D44 vs. D35

[Bennybooster]

So for a while I have been wanting to build my D35 and have a wheeler/DD, however after taking a step back and looking at my plans and what I want my truck to do, it seems as if SAS would be the same price and be more what I want.

So my plan was, Custom 4in lift with jeep coils ext. rad. arms, 5.13 gears, some kinda locker, drop pitman, exploder 8.8 w/ 5.13 gears and some kinda locker, f250 shock mounts, and 35in muds.

My goal was to be low, on 35's and flexy. But after doing crappy maintenance work on the D35, and finding more and more stuff I need to fix I think that a better route would be,

HP D44, stock ext. rad. arms, f250 shock mounts, jeep coils or EB coils, stock trac bar mount with triangulations, 5.13s and a locker, and a modified stock steering linkage. Either 9in or explorer 8.8. Leafs in the back ( probably from an explorer ) 5.13s and some kinda locker. And 36-37's

With that being said, either way I go the lockers will come later ( possibly much later ) and gears may come later as well. Also I wont be installing anything till at least summer, seeing as my budget is fairly low.

And as a reiteration I want it to be fairly low and flexy. And it is a DD however it almost never touches the freeway. But I do want it to be solid on the road. I dont want to be always breaking stuff either, I wheel hard but not crazy hard, seeing as it is my DD.

Anyways, give me your thoughts either way, and I don't want speculations, I want experience.

 

[Bennybooster]

4 votes and no reasons why? I'm going for answers and opinions, not just votes

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You might keep in consideration that few if any D44's have the same lug pattern as an Explorer. Unless you are going to have some custom work done on the D44 of course. 8.8's have been available on fullsize trucks from the early to mid 80's to the present so they are out there with a couple different patterns, 5x5.5 is probably what you will want to match the front.

It would be a pain to pack around a spare tire for each end of your truck.

And thats... all I got.

I don't have either axle in the front of mine (still rockin' a 100% stock D28) but personally I will probably go with a D35 for cost and ease of installation and will match my Explorer 8.8 after I get it put in.

 

[4.0B2]

i'd say if you're gonna do a 44, do a FW 8.8 to match.. or get spacers/wheel adapters..

what's more practical to you? what's worth it to you? your truck... more dd or ww? make a price list of everything you need for both routes, see if the cost difference is worth it to you. a 44 sas can be done kinda cheaply if you do work yourself, but you'll need rims to match it. and like they said above- the bolt pattern of an ex's 8.8 is different. i'm all for sas. b/c honestly i hate ttb, i know it can work right if set up properly but sas is simplier if you got the dime/time. ttb can be fun to trail ride w/ just bc its a convo piece of your rig in a large group. you can be different! lol. both have their pro's and con's- make a list. think about it. make up your mind and start fab'n away!

personally i say 44 sas if you got the dime/time.

most people will vote 44 sas b/c they don't think ttb can preform off road, which most of us know is a lie. but sas is just so simple to maintain after the swap is over.

 

[RangerSVT]

You said HP 44, but didn't say fullwidth or EB width...Either way, I'd go 44, and 9" if EB, 8.8 if FW, this way you keep the same lug pattern. 44 is about the same strength as 35, but has better brakes and longer lasting wheel bearings. Custom RA's are not needed with the 44 as they are long enough for plenty of flex, whereas the 35 would need custom/aftermarket/fabricated RA's...
SVT

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

D35 with D44 outers!

 

[AaronC]

This is based on what your going to use the truck for.. I voted to stay ttb. You can get your parts ready and put the front end your planning together in a weekend... I've ridden in a few ttb broncos that left me amazed. A proper ttb front end can do anything a similar vehicle with a sas can in the rocks. Plus it has sand and desert capabilities that are very generous. If your not running 40" bothers with crazy gears do you need a solid axle? I put my firstfront end together with barely any cash and it worked very well...

 

[bobbywalter]

these polls crack me up.....but its current to this and this will be long...but i feel relative.



just a few days ago on my way home from work i had a conversation with a guy who told me he would rather have an cheap 8 in lift kit then the hack job my truck is sporting. i assume he posts here or at some ranger site as he had a fairly nice ranger ext cab with 33's and sat about as high as my ride when i have 44's on it. i have 37's for street use and his truck was about 3-4 inches taller.

since i was at the diesel pumps he was curious, and further disgusted by my choice there as well....but thats how things got going..

i simply offered him the chance to operate my vehicle, told him to run down to the next off ramp and back before being too critical of what the thing looks like. if that was ok then we could head out to a local area and he could flog it a bit out there and see how that stacked up...

he seemed to think it was a miracle it worked at all. and refused to set foot in it for me, thats a fawking retard that simply loves to talk out their ass and hard to even remotely take serious from that point...but out of pure curiosity i let things continue...

claims he gets 18 mpg with the 4.0 auto @ 75 mph....averages 16 so its simply ignorant to have a diesel for economy purposes..... i again told him to take the fuggin truck for the loop and then tell me what he thinks.

so the next questions, why do i have a sas 44?

and why waste time with leafs?

you see, a d44 is not really any stronger then a d35....and senseless


and i asked him to look at what i had a little closer....

i kicked the lockout....he says, 8 lugs doesnt make it stronger.

i have to admit, at that point i was thinking about beating the fawk out of this clown...i mean seriously just tearing his ass up to the point of jail..when the guy he was with says dude that is a dana 60 under the front and the back and his truck is alot lower then yours with those 37's.

this immediately spawned, wow, thats way heavier then needed and must be a disaster to drive. why did you do this? i had to laugh or i was going to get into trouble...

i told him the reason why.

which is simple, i was killing my arb's in my 8.8's...and good d35 parts were getting scarce

a d44 would be pathetic as i would destroy those just like the d35, and the idea of a 44 as an upgrade to a d35 in my case would be absurd and epic in the fail catagory.



( but seriously, the hp d44 is much stronger then a d35, as my bigger fails with the 35 moved to mostly internal.)

but capt ranger whos truck has not one fawking dent continues to attempt to right my wrongs here. this fawktard with the 6 in bolt on has never had any failures due to proper superior maintenance procedures


all i could do was tell him i was trashing and building rangers long before he was born and while that in itself does not mean shit, twisting up stock off the shelf lifted d35's to uselessness was an era of my life that is long gone, and when he has a few dents and wasted axles under his belt his opinion will change. or maybe not, because if you know how to drive your truck wont look like the pos i was driving....



so.....sas d44 over a d35?

not for me on a wheeler...but. if i want to get rough and run 35 or bigger tires the hp44 is twice the axle the d35 is as its upgradeable to 35 spline shafts and easy to put upgraded anything on.

dollar for dollar a stock 60 is the only way to go....its simple.


but the point of this story is what if you only asked some tard assclown like captain skyjacker with stock radius arms, no winch, or locker..... this very question for this very same application? or only capt skyjackers responded??


or a bunch of fawktards just type search? search features dont work too good for me so i try not to default to that...


almost always boils down to intended use as to what is best to do.

 

[Bennybooster]

Bobby, I was gunna give you rep, but need to pass it around.


And now for some clarifications, the reason for the explorer 8.8 is I have a super good deal on one that already has 5.13 gears on it, I will just run adapters.

And it will be FW

 

[mhughes165]

Bobby, I was gunna give you rep, but need to pass it around.


And now for some clarifications, the reason for the explorer 8.8 is I have a super good deal on one that already has 5.13 gears on it, I will just run adapters.

And it will be FW

id run the 44 if ur going no bigger then 36's, if u start breaking shit theres always 35 spline molys and then u wouldnt have to worry as much. get full width 8.8 shafts get them cut and resplined to fit, matching lug pattern front and back run your drum or drill your new holes in your rotor and call it a day

how is it going to be full width though....with a explorer axle in the rear?

 

[RangerSVT]

I believe he meant if he went SAS, it'd be FW....
SVT

 

[4x4junkie]

Well, here's my opinion:

Like has already been said, D35 & D44 frontends are very close in overall strength, the bigger brakes being the primary advantage of a D44. 2nd IMO would be the bearings, as I've never once had one iota of an issue with the D35's setup in 17 years of owning the axle. It is also possible to put D44 brakes & bearings on the D35 if desired.

If you want the full width (and are staying under a 37" tire), then a D44 is pretty much a no-brainer (TTB or solid versions can be used). However, with more tire than that, you might want to look for 1-ton axles if you want to be able to flog it at all. You'll typically spend close to what you could get a D60 for by doing a bunch of upgrades on a D44 and still won't have as strong of an axle.
If you want to stay at stock width, then I really don't see any good reason to swap the D35 out. A set of Jeep hubs (or the D44 outers, if you'd rather go that route), some good u-joints, and you should be set.

You also stated you wanted to keep it low... This is going to be difficult with a SA due to diff clearance with the engine crossmember. With a TTB axle (D35 or FW D44 either way), the diff will tuck up into the "pocket" of the crossmember better, allowing as little as a 2" lift even with the D44 TTB. A SA D44 needs about 6" lift for decent clearance. Of course at full width, a little more height certainly can be afforded however.



What places do you go to wheel? Have you already determined that being full width won't put you at a disadvantage at all?

 

[Bennybooster]

I wheel muddy trails, not really rocks at all, although at some point I will hit the Rubicon just to say I did it, and its close. FW axles wouldnt be a problem, I also plan on running wheels with 4-4.5in of BS if I go FW. I'm not worried about strength on the setup, however I am more curious about street ability with either setup, flex on either setup, also what year axles to go with if I go SAS.

Also if I stick with the D35 I will do the 44 knuckle upgrade most likely.

Also I am curious about steering on the SAS, can I use the stock linkage and just modify it a bit for the Ranger?

Also on coils, so pro vs. con Jeep vs. EB

Jeep: Pro Flexy, fit in ranger buckets
Con, maybe too soft?

EB: Pro street ability? decent flex
Con New coil buckets or modified stock ones.

What do you guys think?

 

[Bennybooster]

Also I kinda want the FW, the street legality in no issue, I wont be bothered, and the trails I do are pretty off camber and the width would be nice.

 

[Bennybooster]

id run the 44 if ur going no bigger then 36's, if u start breaking shit theres always 35 spline molys and then u wouldnt have to worry as much. get full width 8.8 shafts get them cut and resplined to fit, matching lug pattern front and back run your drum or drill your new holes in your rotor and call it a day

how is it going to be full width though....with a explorer axle in the rear?

Adapters, like 1.5in thick