faraiwe"When threatened by adverse weather conditions, Jeeps often huddle together in a cluster..."
doomgirl@faraiwe the youngest one hasn’t even shedded its street tires yet, it must be terrified! 
@booty 😂
The #XJ is a '99, toy status, sporting very very well used 31x10.5 MTZ Bajas. It has saved my ass more times than I care to count.
The #JK is a '11, sees a LOT of use, and I keep it in all-weather Cooper Discoverers, but eyeballing moving to AW/AT on a regular basis. I have gnarlier threads for it, but no likee the rubber. It's currently my fave ride.
The #WK is a '05, new comer to the herd, it came with Toyo all-weathers that I do NOT like, and will change, as soon as I go through the myriad of issues I want to take care of, first. Got it for the wife, she is an airhead, drives through iffy areas, and the all-time 4x4 helps, without the growliness of the other stuff. .
#Jeep life.
@faraiwe 😜 how does the mtz’s do in the rain? I know I had a lot of fun driving a ford ranger in the rain when I lived in FL.
Yeah I’m considering a JKU… if I end up not happy with my XJ anyways.
The first gen XJs had issues. I like the later cylinder heads, NOT the last ones. Plus, interior MUUUCH nicer. I love the XJ, and I beat the living daylights of mine, had wonderful adventures, and only wish they had a FRAME.
I kept an eye on the JKx for a LONG TIME, and it made a decade with no major meltdowns. The 3.8l V6 is not a FANTASTIC engine, but it's a decent low-end torque deliverer. Factory axles are unimpressive, but eh, unless you are rock crawling on the regular, they will do. It's right about the latest vehicle you can buy without the tablet-on-wheels bullshit.
THE MTZs (I get sidelined, a lot). They are absolutely the BEST off road tires ever, period. Slightly noisy on pavement, not bad. They drive ok in the rain, not amazing. My XJ doesn't have ABS, so i've slipped a few feet on them - but they recovered affording me to turn out of the way of hazard.
They be expensive, tho, and MT no longer makes these. =/
@faraiwe JKUs come with a “Dana 44” in the rear right? Like the new smaller d44. I think the JK still comes with a d35 rear 🤢
@booty I got a D35 in the rear, D30 front in the JKU, it's a Sahara. The Rubicon offers a D44 *option*. The Sport and Sahara versions have 3.73 ratio gears (same as #XJ). Lower trims have... lesser options.
My XJ has a C8.25 in the rear (it was a conversion from 2WD to 4x4, the tow pkg option also offers that) and a D30 front, 3.73ratios. It goes places, looots of places. =)
People give a lot of shit to D35s and D30s, but mostly I find that is the "short-dick-compensating" syndrome, characterized by accessorizing-uber-alles that plagues the Shopping Mall Crawler community of "jeep".
#FWIW, #YMMV #AYBATU, #NGGYUNGLD
Adding a locker to the factory diffs (if they don't already have them) allows for a 3.73 D35 to outperform a D44 that has "electronic" (i.e., brakes do the job) traction control only.
I like #Torsen type diff lockers, because of their hands-off trait. They are more expensive, but so worth it. Other types according to your preferences, obvs.
Jared Stevens@faraiwe yeah I ended up swapping in a ford 8.8 into my YJ cause everyone kept telling me that putting a locker in a d35 would just blow up the d35. And I only have 31’s and a 2.5 lol. Idk most people think the d35 is made of glass. I can’t say either way now 
I need to remove my locker and look at the seals and stuff cause my air manifold spits up diff oil and the compressor runs every 35 seconds…
@booty ooph you have an air compressor for the locker, that requires ATTENTION.
I am ok with the Ford 8.8, almost swapped tear on the XJ, but then realized the C8.25 is... just about same. Why bother, then.
I dislike lockers that depend on active anything to be locked. Because hydraulics and electrical fail, often as you need them. People bitch about torsen being"expensive", but end up spending more on ancillary systems for other lockers.
Unless you're doing some SERIOUS rock crawling, a D35 isn't bad, really. Peeps flogging the "swap your D35 diff!!" are usually the ones selling you the next diff :) Obvs I prefer the D44, duh.
@faraiwe yeah, I get it. I may do an ox locker for the XJ. I went with arb cause I figured I was gonna be airing down here and there anyways I want on board air, I may as well have an air locker
Ford 8.8 is supposed to be stronger than a d44. And it was quite a bit cheaper too 😅 WMS was off by like 1 1/4” so both the rear wheels are moved in 5/8” lol. Or something like that it’s been quite a while since I looked all of this stuff up.
@booty cool.
Did you use spacers to correct the width base?
I never saw much difference out there between the D44 and F8.8, tbf. F8.8 sure stronger than the D44*A* because of Al case, but otherwise meh.
Consider looking into a torsen type locker. At the end of the day, it's just $200 more on the process of changing the diff locker, and they work SO MUCH better. No switches, or worries.
@faraiwe I haven’t added spacers lol. I probably should but I haven’t really thought of a reason to do so lol. No one has noticed, even when I tell them the WMS is different.
This post is a revival of a link that died, it used to be on a website but this person had saved it and reposted it: https://www.wranglerforum.com/threads/are-you-considering-the-popular-ford-8-8-swap.92569/
also, isn’t a torsen essentially an LSD? Or am I mistaken
@booty torsens are based on worm gears, and clutch like springs keeping their plate against the diffs gears.
They are ALWAYS on, but allow the faster wheel to go on, because you can't really reverse a worm gear. Check some videos about them.
The smaller width of rear axle may not be sufficient to affect ride quality, or traction, so... If it works, leave it alone, lol.
super confusing unlike my air locker 
just teasing lol