What Gears and master install for 88 D44s

[Jesse J]

I am looking for a good kit for both front and rear diffs on some 88 grand wagoneer d44s (and front spool) I cant seem to find a kit I like anything that has fit your guy's trucks in the past. The rear needs to be thin because I have a tru trac but the front since I am spooling can be thick or thin. 4.88s Thanks in adavance

[Yeller]

I generally purchase those items from East Coast Gear Supply. I always call them and let them help me choose parts, they have a lot of options that are not on their website. They’ve never steered me wrong. Still going to be a fair chunck of change to get the parts. keep in mind these take some special tools and experience to install correctly, incorrect installation will likely destroy your investment in parts quickly so don’t short cut that.

[Stuka]

Are you going with hydraulic steering? Because you will not be able to turn with a spool up front otherwise.

I have had great luck with both Dana Spicer gears, and Yukon gears. A lot of brands of gears all come from the same factory in Korea. Yukon, G2, Revolution, etc. Nothing wrong with them being made in Korea, Koreans make some pretty good stuff. Dana Spicer is the only company making gears here in the US.

[Jesse J]

Are you going with hydraulic steering? Because you will not be able to turn with a spool up front otherwise.

how come?

[Jesse J]

I could go with the 4.27s it has in the back in the front as well (front has no gears or carrier) and another tru trac or something but I am running 35s and I just want the right gearing the first time

[Yeller]

Are you going with hydraulic steering? Because you will not be able to turn with a spool up front otherwise.

how come?

the spool does not allow for any slip in the differential between the 2 sides, when you turn the steering wheel the tires turn against each other, it will always push to go straight. The tires need some slip between the 2 sides to turn freely, the issue is compounded in 4 wheel drive, all of the tires are locked together. Unless on a very slippery surface turning the wheels will be very difficult, on a high traction surface like porous rock, concrete or asphalt it may be impossible to turn the steering wheel without extreme power that only hydraulic cylinders can achieve.

Think of it as driving in a circle, the tires side to side are parallel, driving in a circle the inside is traveling less distance than the outside so there has to be something give and that give is a tire slipping or skidding to make up that difference in distance. The axle is solid with no give with a spool allowing for that difference in distance around the circle. That is where the name "differential" comes from, the ability to allow for different rotational speeds in a corner.

Don't know how well I explained that but I tried

[Yeller]

I failed at editing...LOL

[Jesse J]

ok makes sense. Decied to get the bjs kit and a true trac up front. 4.88s

[Yeller]

I think you'll be happy with that decision. You'll give up some performance in about 2% of off road situations and gain ease of use and drivability in the other 98%.

[Stuka]

I failed at editing...LOL

I fixed it for you You clicked the quote button instead of the edit button.

ok makes sense. Decied to get the bjs kit and a true trac up front. 4.88s

The tru-trac is a great option for a front axle because it will only tighten up if there is wheel slip. Its almost unnoticeable in regular driving. Brand new Raptor's for instance come with a tru-trac in the front.

[Jesse J]

ok bjs kit ordered thanks folks

[Phils67]

I could go with the 4.27s it has in the back in the front as well (front has no gears or carrier) and another tru trac or something but I am running 35s and I just want the right gearing the first time

For streetability I'd say 4.88 with 35s is perfect, limited slip up front, Detroit in the rear. Unless you want a full lock up front which with drive slugs I wouldn't go with. Manual lock outs up front id run a real locker up front all day. But you'd be realistically better off with something like a tru-trac up front unless you're a tool like I am haha. My 2 cents.