11:33 am
May 4, 2004
Offline
Over the years I've ground off much of the lip on the bottom of the Dana 44 rear axle housing on my 2000 TJ leaving the diff cover vulnerable to peeling off easily. I've been using a skid plate that mounts using four of the diff cover bolts and a strap around the pinion housing. On the recent Hellhole trip the skid plate took a few hits and pulled out one of the bolts stripping the housing. At this point I've drilled and tapped the housing to the next size up but the skid plate just isn't fitting well any more. So I'm looking at new D44 skid plates.
This one from Rough Country is kind of what I'm looking for but it says it's for a JK Dana 44. http://www.roughcountry.com/je.....e-799.html Is there any significant difference between a JK D44 and a standard D44 that may cause this not to work? (My D44 is a custom D44 using a heavy duty housing not a Rubicon D44.)
Another option is the Nth Degree / AEV rear diff skid for a TJ Rubicon. http://www.quadratec.com/produ.....314_07.htm I like that it mounts to the axle tubes rather than the diff cover bolts, but it doesn't protect the very edge of the diff housing so I'd have to modify it to provide protection where I need it.
Any other ideas?
10:28 am
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline The Rough Country one looks like the best option to me. The diff cover bolt pattern should be the same. Not sure if you would need to make adjustments for the u-bolt.
11:57 am
Club President
April 2, 2003
Offline k-jeep said
The Rough Country one looks like the best option to me. The diff cover bolt pattern should be the same. Not sure if you would need to make adjustments for the u-bolt.
I'd agree s well. If I recall I used a con-fer skid on my rear D44 before changing to a 60.
11:29 am
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline Also, if you choose the Rough Country one and haven't changed your diff fluid in a while, it might be a good time. 
12:13 pm
May 4, 2004
Offline k-jeep said
Also, if you choose the Rough Country one and haven't changed your diff fluid in a while, it might be a good time.
Changed it Saturday. Since the Hellhole run it was leaking again and I had to fix the stripped out bolt hole.
Thanks for the input. I think I'll go with the RC skid and see if it will fit. If not, maybe someone with a JK will want it.
8:11 am
May 4, 2004
Offline Follow-up report:
I installed the Rough Country JK Dana 44 skid plate on my non-JK Dana 44 yesterday. Apparently there are slight differences in the pumpkin casting with the JK Dana 44's. I had to grind off a little of the internal bracing on the skid plate to make it fit. It was a minor modification that only required a few minutes with the angle grinder.
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