin, did my gears, in all honesty i've found that unless you plan on gearing a lot of axles, buying all the tools to gear your own axle properly, really isnt worth it. When you can get it professionally done for a pretty good price. He can also set your axle up bracket wise, to bolt in.

either way costs to build an 8.8 vs a 44 are roughly the same, in terms of prices for gears, bracket kits, shafts, diff covers, lockers( 44 lockers are alittle bit cheaper).
You can't beat the 8.8 though, cause its cheaper to start with and already has a disc brake setup

[lakailimited06]

i just bought an 8.8 with 4.10s, discs not sure about limited slip since its getting dropped of tomorrow for 150$...

[konastinky1234]

one last question, how much money/work does a disc conversion on a tj cost? i will need to do that..... the 8.8 seems the best option since it is stronger than a d44 in the long run.

[Zullock Holmes]

hmmm now that i think of it, i'm not sure, but some tj 44's might already come with disc brakes depending on the years, i was just thinking about us xj guys doin the swap. not 100% sure.

[customcreationsllc]

For Disk brakes, do you already have disk brakes? if not you need to take out the o-ring in the brake valve so it doesn't hold any residual pressure back which is required for drum brakes.

I'm not positive but to convert to disc brakes I think you can just buy TJ disk brake backing plates calipers and e-brakes.

One option a little more money but I think is the best TJ axle you can get 5 on 4.5
Take a HP60 center and run TJ 35 spline axles, with 8.8 outer flange and brakes, custom axle but I think would be worth it in the long run. All about your budget.


If you want to save a couple hundred bucks you can set your axles up yourself but it is going to take a long time if you don't have pullers and set up bearings, you will need a dial indicator you cannot guess backlash.
The 8.8 isn't to bad at least the shims go behind the race so you don't have to keep pressing on and off the carrier bearings to set the backlash.
The pinion depth gets shimmed under the pinion bearing so that one you will need to press on and off the bearing a few times, until you get it right.

If you have questions I'm sure plenty of people on here will be able to answer them.

[Capt. Crunch]

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums...d.php?t=371713

check this link out, theres tons of info

[konastinky1234]

hey greenxj, about what was your price for getting the brackets welded? i am just trying to get a better estimate of how much everything is going to cost in the end.

[XJtheXtremeJeep]

just out of curiosity if you need to stay 4.10's for a while why not keep looking for a 8.8 with 4.10's and discs... they're far from rare, and you can get them around the same price..

[Zullock Holmes]

hey greenxj, about what was your price for getting the brackets welded? i am just trying to get a better estimate of how much everything is going to cost in the end.

the bracket kit from clayton costs $269, you can skip on the shipping and just go there and get it. Its pretty sweet, all laser cut pieces of 1/4".

http://claytonoffroad.com/product_in...roducts_id=127

Idk what most places would charge...

but its a pretty straight forward job, i'd probably charge about 80-100 bucks, its about 2-3 hours worth the work, cutting off the old ones cleaning it up, measuring locations, getting the angles right and then welding it up.

http://claytonoffroad.com/documents/...rawing_000.pdf

They even provide a pretty detailed drawing of where to put things, getting the pinion angle set is really crucial though, doing it out of vehicle can be hit or miss, just make sure its been measured right.

Best bet is to have the person welding the brackets be also swapping in the axle, so they can mock it up at ride height and tack everything together under the vehicle, this will ensure that the pinion angle is set properly for your vehicle. Then they can burn it together, bolt it up and you'd be on your way.

That would probably cost more, i'd figure about 5-6 hours of work so around 200-250 bucks.

[Wide-J]

I had Clayton do the brackets on my front 44, then my front 60 and 14 bolt. I will tell you that even going in there with a bare housing, preped and ready to go, him doing the brackets his fucking expensive. However, the brackets are awesome, his truss is nice (if triangulating) and the welds were mint. I had him do that so I knew they would be spot on. If I recall correctly, he had a jig for it...don't quote me on that though as it was a while ago. But there are members of this club that could weld on the brackets for you as well, as GreenXJ offered.

[Zullock Holmes]

I agree with Steve, Clayton's work is hands down amazing, his welds are flawless and his numbers are pretty much perfect, that and he has a lift and a fully equiped shop at his disposal, not to mention experience beyond anything one of us can provide you with.

You would have to call him though, because i know they are pretty busy with orders, and he has been having to turn down some custom work. It's worth a shot though.