Rear D44 shafts

[iaccocca]

Hey Rob or TJDave or anyone who knows from D44 shafts for a TJ...

I have an opportunity to buy D44 take-out shafts from a TJ d44. They are not from a Rubicon. The differnece in the Rubi 44 and the other TJs is disc vs. drums. I remember when Rob was bumming a Rubi axle shaft as a temporary replacement in his TJ it was different and had to be modded. The question is, do they go the other way easily enough; i.e. can I put non-Rubi shafts in a Rubi D44? If not, what is the difference? Can I change them? At home? On the trail?

Part 2: What are they worth?

Thanks

[TJDave]

I asked the question on another forum. This was the only response so far.

Yes, they are the same shafts. Just need different retainers depending on the brakes.

[TJDave]

Also looked on Stu's site for an answer. Not really clear. Good site though for anyone looking for TJ tips!


http://www.stu-offroad.com/suspension/d44brake/bc-1.htm

[tobyw]

The shaft, bearings, seals etc. are all identicle. The difference is in the retaining plate for the disc vs. drum rear brakes, depending on the year of the TJ. If you make the appropriate changes at home, because you'll need a press to get that retainer plate swapped over, you'll have a nice set of trail spares.

As for what they are worth, that depends... Do you have a busted shaft right now? Seriously though, I wouldn't pay more than $50 for a good set with straight splines, true flanges, and no issues with the wheel studs. Just my opinion.

[Lud]

Toby's right its the retaining plates. Hey Lee my shafts still have the Rubi backing plates on them. They came out of an 2005 Rubicon. They are fully assembled with the bearings and plates for disc brakes. These were the ones I "bummed" from a guy in Moses Lake, he ended up switching to a custom Ford 9" front and rear, so he sold me the Rubi shafts right after that trip to Liberty where I used them in place of the Chromoly ones I had broken on that Weber Canyon trip. I still need to call a revenge run there sometime this year. lol

I just had to notch a small part of the plate to make it fit on my drum brakes. They should still work on your Rubi though as I didn't notch anything critical to the retainer plates for fitment on a disc brake set up. If you get the ones from a non rubi would you be interested in a trade?? They have been sitting in my garage the past few years after I got my free chromoly replacements from Alloy USA.

I've been looking to replace my retainer plates with the drum brake ones but I've been too lazy to move on it. My shafts are universal spares right now.

Here's approximately how my plates were modified. The edges were trimmed on one side. The rubi disc brake retainer plate holes lined up just fine with my TJ D44 axle.

If you were to put these Rubi shafts on an older XJ D44 with drums though the holes on the retainer plate would be completely different from what I understand. The hole placement is way off between the Rubicon and older XJ D44. Supposedly the ZJ D44 disc brake plates are identical to the Rubicon disc brake retaining plates through all the years.

[TJDave]

Rob, those must be the stock Rubi axles that came out of the Rubi D44 that now lives under my Jeep! Lol

[iaccocca]

Yeah Rob, if the shafts look good and he'll take $50 for the pair I'll pick them up and trade you. That will work out good.

[Lud]

Your're absolutely right, Dave. They are from Larry's Jeep