Dana 44's are the minimum sized axles that truck should have on it. Not really a bragging point. =P
the only reason i know anything about Dana 44's is because i know they take them off wagoneers and put them on other lesser jeeps. I've had people ask me about buying mine, before i started fixing it and the thing was sitting in my garage broken for months..
I just figured if people wanted them for their own jeeps they had to be good
The thing is a lot more capable in snow than about anything else i've ever been in. We get some nasty blizzards here, 3' of snow and 60 mph winds for 2-3 days leaves some huge drifts. I've cut through 4-5' drifts that were a block long and it was like driving in the rain; didnt break a sweat.
I got stuck once, but it was my own fault because i tried go through probably a 6'+ drift at a stop sign uphill. It was longer than i thought it was going to be and since i had to stop at the top of the hill for the stop sign and the blind corner, i couldn't get all the way through that monster drift from a dead stop. Even buried above the hood and way up past the back bumper, the SOB was able to creep it's way right back out of the situation without much effort.
Not sure if its the axles, the f/r locking difs, the selec-trac, the weight distribution of the vehicle, torque, horsepower, engineering, gearing or all of it combined... but its amazing in the snow...
About the only thing i've been in that seemed similar in capability to my wagoneer is the FJ cruiser.. at least for a stock vehicle.. and i guess excluding like the wrangler Rubicon. I haven't tested out the 2011 grand Cherokees, but i've driven a few of the last couple of generations and i'd take my wagoneer over one of them at least in the really deep snow