hello all, well put in new wheel bearings ball joints and ujoints in my 1975 f250 so i after a week of normal driving back and forth to work i decided to drive around a little in the field in 4WD just to test it before winter hits. well first time i turned the wheel and gave it some throttle i snapped a ujoint in the front axle. i have a low pinion dana 44 HD open knuckle 37" goodyear oz tires, 428 big block NP 435 tranny. considering upgrading to a dana 60 set up or is there a way to strengthen the dana 44 enough to not have to worry about it. i wont be doing any mudding it it or anything besides to occasional pulling trailers out of fields or driving in snow. any suggestions on how to strengthen what i have or how to swap what i have to a dana 60. thanks

 

A d44 in a fullsize on 37s with a strong engine wont last long. No sense in spending a dime on the d44, swap it for a 60.

 

That is a bummer, but yea a LP D44 (open knuckle is better than a closed knuckle anyway). And in 37's and a BB with a heavy foot and maybe with it in full steering lock?? That is a great way to grenade a u joint, did it take out the long or short shaft ears?

This idea below is probably quicker, than finding a 78/79 front D60 for $1000-1200 and then swapping it under there.

Dana 44 Chromoly Axle Shafts

If you are determined to hunt one down, consider this.

D44-D60 But you will have a hard time finding a 60 with the 32.5" spring spacing, it'll have to be from a dentside. The '86+axles are spaced at 36", but are more common. Honestly the price you pay for one is way over rated. I happened to get one and put it in my truck, but it is just bragging rights to say "Yeah...I got a D60 front axle." They are over rated unless you continually are beating on it so hard you are tearing your D44 apart all the time.
The truths:
Yes it is heavier...doesn't do much but slow your truck down.
Yes it has a bigger ring gear...haven't broke yours, so why need to go bigger?
Yes it has bigger u-joint...good news is that likely won’t break on you.
The pitfall:
(The outer shafts are the same diameter as the outer shafts on a D44) POSSIBLY INCORRECT (just a different spline count). Instead of maybe breaking a u-joint you will likely break an outer shaft and good luck finding a cheap replacement.
The D44 held up for you for now, why change it? Also spare parts for the 44 are cheap. If you have 3:55 gears now and want to find 4.11s just find a D44 with 4.11s in already. I wouldn't pay more than $200 for a D44 front...they are very common. One questions for this would be what size tire are you running? For off road use the D44 is usually good 35" and under tires (yes there are many exceptions for this). If you rebuild the D44, do you plan on putting in after market (stronger) axle shafts and u-joints (or do you already have them). Load rating tests show that a fully upgraded D44 axle with good aftermarket shafts (there are LOTS to choose from and some are far better than others) is about equal to a stock D60 with 35 spline outer stubs. Ok now you just upgraded your axle shafts... what does your current ring and pinion look like? If you are eating up teeth or snapping pinion shafts there is really no fix for this but to go to a D60... well there is one possible option and that’s a Dana 50 which is a kit to drop in D50 gears into a D44, bigger ring gear but same pinion shaft diameter. If you are going to regear and going to keep the D44 this might be a good time to look at this option for increased strength. Last question is... with the plow on the front and any extra weight are you over the D44's load rating? If you are really working it hard do you know if your D44 is still strait and are you overloading the wheel bearings? Might be time to weigh the front half of your truck and see where you are at. An axle truss might help, but I'd say if you are past the 44's weight I'd move on to a 60.

 

I had the same problem, I chose to go with the chromoly shafts and it has solved my problem. I race mine in mud pits and they have not snapped since the upgrade. I had 38's on mine but now it has 35's. it was a lot cheaper and easier than hunting down a good dana 60 and swapping them out.

 

Unless the replacement shafts mentioned will allow you to run larger U-joints, that probably won't fix the U-joint problem. The replacement shafts WILL give you stronger support to the U-joint bearing caps and that's one of the ways they can help; if the ears flex, it can allow the bearings/caps on the joint to shift out of place and bind.

What condition were the broken joints before they went? Had you ever maintained them? Poor maintenance will kill them off early.

For much cheaper and easier than the 60 swap, you can try some of the stronger U-joints. I dont know that paying for full on CTM joints is the next step, but you can try Alloy USA's "X-joint," which claims to be between a CTM and a stock unit and still uses roller bearings.

I don't think that you'll ever not have to worry about U-joints. The majority of the one's I've broken have been in axles larger than a Dana 44...but maybe that's just me.

Somewhat on topic: If you decide to keep your current axle, really inspect the knuckles and ball joints. It's not unheard of for a damaged U-joint to cause damage or breakage to parts around them. Also take a close look at the U-joint that didn't break. If it needs to be replaced, do so. If the ears on the surviving axle shaft show any wear or stretch at all, it's only a matter of time before that joint binds up and strands you as well.

 

My first question is what brand and type of u joints did you use? I use nothing but Spicer made in USA u joints and don't have a problem with them. If you used the standard NAPA u joints made in China or Mexico then that's your problem right there. Use quality parts in these areas and don't think you can turn full lock and hammer it in a dry field and get away with it, they will break.

 

i think i will try this approach first. i think but am not certain that the yokes bent when i took the ujoints out but i tired anyway just to try. i did use autozone ujoints. lesson learned there.

 

When it comes to alot of disassemble to get to things like front axle u joints, NEVER go cheap on the replacement, Spicer or better......

There is always a weak link built in there some where. If you upgrade just the u- joint, then you might snap or strip an axle shaft or break an ear off.

Once the axles and u joints are upgraded, it is ring and pinion strip time...and so the story goes.

 

good grief, hopefully my chunk will hold up better than that

 

any quality aftermarket 4130 shaft should be machined to accept a full circle style snap ring instead of the cheesy c-clip style. that's the #1 cause of failure i've seen, and it usually distorts the ears when they go.

just buy some yukon shafts and spicer 760x u-joints. you can search for a D60, but honestly, out of the box they really aren't that strong considering the price premium. i'd take a D44 with chromoly shafts over a stock 40 year old D60 anyday. pre-79 their shafts neck down a lot in the center, the outer stub is still the same size and spline as a stock D44 inner (when they blow they balloon the spindle out and usually grenade at least the wheel bearings too) and the stock shafts still use c-clip retainers on the u-joint caps. I just don't see the point in dropping $12-1500 on an axle that will need half the parts replaced...when you could just throw good shafts in your axle, then wait around for a good deal on a High pinion D44 axle (which will be stronger than your current low pinion).