Hello Guys
I am Corey and I have recently purchased a 1976 F250 4wd High boy with a steel dash (Canadian spec???)
Unfortunately its been built with the steering wheel on the wrong side of the truck.
It is fitted with a front Dana 44 with twin piston disc brakes, however the centre of the housing has been cracked. It has been repaired and braced sometime in the distant past. Im not sure that I would like to use this axle.

I am looking at my options for upgrading the front axle. I was looking at using the Dana 60. Apparently I need one out of a 74 to 76 crew cab??? for it to bolt in.

Now what makes this project difficult is that I am in Australia, hence the steering wheel on the right side. They are a pretty rare truck over here. How difficult is it to find a dana 60 front axle or can one be built to fit the 76 high boy chassis? I found one on the west coast of usa but the freight to get it to the west coast ,where i have a company who containers stuff to australia kills the deal.
Is it easy to find something on the west coast, washington area?

Thanks
Corey

 

I am pretty sure you won't find one from a 74-76 crew,because I don't think they exsist.However I may be wrong.
I do think that you can use one from a 78/79 snow fighter or F350.I believe there are other years that will fit,and I'm sure someone more knowledgable will chim in eventually to help answer your question.

 

You could have one built for sure then you could have the spring perches wherever you want then etc. Expensive though-A dana 44hd would be cheaper and easier to find. Depending upon use they are tough. Good luck

 

The need for it to be from a 74-76 crew cab seems really wrong to me. But anyways why not just get another cheap dana 44 front. They`ll do whatever you need unless you are really beating it. The dana 44`s housing is still on the left side (your passenger), correct?

 

There was a low pinion D60 in those years before the high pinion was introduced in 78. It's not desireable as a swap because most of us wish to correct driveline angles as well as increase strength. A D44 should be fine if you're not doing serious wheeling with big tires.

 

Hello
Thanks very much for the information. I had been told the Dana 44 was a weak item in this truck. I would much prefer to keep the 44 as there is already enough work being done to fit up a cummins engine and sorting the bodywork.

The truck did come from a very isolated country town with rough dirt roads and was used by an opal miner. This is probably what lead to the centre being cracked.

This is not the only broken item. Both front leaf packs had broken springs and the right rear had the back eye broken off the end.

Thanks very much for the advice.

Corey

 

They do exist... my '76 Crew cab has the low pinion, open knuckle, disc brake Dana 60 up front.