I was out at my cousins house yesterday and we were talkin about trucks, I told him I wanted to swap some bigger axles and a 5.0 in my truck, and probably run tires somewhere around 37's (nothing to compete with his truck on 44's )

He said he had some (front and rear) dana 60's off an old dodge 1 ton truck, he said i could have em if i wanted, I took a look at em, they were complete from drum to drum, and caliper to caliper. Of course I took em

now, after doing some research, they look like 44's and not 60's, which is fine if they are 44's cause they are alot stronger than my 7.5

the only axle tags I see say "3.55" which is the gear.

I can take pics and host em if that way is easier

Thanks!

 

dodge are passenger side drop axles. They will not work for an axle swap.

I'm not sure about this, but ikinda thought before like, 91 that dodge had driver side drop axles. But i'm probably wrong.

Also, just ask him what the axles came from.

Aaron

 

before '91 they had the pig on the passanger side.....post 91(not quit sure if that is the year or not) they had the pig on the drive side....i know on all the '96 and newer dodges they have driver side pig's

 

Oh. ****s. Yeah. Jus did some research. 94+ would work for a swap. That is badass!

Aaron

 

Thanks, just buy looking at thoes pictures, it looks more like a 44

The front diff is on the passenger side now, BUT, the axle tubes need to get cut down (each tube needs to be shortend by 3") and I will need custom length axles anyways, Ill just have the shop thats cutting the axle tubes chop one side down short, and lengthen the other, and then get the custom length axles to match.

 

THAT WONT WORK!!!!!!!!! you transfer case will turn the gears the wrong way and when you are trying to go foward, the front end will be turning backwards........

 

I think what he wants to do is basically pay a crapload of money to make one axle tube longer and the other shorter. How is that gonna mess anything up? He's not planning on flipping the differential upside down.

Aaron

 

the way he said it he was gonna make the passanger side tube longer and the driver side shorter to make the pig on the correct side......that will throw the rotation of the axle off. .....it would be like flipping the axle over and running it that way...

 

I still dont see how that it will throw the axle rotation off, all D44's have the same diff housing, just differnt length axles. flipping the axle over would be completely differnt then making one axle longer and one shorter.

im going to make some calls to some drivetrain shops tommarow, and get prices for how expensive this is going to be.

at worst I got a free axle that I can clean up/sell/trade for an axle that will work

 

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't happen. What exactly would make it like it had been flipped over?

Aaron

 

Im really curious as well, I really hope this axle will work for this project, but who knows, it was a spur of the moment thing, and i wasnt about to miss out on some FREE axles if they would work

 

I know ther's a huge dodge forum you could ask on. Jus search for it.

Aaron

 

www.dodgeforums.com has the search disabled (probably for non members)

im gonna try to browse for it

 

um retubing an axle dosent do anything to rotation. I have a d44 in my garage i can snap a few pics of if you need it for reference. but its a high pinion so... i can take a pic of the diff cover though...

but honestly, youll probably pay less for a JY d44 than you will have to pay for the retubing. if its a 60, retube it, if its a 44, sell it and buy another...

 

Thanks

I found one casting mark on the housing last night, typed it in google, found out its off a 77 Ramcharger/powerwagon, I then looked up some specs, on thoes trucks, and found out, they have a D60 in the rear, and a D44 in the front, So that solves the question.

Now, if i were to goto the junkyard and buy a D44, one that I wont have to cut the axle tubing at all, and the diff is on the right side, what year vehicles am I going to be looking for?

And how much can I expect to sell an old D44 for? I plan on sandblasting the case and cleaning it up first (maybe get a few extra bucks for it)

 

you need to look for a '76-'79 Ford F-150 or a '78-'79 Bronco........BUY THE WHOLE DANG VEHICLE....because you will need misc parts off it to make it work.....like the radius arms, trackbar bracket, track bar, tie rods, coil buckets, shock mounts, and measurements.....

you could prolly get $200 out of that Dana 44.....just advertise on varius boards and in the paper...or eBay

 

Good vehicles for donors:

80+ wagoneer
71.5-77 early bronco
80's Jeep Cherokee Chief


Those are for goin with the same width nearly of your truck now. The late 70s fords are fullwidth. Oh and early broncos make a very easy coil swap. Bolt's right up practically.

Aaron

 

true, but the early bronco's have a low pinion dana 44 while the full size dana 44's have a high pinion dana 44.

pros of a early bronco 44:
-already the correct width
-easy swap

cons of a early bronco 44:
-low pinion, will cause problems if you decide to lift above 8" over stock
-drum brakes, will be costly to swap

the full size dana 44's almost all have disc brakes. I had it quoted to cut one down, cut the axles and respline them, and then put it all back together for $200. for that price the cost is worth it........the high pinion of the full size dana 44 will allow you to go with more of a lift and not give you any u-joint problems. you can get a lift for a full size f150 or full size bronco for cheaper than the lift for the early bronco...


another thing is the wagoneer and the chief's are leaf sprung so you will have to go that route, giving yourself less flex than with the coil springs......lifted coil springs are much cheaper than lifted leaf packs

 

ACtually, coil spring is usually more expensive when you realize you have to link the front. Leafs can be relatively cheap to run.

Yah the bronco is just a simple way to lift and definately 8 inches SAS is enough for me.

Im gonna try to link this pic..

http://alaska4x4network.com/attachme...1&d=1138678648

 

you dont have to link the front.....all you would have to do is fab up a new transmission crossmember bracket that included the dana 44 radius arm drop brackets.....then bolt the stock radius arm brackets to the drop brackets and it is just like lifting a TTB ranger.............someone could make that tranny crossmember with a 1x1x1/4" tubing......if they know how to fab up........that is the most popular way to do a SAS in a ranger......

 

no matter what he does, leaf or coil spring, he is going to have to replace his steering setup......since he has the rack and pinion steering and he will need a gear box like i have or like the one in the pic....

 

most people almost always swap in a toyota gearbox. Definately the early bronco is an easy swap, but for other coil setups you need to make the front linking. The bronco is the *easy coil axle swap".

I can't remember but i thought you didnt need radius arm drop brackets for the swap into a ranger, that it lined up perfectly stock for some reason. I guess so, haven't look into it ina long time

 

the early bronco axle is the same axle and suspension as the full size axle...the only difference is the low vs high pinion.......yes if you are running anything but a ford axle you should 4 link it......if you are going to use lift coils with the ford dana 44 you will need drop brackets....

 

The early bronco axle is narrowwidth man. D44 but much different otherwise. It's not like the wider axles fround in later broncos and f trucks. I'm pretty sure now that the person who told me about his bronco swap did not use drop brackets. I can ask though, becaus ei could be wrong. I jus remember the radius arms bolted right up at a certain part of the frame. Maybe that's without lift, who knows.

Aaron

 

i know the way to get a full width dana 44 under a ranger all you have to do is cut 5.5" off the passanger side tube and axle shaft.......other than that the suspensions are the exact same......i have seen many rangers with the dana 44 in it and they all had radius arm drop brackets.....you would also need to get new "C" bushings with the correct degree in them