Hi.I have a jeep wrangler (tj) and i was wondering where i could find a cheap set of d44's or d60's? also which one is better for mud bogging, trail riding, and rock crawling and which one (stock) is stronger?  

the 60's are way stronger, but most jeep guys i know find that 44's are plenty strong enough for a jeep.  

thanks  

if im not mistaken the front diff dumps out on the drivers side. if so you can look for an old ford pickup in your local junk yards. there front diff dumps out on the drivers side. chevy on the passenger side. i just picked up a set from a f350 and it was a high pinion 44 in front and a 60 in the rear. for strength that you would need would depend on how serious you wheel. the 60 is stronger but if your not gonna b getn crazy on a serious rock garden the 44s will b just fine. and its just like a chain its only as strong as its weakest link. so if you put in 60's and still have small u joints in your drive shaft thats gonna be your weak link. the ford nine inch is also another strong option with the one piece housing. plus its nice to be able to pull the carrier out all in one piece to work on it. you just have to see whats around the junk yards in your price range. but dont forget these wont just bolt in. theres alot of fab work involved in an axle swap like this.  

Unless you install a big V8 and some REALLY big tires, D44's will do just fine in a Jeep.  

Don't over look the new D44 JK axles that Chrysler is offering for $1400 each.  Both come with electric lockers and the rear has disc brakes.  The down side is they only come with 4.10 gears, and all brackets are for a JK.

This is just something to compare to old rusty junk that you would have to put a lot of time and money into any way.  

I have seen brakes and backing plate fail to rust but never a axle housing and its vitals. Beside some of those old Jeep 44 had thicker axle tubes than GM and ford counter parts and likely thicker than new 44's too (material was cheaper then)  

SnoMan:
I have seen brakes and backing plate fail to rust but never a axle housing and its vitals. Beside some of those old Jeep 44 had thicker axle tubes than GM and ford counter parts and likely thicker than new 44's too (material was cheaper then)

On the 1995 ZJ I bought just a little over a month ago, everything was very rusty on the rear, even the backing plates.  I didn't replace the backing plates, just cleaned off the heavy rust, but I did replace the rotors, pads, and everything for the little drum parking brakes (shoes and hardware kit).

As far as tube thickness between old and new D44's, you are just speculating, you do NOT know for sure.  That answer needs to come from someone that knows.  

I am not speculating. D44's used on full sized Jeeps in thru 80's did indeed have thicker axle tubes (wall thickness) than GM, Ford and Dodge counter parts. I have known about this for many years but few know this or even talk about it. While I cannot prove that they are thinner today without cutting one in two it is quite logical to assume they are for two reasons. First, lower cost for materials(and Detroit is very cost driven today) and second, a Jeep/Wrangler/YJ weighs less than old full sized counter parts so less axle tube strength is needed and lower weight would improve EPA numbers too.