Upgrade 2003 TJ to D44s?

got a buddy from the military that lives in Missouri with a 2003 TJ. he is running 35" tires and looking to upgrade to D44 axles. Advice? Is there a year/make that will work best for him? I'm assuming he will have to cut all the hardware off in order to weld on his brackets?

or he could try and find a set of rubicon axles to be able to bolt right up. does he have any fab skills cause i have a housing he can have would just have to shorten it

The real question is how much skill and access to tools does he have? If you want simple and easy that yeah rubicon axles are the way to go. Now its not the cheapest cause they tend to hold there value for the simple reason that all you have to do is bolt them up and wire the lockers. Upside to that is 4:10 gears, lockers, 30 spline shafts and the same stock 5 on 4.5 lug pattern all rolled in to one step. Down side is your still dealing with the low pinion D44, the shitty unit bearings and the same stub shafts as the stock D30. Thats the basic facts on paper. Know look at Chris (with the red TJ) and Greg Knoll. They both have built Rubicon D44's and make them work for 37's and comp. There are tons of D44's that will work for TJ's He can buy and build for a reasonable price like mine. Only problem is one day you look at it and think man I should have just built a set of D60's. FUCK!!

He is still driving it on the road and wants to keep it roadworthy, mix trail/street use. I'll find out about skillz. He's a country boy so just because he says he can do it doesn't mean he'll do it right. I'll ask more questions. Is there an ideal year D44 he should look for other than the rubicon? What about an 8.8 for the rear?

8.8's are great rear ends. I don't care what anyone says about C clips or axle tubes. 8.8's best years are out of 96-98 explorers if I remember correctly. The best year in my opinion for a D44 is from a 78-79 F-250. I know there are other years that will work good but the fords are high pinion. Most people use chevy outers for the flat tops but you can mill the fords flat and tap them the same.