Dana44 solid beam front - from 1978 F250

[david85]

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rch/pts/1913581585.html

Stumbled over this and now my head is going in that direction (converting to 4wd).

First question is how can I fit 3.07s in there. Do I need a new carrier or am I SOL with this particular case?

Also does anyone know how the stock brakes on this axle compares to the stock 2wd brakes in my truck?

Any other comments or suggestions about the D44HD solid axle? Seems like a decent setup but I'm not well versed in 4x4 stuff or SAS related topics.

 

[gonecrazyi]

From what ive heard is that if you have all the brackets to put it in that all the parts will bolt right in. The only problem that I remember seeing is that the truck has to be lifted in order to clear the pumpkin because its closer to the cross member and hits if the truck isnt lifted.

Theres an 89 f150 in the junkyard by me that has one and it had a 4 inch lift on it to clear everything. It did look like you could get away with a 2in maybe.

 

[david85]

The pumpkin location is what worries me the most about the SA option. I really don't want to raise my truck more than I have to for minimum acceptable suspension travel. The ad had me wondering because he claims the perches are already in place for the later 80-96 frames and the leaf spring seems to be fairly tight against the perch.

 

[david85]

The ad had me wondering because he claims the perches are already in place for the later 80-96 frames and the leaf spring seems to be fairly tight against the perch.

Think I figured it out. Normally the spring perch is on the outer axle tube sleeve of the pumpkin housing, where as now its directly on the axle tube, so it has been modified but it doesn't make me feel much better about the clearance issue relating to the engine cross member.

This shows the perch in the original location:

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[Diesel_brad]

I dont know what the guy is talking saying it ha F350 ball joints. Those axles use king pins

 

[gonecrazyi]

I suppose you could always modify the crossmember to drop everything a bit more, ive seen that done aswell.

Are you planning to run leaf sprung setup or a coil? If you only plan to use 4x4 occasionally and not for anything rough, you could use a 1/2 ton f150 dana 44 with coil springs that should bolt right into your factory truck. Then all you have to do is upgrade to the 8 lug chevy outers to run your rims. That way you keep the coils and the ride as well as save some on the height of the lift.

The 86 f250 my cousin built had a leaf sprung dana 44 out of a 79 f250 that handled the wieght of a 6.9 and 44 in tires for well over a year and nothing ever broke on it.

 

[gonecrazyi]

I think ive seen a 79 dana 44 with ball joints.

 

[Diesel_brad]

I think ive seen a 79 dana 44 with ball joints.

My bad

 

[homelessduck]

I think ive seen a 79 dana 44 with ball joints.

Yep , ball joints.

 

[franklin2]

Are you planning to run leaf sprung setup or a coil? If you only plan to use 4x4 occasionally and not for anything rough, you could use a 1/2 ton f150 dana 44 with coil springs that should bolt right into your factory truck. Then all you have to do is upgrade to the 8 lug chevy outers to run your rims. That way you keep the coils and the ride as well as save some on the height of the lift.

A lot of work and fabbing just to get a "solid axle". Dare I say the dana 44 hd ttb would be just as strong or stronger than a solid beam f150 axle.

 

[david85]

I'm not really too hung up on coil vs leaf springs. I simply want something that is reliable and matches my current setup in terms of handling and turning circle and hopefully as low a ride height as possible. I've been in a leaf sprung 4x4 IDI a couple times and turning circle didn't seem to be any worse than my 2wd. Not sure if I would want to do a coil spring setup with a solid axle but anything can be made to work, I guess.

Now can some one remind me if the f150 TTB and F250 TTB have the same geometry? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the F150 has longer traction beams that are a little more friendly on tire wear (namely the front passenger side wheel). Ball joint spread is also larger on the F250 TTB....I think.

 

[franklin2]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the F150 has longer traction beams that are a little more friendly on tire wear (namely the front passenger side wheel). Ball joint spread is also larger on the F250 TTB....I think.

You are correct, the 150 ttb has longer arms. I don't think any of them are considered tire friendly, but the two I have had so far do pretty well in that dept after I replaced the bad parts and got them aligned.

 

[david85]

I haven't experienced any tire wear issues with my truck and I do all my own alignment. I gave up looking for a shop that knows how to work on twin I beam. Over all I rather like twin I beam although my diesel will never match the floaty car like ride of my F150 with such stiff suspension and tires.

I think the twin I beam length for the F250 matches that of the F150 I beam and TTB, but its the 4x4 TTB F250 that has shorter beams - Am I right??? I guess I could measure that myself to see if my F150 has the same distance from the knuckle to the pivot bushing as on the F250.

 

[Rot Box]

David,

I put a D44 under my 86 and it wasn't bad at all. If you use the 77.5-79 Ford F250 axle (assuming your crossmember is the same as a 4x4) you will NOT have to worry about cross member clearance regardless of what front leaf springs you use. The 77 and earlier axles had a diff positioned closer to the center. You can easily tell the difference as the 77 and older had the larger D60 sized hubs and the later 77.5-79 had the internal conventional style hub that is physically smaller but just as strong. For my 4x4 TTB Dana 44 to 78 solid dana 44 (86 F250 without a lift) I needed the following:

1. Matching gears ( lucked out and my donor axle had the right ones)
2. different spring perch spacing. You can find perches almost anywhere
3. Find a way to do the steering. Mine had a drilled and tapped flat top knuckle and a cross over steering conversion arm bolted to the top of it (I can give you more info on these if you need it--they are quite simple). With a custom bent drag link I was able to use my stock steering box.
4. 9/16's lug nuts. The earlier ones use smaller 1/2 studs.
5. I 'think' I had to use the 78 style brake lines but I can't remember.
6. U bolts and plates.

Other than that and a little time and effort mine went right in

I didn't use a trac bar, but I would highly recommend installing one. My 86 didn't have issues but my 91 F350 will not go down the road safely without one (that's a whole other story ). Strength wise my only concern was the ball joints and U-joints/axle shafts on the D44. Those housings are 1/2" thick and I doubt you'd every find a way to bend the axle housing. The brakes are plenty big too I wouldn't worry about stopping power with them. The differential is only slightly smaller than the Dana 50's and I think you'd be fine in most conditions. I would not install one if you do a lot of lo-range crawling around in rocky terrain or plan to use a snow plow. Again I think the weak link is the ball joints...

Replacing the worn out TTB D44 was a great move for me imo. The solid beam handled better and I just felt safer having it under there. Also I can't remember the carrier size cutoff (3.73's ish?) but you need the higher geared (numerically lower) carrier for 3.07's. These can be found ANYWHERE and usually go for about 20-40 bucks used. Good luck let me know if I can help in any way

PS. I don't know about pricing in your area, but I wouldn't ever pay more than $250 for a used dana 44 anything... 350 might be a deal if the perches are welded in the correct place already and if it comes with the steering for your style of truck.

 

[david85]

Rot Box

I noticed you were viewing the page and was hoping you would chime in since you mentioned on another thread of mine that you had done this swap before.

Looking at some web photos and measuring approximately, it seems the pumpkin offset is indeed very close between the Dana60 Hp and the Dana44 Hp in terms of how close the closest part of the housing is to the centerline of the truck. Its only holding a tape up to the screen but it seems that both axle tube housings are ending almost right smack on the truck centerline......but the dana44 has a smaller pumpkin and a narrower tube so it might tuck in there really nice. The difference is the dana 60 has a larger differential case and the extra size is offset to the side of the truck. Maybe thats what fooled me into thinking the D44 was to close to the centerline.

I would put a track bar in there of some sort. Probably something that matches the length of the drag link and mounts outboard of the frame rail like on the 70s coil sprung F150 4x4s.

Just so I'm clear on this, you did the textbook SAS on a leaf sprung 1986 F250/350 stock 4x4 frame but instead of a dana60 you went with a Dana44 high pinion and you didn't raise the truck at all? I don't suppose you took pictures did you?