How do I tell what diff I have?

[gordo]

how do i know what diff i have in my 95 cherokee and should i put a locker in it iam talking a bout the back one thanks

[Carves]

Refer to the pics posted by BlueXJ in your other thread.

http://www.xjtalk.com/showpost.php?p=113677&postcount=7er thread.

Most likely you will have the D35 ...
If you're lucky - you will have the chryco 8.25 ... and if you're very lucky you might have the D44.

If you have any of the others ... then somebody has been busy with jacks and spanners before you bought the vehicle.


The requirement for a locker depends totally - on your wallet and driving ability/driving scenarios.

[duckcreek]

If you have ABS its for sure a D35 if not its a 50/50 chance you have a 8.25.

[BlueXJ]

Try this set of images, but will require you to crawl under and look.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll187/90BlueXJ/Jeep%20assembly/Diiferentials.jpg

[prerunner1982]

There is also a great sticky in the OEM Section called Jeep Rear Ends.

http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6280

[gordo]

so if it has a dana 35 should i put a dana 44 with a locker

[Mudderoy]

so if it has a dana 35 should i put a dana 44 with a locker

4.3LXJ has a Dana 35 and he hasn't broken it yet. :D

I think what it amounts to is you're playing the odds with a Dana 35. It's a known weak axle and if and when it blows is dependent on how much stress you put on it.

There isn't a whole lot of difference between the 29 spline C 8.25 and the Dana 44, now the 8.25 is "C" clip so that can suck if you break an axle and the wheel and axle stubby bit starts walking out of the tube.

Bottom line is a Chrysler 8.25 is pretty cheap and quite strong. A Dana 44 isn't so cheap and a little better. If you can get a Dana 44 cheap go for it. If you don't care about the cost you can throw $2000 into your Dana 35 and make it as strong.

Hmmm I wonder if that helped or not. :smiley-talk024:

I guess it depends on your long term goals.

[4.3LXJ]

Ok, my thoughts on the D35. It is a serviceable axle if it is not C clip and if you don't get crazy with it and, this is the important part, you don't go over 31" on the tires. Mine is the early non C clip axle and I wheel rocks with an Aussie in it. It works fine. But I creep in the rocks, because I don't want to trash the rig and because sometimes my wife is with me and I like her with me instead of back at camp. I was checking with Mark at Payless and we never really decided, but I think you can make a C clip into a not C clip axle by just changing the wheel bearing to the newer style. But we need to check with him on that. One of the big failures on that axle is the C clip. That is why I have not gone larger on the tires, I still have it and will until I raise spare cash to finish gathering parts to upgrade axles.

[OrangeXJ]

I have a d35 with alloy axels on 37's and it has been beatin hard with no problems. It all comes down to how much money you want to spend to up grade.

[gordo]

i have 33 do i have to change the hole diff to put the dana 44 or just the inside and is it bolt on or do i have to customize it to fit my cherokee

[OhJeepers]

If you want a D44 you have to swap the whole axle or you can buy certain kits that are supposed to strengthen smaller axles, I have a front high pinion 30 with 30 spline chomey shafts an arb locker. To swap an axle in to rear of a cherokee in my opinion is the easiest. All you have to do is cut all the old brackets an put on spring perches an shock mounts.. for the front, if you luck out an get an axle out of another jeep you need do nothing really.. maybe a little depending on the year you get it out of. swapping axles isn't a very hard job, just takes time an some knowledge on what you want an what you need in order to make it work.

[OhJeepers]

Also my personal opinion... just my opinion.. D35's suck. I cannot stand them, but some people have had luck with them..

[gordo]

the dana ur talking about is for the back or front and do i keep my same bolt pattern

[xjmarc]

I made the mistake of building a D35 way back when. Put gears, locker and alloy shafts and snapped the shafts like twigs running 33s. Here in the south we do what's called rock bouncing cause crawling is just too slow. You can make them work but it's like a time bomb. The housing and tubes are weak and the ring gear is very small. I bent the tubes on mine as well as the ones in my ZJ and after it's bent shafts will snap with the slightest bit of skinny pedal. Find an 8.25 out of a 97 and newer XJ and call it done. It's a direct bolt in, same bolt pattern, and will likely have the same gear ratio. They are good locked up to a 35, bigger if you don't wheel like me.

[4.3LXJ]

i have 33 do i have to change the hole diff to put the dana 44 or just the inside and is it bolt on or do i have to customize it to fit my cherokee

D30, 35, 44 and 60 all refer to size of the internals and axles and axle tubes. There are minimum and maximums for each series. The guts won't interchange because they get bigger as the number gets bigger. They are designed to take a specific maximum amount of torque. Of course, upgrades can change that. Typically, older half ton pickups had D44s in them and 3/4 ton pickups had D60s and 1 ton had D70s. Up to the time the TJ was introduced, almost all Jeeps had D44 or better in them. CAFE standards changed all that.

[4.3LXJ]

Ok, my thoughts on the D35. It is a serviceable axle if it is not C clip and if you don't get crazy with it and, this is the important part, you don't go over 31" on the tires. Mine is the early non C clip axle and I wheel rocks with an Aussie in it. It works fine. But I creep in the rocks, because I don't want to trash the rig and because sometimes my wife is with me and I like her with me instead of back at camp. I was checking with Mark at Payless and we never really decided, but I think you can make a C clip into a not C clip axle by just changing the wheel bearing to the newer style. But we need to check with him on that. One of the big failures on that axle is the C clip. That is why I have not gone larger on the tires, I still have it and will until I raise spare cash to finish gathering parts to upgrade axles.

Went down to Payless and talked to Mark. Here is what we found. All D35s now take the same axle bearing, which is a one piece upgraded bearing. So if you switch bearings, I see no reason why the C clip cannot be eliminated. The backing plate will hold the outer race in. Be sure to get the updated seal that goes with it.

Mosier makes a kit for everything except the 8.25 to eliminate the C clip. But you have to buy their axes to go with it. I am not impressed with the 8.8 Ford kit since you get a bearing that rides on the axle not an inner race. Bad mojo in my book. The axle can get galled and then you get to replace it. :sad0147:

More of my 2 cents in D35s. Mark and I both agree that it is not the tube that bends, as is the popular opinion. It is the casting that flexes. The same thing happens to the D30 under heavy load, but since there are no C clips, the ring and pinion eventually fail. What happens is that under heavy load, like dumping the clutch or air born in rocks etc. the housing spreads from pressure on the gear teeth which pulls on the C clip and it has no give so it fails. Eliminating it will do a lot for the longevity of the axle since this will not occur. Also, a locker exacerbates this in high traction situations. The worst kind of locker to use here is a selectable which locks both axles. This puts the most pressure on the differential. An auto locker will allow some free wheeling on the inside and relieve much of this stress. Now don't get me wrong, I own a couple of new ARBs that will go into a properly built axle because they are the best of both worlds. But in a marginal situation, the auto locker is better. I believe that the D35 will also benefit from a solid cover, and a truss across the bottom, not top to keep the case from spreading and eliminate much of the failure. But of course there is no substitute for brute strength.

[xjmarc]

You make a good point about the housing. All the axles I snapped in my old 35 were just passed the splines and the c-clip was still in tact so it wasn't an issue other than the wheel could have walked off if I hadn't had disc on it.