Klondike

I was able to get my hands on a Dana 44 front from a 70's F-150 and a Ford 9.75 rear from an 98 Expedition. I know that the rear is a full width axle but Im not too sure about the front. It doesn't have any knuckles so I'm not too sure how wide it is. Any help with this would be great. I am also wondering if this would be a good set up for under my XJ?

Thanks,
Dan

xjmarc

It's a good start but a lot of work and money so be prepaired. What all do you have of the front axle? You'll need to find the BOM number and research the axle to find out what it came out of and what year because axle shafts differed in length throughout the years. If it's full width and since it's supposed to be an F150 axle it should be, it'll be in the neighborhood of 67" WMS to WMS with knuckles, spindles, hubs etc on it.

93XJLI

70s F150s had a lot of different 44s... some were complete garbage. if its got drums and/or closed knuckles its barely worth its weight in scrap. try to find both axles from the late 70s F series trucks.. itll either be 44/9 (F150), 44/60 (f250), or 60/60 (f250 snow fighter).

really though, many axles out there can be made to work, and work cheap. dont be scared of full width.. with the right rims, its not really that wide.

Klondike

Where is the BOM? I hope the 44 isn't a bad one. I got these axels for free so I was hoping I could use them. I have the housing, the shafts, and the diff carrier group for the front. I don't have the knuckles, steering, or brakes. It might be easier/cheaper to get another front from the JY

xjmarc

BOM will be on the right tube. Knuckles, spindles, hubs, breaks etc will cost more to buy seperate than a complete axle in most cases.
Here's a great site to help with axle IDs. http://77cj.littlekeylime.com/web_rs44.html

Gorillaxj

^ That is a great site! helped me a bunch when planning my D44 swap.

I would probably Measure your rear axle WMS-WMS and get a front axle that is 1-2" wider for the front that is complete, with how cheap you can get axles at the JY.

Klondike

Why should it be wider?

Gorillaxj

A wider front axle helps with cornering, the rear is supposed to track on/inside the front wheel tracks. makes for a better turning radius. Almost all of vehicles in production have a wider front wheel track then the rear.

Klondike

This is everything I have for the front. I did some digging and found the knuckles and a few others things. Where did you guys get all the brackets for the suspension and steering that need to be welded on?

xjmarc

That is a 78-79 model D44 and has cast wedges. You can't use a truss like the one from TNT and you can't cut off the wedges because there isn't any tube under them. The only option with that axle is to use factory ford radius arms and modify them for a long arm setup. They actually work pretty good but the cast wedge axle is a bit weaker than ones with welded wedges.

Klondike

Are you sure? They look welded on to me. I could be wrong though.

Klondike

You are right. It's cast. Told you I can be wrong. So I guess I'm not going to use this axle. Do you think the 9.75 is a good choice for the rear?

xjmarc

I don't know much about that rear but the front isn't bad if you want to run a cheap long arm and have the factory radius arms. Companies like RC, RE, Rusty's and so on use radius arms for their long arm set ups and folks seem to like them. They mount a bit different but work exactly the same.

Klondike

Sounds a little complicated. Do you know of a write-up?

xjmarc

There are tons of write ups out there. Some are pretty complicated, some not. Here's the first one I found and it's not too bad but could be done easier and prolly cheaper. http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=845969
This is way less complicated than setting up a four link from scratch which you'd pretty much have to do with another axle. I copied my old D30 when I did mine and used the spring buckets off another but had I had that axle I would have done radius arms and called it done. I know a few guys running them and they do very well on and off road.