RiverCityOffroad

I agree with him ^^.

You might actually be surprised how it feels on 3.73s and 35s if you aren't a speed demon and 4.10s will feel very similar to stock. Get yourself a Superchips Flashcal or AEV ProCal to correct your speedometer, which will also make your transmission shift like it's supposed to again. Then give it a bit and see what you think. My recommendation would be 4.56 gears for 35s.

Let me know if you want pricing on anything to form a budget.

Marcus

CelticMonster

Ah yes, I see I forgot to mention probably THE most important part. I went to Discount Tire today and ordered 17x9” rims with 4.5” backspacing and they’re getting wrapped in 315/ 70 R17 BFG All Terrain T/A KO2s. I’m pretty sure I have a 4.10 ratio right now in the JKU Rubicon. So, still a 4.56 ratio or 4.88? Mainly daily driver with off-roading on the weekends. Automatic transmission.

RiverCityOffroad

That was actually in your first post... lol

Rubicons could have 3.73 or 4.10. It doesn't matter what your stock ratio is, the gear ratio for 35s is ideally 4.56 or 4.88 depending on your driving and use. Mountains and elevation, 4.88 and flat lands 4.56.

Put your VIN in this website to find out what all is on it including your gear ratio.

https://www.jeep.com/webselfservice/...527R%2527%2529

SoK66

This is just my humble opinion, based upon owning a JKUR since '09. I went throgh the whole stock front housing upgrade routine, sleeves, gussets, ball joints, skids, etc. and it still bent. In the end I sold it to someone where the camber issue didn't matter. I replaced it with a Teraflex R44. No more issues. Had I to do it again I wouldn't put a dime into the stock housing. Pick your lift, determine the pinion/caster offset you need, get an aftermarket housing that fits your needs and be done with it.

FWIW, I went with the Tera housing because it best matched up with my suspension. It's a work of art, but there are others out there to consider as well.

Ryan0260

You might look at the long term plans for the Jeep. I went with the ProRock 44 Unlimited housing with Dynatrac ball joints, swapped in the facory locker, installed RCV axle shafts, and re-geared. I am running 37's and this setup has been great for my needs.

If you don't want to swap housings, truss and gussets, chromoly shafts, and Dynatrac ball joints.

CelticMonster

Hmmm, I honestly haven’t looked into the option of a new axle housing. I know I won’t need Dana 60s for my future plans, so I’ll be sticking with a Dana 44... but overall would a upgraded housing be the best option? Say I took my original Dana 44 axles and basically gutted them and put the parts into an upgraded housing (notnincluding gears, I’d still re-gear to 4.56 or 4.88). Would that be acceptable or still recommend getting heavier shafts in there as well?

My biggest issue is budget. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to perform sh*t work with piss-poor quality “upgraded” parts and expect to be invincible, but I am still working within a budget. If I was to do that swap as mentioned above, I’d want to sell the original housings too in order to offset the cost. But, is there even a market for stock parts like that? Also to include the stock fenders I’ll be taking off next weekend.

Again, I am very appreciative of all this information.

nthinuf

Yes, there is a market for empty rubicon housings. D30's, not so much. Stock rubi flares, I see for $100 all the time, but have gotten two sets for free from people just looking to clear space in their garages.

Throw together a quick side-by-side comparison of your options. This is for a d30 upgrade, but it's a good example to go off of. Just fill in your parts and labor costs compared to a bare housing or a full axle.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...-build-274896/

A bare front housing from Dynatrac or Teraflex would run around $2000 (not sure about G2, but I'd guess the same?), then just swap all of your rubicon parts into it. (be sure to look at the buiilt-in caster correction options with these housings, which are a big plus for lifted jk's)

SoK66

I was able to get my Teraflex R44 housing in a 20% off, free shipping deal from one of the popular vendors. I already had the gears, shafts, etc. installed in the stock housing, so it was simply a swap over. I sold the stock housing, which covered about 40% of the cost of the new one. Net net I was into the new housing for under $1,000. You'd have to see how the combined cost of upgrading the stock housing would compare vs installing the new housing and swapping over your existing parts. I had planned on doing the swap myself, but wile all this was in process I managed to tear the rotator cuff in my shoulder and enjoyed 8 months of surgery & rehab. I farmed the swap out to a local shop who hit me up for about $1,000. YMMV.

If you're going from a 30 to a 44 the Dana Ultimate 44 can be purchased fully built with the Rubicon locker and whatever gear ratio you want. Basically you just bolt it in, install your knuckles & brakes, then swap out your rear gearset to match. It's pricy, but when you add it all up it hasa lot going for it. Axle tubes are thicker, pinion angle is optimized, stronger bracketry with the track bar bracket raised, etc. Worth a look.

jtphoto JK

We built 2 Mopar performance D44 with the J8 tubes. One I bought all new internals, RCVs, OX locker and 5.38 Yukons. The other we used stock Rubi e locker, 5.38 Yukons and RCVs .
The Mopar D44HD/J8 is a very affordable option.

CelticMonster

After some thinking, I think I will stay with the current Dana 44s that I have on there, but I have a plan. Overall, I’ll be installing C gussets, Synergy ball joints, most likely a truss (at a later date or at least last if funding allows) and then of course upgraded gears. For gear ratio, I’ll have to search the forums more because I’m still unsure of getting 4.56 or 4.88. With that said, is there anything else that NEEDS to be done or any other suggestions for stock Dana 44 axles and running 35” tired?