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Ford 9” vs Custom D44

[memphis]

Web wheeler
Joined
Jun 6, 2020
Member Number
1867
Messages
751
I was going to cut down a JK non-rubi rear housing and make the rear a full float conversion running old school D44 front spindles and double spline axle shafts.

I already purchased a JK 30 spline ARB air locker and 4.56 gears two years ago anticipating this build path

I have a low pinion and high pinion front housing available to me so I could Jana the front and use the bits I already have and not lose my shirt selling what I have. The HP front will just end up scraped, no big loss.

I’m building to 55” WMS for a 48 Willys CJ2A. Not planning larger than 35” rubber. Think Rango Willys

I have been researching 9” housings and they are very economical as are cut to fit 31 or 35 spline shafts.

Jeep is probably going to to weigh in at 3500lbs

Originally I wanted the same spindles, bearings etc on all four corners for ease of service and spares but I can’t seem to find a JK housing that is less than $1000 and I’m just being cheap when I can buy a 9” housing and shafts for that much new. Sure I need to buy an ARB and gears but I needed to anyway (I do have a lunch box for the front)

I am only at 87” WB so I am a bit worried about driveshaft length…

What can you 9” folk tell me?
Is there still a problem with 35 spline ARB lockers? I was skimming old info. Semi float isn’t the end of the world and will likely work very well for my application (rear slip on rotors are also a win)
 
I would think you could save alot by selling it all and running toyota axles . 55" wms is alot of custom work for jk axles .
 
wagfabulous said:
I would think you could save alot by selling it all and running toyota axles . 55" wms is alot of custom work for jk axles .
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Hard to come by here. There is a set and buddy wants $1000 for the pair which isn’t bad for two but I also worry about them being powered with an LS motor and sm465
 
  • Toyota IFS rear
  • Ford Explorer 8.8
  • Jeep Wagoneer Dana 44
  • Isuzu Rodeo D44 rear

All are about 58 inches wide and much easier to find than building a custom half ton axle with weak outers.
 
Crazy, I paid $200 for a pair of low mileage jk axles.
 
Wilson said:
Crazy, I paid $200 for a pair of low mileage jk axles.
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Yeah it’s crazy! There is a bent JK Rubi 44 rear for $1100 about four hours from me.

And just so people don’t say I’m full of crap these were posted several days ago about two hours from me. This guy swapped out these for Rubi axles. I am not interested in paying for someone’s entire swap plus some 😆 but again that’s just me being cheap.
 

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A ford 9 inch can go up to 40 spline shafts. Plus setting up gears is much easier with a drop out third member like Toyotas and 14 bolts. I would run the 9” especially if it is big bearing. I had one with a spool I could have installed but went to tons.
 
RunningProblem said:
A ford 9 inch can go up to 40 spline shafts. Plus setting up gears is much easier with a drop out third member like Toyotas and 14 bolts. I would run the 9” especially if it is big bearing. I had one with a spool I could have installed but went to tons.
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Setting up 9" and toyota thirds are almost identical...
 
FordFascist said:
  • Toyota IFS rear
  • Ford Explorer 8.8
  • Jeep Wagoneer Dana 44
  • Isuzu Rodeo D44 rear

All are about 58 inches wide and much easier to find than building a custom half ton axle with weak outers.
Click to expand...
This.
Take an Explorer 8.8, cut the long side to match short side. 31 spline, OEM discs, strong as hell. Cheap.
 
I had a similarly built flatty. V8 auto atlas at 87” wheel base and rear driveshaft length was definitely an issue. I did a high dollar hi pinion 9” to solve the constant working angle issue of the driveshaft.

9’s are so easy to build new from scratch but if you want high pinion there’s no cheap way to do it. At a minimum with a true high 9 you’ll be $5,000 into it. I just built another one with the best (or most expensive stuff) and am more like $6,500 into it.

I would definitely just build a mashup junkyard axle to save thousands for a flatty trail rig. The D44 stuff will be fine. Fuck Toyota axles (while we’re on the subject of wasting money) 60” wide WMS is gonna be preferable to the narrow stuff UNLESS fender coverage over the tire is mandatory to get it registered.

F8BF9A47-5866-4EB3-9D46-84701C6FC497.jpeg
 
JR4X said:
I just built another one with the best (or most expensive stuff) and am more like $6,500 into it.
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How ?

A tubeworks centersection is 6k alone.

Spidertrax outers are a few grand for UBs and cups.

Add brakes, housing, shafts and you're way over 10k.
 
Bebop said:
How ?

A tubeworks centersection is 6k alone.

Spidertrax outers are a few grand for UBs and cups.

Add brakes, housing, shafts and you're way over 10k.
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Ok maybe not the best I could possibly do. Middle of the road then. RuffStuff 3/8” thick housing. MegaHi9, solid axle industries full float outers (not unit bearing) Branik 300M shaft’s wilwood hats rotors and calipers. All brand new aftermarket though. My price on some of those parts are not the general public prices either.
 
Ok, I hear you now.

I was gonna hit you up for these magic parts I didn't know of haha
 
I've got a funny one. Considering the application and tire size, I'd be tempted to chop the centers out of both, and build the HP44 as a rear and the LP44 as a front, flatten out that rear driveshaft as much as possible. They do have different tube sizes and the new front (LP) would need a custom inner axle seal solution, but both those are solvable. Now for me personally, I'd be leaving the outers 100% JK. If you ever need anything bearing/brake/balljoint related, they'll be available in any auto parts store for decades to come, and under something this light should last forever.

Of course it would be sweet to get a second HP44 housing for the front instead of the LP44, but it sounds like you already have the housing, locker, and gears so might as well use them (are the lockers interchangeable between the front rubi HP44 and the non-rubi rear LP44? I know the rubi rear is 32 spline or something along those lines)
 
AgitatedPancake
All JK carriers are 3.73 and down so I can’t use the ARB in the high pinion unfortunately. Originally I thought about the HP44 rear but I don’t think it’s up to the task but it would solve driveline angles

If I stuck it out with the JK non-rubi rear everything is readily available except for double spline axle shafts.

I have acquired a lot of crap over three years of this build and it’s time to piece something together
 
JR4X said:
I had a similarly built flatty. V8 auto atlas at 87” wheel base and rear driveshaft length was definitely an issue. I did a high dollar hi pinion 9” to solve the constant working angle issue of the driveshaft.

9’s are so easy to build new from scratch but if you want high pinion there’s no cheap way to do it. At a minimum with a true high 9 you’ll be $5,000 into it. I just built another one with the best (or most expensive stuff) and am more like $6,500 into it.

I would definitely just build a mashup junkyard axle to save thousands for a flatty trail rig. The D44 stuff will be fine. Fuck Toyota axles (while we’re on the subject of wasting money) 60” wide WMS is gonna be preferable to the narrow stuff UNLESS fender coverage over the tire is mandatory to get it registered.

F8BF9A47-5866-4EB3-9D46-84701C6FC497.jpeg
Click to expand...
Thanks for this feedback. I am not going spring over but I am using 2.5” RE YJ springs.

Do you think being spring under would help with the driveline issues you encountered?

Custom box frame as well. 6” belly rail so I imagine the d300 might sit darn near close to d18 stock height
 
[memphis] said:
Thanks for this feedback. I am not going spring over but I am using 2.5” RE YJ springs.

Do you think being spring under would help with the driveline issues you encountered?

Custom box frame as well. 6” belly rail so I imagine the d300 might sit darn near close to d18 stock height
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Mine was linked in the back with 5 leaf YJ’s up front but the lower you can keep it the better off you’ll be. What transmission are you planning? My power train was a 5.0 with a short C4 and shorty atlas. At 87” wheelbase my rear driveshaft was 13 inches long.

If you’re trying to use an over drive trans I bet you can’t make it fit.
 
JR4X said:
Mine was linked in the back with 5 leaf YJ’s up front but the lower you can keep it the better off you’ll be. What transmission are you planning? My power train was a 5.0 with a short C4 and shorty atlas. At 87” wheelbase my rear driveshaft was 13 inches long.

If you’re trying to use an over drive trans I bet you can’t make it fit.
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Sm465 because yea… 12-13” driveshaft LOL

Edit: I just looked up the C4 shortest Atlas adapter length which appears to be 25.72”

My trans and adapter should fall around 22.5” so it’s a touch shorter than your setup on paper
 
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[memphis] said:
Sm465 because yea… 12-13” driveshaft LOL

Edit: I just looked up the C4 shortest Atlas adapter length which appears to be 25.72”

My trans and adapter should fall around 22.5” so it’s a touch shorter than your setup on paper
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The "Short C4" is much shorter than that unless that 25.72" includes the bellhousing as well? I have one in my rockbuggy and although I don't recall the exact length, it's more like 20"...no bellhousing.

Also, a HP44 rear will not last behind an LS anything. A HP60 or HP70 might but they seem to break a lot too behind a v8 and 40s...
 
[memphis] said:
Sm465 because yea… 12-13” driveshaft LOL

Edit: I just looked up the C4 shortest Atlas adapter length which appears to be 25.72”

My trans and adapter should fall around 22.5” so it’s a touch shorter than your setup on paper
Click to expand...

DesertCJ said:
The "Short C4" is much shorter than that unless that 25.72" includes the bellhousing as well? I have one in my rockbuggy and although I don't recall the exact length, it's more like 20"...no bellhousing.

Also, a HP44 rear will not last behind an LS anything. A HP60 or HP70 might but they seem to break a lot too behind a v8 and 40s...
Click to expand...

It depends on which bell housing you use, but with the 6.25" deep 164 tooth Pan fill bell housing and pan fill case it comes out to 20.2125" long with the Advance Adapters 50-2905 tail housing. Here are my measurements.
 
DesertCJ said:
That sounds more like it. I have the smaller 157 tooth bellhousing...
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I believe the case fill 157 tooth bell is 5.75" deep. I could get a measurement of that version if anyone really cares; that's the combo I've got in my buggy project.
 
DesertCJ said:
The "Short C4" is much shorter than that unless that 25.72" includes the bellhousing as well? I have one in my rockbuggy and although I don't recall the exact length, it's more like 20"...no bellhousing.

Also, a HP44 rear will not last behind an LS anything. A HP60 or HP70 might but they seem to break a lot too behind a v8 and 40s...
Click to expand...
I was including the bellhousing in that measurement based on Advance Adapters site
 
DesertCJ said:
Yeah, I was wrong....the ~20" measurement includes the bell....
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That’s a short trans if it’s 20 with the bell. I was also including the rear adapter length with both measurements. In my case an additional 3.2” but the c4 is 2.9
 
[memphis] said:
That’s a short trans if it’s 20 with the bell. I was also including the rear adapter length with both measurements. In my case an additional 3.2” but the c4 is 2.9
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The 20.2125" is with the 6.25" bell and the 2.90" 50-2905 transfercase adapter. ~20" between the back of your block and the mounting face of your transfercase. Under 20" if you use the case fill bellhousing.
 
'84 Bronco II said:
~20" between the back of your block and the mounting face of your transfercase. Under 20" if you use the case fill bellhousing.
Click to expand...

That’s the one I used. Was a car case out of a 68 mustang. Then I just used the Bronco tail shaft and adapter from AA. Used the 32 spline “shorty” atlas that didn’t have any speedometer provision. With the mustang front accessories it was the most compact V8 auto atlas I could build at the time. I think you can come close ish with a TH350 though.
 
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