Front Rubicon Locker in the X Rear D44
04-22-2009, 05:23 PM
#1
JK Freak
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Front Rubicon Locker in the X Rear D44
Installing an e-locker from a front Rubicon Dana 44 in the rear Dana 44 of an X JK.
First of all, I have no pictures as pics will not help. If you need pictures to do this then don't do it.
Secondly, this is what I went through, and more for informational purposes, as this project is not advisable, even though it seems like it should be a straight forward swap.
The X Dana 44 is pretty much a normal Dana 44 with the same bearings and races as that of older versions of the Dana 44. It has 30 spline axles the same as the front Rubicon Dana 44. The rear Rubicon Dana 44 has 32 spline axles, which is why I went with the front e-locker for the rear of my X. Only the carrier is different because of the thickness of the ring gear.
I pulled the stock carrier out and removed the ring gear. I had to drill out the Locker ring gear holes, as they were 7/16 inch, and the stock ring gear used 1/2 inch bolts. Some may not have this problem.
You will need to drill a hole in the top of the housing to run the e-locker wire through.
Next I had to order custom fit bearings and races, as the stock Rubicon bearings and races are larger in diameter than the X differential housing and will not fit under the bearing caps, and the stock X Dana 44 bearings will not press onto the e-locker carrier.
The part numbers needed from Timken are:
Bearing JLM104948
Race LM104912
These will have the correct outside diameter to fit in the bearing cap, and the correct inside diameter to press onto the e-locker.
The bearing and races are 0.175 inch narrower than stock, so a shim pack will be required to set the back lash. I installed the carrier and set the back lash according to regular procedures. The pinion gear, pinion back lash and pinion bearing pre-load are not required to be messed with if you are using the same gears. Only if you are changing gears.
Do not forget to install the bracket that goes under the bearing cap bolts to hold the locker actuator in place.
An important note next, is that the front Rubi e-locker is off center by about 1 inch. What this means is that different length axles are required. The driver side axle is about 1/2 of an inch too long and bottoms out inside the carrier. The passenger side goes in fine, but you will lost about 1/2 inch of spline contact inside the carrier, in effect, weakening the axle. This is not optimal, and I will eventually get a set of customer axles made.
For now, I chucked the driver's side axle up in my bench vise and cut off 5/8 of an inch with titanium sawzall blades. (I went through about 3 blades).
Bolted everything back together, ran one wire to ground and the other spliced into the 12 volt socket that is hooked to the key, and installed an ARB Airlocker switch on the dash. I put mine where the rubi has the electric window switches. I filled the hole in the housing with silicone.
Don't forget to fill with axle grease. I used Mobil 1.
I finished it up today and it works perfect. Not a lot of money, but a ton of labor. i would do it again, except for the axle length issue. If I had known that I would not have done it. But, if cutting an axle, or if you are ok with ordering custm length axles, and you have the bearings before you tear it down, the rest is just work.
Really think about whether you want to do this before you start. It is NOT straight forward, but is possible.
Feel free to PM me is I can help in any way.
First of all, I have no pictures as pics will not help. If you need pictures to do this then don't do it.
Secondly, this is what I went through, and more for informational purposes, as this project is not advisable, even though it seems like it should be a straight forward swap.
The X Dana 44 is pretty much a normal Dana 44 with the same bearings and races as that of older versions of the Dana 44. It has 30 spline axles the same as the front Rubicon Dana 44. The rear Rubicon Dana 44 has 32 spline axles, which is why I went with the front e-locker for the rear of my X. Only the carrier is different because of the thickness of the ring gear.
I pulled the stock carrier out and removed the ring gear. I had to drill out the Locker ring gear holes, as they were 7/16 inch, and the stock ring gear used 1/2 inch bolts. Some may not have this problem.
You will need to drill a hole in the top of the housing to run the e-locker wire through.
Next I had to order custom fit bearings and races, as the stock Rubicon bearings and races are larger in diameter than the X differential housing and will not fit under the bearing caps, and the stock X Dana 44 bearings will not press onto the e-locker carrier.
The part numbers needed from Timken are:
Bearing JLM104948
Race LM104912
These will have the correct outside diameter to fit in the bearing cap, and the correct inside diameter to press onto the e-locker.
The bearing and races are 0.175 inch narrower than stock, so a shim pack will be required to set the back lash. I installed the carrier and set the back lash according to regular procedures. The pinion gear, pinion back lash and pinion bearing pre-load are not required to be messed with if you are using the same gears. Only if you are changing gears.
Do not forget to install the bracket that goes under the bearing cap bolts to hold the locker actuator in place.
An important note next, is that the front Rubi e-locker is off center by about 1 inch. What this means is that different length axles are required. The driver side axle is about 1/2 of an inch too long and bottoms out inside the carrier. The passenger side goes in fine, but you will lost about 1/2 inch of spline contact inside the carrier, in effect, weakening the axle. This is not optimal, and I will eventually get a set of customer axles made.
For now, I chucked the driver's side axle up in my bench vise and cut off 5/8 of an inch with titanium sawzall blades. (I went through about 3 blades).
Bolted everything back together, ran one wire to ground and the other spliced into the 12 volt socket that is hooked to the key, and installed an ARB Airlocker switch on the dash. I put mine where the rubi has the electric window switches. I filled the hole in the housing with silicone.
Don't forget to fill with axle grease. I used Mobil 1.
I finished it up today and it works perfect. Not a lot of money, but a ton of labor. i would do it again, except for the axle length issue. If I had known that I would not have done it. But, if cutting an axle, or if you are ok with ordering custm length axles, and you have the bearings before you tear it down, the rest is just work.
Really think about whether you want to do this before you start. It is NOT straight forward, but is possible.
Feel free to PM me is I can help in any way.
Last edited by dpoelstra; 04-22-2009 at 05:27 PM.
06-16-2017, 12:08 PM
#5
JK Newbie
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: virgin islands
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Contemplating trying this mod
Question, so if 1/2 inch has to be cut off one axle shaft because the carrier is off centered then that would mean the other side axle shaft would not have much inside the carrier. Any idea how much would be in the carrier?
I imagine that you've been running this setup for a minute now, have you taken it wheeling yet? how have the axle shafts held up?
I imagine that you've been running this setup for a minute now, have you taken it wheeling yet? how have the axle shafts held up?
06-16-2017, 02:43 PM
#6
JK Jedi Master
That can be answered only by looking after the shaft is installed.
Last edited by ronjenx; 06-16-2017 at 02:55 PM.
