Upgrading D35 axles (with ABS)
 

I still have a stock Dana 35 diff in my XJ so I've been looking at different options for upgrading to something stronger. From what I understand the Chrysler 8.25 and Dana 44 diffs are both stronger but no good for me because they don't have ABS.

I was very interested in these alloy axles from the Team Cherokee website:

ALLOY USA Rear Axle Shaft Cherokee 1984-2001 W/ Dana 35 27-Spline W/O ABS
This ALLOY USA Rear Axle Shaft will fit all Jeep Cherokee XJ’s from 1984-2001 with the stock Dana 35 27-Spline W/OUT ABS. High tensile strength 4140 Chromoly is heat-treated twice and induction hardened to produce these heavy-duty axles that are up to 35% stronger than stock 1040 axles. Alloy USA™ uses the latest cold spline rolling technology, to produce splines that are stronger than traditional cut splines. Our shafts are covered by an exclusive 10- year warranty! Rear axle shaft kits include everything you need for your installation: both passenger and drive side shafts, seals, bearings and wheel studs. - US$129.95

Sounds like a good price for an upgrade to stronger axles (much cheaper than installing a brand new diff) but unfortunately ABS is still a problem. I asked Team Cherokee about it and they said "that one will not work and I cannot find one that will" so it seems the options for upgrading the rear diffs or axles on an XJ with ABS are very limited.

Does anyone know what the difference is between an axle on an XJ with ABS and an XJ without ABS, or even better, know where I can get the stronger alloy axles to suit an ABS model?

Would it be less hassle to get rid of the ABS?

The difference is the ABS axles have the tone rings on them, I have looked at these before with the idea of cutting the original axle, boring out the tone ring to rid it of the original axle and sweat it onto a new axle, haven't tried it though.....

i walked into mech work shop where my jeep was being worked on once to see mech trying to flog a tone ring onto my axle after grinding it the thing is i dont have abs :hammer:

Surely it wouldn't be too expensive to get some tone rings cut with a water jet? Or are they more complicated than they look?

Cheers
Steve

I modded my D44 to take the tone rings. They are just pressed on like bearings. In fact, when I still had the D35 in, I chewed out an axle, and the new replacement axle didn't come with the tone ring, so the old was pressed off, and I used a bearing heater to heat it up and slipped it on to the new axle.
To fit to a D44 axle you first need to machine a journal for it to fit onto the new axle. I had the D35 tone rings I/D bored out so I didn't have to take too much metal off the axle. You will need to also modify the sensor bracket to suit the new diff. All in all it is not a particularly difficult job, if you have the right tools (lathe big enough to fit your axle). I didn't at the time, so I measured it all up and worked out where I wanted the ring to go, and took it to a local hot rod shop to do. They actually commented that they have done this sort of thing before for their hot rod customers. I can't remember the cost, but it was not alot, maybe $100, but I was getting other work done there at the time also. Importantly, the ABS works just like it used to.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=998638

Here it is adapting, ABS to Dana 44, documented with pics :)

I like this idea (whether I'd be capable of doing it is a different story).

What do used D44's go for, what's a fair price? I might have to keep my eye out for one.