I am looking to see if there is a better way to swap to 6x5.5 on my HP d44 other than knuckle out swap with chevy parts. Someone on pirate 4x4 said just swap hubs and run chevy rotors but I refuse to believe the chevy rotors fit in the ford calipers and then if I'm changing calipers I need to do knuckles out again. there is a ton of misinformation around about this swap.

If anyone has a chevy axle or waggy axle with small bearing spindles and flat top knuckles that wants to trade for a 5 lug pattern I will pay for all shipping to do the trade.

 

Any reason you want that lug pattern ?

 

my beadlocks are that bolt pattern.

 

If i can remember right youll need knuckles outwards but the gm 10 bolt in the front of the 73-87 is the same as a dana 44 from the knuckles out.The 9 inch might be more a pain to get that lug.What brand are the beadlocks ?Raceline beadlocks are not that badly price it might be cheaper to buy new rims honestly.

 

I'm not sure on the brand of beadlocks as I got them for super cheap. I guess I will check junkyards and see if I can get a chevy axle for $100 like I got mine for

 

you will need custom shafts made for the 9

 

There are wheel adapters available from several different companies that will do what you need.

 

For what good brand adapters cost he could buy new raceline beadlocks lol and id never trust adapters.Thinking about it the front shouldn't be that hard but the rear will be a pain since ford never used that bolt pattern on a 9 inch.What size tires do you want to run in the end?If over a 37 inch that 44 and 9 inch might not be your best options with out spending a ton on them.

 

37s arent a good idea on a stock 44 either.

 

The 9" I'm not too worried about. I have a lot of machine shops that do work for cheap around me.

There is no way no how I am running spacers. I have seen it wreak havoc on every part on a front end.

I will be running 37s which is kinda pushing it but I'm okay with that. the terrain I'm in isn't super rocky so not much wheel bind and breakage. terrain means everything for axles. I'm rocking 33s with spooled on the stock 8.25 and detroit in the 30 with no major issues now. I just eat u-joint and ball joints every season.

With a 44 I am stuck with weak u-joints so even upgraded the axle 37s might be a bit much.

I might have found a donor chevy axle with flat top knuckles so I might not need to worry about this anymore.

 

You gonna swap the knuckles out or use the chevy axle ?Keep in mind the chevy axle is the wrong side drop for a xj.Chevy use passenger side drop,And you need a drivers drop which most fords are.And honestly if you want 37s or maybe bigger id go 1 tons since swapping any axle is not cheap might as well go big and be ready for anything later on.

 

I will swap the knuckles, spindles, hub, rotor, and calipers from the chevy axle to the ford axle, that is why i called it a donor axle. and I am going to build these axles.

 

a good set of shafts and joints will help the 44 survive for sure.

for reference, i run a hp44 out of an F250 (1/2" tubes) that is trussed with chromo shafts and yukon super joints with chevy outer stuff. the fail point should be the hubs which are an easy trail fix. out back i run a 9" that is trussed on top and a backbone truss with 35 spline chromo shafts and disc brakes. all of this is with 5.13s on 35s. i have yet to brake anything major.

 

Yeah I know how to make them fairly strong there is a lot of information on these axles. I'll be doing trussing on both of them for the 3 link up front and the 4 link in back anyway. I was mostly concerned with how much I had to swap to chevy parts. ill run the stock 31 spline rear for a while until I break one... luckily this vehicle never needs to see a road again.